Really sorry for the novel, but lack of working knowledge and serious frustration on my part causing the blabber fingers...
so im guessing that I am having operator headspace and timing issues with my new to me (used) englander 28-3500. Last year was my first year ever heating with wood, and I was heating with a very old (early 1980's) Kerr 140,000 btu wood furnace. It heated my old, very drafty split level 2500 sq foot house to a comfy 72, even with the outdoor daytime temps -20f, though the 1 cord of wood eaten every 2 weeks got to be tiresome. This winter, I came across a deal for a 2005 englander 28-3500 for $400, and it came with a new blower assembly, so I grabbed it thinking I could heat the house with about half the wood consumption this winter. So far we haven't had much by way of cold weather, so I've only got to play with the furnace a few times, but I can't seem to get the plenum to hold temps above about 140, in fact, my flue will only hold appx. 200f, which I think is way low. My furnace is connected to the chimney with a 45 coming off of the furnace, 30" of straight pipe (with manual damper @ 15"), and another 45 connected to the chimney (all 6", single lined). The chimney itself is 8" square clay encased in chimney blocks. Total height on the chimney is 26' (6' above the ridge of the house).
Not knowing much about wood, I assumed a stove is a stove, light a fire, get it roaring, stuff as much wood as possible in the firebox, close the damper until smoke comes back into the house, then open it a hair and call it a night. After reading on this site for a couple weeks, I have learned that is very untrue.
I have read everything here that I could find on this furnace, and the general consensus was that running the upper air control between 1/4 to 1/3 open, and the lower air control 1-2 cogs open (1/5th to 2/5ths of a turn) would yield 3-4 hrs of great heat, and another 2 hours of moderate heat, so I tried those settings (I could not find anything on the damper control other than englander doesn't want you to have one, but having one will help you retain heat in your furnace longer). At these settings I could only get the fan to stay on for 5 minutes at a time (though it would only turn off for about 2 minutes at a time).
So back to the site I come, doing more reading not on this stove but on wood burning in general, and found I was not only lighting the fire wrong, but I wasn't bringing my chimney up to temp before setting the stove on "cruise control". So I get the fire started, and keeping the ash door wide open, and the upper air control closed, begin adding fuel,... 2-3 sticks every 10 minutes, until my fire box was full and the flue reached 500f.
Also, since I could not find anything concerning specific damper settings, I left the flue damper wide open for this test run. The stack switch reached a temperature of 175, which I'm guessing is still a bit low, but honestly don't really know. The front of my furnace reached 270 on my magnetic thermostat, sitting centered on the upper air control bar. So I close the ash door, and set the upper air control to 1/3 open, and the lower screw to 2 cogs open. At 6 minutes, my chimney temp (showing on the magnetic thermometer mounted at the damper) is down to 260, the front of the stove is 220, and the stack switch is reading 125. So I try again, this time using the damper to attempt getting the front of the stove warmer before going to "cruise control", because I've read on here people attaining 550f. 8 minutes after opening the ash door, flue is up to 450, and the front of the stove is up to 425 (damper @ 45 degrees). I let it cook that way another 30 minutes adding 2 sticks at a time as space becomes available, but the temps do not go any higher, so I again shut the ash door and go to the "cruise control" settings, with the same results. Thinking that my cherry and white birch may not be dry enough (I don't have a moisture gauge tool yet, but that will be the next item I buy, along with a manometer, as soon as money becomes available), I grabbed a couple arm loads of ash from a buddy, with almost the same result (though his ash took longer to ignite when tossing it on the hot coals). So I've almost ruled out wood as a problem in my head, but just to be sure, I bought those wood fuel blocks from tractor supply and tried once more, with the same result.
So perhaps I'm wrong, but the guy I got this englander off of is the same guy I got the Kerr off of, and he said the englander heats better than the Kerr, more efficient and more total heat. I'm just not really sure what to try at this point. If money wasn't an issue, I would have just ordered a new kuuma, have it installed and be done with it, but as I am planning on breaking ground in the spring on a foundation for a new house, and will be paying as I go, I need to save my pennies for the concrete bill.
I guess my question is what am I doing wrong?
so im guessing that I am having operator headspace and timing issues with my new to me (used) englander 28-3500. Last year was my first year ever heating with wood, and I was heating with a very old (early 1980's) Kerr 140,000 btu wood furnace. It heated my old, very drafty split level 2500 sq foot house to a comfy 72, even with the outdoor daytime temps -20f, though the 1 cord of wood eaten every 2 weeks got to be tiresome. This winter, I came across a deal for a 2005 englander 28-3500 for $400, and it came with a new blower assembly, so I grabbed it thinking I could heat the house with about half the wood consumption this winter. So far we haven't had much by way of cold weather, so I've only got to play with the furnace a few times, but I can't seem to get the plenum to hold temps above about 140, in fact, my flue will only hold appx. 200f, which I think is way low. My furnace is connected to the chimney with a 45 coming off of the furnace, 30" of straight pipe (with manual damper @ 15"), and another 45 connected to the chimney (all 6", single lined). The chimney itself is 8" square clay encased in chimney blocks. Total height on the chimney is 26' (6' above the ridge of the house).
Not knowing much about wood, I assumed a stove is a stove, light a fire, get it roaring, stuff as much wood as possible in the firebox, close the damper until smoke comes back into the house, then open it a hair and call it a night. After reading on this site for a couple weeks, I have learned that is very untrue.
I have read everything here that I could find on this furnace, and the general consensus was that running the upper air control between 1/4 to 1/3 open, and the lower air control 1-2 cogs open (1/5th to 2/5ths of a turn) would yield 3-4 hrs of great heat, and another 2 hours of moderate heat, so I tried those settings (I could not find anything on the damper control other than englander doesn't want you to have one, but having one will help you retain heat in your furnace longer). At these settings I could only get the fan to stay on for 5 minutes at a time (though it would only turn off for about 2 minutes at a time).
So back to the site I come, doing more reading not on this stove but on wood burning in general, and found I was not only lighting the fire wrong, but I wasn't bringing my chimney up to temp before setting the stove on "cruise control". So I get the fire started, and keeping the ash door wide open, and the upper air control closed, begin adding fuel,... 2-3 sticks every 10 minutes, until my fire box was full and the flue reached 500f.
Also, since I could not find anything concerning specific damper settings, I left the flue damper wide open for this test run. The stack switch reached a temperature of 175, which I'm guessing is still a bit low, but honestly don't really know. The front of my furnace reached 270 on my magnetic thermostat, sitting centered on the upper air control bar. So I close the ash door, and set the upper air control to 1/3 open, and the lower screw to 2 cogs open. At 6 minutes, my chimney temp (showing on the magnetic thermometer mounted at the damper) is down to 260, the front of the stove is 220, and the stack switch is reading 125. So I try again, this time using the damper to attempt getting the front of the stove warmer before going to "cruise control", because I've read on here people attaining 550f. 8 minutes after opening the ash door, flue is up to 450, and the front of the stove is up to 425 (damper @ 45 degrees). I let it cook that way another 30 minutes adding 2 sticks at a time as space becomes available, but the temps do not go any higher, so I again shut the ash door and go to the "cruise control" settings, with the same results. Thinking that my cherry and white birch may not be dry enough (I don't have a moisture gauge tool yet, but that will be the next item I buy, along with a manometer, as soon as money becomes available), I grabbed a couple arm loads of ash from a buddy, with almost the same result (though his ash took longer to ignite when tossing it on the hot coals). So I've almost ruled out wood as a problem in my head, but just to be sure, I bought those wood fuel blocks from tractor supply and tried once more, with the same result.
So perhaps I'm wrong, but the guy I got this englander off of is the same guy I got the Kerr off of, and he said the englander heats better than the Kerr, more efficient and more total heat. I'm just not really sure what to try at this point. If money wasn't an issue, I would have just ordered a new kuuma, have it installed and be done with it, but as I am planning on breaking ground in the spring on a foundation for a new house, and will be paying as I go, I need to save my pennies for the concrete bill.
I guess my question is what am I doing wrong?
