Need advice

[jmcmahon4]

Hello all,

We built a new house last year in central Ohio and we went with an electric furnace and planned to put an add on wood furnace later.

Well we're ready to get the wood furnace now and start saving money on our heating bills this winter. So I was wanting some recommendations on furnaces.

We have a 2,400 sq ft single story ranch with a full basement and it has a walkout. Walls are 2x6 and everything is insulated pretty well. 10 ft ceilings throughout. I also wanted to run some heat to the garage which is 30x40 with 12 ft ceilings.

So you all can give me some advice on what to buy I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks, Justin

 

[Wisneaky]

Kuuma vapor-fire 100 or PSG Max Caddy are probably top of the line. $5000 plus. How much you looking to spend.

 

[jmcmahon4]

Thanks for the quick reply and I'll look into those.

I was hoping to keep around $3500 but I also want something quality built and will last awhile

 

[Wisneaky]

@JRHAWK9 @STIHLY DAN @brenndatomu you guys want to chime in.

 

[laynes69]

We have an old victorian home, 2500 sqft with 10' ceilings and we heat with a Caddy here in ohio. For 3500, you could do a Caddy without blower and have it installed in series with the electric furnace. With a new, well insulated home, a Caddy should do just fine.

 

[brenndatomu]

Alright, who yanked my chain?!

Thanks for the quick reply and I'll look into those.
I was hoping to keep around $3500 but I also want something quality built and will last awhile

Welcome to hearth jm!
Well, for $3500 you should easily be able to get a PSG Caddy and that should easily heat your well insulated 2400 sq. ft. for many years to come. I think a Max Caddy would be overkill for your house.
Where you at in OH-IO? There is dealer in the NE corner of Ohio that has pretty good pricing on Caddys
Do you have a chimney already? How about dry wood? Dry wood, not the "seasoned" stuff that everybody sells...that's 99.9% of the time, NOT dry.

 

[Wisneaky]

We have an old victorian home, 2500 sqft with 10' ceilings and we heat with a Caddy here in ohio. For 3500, you could do a Caddy without blower and have it installed in series with the electric furnace. With a new, well insulated home, a Caddy should do just fine.

Sorry Laynes I forgot to tag you. Probably others I missed also.

 

[jmcmahon4]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to look in to the caddys. I'm near marysville and Marion. Where's the dealer in NE Ohio?

I don't have a chimney and I do have a few cord of wood split and stacked. It's been cut for about 8 months and I just got a splitter a couple of months ago and split it. I have about 2.5 acres of woods on my land with a lot of dead ash.

 

[brenndatomu]

Where's the dealer in NE Ohio?

Andover

I don't have a chimney and I do have a few cord of wood split and stacked. It's been cut for about 8 months

If that Ash was standing dead for a while it might make OK Caddy snacks for this winter. Modern stoves/furnaces need dry wood, (under 20% moisture content (using a meter) to make them really run well

 

[jmcmahon4]

I'll check my wood with a moisture reader tomorrow.
So will the dealers prices be lowere than what the caddy website has them listed. They have the max caddy at $4200.

 

[brenndatomu]

From what I hear you should be well below $3k depending on how you option it out

 

[Wisneaky]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to look in to the caddys. I'm near marysville and Marion. Where's the dealer in NE Ohio?

I don't have a chimney and I do have a few cord of wood split and stacked. It's been cut for about 8 months and I just got a splitter a couple of months ago and split it. I have about 2.5 acres of woods on my land with a lot of dead ash.

So just something else to add. Installing a class A chimney is going to be about $800 plus dollars depending on how tall you need it. I'd recommend figuring out what you all need for a chimney also because it can be a lot of extra cost.

 

[Wisneaky]

Alright, who yanked my chain?!

I just seen that. Of course I'm going to drag you over into the discussion.

 

[brenndatomu]

Speaking of chimneys, if you are going with a class A chimney, Menards has Supervent 6" SS 3' sections on sale for $65 right now, might go down a bit more during their heating sale here in the next week or two, dunno...was $59 in the past

 

[Wisneaky]

Speaking of chimneys, if you are going with a class A chimney, Menards has Supervent 6" SS 3' sections on sale for $65 right now, might go down a bit more during their heating sale here in the next week or two, dunno...was $59 in the past

Even at $65 that's a pretty good price. About 14% off.

24' chimney with support kit would be around $850

 

[brenndatomu]

Even at $65 that's a pretty good price. About 14% off.

Yeah, it is. I paid upper $60s (IIRC) per piece for mine clear back in 2008

 

[jmcmahon4]

That's good, I have a menards pretty close to me

 

[Highbeam]

I'll check my wood with a moisture reader tomorrow.
So will the dealers prices be lowere than what the caddy website has them listed. They have the max caddy at $4200.

And read really carefully, the caddy line will nail you an extra 1200 on top of the 4200 for a blower if you can't use your existing furnace blower in an add-on configuration.

http://www.caddyfurnaces.com/en/products/max-caddy-wood-or-combination-furnace/#options-accessoires

Due to this, the price of a Kuuma is competitive. It includes a blower and is 5295$.

http://www.lamppakuuma.com/kuuma-vapor-fire-100-high-efficiency-wood-gasification-furnace.html

In my home, I would almost certainly purchase the Kuuma once they become EPA certified.

 

[laynes69]

MSRP on a blower is $679 for a Caddy. Back when I bought my furnace, the msrp was $3200 on US Stove's site, the local store had them at $1999. There's sites online listing the Caddy at around $2800. There's no reason you couldn't find one from a local dealer in that range. With a series installation, it's a seamless install. No backdraft dampers, additional blowers, etc. If our furnace didn't have the cold air return built into the jacket, I would have a series install.

 

[Highbeam]

MSRP on a blower is $679 for a Caddy. Back when I bought my furnace, the msrp was $3200 on US Stove's site, the local store had them at $1999. There's sites online listing the Caddy at around $2800. There's no reason you couldn't find one from a local dealer in that range. With a series installation, it's a seamless install. No backdraft dampers, additional blowers, etc. If our furnace didn't have the cold air return built into the jacket, I would have a series install.

Correct but the OP is heating 4800 SF plus a 1300 SF garage. He will want the max caddy. All we know is the MSRP. It is too bad that the caddy company can't be more accurate.

 

[S.Whiplash]

There are a lot of people in the North-West using the Ardent Energy wood furnace and they seem to be happy with these units. Cheaper than the Caddy and they use a cross-draft to achieve higher efficiency then a standard wood furnace. As a sweep I've serviced many that have been in use 20 plus years. The company used to be called RSF before getting bought out if that rings any bells.

Here is a link to the company web-site. http://ardentenergy.ca/index.php

 

[stee6043]

Correct but the OP is heating 4800 SF plus a 1300 SF garage. He will want the max caddy. All we know is the MSRP. It is too bad that the caddy company can't be more accurate.

Perhaps I am not reading this thread correctly but if the OP goes with a forced air wood furnace I don't think heating the garage with his wood burner is going to be an option. Surely we would not recommend he install a vent/return loop form his house system. Again, perhaps I missed something here.

 

[Wisneaky]

Perhaps I am not reading this thread correctly but if the OP goes with a forced air wood furnace I don't think heating the garage with his wood burner is going to be an option. Surely we would not recommend he install a vent/return loop form his house system. Again, perhaps I missed something here.

The OP said he wanted an add-on wood furnace. In reality it would be a better setup for a wood boiler with radiators and plenum coil for the current electric furnace. He wants it to be around $3500 so I think that isn't an option.

 

[Highbeam]

Perhaps I am not reading this thread correctly but if the OP goes with a forced air wood furnace I don't think heating the garage with his wood burner is going to be an option. Surely we would not recommend he install a vent/return loop form his house system. Again, perhaps I missed something here.

Whether or not he could legally heat the home and garage wasn't discussed but regardless, we're way out of Caddy range an into max caddy range and even then it's a stretch.

I agree that the garage and house forced air systems should not be mixed.

 

[jmcmahon4]

I called a couple dealers today but I am waiting for them to call me back. Im a little confused on if I'll need a blower or not. I have a Lennox air handler. I guess I should get ahold of my HVAC guy and see what he says.

I was hoping to be able to run some ductwork to the garage(connected to house) just to knock the chill off in the winter when I'm working in there. If I can't or shouldn't do it, then I won't. It's not that big of a deal.