tundra/heatmax owners

[HatCityIAFF]

hey guys..im looking to see your day to day operation and how you go about loading the furnace..i've been running an insert for the past two years, and thinking about the drolet for better heat upstairs and all around..i mainly want to get rid of babysitting the air intake while the insert gets to cruising temp, because most nights its my wife and she doesnt enjoy adjusting the stove for 30 min..from what ive gathered from drolets manuel, load the furnace on a hot bed of coals, keep the air open till it fully catches, then close that, and the damper/thermostat takes it from there for the rest of the burn?? Ive looked into kuumas, and they are way out of my budget because i will be installing 22-25ft of exterior class a pipe..

 

[bedrock1]

hey guys..im looking to see your day to day operation and how you go about loading the furnace..i've been running an insert for the past two years, and thinking about the drolet for better heat upstairs and all around..i mainly want to get rid of babysitting the air intake while the insert gets to cruising temp, because most nights its my wife and she doesnt enjoy adjusting the stove for 30 min..from what ive gathered from drolets manuel, load the furnace on a hot bed of coals, keep the air open till it fully catches, then close that, and the damper/thermostat takes it from there for the rest of the burn?? Ive looked into kuumas, and they are way out of my budget because i will be installing 22-25ft of exterior class a pipe..

hi i have drolet im not happy with it at all it wont heat my 1000sq foot house and i have a lot of wood gone already

 

[sloeffle]

I have a Caddy which the Tundra/Heatmax/Droilet's big brother. I have no issues heating 2200 sq ft. Their are lots of happy Caddy owners on this forum. The biggest key is having dry wood and a proper install.

 

[laynes69]

I also have a Caddy which the Tundra is modeled after. We are heating a 2500 sqft victorian home plus a 1200 sqft basement. We've burned around 3 cords since the end of September. It's 11° now and 75° inside.

Bedrock, what size and type of chimney do you have, and how long has your wood been cut, split and stacked? If your home doesn't have ductwork, it could be difficult to spread the heat. 1000 sqft is nothing, especially for a furnace with a 3.5 cuft firebox.

 

[bedrock1]

hi i have a 7 '' chimney , im burning last years cut birch i have duct work all over my house . i put the furnace in late oct this year i have 8 cord of wood i have about 1 1/2 cord left and the winter is not over.i find the blower do not stay in no more then 5 min only if i keep the drafter open , that is why i guess im burning a lot of wood, if the drafter closes the blower will shut off .

 

[laynes69]

Do you have a thermostat hooked to the unit? Explain your daily loading, ex. load, open damper, wait till ? then reload, etc. How tall is your chimney, and how many elbows in the flue? And finally, any pics? I couldn't burn that much wood if I tried.

 

[bedrock1]

hi yes i have a thermostat hooked up. i fill it up with wood with drafter open , the blower will come on for a while then cut out. but if the drafter closes the blower will go out , the blower is not long enought to heat the house, my chimney is about 15 feet . how do i send pictures im new to this site. i was wondering if the thermodisc that cuts the blower in might be faulty. i call the sbi the make the furnace they told me i might be losing to much static pressure to put in dampers i did that yesterday still same thing.

 

[laynes69]

About 15 feet, does that mean it's less? That's pretty short, especially if there's any elbows in the system. When your talking about the wood usage, is it full cords? Have you tested draft? These furnace's require good draft, hopefully your not running a barometric damper. Using a mobile device to upload pictures is pretty easy. Look for the picture icon and find your photos and upload.

 

[bedrock1]

hi my chimney is not to short its over my peak . im not using a barometric damper , and its getting good draft. my blower seem like it blow air very fast compare to my fathers new max. i should be geting lots of heat and not burning much wood. i got 5-6 full cord gone already

 

[laynes69]

I'll let someone with a Tundra chime in, I've heard they changed snapdisc in them. You can adjust the blower speed to a lower speed. You haven't said whether your furnace keeps up with heating demand or not, how often do you load it? Have you cleaned the heat exchanger? If all things check out, chimney, wood, etc. then your home is using alot of energy and your furnace is too small. Do you have a backdraft damper to isolate the woodfurnace from the central furnace?

 

[bedrock1]

hi i can change the blower speeds with a change of a wire i tryed all of thet, what u mean about changed snapdisc in them. the furnace will not keep up with heat demand ,i load it a feer bet because u have to have the drafter open all the time of the blower will go out. i clean exchanger wood is dry . guy on here is heating 2500 sq feet homes mine is only 1000sq. yes i have a backdraft damper on the oil furnace.

 

[laynes69]

I don't know, from the sounds of it your home needs attention. If the furnace can't keep up with heating demand doesn't make it a bad furnace, just the wrong tool for the job. I would have an energy audit done on the home. I will add one more thing running with an open damper sends alot of heat out the chimney, and will burn more wood. Did you have the draft tested with a manometer?

 

[bedrock1]

the furnace can heat the house if i leave the drafter open so the blower will stay on. where can i get a manometer

 

[brenndatomu]

Did you have the draft tested with a manometer?

+1 on that. Without a meter reading you don't know...high or low. Can't tell without a meter reading. High or low, either one will cause you problems. Sounds like the snapdisc could be faulty, need to get some duct temp readings.
There is no way that a Tundra won't heat 1000 sq ft unless you can see through the walls, something is defiantly wrong with the setup.
Gotta figure out how to keep the damper closed ('stat satisfied) Do you have a filter kit on it? A filter would slow air flow a bit, maybe run a lil longer. A more restrictive filter would keep 'er on even longer, like a higher MERV rating HEPA type fliter

 

[brenndatomu]

Dwyer Mark II manometer. $20-$30 on fleabay...

 

[aimee750]

I started running my Tundra in mid November and am very happy with it.
My blower does not stay on constantly, it cycles but keeps the house warm enough to keep the propane off.

 

[laynes69]

These modern furnaces work the opposite of older furnaces. Once hot, the damper closes and the furnace heats up. You said something about a 120/140 switch, that's part of the problem. Keeping a damper open only pushes heat out the chimney and wastes wood. A lower switch will extract more heat during the later part of the burn, and will allow for the blower to run longer.

 

[bedrock1]

I started running my Tundra in mid November and am very happy with it.
My blower does not stay on constantly, it cycles but keeps the house warm enough to keep the propane off.

my house is well insulated ,lol the side would have to be out of it not to heat it , i think its the snap disc

 

[bedrock1]

I started running my Tundra in mid November and am very happy with it.
My blower does not stay on constantly, it cycles but keeps the house warm enough to keep the propane off.

hi my furnace wnt stay on very long about 5- 10 min when the drafter is closed. if i leave it open the blower will stay on longer. how meny sq feet u heating, how long can u get on 1 fill up

 

[aimee750]

My house is an old drafty farmhouse, approx. 2000sq ft without the basement. I was having heating issues at first but figured out my ductwork needed some help, so did that and also added a cold air return to the tundra instead of just letting it pull from the basement. Now it keeps the house 3-7 degrees warmer. I am very happy with it.

 

[maple1]

the furnace can heat the house if i leave the drafter open so the blower will stay on. where can i get a manometer

This is what I got & where I got it:

http://www.qualityinstruments-direc...ertical-manometer-0-3-w-c-using-red-gauge-oil

I think that's where I got it - when I got mine 3 years ago the place was called 'Dwyer Direct'. Anyway, that's what you want. You might find cheaper on Ebay, but by the time you get it here & pay exchange/shipping/etc., and wait for it to get here, you'd likely be just as far ahead getting it from this place. I forget how long it took to get here but it wasn't all that long.

(Just noticed harbour grace - that's Newfoundland? Cool, I think I have relatives there.)

 

[bedrock1]

This is what I got & where I got it:

http://www.qualityinstruments-direc...ertical-manometer-0-3-w-c-using-red-gauge-oil

I think that's where I got it - when I got mine 3 years ago the place was called 'Dwyer Direct'. Anyway, that's what you want. You might find cheaper on Ebay, but by the time you get it here & pay exchange/shipping/etc., and wait for it to get here, you'd likely be just as far ahead getting it from this place. I forget how long it took to get here but it wasn't all that long.

(Just noticed harbour grace - that's Newfoundland? Cool, I think I have relatives there.)

Yep I'm in newfoundland that's cool to know

 

[bedrock1]

My house is an old drafty farmhouse, approx. 2000sq ft without the basement. I was having heating issues at first but figured out my ductwork needed some help, so did that and also added a cold air return to the tundra instead of just letting it pull from the basement. Now it keeps the house 3-7 degrees warmer. I am very happy with it.

Hi I have duct work in all bed rooms living room kitchen I have cold air return hook up something not right going on with the furnace

 

[Fred61]

hi i have a 7 '' chimney , im burning last years cut birch i have duct work all over my house .

I don't know much about your unit but I feel I am fairly knowledgeable about wood. If most of your birch is not split I can tell you it is not dry enough to burn. That birch bark is as waterproof as a plastic bag. Unsplit birch will rot and compost before it will dry if the bark is not permeated.
When you stated that your burn improved that was a clue, at least to me, that your wood is not as dry as it needs to be. If you have birch rounds all you need to do before stacking is to cut a groove the length of the stick with the tip of your chain saw and that will be enough to allow it to dry. Remember two year old wood gives you fewer headaches than one year stacked.

 

[JRHAWK9]

With my Kuuma I have my low limit button switch placed high up in my bonnet and have it set at 110/90 (put it at 105/85 when it gets very cold). Even with the computer set at minimum burn the blower pretty much runs constantly from the time it turns on till there are a handful of coals. Minimum burn will get me ~95°-100° vent temps. Max burn will get me ~110° vent temps all with the blower running the whole time. I did have to create more positive pressure in my duct though, as I seem to have over-sized ducts which would move too much air too fast not allowing the air to get properly heated. Wonder if this could be an issue as well........?