Completely new to wood furnaces and need serious help

[adams014]

Hi all, we purchased a house this past fall and it has a Longwood wood furnace and an electric furnace. Due to the overcrowded nature of the location surrounding the furnace (that's the nice way of saying that there's too much crap in the basement) we were not able to put it to use. However, all of the stuff will soon be moved and we'd like to utilize our wood furnace.

The previous owners did not use it, but the owners before them did. This has probably been 10+ years ago - give or take.

As I've read this morning (over and over and over and over...), the Longwood company is no longer in business. Which means I could use some serious tips on how to use this thing and who to call to make sure it's functioning properly so I don't burn down our house. Would a normal heating/cooling dude be able to help me?

Our heating bills this past winter were not horrible, but it'd be nice to reduce them as much as possible.

I've got experience with fireplaces, but did not even know wood furnaces existed until we purchased this house.

So, if anyone has any tips, I would be EXTREMELY grateful.

Thank you!!
Chanda

 

[Eric Johnson]

Welcome to the Boiler Room, Chanda. Always nice to have another furnace owner on the board.

The most important thing, right off the bat, is the condition of the chimney. It needs to be clean, it needs to have only one appliance (the furnace) hooked up to it, and it has to be in good condition (i.e., lined with a clay or stainless steel liner in good condition). Your best bet for assuring all of that is a chimney sweep, though we could probably walk you through it without too much trouble if you prefer the DIY approach.

Most heating pros aren't going to be much help with any wood-fired appliance. If you go the professional sweep route, I'd try to find one who is willing to look over the furnace and give you some pointers and/or advice as part of his visit. And, as I suggested earlier, we could probably give it a shot from here, though I think the competent sweep approach is probably a really good place to start. We can fine-tune your setup from there if it gets the thumbs up from a knowledgeable person on the ground.

Look in the Yellow Pages for "chimney sweep" or "chimney maintenance" companies. Or ask someone in your area for recommendations.

 

[adams014]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the info!

Looked in the trusty yellow pages.... funny, there's only one guy in the area that cleans chimneys. Oofta... he either put everyone out of business because he's just soooo darned good, or everyone cleans their own chimneys because he sucks! LOL

As for the chimney... it's a metal pipe - not insulated in the basement, garage, or roof. Not even a flue cover (is that the correct term for the cap on the chimney on the roof? am I showing that I'm a female or what?? LOL). I'm assuming it's been that way the entire time, but the pipe looks nice and shiny (LOL). So, it could be new..... doubt they'd remove all the insulation, etc though. Our old house would have taken a TON of work to get to the bare a$$ chimney pipe.

I'm a DIYer when it's something I'm sure I can figure out... I'm not confident on cleaning the chimney properly (or operating a 20 some odd year old wood furnace on guesswork)... especially since any wrong doing could cause the house to burn down.

I can pretty much fix anything or do anything, but I draw the line at fire. ;-)

Can you (or anyone) tell me what that cool thing is that has holes through it and says "Magic Heat"? Is that a blower of some sort? Earlier this winter my children were messing with the thermostat for the wood furnace and actually turned it high enough to where I heard something in the basement trying to run (a fan or something) - could this be a bad sign, or a sign that it will still function?

Thanks again!
Chanda

 

[Eric Johnson]

The best thing you can do with the Magic Heat gizmo is to toss it in the trash. It's a misguided/misrepresented attempt to recover heat lost up the chimney. What it actually does is cool the exhaust to the point where you risk excessive creosote formation and a possible chimney fire.

Is there anything written on the chimney pipe, i.e., brand name, etc? It may be an insulated chimney. Usually the insulation is a layer of fiberglass sandwiched between two pieces of stainless steel. Hopefully that's what it is. It should be a "Class A" chimney, which means that it can withstand the heat produced in a chimney fire. A brand or model number will help us determine what it is and whether it is safe to use with your furnace.

 

[atlarge54]

Always a good idea to check with your homeowners insurance to see if it covers the woodburner in the home. Most will require an extra charge. One that didn't was Farm Bureau, but the install had to meet their specs. If it doesn't look like it would scare you buy a brush and clean your own. Farm Bureau insurance also required an annual chimney cleaning. What are your electric rates? Normally you can afford to buy wood and beat the cost of elec. heat.

 

[adams014]

This was a cold winter for this part of MO this year, and our electricity was running about $250/month (from November to February). I know wood isn't that expensive And, since we had that nasty ice storm, we have all kinds of wood we can chop up to use - free of charge! LOL

Not too concerned about the insurance - it's a fact of life.....


About that Magic Heat thing... what's it's purpose?

 

[Eric Johnson]

I edited my previous post with that information. As I said, it's a misguided attempt to recover some of the heat lost up the chimney. Unfortunately, you need that heat to keep it hot enough to keep creosote from forming in excessive amounts, especially near the top of the chimney where it pokes through the roof. Creosote is a fact of life with some woodburners, especially older models. That's what all the interest in the chimney is about.

 

[atlarge54]

This was a cold winter for this part of MO this year, and our electricity was running about $250/month (from November to February). I know wood isn't that expensive And, since we had that nasty ice storm, we have all kinds of wood we can chop up to use - free of charge! LOL

Not too concerned about the insurance - it's a fact of life.....


About that Magic Heat thing... what's it's purpose?

If your house burns down and you're not covered because of the woodburner you might be concerned. My homeowners policy clearly states NO WOODBURNER in the home. I have an outdoor woodburner and they don't care about it. Somewhere on your electric bill is a cost per kwh or divide total bill by number of kwh's to determine rate. Magic Heat is a heat exchanger, probably best to do as Mr. Johnson says.

 

[adams014]

If your house burns down and you're not covered because of the woodburner you might be concerned. My homeowners policy clearly states NO WOODBURNER in the home. I have an outdoor woodburner and they don't care about it. Somewhere on your electric bill is a cost per kwh or divide total bill by number of kwh's to determine rate. Magic Heat is a heat exchanger, probably best to do as Mr. Johnson says.

The reason I'm not concerned at this point in time is because the previous owner is still covering the insurance for the home and we have renters insurance to cover our stuff - he's had the same insurance since when he owned the house. When the time comes for us to get insurance, we'll do what we need to to make sure the house is covered with the furnace, I'm not worried - we'll find something. This isn't an immediate issue, we'll get to that bridge when it comes. I do understand what you are saying though.

I don't have our latest electricity bill.... So I'm not sure on that amount as of yet.

When I'm able to get at the chimney, I'll let you know what kind of pipe is there. There's so much stuff in the basement and the garage it's impossible to get near any of it. Mind you, it's not all our stuff. The garage is stuffed full of the previous owners "goodies". LOL

Thanks all!! You are all very helpful! I'm very happy I stumbled upon this forum!

Chanda

 

[Eric Johnson]

When you do, start a new thread entitled something like "Will this chimney work with my wood furnace?" thread in the Hearth Room. There's a lot more accumulated knowledge about chimneys there than here in the Boiler Room, if for no other reason than there are a lot more people. Once we know what you've got, we can address your furnace setup here.