Clayton Wood Furnace

[closedknuckle]

Anyone oyt there got a Clayton wood furnace. They sell them here at Fleet Farm and was wondering what everyone thought of them?
Thank you

 

[CrappieKeith]

Claytons are your pretty standard run of the mill lower end furnace.
There is no after burn making them very inefficient. What you may want to do is compare them against Firechief,Woodchuck and our Jack line of furnaces.
We are at www.yukon-eagle.com

A simple comparison is to look at the btu output then look at the weight. A better built furnace will weigh more due to thicker steels,more surface exchange area
more dense bricks which aide in the heat retention of the thermal mass. After burns burn smoke which nets out 30-40% of the available heat that Claytons do not make.
Their warranties are short to boot.

We sell factory direct cutting out the retailers markup as well plus there is no sales tax making these Yukon very competitive in pricing.
Tech service is also free and easy to obtain by calling our toll free number 800-358-0060.
We are also made right here in the US...Palisade,Mn. to be exact.

 

[lexybird]

I have heard they cheapened them up over the last few years to sell i nthe box stores and the burn times are not as good as the old generation versions . the btu rating of a wood furnace is completely subjective to the fuel and how its ran ,it can be grossly wrong regardless of the manufacturer ,forced induction drafting will use more wood than a natural draft ,might wanna look into a PSG Caddy,they are super efficent and they sell them here in nw pa. for around $2,200

 

[CrappieKeith]

Just a note....you can control how much air goes into the draft blower.Is that the only thing to look at...not in a million.
PSG is made in Canada theres the mark up and the tax plus other fees added in.
I'll stop here...but if someone wants to discuss all of the pros/cons and whatever I'm available.

I will say that to just look at what it sells for as the buying indicator...someone's gonna loose here and it won't be the furnace factory or dealer.

 

[smokinj]

clayton are pretty good i have the 1557m crappiekeith right on the wood usage(8-12cords a year). Us stove 1950 a real nice unit but has been discounted not sure why.
crappie when its time for a new one Iam coming your way!

 

[begreen]

Try asking this question in the boiler room for better user's response.

 

[blades]

Got a Clayton last year from farm and fleet ( dollars were short ) max burn time 3 hours or so of usable heat. went through 5 or so cords, oak and Hickory. efficiency is not its high point, that said it cut the heat cost in half or better over the previous year. 2000 sq ft ranch. For reference thermostat for gas unit set at 60 unless I am home. I used the gas unit to bump up the temp to comfort level and then I could maintain with the Clayton. Blower units not strong enough for my place. (Chino made open frame motors suck a fair amount of power). Also very difficult to control burn. Their auto damper on the feed door is less than adaquate. When the unit gets to operating temp it is useless, operated by a by-metalic spring and chain arrangement, also the chain connection would sometimes jam up the system. the lower door damper does not shut completly either. It is very easy to have a out of control burn. You have to really stay on top of it to make it useful. I would never recommend these units to any one who has little or no experience in wood burning for heat. DAKA unit in the same price range isn't any better (friend has one ).
Spring for the better two stage units you will be way ahead in the long run.
There are other threads on these units if you do a search.

 

[ikessky]

I bought a Daka because it was going to be my first year burning and I didn't know how much I would like it. I figured it would be a cheap investment and if I liked it, I could upgrade later on. Knowing then what I know now, I would spend the extra money and get a unit with secondary burn, like a Yukon or a PSG. I've been able to get some good burn times out of the Daka (6-7 hours) and I've been able to get some decent heat from it, but after reading everything on here, secondary burn is really where it's at. More heat, less wood, less creosote. Keith, you better still be there in a couple years when I'm looking for a new furnace!

 

[summit]

basic wood furnace... you will probably run into some smoke back calls on it.. we sold about 6-7 over 2003-2003...

 

[CrappieKeith]

I bought a Daka because it was going to be my first year burning and I didn't know how much I would like it. I figured it would be a cheap investment and if I liked it, I could upgrade later on. Knowing then what I know now, I would spend the extra money and get a unit with secondary burn, like a Yukon or a PSG. I've been able to get some good burn times out of the Daka (6-7 hours) and I've been able to get some decent heat from it, but after reading everything on here, secondary burn is really where it's at. More heat, less wood, less creosote. Keith, you better still be there in a couple years when I'm looking for a new furnace!

Well I've been here 11 years going on 20 so unless my guide service/jig business go crazy I'll still be here offering up what I can to help those in need of stopping the bleeding on their high heating fuel costs.

 

[johnsopi]

I have a Big Jack /Yucon. It been great Had it 4 winter. The only thing that gone wrong on it see the grate is all twisted up.
And the Thermostat that come with the unit is cheesey and I replace that.

 

[SmokeyStover]

The older Clayton furnaces, before they were bought out by US Stove were very good to great units. Closest I've seen lately to what the old Claytons used to be are made by Energy King.

(broken link removed to http://www.energyking.com/wood-coal_furnaces.htm)

 

[CrappieKeith]

I have a Big Jack /Yucon. It been great Had it 4 winter. The only thing that gone wrong on it see the grate is all twisted up.
And the Thermostat that come with the unit is cheesey and I replace that.

We have gone to a much better Honeywell digital stat and if your grates are twisting ....there is too much heat trapping against them.
You should dump eashes earlier or do not leave your ash door open when firing your furnace.