Pellet furnace questions

[mithesaint]

I've been burning pellets for a year, and my 10-cpm has performed exactly how I expected it to in my 2400+ sq ft, well insulated, poorly sealed colonial house. My house is generally warmer, and I've saved a bucket load of money compared to propane.

I also have a constant, slightly annoying hum in the living room, worry about my little girls touching the stove, and have cold spots on the side of the house where the wind hits it, and cold spots up stairs. It's also not quite big enough for my house on the really cold, really windy days, which happens 2-3 times each year. 0 degrees is no problem. 15 degrees with a 30 mph wind is a problem, and that's when the propane kicks on.

I think a pellet furnace would solve most of these annoyances. My "local" stove shop has two furnaces on clearance. The first is a US Stove 6500, but from what I've read these are unreliable pellet hogs with poor customer service. The second is a St. Croix SCF -050 for $1500. From what I've read on these, it's a nice furnace, but probably not enough BTU to replace the CPM as the primary heat source. I would still have to burn propane on the coldest days. If I add a pellet furnace, I'll probably sell the CPM.

I watch craigslist, but there's not a lot of furnaces showing up in NW OH, and most of the brands I've never heard of.

Thoughts?

 

[Ksuwildcat2010]

The only thing I will say is that if you add a furnace and it's not big enough it will be hard to try and run it and your propane furnace since they will tied in together through the ducts. So if it's too cold you will probably have to shut off the pellet furnace and switch to your propane furnace.

 

[FyreBug]

The only 2 furnace worthy of connecting to ductwork in the market is the PSG Alterna and the Harman PF100. However, you'd be in the $5K to $6K range.

You could also look at Drolet ECO-65 which allows you to create your own ductwork and distribute the heat. 65,000 BTU with a 465CFM blower. Northern Tool has it on special at $2,500

 

[smwilliamson]

If you have a forced hot air system already, perhaps you could utilize the recycle feature within your thermostat to distribute the air around inside the home to the "cold spots". This will solve one problem, but that hum and the hot stove will still exist.
I service a lot of furnaces...not as many as stoves...but quite a few. The most popular I come across are the Magnum 6500 and 7500, St. Croix SCF-50 (the revolution furnace is the same thing but has an agitator for multi-fuel), and the Harman PF100. All of these systems work well but a greatly over sized for what they need to do.

 

[hossthehermit]

The only 2 furnace worthy of connecting to ductwork in the market is the PSG Alterna and the Harman PF100. However, you'd be in the $5K to $6K range.

You could also look at Drolet ECO-65 which allows you to create your own ductwork and distribute the heat. 65,000 BTU with a 465CFM blower. Northern Tool has it on special at $2,500

Obviously spoken by someone with no experience with the St. Croix Revolution ..... but, then, ya don't need experience to bad-mouth a product, I suppose...... people do it all the time

 

[mithesaint]

The only thing I will say is that if you add a furnace and it's not big enough it will be hard to try and run it and your propane furnace since they will tied in together through the ducts. So if it's too cold you will probably have to shut off the pellet furnace and switch to your propane furnace.

Pardon my ignorance, but I can only run one at a time if they're hooked into the same system? That's probably a really stupid question, fyi. If I can only run one at a time, the St Croix is probably too small then.

 

[Ksuwildcat2010]

Well it's just difficult to run both because if it's not set up very well the blower of one can just push air through the other furnace. I don't know of anyone who has accomplished having an add-on furnace working with another furnace, you almost always have to install back-draft dampers on each furnace so that you can shut air off to them when the other runs. I have an add-on furnace and don't even try running both at once.

 

[ekarlis]

Anumber of years ago Lennox did a study on running the furance fan all the time. They called
it CAC (constant air circulation) & suggested that the fan should be run @ 32F & lower &
80F & higher. I find that with my Enviro Maxx that I have to run myfan when it's 20F or lower.
The new variable speed blowers are less costly to run & I recommend that you run them all the
time. Check your furance filter once a month. Hope this helps.

 

[exoilburner]

I am no HVAC expert but it seems to me that if the distribution fan in one furnace is strong enough you could remove the fan in the other furnace and connect the ducts to the furnaces in a series type of install using only a single distribution fan.

This way if you wanted to run both furnaces at the same time the air would flow would flow thru the living space and not be partially bypassed thru the other furnace connected in a paralell duct install with out dampers. I would suggest checking with a qualified HVAC tech. to see if this could be done.

 

[Ksuwildcat2010]

The only problem with the above scenario is I've heard you really shouldn't run the hot air from one furnace through another, I've heard it can damage the other furnace from getting too hot. I'm not sure, just what I've heard.

 

[FyreBug]

Obviously spoken by someone with no experience with the St. Croix Revolution ..... but, then, ya don't need experience to bad-mouth a product, I suppose...... people do it all the time

I did not bad mouth St Croix since they make fine products.

However, I cover most of the US Midwest all the way to NY State it is obviously a product not on 'top of mind' of most dealers and myself since I personally wasnt aware of it.

It is also interesting the owners of St Croix - Even Temp also distribute the PSG Alterna pellet furnace

 

[FyreBug]

Ideally, the maximum BTU input of the existing oil, gas, or electric furnace should be equal or higher than the maximum BTU input of the wood furnace. It is mandatory to respect minimum clearances between the ductwork and combustible material as if the wood/pellet furnace was installed as a standalone unit.

A back-flow damper should be installed in the plenum. The back-flow damper assures that when either unit is operated by itself, the hot air will flow into the home, and not back through the other furnace. Depending on your installation (see examples below), a back-flow damper may be required in each
plenum.

 

[jtakeman]

The Revolution, SCF-050 and Fahrenheit 50F are getting more inquires these days. They are furnaces(able to duct in return air) and their prices are affordable.

Where the Drolet ECO-65/Enerzone Euromax, Enviro Maxx/Maxx M, and Magnum 6500/7500(there may be more out there!) are just pellet stoves that allow ducting to be installed. They are not furnaces IMHO without return air provisions!

 

[FyreBug]

The Revolution, SCF-050 and Fahrenheit 50F are getting more inquires these days. They are furnaces(able to duct in return air) and their prices are affordable.

Where the Drolet ECO-65/Enerzone Euromax, Enviro Maxx/Maxx M, and Magnum 6500/7500(there may be more out there!) are just pellet stoves that allow ducting to be installed. They are not furnaces IMHO without return air provisions!

In order to qualify for being a furnace the unit must be 'certified' and approved for main duct work.

The Drolet , Enerzone, Enviro etc.. you mentioned are not allowed to be plumbed into a main ductwork. But they have their own small distribution system which makes them ideal for trailers, mobile homes, shop heaters etc...

 

[jtakeman]

The Revolution, SCF-050 and Fahrenheit 50F are getting more inquires these days. They are furnaces(able to duct in return air) and their prices are affordable.

Where the Drolet ECO-65/Enerzone Euromax, Enviro Maxx/Maxx M, and Magnum 6500/7500(there may be more out there!) are just pellet stoves that allow ducting to be installed. They are not furnaces IMHO without return air provisions!

In order to qualify for being a furnace the unit must be 'certified' and approved for main duct work.

The Drolet , Enerzone, Enviro etc.. you mentioned are not allowed to be plumbed into a main ductwork. But they have their own small distribution system which makes them ideal for trailers, mobile homes, shop heaters etc...

I figured some might try to hook them to their furnace and wonder why they can't heat their home properly. Better to say something JIC.

 

[sinnian]

Pinnacle has been making pellet furnaces longer than anyone in North America: http://www.pinnaclestove.com/shop/gbu070-home-furnace/

 

[DexterDay]

I know of 2 Fahrenheit Endurance's that are at my Dealer in Oberlin Oh. One is a floor model and one is brand spankin new.

New model for less than $3,000 and floor model for $2,000 or under. If you want, I would be more than willing to give you there #? Or you could see mine in action? Or there's?

I bought mine used for $2,000. The floor model has been there heat source for 2 yrs. They heat a large area with it (3,600 sq ft?) It does a fantastic job (thats all they use) and they have a good relationship with the owner and lead engineer of Fahrenheit. Most dealers make you go through them. But I get permission from them to go direct for All Parts.

My 2 pennies.

 

[FyreBug]

Let me rephrase... There seems to be 2 pellet furnaces that are readily available to the general market in all of North America... It doesn't mean there aren't others out there.

Farenheit no doubt makes a fine unit. Rated at 50,000 BTU much like smaller stoves. Great for a smaller house. The two units mentioned initially are 'whole house' furnace with BTU in excess of 100,000 and ability to add an electric element.

The original OP wanted a furnace for his large poorly insulated home.

 

[Ironhorse74]

Even Temp is a distributor. Along with manufactoring St Croix they also distribute at least one other pellet stove brand besides PSG. PSG has never met a distributor they didn't like.