New Caddy Advanced owner

[LogCabinFever]

Playing tetris with logs while not bumping things out of place can be tricky.

For the smoke issue: I found opening the door very slowly, opening it as little as possible and not raking the coals forward as much helped me gain time before smoke starts pouring out on reloads.

I'll keep that in mind. Not raking the coals forward might be the answer. It's just a habit I've done over the years, level out the bed of coals to create a nice landing spot for the new logs.

I read somewhere that someone had good results of cracking the ash door a bit. I don't like doing that because bad things can happen if I forget about it. Then again, we shouldn't be leaving the furnace unattended I guess.


In regards to all nighters, there's almost very little reason to have them since you can't fit much. With the old Jensen, I'd keep 6"-9" diameter logs on hand for the nights, and just stuff it. It would go all night. With the newer unit, you really can't put more than two of those in there without endangering the burn tubes. As a result, you don't really get any extension of burn time, when compared to a bunch of smaller pieces.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

In regards to all nighters, there's almost very little reason to have them since you can't fit much. With the old Jensen, I'd keep 6"-9" diameter logs on hand for the nights, and just stuff it. It would go all night. With the newer unit, you really can't put more than two of those in there without endangering the burn tubes. As a result, you don't really get any extension of burn time, when compared to a bunch of smaller pieces.

I'm running the previous generation Caddy that was new in 2016. I have found the same thing in regards to not needing big 'overnight' pieces. I grew up firing an old 1980's Russel furnace at my parent's place. The thing leaked like a sieve, so the only way to hold a fire overnight was to use those big pieces. I have been very pleased with our Caddy! It is perfectly sized for out 1700 ft.2 house!

 

[bigealta]

The Caddy is great! just brought in about a full cord into the basement last week. I'm really enjoying sitting in front of the fire on quiet mornings after restocking. It's so nice not having to wake up and restock. I could let it go 10hrs, come back and rake the coals, throw some pieces on and crack the door, and the fire would come right back. One thing that I've realized is that we don't have to keep as much fire starter and kindling on hand since there's almost no cold starts once the winter sets in.
View attachment 344555

Chimney draft is cruising right at 0.05" WC, and the furnace seems to really like it. The only thing puzzling to me is that the blower sometimes kicks on when the light is out (furnace is out of heat). Not sure why that's needed if there's no heat available, even if there's a call for heat. But perhaps just a design flaw?

Still getting some back pressure in the ducts and some "whistling" through the pilot hole in the front below the loading door. I just plugged it to quiet it down for now (not sure if this is a bad thing to do). I'm leaving the ductwork a bit undersized for now. We have a 26'x24' addition to the house in the works, starting in 2026. This is a first floor and full basement, adding 1248 SF to our current 1600 SF, totaling 2848 SF of conditioned space. According to PSG, this is at the top end of the Caddy's usable range, which is conservative, I think. I plan to insulate the basement walls/slab and create a tight envelope in the new addition, so that it doesn't add too much demand on the furnace. Also need to upgrade the insulation in the floor and rim joists in the existing house. Just need the time!

I'll try to update this as the addition is in progress. I suspect that I will reconfigure the entire trunkline of the duct, customizing it to suit the Caddy's fancy.

Check your radon levels. If you need a mitigation system it's cheapest and easiest to do it with the new work.

 

[LogCabinFever]

Check your radon levels. If you need a mitigation system it's cheapest and easiest to do it with the new work.

Ok. There's not much I know about radon. Should I hire a pro to do it? Or are there reliable DIY options?

 

[bigealta]

Ok. There's not much I know about radon. Should I hire a pro to do it? Or are there reliable DIY options

i Have an airthings wave radon detector. Simple to use with an easy to use app.
It works off your phones bluetooth.
Also moniters the temp and humidity and charts them out over time.

I have one in each house. They were about $40 but now i see them for $60-80 on different places including ebay.

No need to send in anything to a lab.

It will give you a good idea on whether you have problem levels or not. Radon is the 2nd biggest cause of lung cancer.
if you are pulling basement air in your main living space then you are pulling the radon with it.

i have one like this

Airthings Wave Radon 1st - Smart Radon Detector with Humidity & Temperature ... | eBay

Airthings Wave Radon 1st - Smart Radon Detector with Humidity & Temperature .... Condition is New. Shipped with USPS Ground Advantage.

www.ebay.com

 

[bigealta]

This is a chart for radon on the app.
Here in jersey it’s not to bad. In Utah it is pretty bad and I’ll have to do something out there. I hear

Ct. has some high radon levels in some areas.