Had a Charmaster wood/oil since 2005. I got talked into switching to gas (propane) forced air furnace (supposedly more green and efficient) in 2018. 2 yrs later the entire furnace clogged up with tarry soot due to low pressure shut off not functioning. Had to replace it 6/2021, 2 new gas furnaces out of pocket, not covered by warranty or insurance. I never should have gotten rid of my Charmaster. Now I'm looking to add on a wood furnace and connect to existing ductwork and original chimney. I can't decide whther to purchase a Royall 8150 or a Fire Chief? Does anyone have any advice or experience with these? Thanks for any helpful advice.
Help with add on wood furnace
- Thread starter RHeller1
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sloeffle
Minister of Fire
I wouldn't buy either ( especially the FireChief - see the pinned thread ). Kuuma, Heat Commander, or the new Caddy Advanced are the way to fly. You'll need dry wood for all of the furnaces that I've listed. The Heat Commander is the best bang for your dollar for sure.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
The Royall is just another smoke dragon.....built right here where I work in Reedsburg, WI. I am about 5 minutes away from them as I type this.
Not sure how they can be legally sold.....?
www.royallfurnace.com
Not sure how they can be legally sold.....?
Royall 8150 NS Indoor Wood Furnace - 150,000 btu
Royall 8150 Indoor Wood Furnace, 150,000 btu. From The Leading Manufacturer Of Indoor Wood Furnaces.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
The Royall is just another smoke dragon.....built right here where I work in Reedsburg, WI. I am about 5 minutes away from them as I type this.
Not sure how they can be legally sold.....?
Royall 8150 NS Indoor Wood Furnace - 150,000 btu
Royall 8150 Indoor Wood Furnace, 150,000 btu. From The Leading Manufacturer Of Indoor Wood Furnaces.
Yeah if that's the case then they aren't legal...and wouldn't qualify for the 26%tax credit...
I was under the impression that only "coal" advertised furnaces can be legally sold. If it's wood it has to be EPA 2020 certified and wood/coal wasn't legal to sell.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
About you selling them...or you mean them selling non certified units after May 2020?
Not sure where Kerhonkson is but Thermocontrol, formerly known as National Stove Works, is in Central Bridge. Mine was built in the 70s and it gasifies. It's a great furnace. It has the hot air plenum around the stove for the forced air system and it also has 2 water coils in it.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
Selling them after May of 2020 and if they had any plans to clean them up to be certified. IIRC, I was pretty much just poking at them. LOL
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
sloeffle
Minister of Fire
That was my thought too after I was did some googling on the furnace after the OP asked about it.
Thank much for the replies. I was looking at the Heat Commander but how do I get around needing the plenum and all of the duct outlets? I only need/want an addon that has 1 outlet and 1 return air duct to connect to my existing ductwork. I would love to get the Drolet but is it customizable for my setup? I really miss the Charmaster wood/oil I had removed.
Kerhonkson is in NY, I'm in a 2800 sq ft log home on the side of the Shawangunk Ridge "The Gunks" facing the Catskill Mountains....... I need an addon wood furnace that I can connect ductwork (1 inlet, 1 outlet, and chimney) to existing ductwork.
I was asking where it was in NY. Central Bridge is NW of the Catskills. North and a bit west of town of Schoharie. You may want to look these folks up and see what they have to offer you. I have not looked at any current pricing. I did look at there website when checking for some parts on mine. Parts are still available for a 40 yr old unit .....
Keep us posted.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
One large duct(s)...has to be something like 180 sq inches (so 10" x 18" for example)...and something like 10-20% more for the return side.
Or maybe (2) medium size ducts if that works better (would think you could probably do one large return?)
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Thank you for giving me a heads up on the Thermo-Control https://www.nationalstoveworks.com/product/warm-air-furnace
it appears to be exactly what I'm looking for. I filled out their contact form and I'm awaiting info. Main question is what if I don't use the hot water coils? Or for that matter how difficult is it to hook up to an electric hot water heater? I had one in my Charmaster wood/oil and didn't use the coil so eventually it burned/rotted through.......
Or maybe I could block off all plenum outlets except for 2 and connect them to the hot air supply 1st floor and 2nd floor?
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
No, you are required to use at least 6 (IIRC) or more...or the equivalent size duct(s)...like I said before, somewhere in the 180 sq inch range total I think.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
You could do (2) large lines...like (1) 10" and (1) 12" (round) which gives you 191 sq inches of duct capacity...or two rectangulars would be a little more compact and still give the capacity that is needed...
I don't want to badmouth a company or product I have no experience with. However, that website falsely claims that indoor boilers and furnaces are not EPA regulated. I found very little info on the furnace you mention, I would seriously doubt their claims of it being a "downdraft gassifier".
Why not purchase a Heat Commander (legally) for the same money and cash in on the tax credit?
Heat Commander would be great but I don't have the overhead clearance for the plenum on that furnace nor do I have a need for 8 hot air supply ducts. If it had a simple outlet on the top or the rear it would work for me, therefore I am forced to look at other manufacturers. Unless Drolet could make a customization for an addon setup rather than the full plenum which looks like it's for a primary heat source.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
There's no small wood furnaces that use one or two pipes as the supply made anymore...if you want to find a used Englander 28-3500, 28-4000, or the original Drolet Tundra 1st gen, those use one or two 8" pipes as supplies...but beware that the 1st gen Tundras had cracking issues on the front (that supposedly could be fixed...I had one that was cracked and I had it fixed before selling it, the last I heard it was still fine...many people have continued to run them cracked with no issues too...)
Drolet said that part of the reason the T1 cracked was overheating from lack of being able to flow enough air and the second gen went to using a supply plenum with (6) 6" pipes minimum, instead of just (2) 8" pipes...and that almost doubled the minimum supply pipe flow capacity too...they went from ~100 sq in to something like 170 sq in
Drolet said that part of the reason the T1 cracked was overheating from lack of being able to flow enough air and the second gen went to using a supply plenum with (6) 6" pipes minimum, instead of just (2) 8" pipes...and that almost doubled the minimum supply pipe flow capacity too...they went from ~100 sq in to something like 170 sq in
Just modify the plenum it comes with. I simply cut 8 inches off the rear panel and attached an 8x22 supply duct. In my experience it was easy to modify. You could easily take a drawing to an HVAC supply house and have a plenum custom made for a couple hundred bucks.
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