All right guys, I need to start sticking some money away for when I buy a new wood furnace in the next couple of years. I also need to start getting my ducks in a row so that I buy the correct one! I'm currently running a Daka, which throws off some decent heat, but it does not have any sort of reburn. I have a typical ranch house with ~1000 square feet on the main level and another ~1000 of finished basement that I heat. The Daka advertises something like 50K-105K BTUs and typically keeps the house too warm when I load it up and go for a long burn. I'm thinking something like the Mini-Caddy or Yukon BJ90 would be more of what I need. Now for the real questions.
1) How clean do these furnaces typically run? With my current smoke dragon, every time I reload, I get the Rutland magnetic temp gauge up to 400-500 and don't damper the fire down until the wood is completely charred with deep lines and checks. After burning from November to April of last year, I got maybe 2-2.5 gallons of crud out of the liner (mostly fluffy stuff and soot). What can I expect from an EPA furnace? I really get tired of worrying that my flue is getting dirty and thinking that I should sweep it every other month. The wood will more than likely be 1-2 years old, so dry fuel isn't an issue. If I'm understanding the system correctly, the reburn is only happening when the forced draft is running. When it's off, isn't the furnace still producing nasties in idle mode then?
2) With my current way of burning, I will usually shut the bi-metal damper down to 1/3 or 1/4 for my overnight burns. I can usually get 6-7 hour burns doing this, but am not left with many coals to relight splits from. What kind of burn times can I safely expect with a new furnace and still have a relatively clean flue? I am typically throwing wood in around 4 times a day. Maybe I'm burning it too hot, but I'm always nervous about creosote.
3) If I were to leave the house for an extended period of time and the fire went out, what would turn off the combustion fan? I use my NG furnace for back up, but I have the t-stat set at 62 and usually use the wood stove to keep the house at 72+.
I'm sure I'll have more questions as I think about things, but these are the ones that are really pressing right now.
1) How clean do these furnaces typically run? With my current smoke dragon, every time I reload, I get the Rutland magnetic temp gauge up to 400-500 and don't damper the fire down until the wood is completely charred with deep lines and checks. After burning from November to April of last year, I got maybe 2-2.5 gallons of crud out of the liner (mostly fluffy stuff and soot). What can I expect from an EPA furnace? I really get tired of worrying that my flue is getting dirty and thinking that I should sweep it every other month. The wood will more than likely be 1-2 years old, so dry fuel isn't an issue. If I'm understanding the system correctly, the reburn is only happening when the forced draft is running. When it's off, isn't the furnace still producing nasties in idle mode then?
2) With my current way of burning, I will usually shut the bi-metal damper down to 1/3 or 1/4 for my overnight burns. I can usually get 6-7 hour burns doing this, but am not left with many coals to relight splits from. What kind of burn times can I safely expect with a new furnace and still have a relatively clean flue? I am typically throwing wood in around 4 times a day. Maybe I'm burning it too hot, but I'm always nervous about creosote.
3) If I were to leave the house for an extended period of time and the fire went out, what would turn off the combustion fan? I use my NG furnace for back up, but I have the t-stat set at 62 and usually use the wood stove to keep the house at 72+.
I'm sure I'll have more questions as I think about things, but these are the ones that are really pressing right now.
