hotblast furnace

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ahbunny

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Jan 1, 2009
2
ohio
I could sure use some help from any wood burning experts out there. We used our hotblast wood burning furnace for the first time this winter. We had it inspected and they told us it shoud work fine. The problem we are having is that the heat blowing out from the registers is barely luke warm and we are lucky to reach 65 degress. This is with a full blown fire going in the furnace. My husband seems to think that the thermodisk is fine (which is what the troubleshooting guide of our manual says to check) and he seems to think that this is the best we can get from this furnace. From what I have heard most people get blasted from the heat from thier wood burning furnaces and usually have to open windows ect to cool the house down!! Instead i am shivering wishing for heat!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks~~
 
Alot of people have modified theirs to push more air. Whats your square footage, whats your insulation? Is it installed in parallel with the current furnace (2 ducts over the woodfurnace going into the main furnaces plenum), if so is there a damper under the 2 lines on the main furnace? Answer these and we can give some help. Also do you have a thermometer above the loading door, if so whats the temps you run it at?
 
The square footage of our house is about 2500. It is a log home. It is installed in parallel with the current furnace and yes there is a damper. no thermometer above the loading door. Keep in mind i am new to this so i will do my best to answer your questions!!
 
Well you probably are pushing the limits on the wood furnace with its stock setup. Is the woodfurnace beside the main furnace? If so roughly how long are the lines to the main furnaces plenum? What is ideal on these furnaces is when a larger blower is installed, or the furnace to be installed in series. If a larger blower would be installed, those 2 8" ducts would have to be enlarged to make up the extra air flow. Currently, with 2500 square feet stock is pushing it. Mine is installed in series, currently its 74 in the house, and we have a 160+ year old victorian, with 2400 square feet.
 
I've got a Daka furnace. Similar to your's but it uses a single 500 CFM fan to get the air into the main furnace plenum, then gets help from the main furnace fan to distribute the heat. Our house is about 1800SF. Last Sunday it was 0 here and I had no problem keeping the house at 70. Maybe try turning on the main furnace fan to see if pushing some extra air through the system will help.
 
I have no problem keeping my house waaayyyyy to warm, but it's only 2/3 the size of yours.
What is your fuel supply like? Dry hardwood, hopefully.
How much air is moving thru the ducts? The blowers are pretty small, and I think 550 cfm is optimistic. The air coming out is hot, just not enough volume. I turn the blower on my LP furnace on when it is cold and windy.
Maybe you can post some pics. Might help in getting help.

Jeff
 
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