Fawcett wood burning furnace

[djk555]

I bought a home with a combination electric/wood burning forced air furnace in the two story section of the home and another electric only forced air furnace in the rancher section. The combo unit is a Fawcett - Duo-Matic/Olsen unit. It seems well maintained with a new SS liner in a masonry chimney. The original owner had added a hot air duct between the combo unit and the second forced air electric furnace. It is not very efficient as it runs through an unheated space before getting to the furnace. A couple of questions on this set-up. Is anyone using a similar arrangement? Ha anyone tried to install a couple of heat exchangers similar to those used in outdoor wood burners connected by small diameter glycol filled tubes to transfer heat from the wood burner to the electric forced air furnace? Any other comments on this arrangement will be appreciated.
David

 

[Gooserider]

I bought a home with a combination electric/wood burning forced air furnace in the two story section of the home and another electric only forced air furnace in the rancher section. The combo unit is a Fawcett - Duo-Matic/Olsen unit. It seems well maintained with a new SS liner in a masonry chimney. The original owner had added a hot air duct between the combo unit and the second forced air electric furnace. It is not very efficient as it runs through an unheated space before getting to the furnace. A couple of questions on this set-up. Is anyone using a similar arrangement? Ha anyone tried to install a couple of heat exchangers similar to those used in outdoor wood burners connected by small diameter glycol filled tubes to transfer heat from the wood burner to the electric forced air furnace? Any other comments on this arrangement will be appreciated.
David

HX's have inherent losses, you lose a certain amount every time you go through one... I'd suspect you would probably be best off if you can just insulate the heck out of the existing duct (after making sure it is very tightly sealed...)

Gooserider