Help with Furnace not heating house? New to this and am not sure where the issue is?

[mitch94]

Hi, so I am in desperate need of any help or advice people have. I have tried to find resources online and while some of my questions have been answered, the big problem I am having has not been solved and I am not sure who to ask or go to for advice.

I have a Fire Chief 500 and an Air Handler. I did not install these, I recently purchased the house and it came with them already installed.
Problem: House is not heating to correct temperatures. At all.
Let me preface this by saying I have never lived in a house before that had a wood burning furnace. Or an air handler. And I don't know anyone who knows about any of this. It has been a learning curve, and I don't understand the lingo well, but I have reached the point of drowning (or freezing since its a heater...) and any and all advice would be appreciated.

I'm not sure if it is an issue with the stove or the duct work, or something to do with the air handler (I have 0 experience with an air handler and can't really find much online about them. And at this point I'm not really sure why the house has one.) The Fire Chief will burn wood and the draft blower seems to be working correctly because I can hear it kick on periodically. But the duct that is connected to the top of the furnace (and should be where the hot air goes to heat the house?) doesn't heat up beyond the first foot of duct.

In multiple research attempts I have seem people talk about how hot the ducts can get, some even having thermometers on the ducts to monitor temperature. But I am not getting any heat to travel beyond the first foot and thus not heating the house. Wood burning furnaces seem to be more DY oriented, but could this potentially be something a professional could help with or am I on my own?

Is this a duct issue? Something with the furnace? Something to do with the air handler? I assume because the heat is not going further up the duct the house is not heating. I do want to note though, the furnace and the air handler are far away from each other - they are in different rooms - 15ft+ apart kind of spacing. I assume because the furnace needed to be installed close an exterior wall. I don't think it is an issue with the thermostat or the wiring there, that all seems to be communicating correctly.

If anyone has any advice on what to do or ideas for help I would very much appreciate it. I am at my wits end at this point. I don't know if calling a professional heater repair service would be at all useful since it is a wood burning furnace, but I don't know what I am doing when it comes duct work at all - very much outside my wheelhouse of knowledge and I don't want to get too far into something and get too far in over my head because I already am.

 

[Gearhead660]

Pics of the setup would be helpful. Should have some helpful folks coming along.

 

[laynes69]

I agree, you need pics. Could be as simple as a damper that's not closed, wet wood, etc.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yes, need much more info, and good pics so we can try to learn your system.
Since you say the plenum on gets warm a foot up it makes me think there is an anti backdraft damper that is closed...it may be manually operated, it may be manual...need pics, and more info.
Is there a big blower on the back of the FC500?
Normally there would be, and once the supply plenum (the large ductwork on top of the furnace) get warm enough there should be a switch there that senses the temp and it will kick that blower on, which would open a gravity type anti backdraft damper and push warm air into the house.
What are you burning? Is it dry, as in truly dry through, not just on the surface...wet wood is a killer for wood heaters...makes them heat poorly and produces that dangerous creosote in the chimney.
You'd be better off using your main furnace (fuel type?) to heat with through this cold snap than to try and figure this out right now, and freeze.

 

[mitch94]

Thank you for getting back so quickly! This is what I am working with. And yes, it is the FC500.
As far as the wood, it is dry. I do know that I recently had some wood that wasn't, but that was before this cold snap. There was a dusting of snow on the more recent wood I brought in, but I make sure it has been inside for several hours before putting it in the furnace. I will try make sure and be careful with the wood I use. I have read that is something that really effects the heat.

Now, this could be me being an idiot because I don't know anything about heating equipment, but I don't think there is a back up heater or anything? Again, I could be wrong. And thank you so much for the help.

 

[brenndatomu]

That Trane unit is your backup heat...electric I'd say...spendy to run, I'm sure that's why they put the wood furnace in!
So can you label those pics as far as what's going to where?

 

[brenndatomu]

Is the blower in the metal box (with the air filters sitting on it) running when the FC500 gets hot? It should be...that's what pushes heat to the house.
Can you get us a pic of the right side of the FC500...looks like there is a fan control/limit switch over there on that side? That what turns the blower in the back on...if it has a white button on it (the switch) push it and see if the blower comes on...that is the "manual" position...pulled out is "auto" and should kick the blower on/off when there is heat there to push out to the house (or shut if off if not)

 

[sloeffle]

There was a dusting of snow on the more recent wood I brought in, but I make sure it has been inside for several hours before putting it in the furnace.

The temperature of the wood has nothing to do with it. You can burn snow covered wood just fine. I actually did it last night because I keep my wood in totes outside top covered.

It’s the moisture in the wood that matters. You need a moisture meter to really tell you % it is. Anything >20% and you’ll be in for a miserable time. That’s forced draft I believe, so you might able to get away with wetter wood but I’d still make sure the wood you are burning is <20%.

If 8 pounds of wood is 50% moisture that’s roughly 1/2 a gallon of water that you are putting into your firebox.

 

[Highbeam]

I see a damper rod in that section of duct above the wood furnace. Right after the first 90. Is that something the previous owner might have closed when running the trade?

 

[maple1]

The temperature of the wood has nothing to do with it. You can burn snow covered wood just fine. I actually did it last night because I keep my wood in totes outside top covered.

It’s the moisture in the wood that matters. You need a moisture meter to really tell you % it is. Anything >20% and you’ll be in for a miserable time. That’s forced draft I believe, so you might able to get away with wetter wood but I’d still make sure the wood you are burning is <20%.

If 8 pounds of wood is 50% moisture that’s roughly 1/2 a gallon of water that you are putting into your firebox.

Yes definitely could be wood issues. Dry on the outside does not mean dry on the inside too. Also think there is something else going on too. Like a damper issue as noted by Highbeam. But he must have better eyes than me, I'm not picking that rod out in the pics.

 

[brenndatomu]

I see a damper rod in that section of duct above the wood furnace. Right after the first 90. Is that something the previous owner might have closed when running the trade?

That's just a HX bypass for loading...which does need to be closed (pushed in I'd say) after loading or that would cause low heat output too.

 

[sloeffle]

That Trane unit is your backup heat...electric I'd say...spendy to run, I'm sure that's why they put the wood furnace in!
So can you label those pics as far as what's going to where?

Was wondering how you came to that conclusion, and then I saw the large gray cable in one of the OP’s pics. The 65k BTU ( 19kW ) toaster bank on my geo system costs roughly $3 an hour to run.

Do you think the OP should run the furnace fan also ? That’s how my HVAC guy set mine up initially, I chit canned that idea after a week or so.

Look like return air is being pulled from the floor. We all know how well that does too.

 

[brenndatomu]

Do you think the OP should run the furnace fan also

Maybe? Still don't have enough info to understand the system for sure IMO...

 

[laynes69]

Yes definitely could be wood issues. Dry on the outside does not mean dry on the inside too. Also think there is something else going on too. Like a damper issue as noted by Highbeam. But he must have better eyes than me, I'm not picking that rod out in the pics.

 

[Highbeam]

That's just a HX bypass for loading...which does need to be closed (pushed in I'd say) after loading or that would cause low heat output too.

Not on the furnace, on that large duct above the furnace between the first two 90s on that straight section of ductwork. See the axle rod of the damper? Couldn’t that be closed?

 

[Highbeam]

View attachment 306095

Thanks, that’s the rod I’m wondering about.

Please check that this damper is in the correct position for wood burning. Might look for another such damper in the trane system.

 

[brenndatomu]

Dang, y'all gots some eagle eyes!

 

[maple1]

Dang, y'all gots some eagle eyes!

I'll say.

Yes, that definitely needs to be open for wood. Can't see its position in the pic. Or my eyes can't, anyway.

 

[sloeffle]

Dang, y'all gots some eagle eyes!

That’s what I thought when Laynes posted the picture.