Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...

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The timers are just basically the ole spring wound bathroom fan timer/switch...at least that's what I used
 
Did you make a cold air trap for your fresh air pipe? That usually works out pretty well in my experience. Cold air only pulled in as the furnace uses it.
I think preheating the fresh air through the "plenum" will result in cooling the heated air to the house...resulting in a net loss.
 
Did you make a cold air trap for your fresh air pipe? That usually works out pretty well in my experience. Cold air only pulled in as the furnace uses it.
I think preheating the fresh air through the "plenum" will result in cooling the heated air to the house...resulting in a net loss.
If a window cracked open is considered an acceptable trap than no.;lol I agree with the heat loss but than again I would still be heating the air entering that room which by the way is a 1008 sq/ft open floor so would that really be a loss? Maybe I would be wasting my time messing with something so minor;? By the way that same air feeds not only the Tundra but a gas water heater, cloths dryer and bathroom vent.
 
Window open...ha! Yeah, you'll have better results building a proper cold air intake then...as far as the basement getting cold.
 
guys has anyone done the therma coil or any hot water mods im saving so much with heating now im tempted to heat my water but not sure if its worth it.

i want a temp controller but confused about it. i saw the link for them which ones are you guys using and how are they all set up wiring temps etc.
 
If it will help you figure if it's worth it or not - I figured my DHW load is about 1/30 of my heating load.

And when not heating, it runs about $20-25/mo to heat our DHW via conventional electric hot water tank, with $0.18/kwh electricity.
 
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Just haven't seen to many EPA stoves with this mod wondering if there's a reason
Too much heat loss if you put the coil in the firebox, (screws with secondary combustion)(plus ultra high temps on the coil) and temps are too low to make it work worth a darn externally.
I'm like Maple1, electric heater costs me $20 mo to run...not worth foolin with
 
temps are too low to make it work worth a darn externally.

Kuuma's have an optional water coil which can be bolted to the rear of the firebox on the outside. I have one and use an old 40gallon electric water heater as a tempering tank for my LP water heater. Our LP water heater doesn't run nearly as often in winter as it does in summer and the supply feeding the LP water heater is always nice & warm. There are only two people in our household too, so that also helps.
 
Kuuma's have an optional water coil which can be bolted to the rear of the firebox on the outside. I have one and use an old 40gallon electric water heater as a tempering tank for my LP water heater. Our LP water heater doesn't run nearly as often in winter as it does in summer and the supply feeding the LP water heater is always nice & warm. There are only two people in our household too, so that also helps.
Yeah the Kuuma was designed for this option...the Tundra not so much. I suppose you could figure out a way to pull some heat off the unit, but IMO that would be a lot of trial and error cutting and welding to get the best spot worked out...and then you are still stealing heat that could be put into the house (which is the primary reason for the furnace) I know for me, the Tundra isn't any too big for my house, so I don't want to put additional "load" on it. If Tundra is plenty big for your house, and you don't mind some trial and error testing, then I'm sure someone could come up with something that works at least to some degree.
If I do anything to save money on DHW, I may look at replacing my water heater with a HPWH once mine goes out...the verdict is still out if it would be worth the extra money or not (for me)
 
Yeah the Kuuma was designed for this option...the Tundra not so much. I suppose you could figure out a way to pull some heat off the unit, but IMO that would be a lot of trial and error cutting and welding to get the best spot worked out...and then you are still stealing heat that could be put into the house (which is the primary reason for the furnace) I know for me, the Tundra isn't any too big for my house, so I don't want to put additional "load" on it. If Tundra is plenty big for your house, and you don't mind some trial and error testing, then I'm sure someone could come up with something that works at least to some degree.
If I do anything to save money on DHW, I may look at replacing my water heater with a HPWH once mine goes out...the verdict is still out if it would be worth the extra money or not (for me)

Of course its worth it. Do it before all the rebates (state, fed, utility) are gone. I saved $1,200 to $1,500 a year with one. About $700 now that oil is so cheap.
 
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I've not found any rebates around heres on 'em
 
Of course its worth it. Do it before all the rebates (state, fed, utility) are gone. I saved $1,200 to $1,500 a year with one. About $700 now that oil is so cheap.

jeez, ya know, you could save even more $$$ if you'd get rid of all the women in your house using all that hot water. :p
 
I have my temp controller installed - finished it last night. I installed it and the timer exactly like @3fordasho, including the configuration settings.

It seems like my stove after the initial burn, will bounce between the 255 Low Alarm Limit and the 355 AHYS Alarm Hysteresis somewhat frequently. When it hits the 355 and closes the inlet damper,it seems like only a minute goes by before it hits the alarm again and opens the front damper. I obviously set the AHYS correctly to 100. This is only 3.5 hours into a load of 4 4-5" ash splits- wood is really coaled now.
 
Boy, that's weird...mine doesn't drop anywhere near that quick. But I have my low alarm turned off (well, set to 60*) so that it doesn't come into play...I found it works better for me to just let the tstat open the damper at the end of the load to burn coals down/maintain house temp.
 
I gotcha.. That makes sense too. I'm not using a thermostat.
 
No rebates in backwards Ohio.

We save around $40 a month over a standard electric hot water heater with our HPHW.
Even if there were a rebate through the power company, we wouldn't get it. Our community owns its own (basically non profit) electric power plant and they don't seem to participate in that stuff...we do have reasonable electric costs though...at least for now.
 
Our water heater went out, and I couldn't wait to order a HPWH. I wanted one, maybe someday, but because we belong to a Co-op, they will give us a 100 dollar credit for a new water heater over 90% efficient.
 
Your temp settings may have to be adjusted for your particular set up. A 255F low alarm setting works great on my first tundra. The 2nd tundra I installed needs a 215F setting. Different chimney set ups, temp probe placement and other things means each particular install may have different settings.

I like the low alarm to come on at a flue temp when active secondary burn has died out but there is still un-burnt wood that should be off-gassing - of course this temp will vary but watching the flue temps you will get an idea.


I have my temp controller installed - finished it last night. I installed it and the timer exactly like @3fordasho, including the configuration settings.

It seems like my stove after the initial burn, will bounce between the 255 Low Alarm Limit and the 355 AHYS Alarm Hysteresis somewhat frequently. When it hits the 355 and closes the inlet damper,it seems like only a minute goes by before it hits the alarm again and opens the front damper. I obviously set the AHYS correctly to 100. This is only 3.5 hours into a load of 4 4-5" ash splits- wood is really coaled now.
 
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Even if there were a rebate through the power company, we wouldn't get it. Our community owns its own (basically non profit) electric power plant and they don't seem to participate in that stuff...we do have reasonable electric costs though...at least for now.

$300 govt one is still there, I believe this is the last year of that.
 
Of course its worth it. Do it before all the rebates (state, fed, utility) are gone. I saved $1,200 to $1,500 a year with one. About $700 now that oil is so cheap.

Man you must go through a lot of hot water, that sounds steep. That sounds like 300-400 gallons per winter just for hot water--that's a couple cords of good firewood just for water. That means your yearly hot water demand is almost the same as your winter house heating load (assuming 4-5 cords to heat the house without hot water).

I have 2 electric water heaters with a combined winter monthly cost of about $30-$40/month. I burn in earnest for 4-5 months per year. Even if I had a hot water coil my savings are about $150/year. I think about doing it sometimes, but not enough payback compared to all the other projects I need to do.