psg caddy wood furnace or us stove 1950 opinions/info. needed

[rampike]

Hello eveyone
Our current wood (only) furnace, a newmac is getting alittle old and we have been looking at a PSG caddy as a possible replacement. We heat roughly 1500 sq. feet with our newmac, consuming 10 cord of wood (black spruce) over the fall/winter/spring. If you own a PSG caddy, I would really like your input on the following concerns:
How thick is the superior plate and have you experienced any burn though?
Will the caddy really use less wood?
We have to keep our house really warm (25 deg. C and over (77 F) for the comfort of a disabled family member, can the caddy handle it?
Our newmac has a forced draft (small blower) set-up which runs nearly continuously to keep up with demand, how does the caddy compare to a forced draft set-up?
We will get some puffing with Southerly wind, is the caddy anymore prone to this than other designs?
We have an external brick chimney and have the furnace located in the basement. We cut and haul our own firewood during winter, allowing it to dry over summer, and enjoy all aspects of wood heat.
The caddy certainly looks like a great furnace but I'd like some owners'opinions on these specific things and anything else you can think of.
Thanks... Glenn

 

[CaddyUser]

Hi Glenn,

I installed an Add-on Caddy back in November, and we have been very happy with the unit. Our home is roughly 1600sq ft plus the basement, and I've been able to maintain 22C temps 24/7 without a problem. I'm burning birch and maple with some Biobricks, and the wood, although seasoned was wet when we got it, as we purchased it from an older follow that was getting out of burning wood, and didn't cover the wood.

The house was built in the early 60's, and is certainly not air tight (that's this summer's project). We have burned roughly 2.5 cords since mid-November.

I've had to clean the chimney/pipe/furnace once so far this season, and found that roughly 95% of the soot and creosote was actually in the heat exchanger, and next to none in the pipes and chimney. In fact, I installed a SS prefab chimney when we put the Caddy in, and at the time of cleaning, the chimney was still as shiny as it was when it was installed. That in itself tells me that the Caddy is doing a good job of extracting as much heat as possible.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, ask away!

 

[johnn]

Hi Glenn,

I installed an Add-on Caddy back in November,


the Caddy is doing a good job of extracting as much heat as possible.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, ask away!

Sorry Glenn,for I too am interested in the PSG, however the add on I need is not what you need. Apparently you are interested in the furnace line, not the add-on. Sorry not too many people out there to help in your decision. They seem to be somewhere in the middle of price zones, but I really like the looks of their product.

I`m going to jump your thread (sorry) to ask "Caddyuser" a question. The "pdf" I have viewed,,,none show utilizing the fresh air return of existing systems, is yours connected to fresh air or return duct`s? I only see the manual draft for combustion air,,is there a mechanical device regulated by the thermostate to control burns, once the desired temps are reached?
There are quite a few other manufacturers which are offering forced combustion,,shaker grates,,domestic water options,,,all of which utilize return air ducts,,,,,,for nearly the same price...So is this products firebox effeciency (epa) ect.so much better as to justify the differences?

 

[CaddyUser]

After rereading Glenn's post, it would appear that you are looking for a Caddy with the fan because of wood-only. My wife's uncle has one of those units, and it's the same as our Add-on, except that it has the return plenum and blower fan. He's happy with his unit too.

As to your questions ML:

My Caddy is hooked into our oil furnace. I have a S-duct that runs from the hot plenum of the oil unit to the bottom access panel on the Caddy. The return (cold) air comes into the cold plenum of the oil unit, runs through the fan of the oil unit, up through the hot oil plenum, down through the S-duct, and up through the hot plenum of the Caddy. It's a typical installation for these units.

With regards to the combustion air, there is a damper on the front of the Caddy, which is attached to a damper motor. When the thermostat for the Caddy calls for heat, the damper motor activates, and opens the Caddy's damper. Once the temp comes up, the thermosat calls the damper motor to close the draft. There is a small air inlet below the bottom of the loading door that permits a small amount of air to enter the Caddy to maintain combustion.

On to forced combustion - IMHO, forced combustion is great, but the design of the furnace, especially the heat exchanger, has to handle the increased flow in order to extract heat. Otherwise, it goes up the stack. From what I've experienced with the Caddy so far, the balance of a natural induction to the heat exchanger is good for me.

A shaker grate / high temp combustion area is definitely a good point; just look at the gasifiers out there today. With the right design, a gasifier would outperform the Caddy by a long shot. However, with a good high temp combustion area comes additional cost and complexity. There's no doubt that the Caddy is not much more than an central-heating-EPA-stove, but it's simple to use and maintain.

As to the DHW point, PSG doesn't even offer a coil for the unit. One of the main reasons is that for actual domestic water heating, the coil would need to be either in the firebox, or very close to it. This would reduce the firebox temps, and would decrease the efficiency of the unit as it would be more difficult to maintain firebox temps to maintain secondary burn. I'm looking into a DHW coil to place in the plenum to raise the temp of the water going to the water heater. With the right design, I should be able to raise the 'cold' inlet water going into the water heater by a few degrees, and lessen the load on the heater.

Yes, the cost of the Caddy is more than a non-EPA unit. I believe that when I was pricing furnaces, there was roughly $500-$600 difference. Is it worth paying more? Well, with the reduced amount of wood used, the labour involved in cutting, splitting and such, and doing our part for climate change, we felt it was the better option. With a $2500 heating bill last year for oil, and a $800 bill this year for wood (I had to buy this year given that we made our decisions so late in the year), we are more than happy with our purchase.

If I missed anything, just let me know!

 

[johnn]

After rereading Glenn's post, it would appear

As to your questions ML:



.

.


$happy with our purchase.

If I missed anything, just let me know!

Thanks so much for your time,.. Your input is clear and reads easily..I like your solution to easing domestic water. (preheat)

The effeciency rate they noted had to imply secondary burn, however not much was spent on ink,,,advertising such,,Unlike the other manufacturers. HOW SWEET IT IS too be able to look through your glass door and marvel.

Thank you..Perhaps it coming time for a phone call or two and talk beans.