newmac furnace help

[brad021]

Can someone please help me out. I just bought a new house (old farmhouse) and I have a Newmac wood/electric furnace. I have never burnt wood before and am having a difficult time. My father in law burns wood and he said that last year he used roughly 21 cords in his outdoor furnace. that is hard to believe and a TON of wood. Anyhow, my question is, I load the furnace full of wood and it only lasts about 4 hours but I have two thermostats in my living room (one for electric and one for the wood). It seems that no matter how hot the fire is (it was ridiculously hot today) I still have to revert back to the electric because the wood does not keep the house warm enough. I was told to keep the forced draft fan in the "off" position by the old owner, however I thought it would have to be "on" all the time to push the heat around. I don't want to burn my wood up for no reason and use a ridiculous amount of wood, but I am tired of paying a $350 electric bill like I did last month. I am actually in the process of insulating the attic better this weekend to try to keep the heat in the house. If you guys can give me any guidance on how this works and whether I should keep the forced draft fan in the on position or off position I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

 

[brenndatomu]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/posts/1349339/ Check out this thread, especially the posts by Mark Ellsworth. (Maybe PM him?) He has one that he did a simple mod on, made a big difference. Also, use the search feature here, it'll pull up lots of NewMac info.
Just so we are on the same page here, the forced draft fan blows air into the firebox for combustion air. A lot of people do like to leave these off. The furnace blower (through the duct work) is the one that "pushes the heat around the house" is should never never never be off when the furnace is firing!!

PS, Most OWBs are PIGS! Even if your furnace is inefficient, most people with indoor wood furnaces don't use much more than 8-10 cords per year. I go 'bout 5 or so myself...

 

[maple1]

Just so we are on the same page here, the forced draft fan blows air into the firebox for combustion air. A lot of people do like to leave these off. The furnace blower (through the duct work) is the one that "pushes the heat around the house" is should never never never be off when the furnace is firing!!

Echo for importance. Might be some mixup here. You need to make sure the furnace (duct) blower is running. I know someone with a Newmac - when it's firing it puts out the heat.

 

[Mark Ellsworth]

What model do you have? Since it is a wood electric I would say you have a wb100. My neighbour has one and it is a good furnace. I never use the forced air blower over the door of the furnace it is the same as throwing the wood out the chimney and most of the heat goes out the chimney also. The slide draft control next to the blower on my furnace I run all the way off but I am burning briquettes, with wood you may have to open it until the fire is under way and then close it most of the way. Also if it is the wb100 there should be a plate over the firebox to endure the heat rises before going out the chimney. This is what my furnace should have came with and the main reason I am disappointed with it I have the cl86/96 wood oil combo. I also found that if I shovelled the firebox out too much the furnace did not produce any heat at all. Ashes level to the bottom of the door works the best in my furnace. If I shovel it most of the way out I am burning a half of a firebox with zero heat.