Drolet Heat Commander UL Label

[Citationls]

Hello everyone, I've been doing a lot of research on the Drolet Heat Commander through the forums on this website and I would love to get one. I currently have an old jensen wood furnace in my basement with a single 3 inch duct attached to it going to the first floor. It works great but I need to replace it due to insurance among other reasons. I've called Drolet and they said the heat commander is indeed UL listed/approved but they said they are basing that off of the info in the instructional manual. I looked in thr manual and don't see anywhere that directly states that the heat commander is UL listed.

Does anyone have a picture of their heat commander label plate so I can verify that it does say that it is UL certified on the furnace itself? I would hate to purchase the unit only to find out it won't be covered by my insurance company due to not having a label on it saying it is UL listed. Thanks in advance!
Also, I've determined the duct sizes I need to properly heat my house using the heat commander. The new furnace will be installed in the basement and will have ducts running to the first floor. First floor is about 1200sq ft but I only want to heat 900sq feet of it. Doors to the 300sq foot dining room will remained closed since I never use the room and it is very costly to heat since it is above the garage and has 3 exterior walls.
The second floor is about 900sq feet as well but I like it to remain 5 to 10 degrees cooler on that floor compared to the first floor so I will not be installing ducts to that floor. I currently have baseboard heat as my main heat source and never use it on the second floor since the heat rises from the first floor when the first floor is set at 66 degrees.
My current wood furnace gets my basement too hot and I have no desire to heat my basement. I am assuming the heat commander will heat my basement significantly less due to radiating less heat and sending more heat through ducting? Also, does anyone know why drolet insisted on using multiple ducts? I plan on using one main duct with three 7 inch secondary takeoffs for one half of the first floor. The other half will have 3 individual 7 inch takeoffs. This should put me at correct cfm for the fan supplied with the drolet and I will be within the surface area range for ducts coming off of the plenum.
If anyone sees any major problems with my plan please feel free to chime in. Thanks in advance

 

[LogCabinFever]

Welcome fellow Jensen owner. I have a similar set up, although I have squared ductwork coming from my Jensen.

Sounds like you’re on the right track. If you look on the forum, people have used square ductwork coming off the heat commander, although Drolet doesn’t recommend it. I’m not totally sure why that is, but just keep in mind your minimum square inches. It says it in the manual, but off the top of my head I think it’s around 170 in.².

As far as the basement, my basement is very warm as well. Those old Jensens radiated quite a bit of heat. If your basement is finished, then I would recommend perhaps running a supply and maybe an additional return in the basement for the new furnace. Everything I’ve read, says that the newer furnaces don’t radiate that much heat. So you would go from excessive warmth in the basement to underheated. I’m sure others will correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[LogCabinFever]

Welcome fellow Jensen owner. I have a similar set up, although I have squared ductwork coming from my Jensen.

Sounds like you’re on the right track. If you look on the forum, people have used square ductwork coming off the heat commander, although Drolet doesn’t recommend it. I’m not totally sure why that is, but just keep in mind your minimum square inches.

 

[brenndatomu]

It says it in the manual, but off the top of my head I think it’s around 170 in.².

Yes, the 170 total (or more) is the key.

Everything I’ve read, says that the newer furnaces don’t radiate that much heat.

It radiates plenty off the front, the rest, not so much...someone here put radiant reflective glass in their Drolet furnace and claimed a big reduction in radiant heat off the front.

 

[trx250r87]

I might be able to get a photo of my UL label tonight. I'm running three 8" ducts on my Heat Commander and it works well.

Here are a couple thermo photos of my old Tundra vs Heat Commander...

Eric

 

[Citationls]

I noticed other people have used Square ducts, which I will most likely do for some of the ducts. It would be nice to know why drolet doesn't recommend it though. I'll have 230 Sq inches so should be in between the 170 minimum and 280 maximum while still leaving room to add on another duct if needed. Basement is unfinished so I'm fine with it being cool, but it will be nice to have the option to ad a heating duct down there if need be. From the looks of the thermal pics the heat commander doesn't put off much radiant heat. Good to know most of the heat is being utransfered through ducting. Thanks for the responses.

 

[begreen]

The use of the round ducts may be because the target market is DIY. Not many have access to a sheet metal fabrication shop to build a correctly sized plenum. 8" round is easier to locate frequently.