wood furnace questions....

[GEW_Ohio]

Hello All!

I am getting ready, after some research, to purchase a hotblast wood furnace from Tractor Supply. Yes, Yes I know it is not the best quality, however I am cost conscious, and I think this model will meet my needs. I need some advice, however.

1. I have a 1500 square foot manufactured home on a 14 course high basement.
2. I already have a Dura Vent triple wall chimney installed.
3. I removed some of the bottom insulation from the house and installed floor vents to help circulate heat.
4. I am ready to put in the Furnace.
5. I am not going to tie the furnace into the existing central heat/air supply.
6. I had a smaller stove in there last year (wondercoal), but it did not produce the BTU's I needed.
7. I have ample wood and coal and have a medium level of experience with fires.

Questions
1. What kind of duct work do I have to use? Can I use the flex duct? Probably no, right????
2. Do I have to use a cold air return?
3. What other suggestions to you all have?

Thanks for the input.

 

[freeburn]

The only one suggestion I have is, make sure if at all possible hook it into the cold air return. It's cleaner and does a much better job at evenly heating the house and heats it up faster.

Just FYI - This is probably good to ask in the BOILER ROOM Forum. This is mostly for stove owners/operators.

 

[GEW_Ohio]

Hello All!

I am getting ready, after some research, to purchase a hotblast wood furnace from Tractor Supply. Yes, Yes I know it is not the best quality, however I am cost conscious, and I think this model will meet my needs. I need some advice, however.

1. I have a 1500 square foot manufactured home on a 14 course high basement.
2. I already have a Dura Vent triple wall chimney installed.
3. I removed some of the bottom insulation from the house and installed floor vents to help circulate heat.
4. I am ready to put in the Furnace.
5. I am not going to tie the furnace into the existing central heat/air supply.
6. I had a smaller stove in there last year (wondercoal), but it did not produce the BTU’s I needed.
7. I have ample wood and coal and have a medium level of experience with fires.

Questions
1. What kind of duct work do I have to use? Can I use the flex duct? Probably no, right????
2. Do I have to use a cold air return?
3. What other suggestions to you all have?

Thanks for the input.

 

[laynes69]

Yes you should have a return to circulate the heat around the home. You cannot use flex duct for heat distribution for a wood furnace. You can run a few heat ducts off the furnace through the home to aid in circulating the heat. Plus you will get radiant heat off the furnace. If you run some ducting, follow clearances stated in the manual, in case of a power outage. The ducting temps can climb quickly.

 

[smokinj]

sounds like you have a good grasp on what to do i just used the metal round duct work fomr menards and sems to go on sale alot. 1500 sqft that thing should run you out of there

 

[GEW_Ohio]

thanks.

1. There is no Menards where I live
2. Ill try lowes...

 

[begreen]

Moved to boiler room for more targeted responses.

Recommend that the manufacturer's installation directions for ducting, clearances, etc. found in the manual be followed.

 

[Duetech]

I used insulated flex duct at the end of a trunk line for two rooms with only a crawl space and an Engander wood furnace. Never experienced a problem but the flex line did not start until at least twenty feet from the wood furnace.
It is not imperative to tie into the cold air return, just leave the basement door open, but the extremeties of the house will not experience as good of an air flow and not heat as well which I think jburner was warning you about and he gave you good advice. Hooking into your cold air return though will actually draw air from all of your existing furnace duct work, including the dirt collection side of the air filter, unless you put in a back draft damper. You may not need to tie in though if you have the double blower model wood furnace but you may have to close part of the register openings with the star wheel register adjustment for the rooms closest to the furnace or they will roast you out.
Buy a moisture meter to make sure you don't burn wet wood and make sue you have a rain cap on your chimney pipe. Lastly make a walk out for the basement to walk wood in.

 

[Gooserider]

I have merged the two threads on this topic together in order to reduce confusion and avoid duplicating answers. It is best if you can try to do "one project / one thread" as it makes life easier for everyone.

Gooserider