How do i properly hook up my wood stove?

[Deere Man]

I have an older Shenandoah wood stove i bought to supplement my gas furnace. I think it is a model R77E. The pipe to the chimney exits out the back and then it has duct work that fits on top to hook into the duct work of the furnace. I have no experience with this stuff at all. I'm not sure where exactly to tie into the duct work? This stove has a thermostat but no blower. Does the furnace naturally draw the heat up through the vents? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jebatty]

Perhaps you should consider hiring a professional stove installer, since you have no experience at all.

 

[rotaxman]

I would tie into the return and the blower from your oil furnace will pull the heat through.

 

[Gooserider]

I would tie into the return and the blower from your oil furnace will pull the heat through.

That is a rather bad idea, rotaxman, and can be a code violation... The problem is that the original furnace is not designed to deal with hot air coming into it's intake, and can be damaged by it depending on how much heat is involved.

In addition, there can be a problem if the OP's system includes an AC unit - in theory a Freon leak could react with the HX on the wood burner and deliver toxic gases into the ventilation system...
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DM - I would suggest looking at some of the other threads in this area, do a search on "furnace install" to start with and see how others have hooked up their units.

I don't know how familiar everyone is with your unit, so if you could post a few pics of it, that might be helpful, also possibly some pictures of your existing duct setup - the more info you give us to work with, the better we can help you out...

Assuming this is a furnace style unit, as opposed to a wood stove designed primarily for direct heating with some supplemental duct work connections, I would say that it sounds like you would need to connect the ductwork into the distribution side of your HVAC system, using metal ducts and paying attention to required clearances from combustibles.

What are you going to do for venting the combustion gasses? Do you currently have an unused suitable flue available for the furnace? (You can NOT share the flue with another appliance!) If not, how do you plan to add a chimney? Also another question, what are you doing for a wood supply? If you don't already have it cut and ready, it may well be to late to plan on burning much this season as you will likely find it difficult to get adequately seasoned wood this late in the year...

I would say that you might be best off to either go with JEB's suggestion of hiring a pro to do the work, or else plan on spending a LOT of time reading other threads here - this is the kind of job that can be done by a competent DIYer, but you are dealing with equipment that MUST be installed and handled properly or you are placing yourself and your family at great risk - fire and smoke can be deadly if not handled properly... We will do our best to help you out, but you have to be ready for doing the homework on your side.

Gooserider

 

[Deere Man]

Thanks for the input gooserider. I am more than willing to do the homework to get this done right. The more i research and read the more comfortable i am with doing this. I will take some pictures tonight and try to get them on here in the morning. I live in heavy woods and have a ton of oak cut and in the cold storage side of my shop. It's been in there since early this spring so it should be plenty dry. I have a family member who installed his own stove so i won't be totally solo here, just trying to learn as much as i can about all of this so i maintain and keep this system up and running properly. Thanks again for the help and i will get some pics. up soon so you guys can see what i'm working with.

 

[rotaxman]

sorry Deer Man. Best listen to the professionals, which isn't me.
I was just sharing something I once tried with success but I didn't know your specifics.