New furnace time!!

[Hunter130]

Hey all, finally got my draft issue resolved, and was hoping that it would make my hotblast 1500 more efficient. However, it didn't. I am in the market for a new wood furnace and have been looking locally. Every dealer says theirs is better than the other for basically random purposes. The models I have looked at are, 1. Fire chief. (I liked this model, however it seemed basically like a better built hotblast and I currently strongly dislike mine. This is my least favorite.)
2. Caddy/max caddy. I really like this stove. However, everything I read is either very good, or terrible. Which puts me on edge. Plus the price is up there pretty high.
3.Woodchuck. I have yet to take a look at these yet in person, but a relative just recently purchased one and is in love with it. Going hopefully this week to take a look.

Out of these options(other recommendations are appreciated as well.) what do my fellow hearth members recommend? I'm mainly looking to keep my house at about a steady 75 degrees, 2,200sq ft, and would ideally like for it to be able to burn 8 hours at least so when I wake in the morning it's still warm. My hotblast is currently unable to do that.
Any tips appreciated thanks and god bless.

 

[zachb91]

Wow my hotblast will last about 10 hours. Is the max I can get an still have a nice bed of coals. I can't help with any others on the list but I like the max caddy which is what I will probably get next. My hot blast is borrowed from the father in law since they moved to florida.

Sent from my SM-S906L using Tapatalk

 

[Hunter130]

Wow my hotblast will last about 10 hours. Is the max I can get an still have a nice bed of coals. I can't help with any others on the list but I like the max caddy which is what I will probably get next. My hot blast is borrowed from the father in law since they moved to florida.

Sent from my SM-S906L using Tapatalk

I shouldn't say that mine won't last longer, it will, but that's with the dampener nearly closed and then it doesn't burn hot enough or efficient enough to actually heat the house. I have my propane furnace set at 68 and wake up almost every morning to it running. Even with it being 72-75 before I get to sleep.

 

[zachb91]

I know that feeling. I close my dampener all the way just to get more burn time. An I stock it full once before bed and once in the middle of thw night when we're here.

Sent from my SM-S906L using Tapatalk

 

[brenndatomu]

So what was the cure for your draft issue?
Honestly your experience and opinion of the Hotblast is a really common one.
Do they even make the Woodchuck anymore? I don't recall seeing it on the list of current EPA approved wood furnaces.
From what you describe, the Caddy or the Max Caddy should work. The Caddy may need to be optimized a little more to pull your heat load...the Max is big enough to be able to get away with a little less tweaking.
Keep in mind that the Tundra II and the HeatPro are sister models to the Caddy and Max Caddy...probably at least 1/3 less $, could be 1/2 $ if you find a good sale.

 

[Hunter130]

So what was the cure for your draft issue?
Honestly your experience and opinion of the Hotblast is a really common one.
Do they even make the Woodchuck anymore? I don't recall seeing it on the list of current EPA approved wood furnaces.
From what you describe, the Caddy or the Max Caddy should work. The Caddy may need to be optimized a little more to pull your heat load...the Max is big enough to be able to get away with a little less tweaking.
Keep in mind that the Tundra II and the HeatPro are sister models to the Caddy and Max Caddy...probably at least 1/3 less $, could be 1/2 $ if you find a good sale.

The cause was a fairly dirty chimney pipe inside the basement and the horizontal piece was about dead level rather than 1/4" of rise

 

[sloeffle]

I am in Ohio ( Morrow County ) and around the same square footage as you. I bought a Caddy about 5 or so years ago and have been super happy with it. It however will not keep the house at 75 unless I run the dog crap out out of it when it is really cold or the temp is above 35F or so. We keep our house around 70 - 72 and it can easily achieve that even on the coldest days. Our house is pretty decent when it comes to insulation. I'd opt for the Max Caddy or the HeatPro if I were you. Having the extra firebox space would be nice when when the Polar Vortex comes. A couple times @brenndatomu has talked about an Amish place that is suppose to have pretty good deals on the Caddy line too.

If you do opt for a EPA certified furnace such as as the Caddy or HeatPro you need to have seasoned wood. They do not do well on unseasoned wood.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Seeing you are wanting 8 hour burn times, even when bitterly cold outside, this pretty much rules out any non-EPA unit...unless you have the means to fabricate things on your own in order to increase efficiency.

IMO, asking any EPA furnace to maintain a steady 75° when below zero outside when it's nearing the end of it's burn is asking a lot, unless your home is insulated VERY well. Day break is normally the coldest part of the day and at the same time this is when the furnace is pretty much ready to re-loaded. You have a situation where you are at the coldest part of the day coupled with a wood furnace running out of fuel.....this does not bode well for maintaining inside temperature, especially one of 75°.

I can keep our heat sieve of a house 72°-74° when it's -15° outside as long as I have fuel (wood), once I start nearing morning and the fuel starts to run out and the supply temps start to drop, our house temps start dropping fast. Most times the house will be 68°-70° when I get up. Then if the below 0 weather sticks around for extended periods of time (days) then it makes it very difficult to bring the house temp back up once it falls, so it just maintains. This is the big disadvantage of wood furnaces vs boilers w/ storage. Those guys running boilers with storage are able to store heat energy in water which they use as a buffer and are able to keep their homes at a more consistent temperature than we are able to do during extreme cold weather. They do 2-3 fires a day to charge their storage and they are good. Us furnace guys are not that lucky, once our fuel runs out our heat output drops. Sounds to me a boiler w/ storage would suit you MUCH better seeing you want consistent 75° house temps in all weather.

Now, if it's 20's outside during the day and single digits at night, sure, I can keep the house around 75°. Most times when it's consistently warmer like that the house is actually around that 75° area more than it's not.

IMO, you really should be looking at a boiler setup, as if being happy with your purchase means keeping the house at a consistent 75° in ALL situations during winter, then I don't think you are going to be happy with any wood furnace.

 

[Hunter130]

Thanks for the inputs! I am also in Ohio and believe the Amish guy with the caddys is my local dealer!
As far as the new furnace/boiler decision, I feel like a EPA certified effectivent furnace would work. I generally go to bed about 10pm and am up at 4 am for work. Mine currently struggles to put it at 72 even keeping it fed steadily all day. If I didn't have the propane furnace set at 68 I'd hate to see how cold the house would get through the night.

 

[brenndatomu]

I am also in Ohio and believe the Amish guy with the caddys is my local dealer

Are you in extreme NE Ohio

 

[JRHAWK9]

Mine currently struggles to put it at 72 even keeping it fed steadily all day.

Something doesn't make sense. Guys, correct me if I am wrong, but I've never heard the knock on Hotblast being not being able to supply enough heat. It's normally the amount of wood it burns and short burn times........?? I always heard they were heat monsters which were very hungry and dirty? If this is the case and it's not able to heat your home, I'm guessing switching to something else will not solve your heating issue.

 

[brenndatomu]

Something doesn't make sense. Guys, correct me if I am wrong, but I've never heard the knock on Hotblast being not being able to supply enough heat. It's normally the amount of wood it burns and short burn times........?? I always heard they were heat monsters which were very hungry and dirty? If this is the case and it's not able to heat your home, I'm guessing switching to something else will not solve your heating issue.

Yeah, you are right...I was thinking of the usual "run out of wood in 4 hours" and then the house gets cold...

 

[Hunter130]

Are you in extreme NE Ohio

Holmes county. So no not really

 

[brenndatomu]

Holmes county. So no not really

Ah, OK. Yeah the guys that I heard about were up toward Ashtabula...
Who's the Caddy dealer you were thinking of?

 

[Hunter130]

Something doesn't make sense. Guys, correct me if I am wrong, but I've never heard the knock on Hotblast being not being able to supply enough heat. It's normally the amount of wood it burns and short burn times........?? I always heard they were heat monsters which were very hungry and dirty? If this is the case and it's not able to heat your home, I'm guessing switching to something else will not solve your heating issue.

You are correct. I worded the previous post badly. If I keep the dampner wide open, and don't pack it full of wood, it will in fact heat it decently. But at that rate I'm refilling it every 3 hours(approximately). What I should have said was that unless I keep it wide open, it doesn't heat for crap. Also, there is no tag on my blowers but I'm pretty sure they are 2, 450 cfm blowers. Where as a few of the new stoves I've looked at are more like 1800cfm. I feel like that will make a huge difference since the furnace is on one end of the house and not centralized.

With all that being said, and some Advice I've received, I can say I really like the heat pro and am hoping to find a dealer (other than menards) to do a little research on them.

 

[Hunter130]

Ah, OK. Yeah the guys that I heard about were up toward Ashtabula...
Who's the Caddy dealer you were thinking of?

It's an Amish guy located just south of mt hope Ohio. I can't think of his name or business name. It's just a small shop but is where I looked at them and got info on them. I have heard lots of good about him as a business but have never personally dealt with him other than the day I stopped to check out what he had.

 

[brenndatomu]

It's an Amish guy located just south of mt hope Ohio. I can't think of his name or business name. It's just a small shop but is where I looked at them and got info on them. I have heard lots of good about him as a business but have never personally dealt with him other than the day I stopped to check out what he had.

Is that Troyers on 241?

 

[brenndatomu]

I can say I really like the heat pro and am hoping to find a dealer (other than menards

No love for Menards? They will be the cheapest on a HeatPro by far...the closest in the area too...

 

[Mrpelletburner]

@Hunter130 Waiting for my FC1000 to arrive, hope it can give longer burn times and maintain 10pm to at least 6-7am burn. Maybe asking to much...

 

[Hunter130]

No love for Menards? They will be the cheapest on a HeatPro by far...the closest in the area too...

Yes it is troyers on 241. He's a super nice guy. And I was planning on more than likely buying it from menards, but was hoping to go elsewhere to gain some insight on them.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

Hi Hunter, I might be able to give you a little insight. We have a Caddy (not the Max.) in our 1700 ft2 ranch home. It has a high vaulted ceiling in the great room, but is very well insulated new construction so it is pretty efficient. We are on winter no. 2 with the Caddy, and I have to say it is just about right for this home. With your bigger footage I am pretty sure you are in Max Caddy range. The wildcard might be that you are probably not quite as cold as here in Wisconsin.

We like to get the house around 69 or 70 when we are at home and the Caddy does a good job with that. 8 hour burn times are no problem in all but the coldest & windiest weather. For the last part of that burn time the firebox will be only coals and the house temp will drop. In the coldest weather, single digits or below zero I get up about 5 hours in and fire at night to minimize the temp drop in the house. I agree with others that with an indoor wood furnace you simply have to expect some cyclical house temps. For us, it is coldest when we get home from work in the afternoon and in the morning when we wake up. I typically see the temp drop about 3 or 4 degrees, maybe a little more in the coldest weather. That is fine, I fire up and in no time it is back up to 69 or so.

I am very happy with the Caddy. With dry wood it really burns clean, I have only cleaned the heat exchangers once this winter. In mid-winter when it is working harder it really does not build up much at all.

Good Luck!

 

[3fordasho]

Yes it is troyers on 241. He's a super nice guy. And I was planning on more than likely buying it from menards, but was hoping to go elsewhere to gain some insight on them.

Can you still buy the Tundra/Heatpro from Menards? They took them off their website a while back.

 

[brenndatomu]

Can you still buy the Tundra/Heatpro from Menards? They took them off their website a while back.

They're are still listed as a dealer on Drolets website

 

[laynes69]

We have a Caddy heating 2500 sqft victorian with 10' ceilings and a 1200 sqft basement here in Ohio. We keep our home 70-72 when its below zero and 75 in the teens and above. Overnight is not an issue. Last night it dropped to 14 degrees. We loaded in the teens at 9pm and this morning at 5 a.m., the house was 73 degrees. I loaded at 5 am and it's now been 11 hours with the temps in the 30's and our blower is still cycling with the house at 73 degrees. Insulation will play a huge role in how well things work out.

With the 1500 hotblast (we had one for over 20 years), they either smolder and produce little heat, or runaway and heat you out of the home. If your pushing the 1500 to heat the home, then the Caddy will not be enough for you. However, you may have a small heat load and are just overheating with the 1500 where a Caddy would produce an even heat and level things out. Steady heat over a burn like mentioned won't happen unless you have good insulation, otherwise when the furnace stops you'll drop heat like a tank. I would consider a heatpro if your heat load is high. Also like mentioned, the wood you burn in the 1500 may not be good enough for an epa furnace. Wet/unseasoned wood equals bad heat output.

 

[brenndatomu]

They're are still listed as a dealer on Drolets website

I was at Menards tonight, I asked about the HeatPro and the Tundra, they looked 'em up and said "it is a seasonal item that is not available right now"...hmm