Wood Furnace issues (Energy Mate)

[brenndatomu]

Yup, get all the wood you can as fast as you can, get ahead 2-3 years if at all possible. Get it cut/split/stacked right away so it is good n dry, much more heat available in really dry wood, easier to build fires too!
Supplementing is good too, no sense killing yourself trying to burn wet wood, just get ahead for next year, pay the man this year.

 

[Reggie]

Hello! I have a used Energy Mate add-on wood furnace. The rear blower is unattached and I'm not sure how it was wired to the furnace. The front blower is wired to the little box (thermostat?) on the left side. Can someone post a pic or tell me how its supposed to be wired? I can't find any manuals online. Thanks in advance!

Reggie

 

[kc90]

I have recently installed a energy mate wood furnace that was given to me by a relative. The stove had been sitting idle for 10 years. Anyway the house I live in now is approx 1500sq feet. I have added a room 9ftx9ft ro accommodate the stove. I have 12ft of double wall flue that is 15ft from peak and a couple inches taller. The only place I had to put the New wood room is 20-25ft from existing gas furnace duct work. After installing furnace she worked great. Good draft and lots of heat. Like a idiot I had adjusted the fan limit switch and now its not heating properly. Right now around 15* outside and this may play a part in my heating issue. I have reset the limits switch to 90 off 150 on and high limit at factory setting 200. I have not changed wood type. I have been burning white oak that has been stacked for a little over a year. During the day the house temp is usually around 73-74 but at night with the stat set at 72* the house is 67*. Even the room the furnace is in the temp has dropped. I would think this furnace should keep the house at 100* if I wanted it to. Both blowers are working. Any ideas. Energy mate 7800 series.

 

[j7art2]

It sounds like your unit is an upgraded unit to mine, as mine only has a singular blower, not multiple ones like yours. My guess is at night it gets colder, which means you're going to need a hotter fire to keep the house going. My Energy Mate works well, but it EATS logs. I've gone through probably close to 8 cord this year since October. Sometimes I have to build a MASSIVE fire to keep up, and my flue thermometer is riding the fine line between high optimal and overburning.

If you haven't yet, get yourself a magnetic flue thermometer. I was having issue after issue with mine until I realized I wasn't burning nearly hot enough. With double walled piping though, you may have to get creative where you stick it. Hopefully some others will be able to better direct that, or you may want to getting some sort of probe thermometer to insert directly into the pipe.

 

[kc90]

How can I get the fire any hotter though. I don't want to leave the draft fan door open to much or it will eat logs. But I agree that I think it's the colder weather. I will take reading with it gun on flue and ductwork tonight. Just curious does it sound like I have the limit switches in the correct spot?

 

[brenndatomu]

I have been burning white oak that has been stacked for a little over a year

White Oak is gonna be a lil wet yet at one year. I have had 3 year CSS white Oak that wasn't dry enough yet. Wet wood kills the heat output of the furnace.

I have reset the limits switch to 90 off 150 on and high limit at factory setting 200

90* is too low, bump it back to 110* or so. The 150 and 200 should be fine

 

[kc90]

Thanks guys I have removed the first 3ft section of pipe and checked flue. Seems like it's clean. Readjusted fan limit and see what happens.

 

[j7art2]

I don't want to leave the draft fan door open to much or it will eat logs. But I agree that I think it's the colder weather. I will take reading with it gun on flue and ductwork tonight. Just curious does it sound like I have the limit switches in the correct spot?

Limit switch settings sound right to me. As for leaving the draft door open and eating logs, like I said, that's the nature of the beast. These Energy Mates make some serious heat, but also eat some serious wood. Like I said, I've gone through 8 cords this year already. My draft door has been fully open all winter, and has not shut off for more than a few hours at a time since December.

Do you have an in-line key damper?

 

[kc90]

No in-line key damper. Last night was still pretty cold I think around 10* and I adjusted the switches like brenndatomu said and it kept the house at 72* last night! Not for sure if I was the high pressure system causing the issue or what but it seemed to do pretty good last night.

 

[j7art2]

I have good nights and bad nights with my furnace too honestly. Last night, I ended up loading up my unit to almost the top of the baffle before bed. On average, I use 3 medium sized logs (6-8" or so) per burn, but at night, I pack in about 5 and depending on how my fresh air intake is flowing, may close my fresh air intake a bit.

I have a key damper, but whenever I attempt to close it, I end up having problems with maintaining ignition. I'm hoping next tax season will mean a new wood furnace. Mine is showing its age, and only has fire brick in the bottom, not along the sides or top like new units (and has no place to put them unless I mortared them in) and has no secondary burn chambers or tubes. The unit is good for the dinosaur it is, but I really have no intention on cutting 10 cords (30 face) a year if I can help it. I honestly love doing wood, but I also love other things in life too.

 

[kc90]

Sounds like i was just having a couple of bad nights. I usually load mine 4-5 logs during the night but I leave at 6 am for work and won't get back home until 5:30-6 in the evening so I load her to the gills with chunks that will just fit in the Dorr for longer burn time. Thanks for the input guys this is the first furnace I have owned. I have a old stove in my shed but wasn't used to the blowers and limit switch.

 

[j7art2]

No problem, hopefully it works well for you. I grew up using a radiant wood stove insert with small blower that kicked out serious heat my whole life, and I've found that wood furnaces are a different animal completely, with the only comparison being that they both burn wood. I'm still learning tips and tricks with my wood furnace and I've been burning since October. Everything I learned about fire building and tending with my wood stove is moot. It's a strange learning curve.

One tip I can suggest, is if you need some extra quick heat to light your wood or keep it going if you have issues like I do sometimes, is throw in chunks of heat treated/kiln dried lumber. I go to Home Depot and buy all the non-pressure treated 70% off stuff then cut it into 2" chunks and fill up a trash can in the basement with them. I add them to the existing logs if not to temperature and it'll get it there quick. Don't burn kiln dried alone though, as the 0% moisture stuff burns HOT and you can over fire your stove.

 

[kc90]

Thanks

 

[WiscWoody]

I just bought a house with one of these old Energy Mates in it. I might try it this winter but I think next summer I’ll take it out and put in a new wood stove and then a few years later I’ll change the water heater to a direct venting model and take down the block chimney. I wander how I would go about that? I suppose I’d take down what I could from the roof and then sledge hammer it from he basement until it all down...?