Can you burn in an Englander 28-3500 add-on furnace while the power is out?

[M1sterM]

I'd hate to overfire one if the air isn't moving. The manual has nothing to say on the matter. Anyone know?

 

[smokinj]

I'd hate to overfire one if the air isn't moving. The manual has nothing to say on the matter. Anyone know?

if the power goes out shut down the damper

 

[smokinj]

always keep the air inlet no more than a 1/4 open when you are not next to or you can get to the stove ever few min. Differnt wood types will make a differents

 

[stoveguy2esw]

yes, you can burn the unit during a power outage. you should burn sensibly and understand that it will not be able to provide the normal performance without the blower moving heat through the ducts , but running with no blower doesnt really increase the odds of overfiring as long as its burned in a normal way.

 

[begreen]

If the system is well designed there may be some gravity heating still taking place. However, this is a good reason for being conservative with trunk duct clearances, especially around the wood furnace connection. The supply duct will likely be seeing much higher than normal temps without the blower running.

 

[webbie]

Yes, duct clearances are a BIG problem. I would guess that a large % of installed wood furnaces (any brand) do not have the specified clearances. If this is the case, then using the unit in a power failure can overheat combustibles.

My advice? Check out the duct clearances carefully - in a power failure, open up the return on the wood furnace (possible on some models), so that maximum convection air flow can occur - maybe even install a TEE or other opening on the feed duct to let excess heat into the basement (which will help to heat the house) - and don't run the unit high!

If in doubt, monitor the temps of the ductwork a few feet upstream - under 250 degrees on the sheet metal should be fine....although it might affect air conditioning coils (someone else will have to answer that one!)

 

[stoveguy2esw]

If in doubt, monitor the temps of the ductwork a few feet upstream - under 250 degrees on the sheet metal should be fine....although it might affect air conditioning coils (someone else will have to answer that one!)

craig raises a good point , ac coils dont like to get heated up a whole lot. usually i tell folks when they ask about installs that they check with their hvac installer first to ensure that they will install in a way that doesnt stress the "a coil" when heating with the add on.