I love my Clayton wood furnace. It heats 3000 square feet, and is so reliable. It does burn twice as much wood as my Jotul, but I can always count on it to heat both floors of my ranch home. Been through a lot of tough winters together.....
How do you have it plumbed into your HVAC? Do you have a backup furnace at all? Where does it get the make-up air for combustion? Oh and where do you store the wood, is there a door nearby that we can't see? Sorry for all the questions but this topic is right up my alley since I'm trying to convince the wife that we should add on an actual room to the walkout basement just for this purpose. I like all the pine t&g as well, our living room is finished like that minus the antlers
Nice setup. Duno if that is an exterior block wall behind it but I'd be inclined to spend $20 on a sheet of insulboard with one side reflective and glue it in. I have it on an exterior wall behind mine and it made a difference. People can naysay all they want about FA furnaces and wood usage but they get the job done thoroughly . The ENTIRE house ,,,, not just a couple rooms,,,, and even temps throughout. Love my Woodchuck!
Yep! I tied the trunk line into my main HVAC trunk line. I also made sure to put in a cold air return. I used insulated duct board for both lines.
Hey Sam. I do have a "backup" HVAC unit. It is a heat pump/propane backup system. I use the heat pump only when the temperatures are too warm for my Jotul and wood furnace (usually high temps above 45-50). There is no "plumbing" - it is all forced air. But as I mentioned in another reply, I did tie the plenum into the main trunk line of the backup system, and also put in a cold air return, as well. Combustion air - there is a spin draft control at the bottom (the round knob), and a forced air fan that runs off a thermostat. I keep the thermostat set at 72 degrees and it just cycles on and off as needed (depending in how cold it is and how much sunshine we get). I store my wood on the other side of the basement (the 1/3 of the basement that isn't finished yet). I have an exterior basement entrance right beside where I stood my wood. I have enough room to store 8-10 days of wood if I'm running the Clayton, and 2 weeks if I am using the Jotul. My only struggle with my two sources of wood heat is a good one - getting too hot when the sun shines. That is why I use the heat pump when it gets above 45-50 outside - if I don't, the house gets up to 80 degrees. Hope that helps!
Great setup you have there Thundar. I'm envious! When you say that you tied into the main trunk line I'm assuming that the trunk runs above your wood stove and you tied into one end of it, with your furnace at the other end? So then the blower on the Clayton pushes air "backwards" into the duct work, sort of?
Yes. I made two baffles out of plywood the same size as the two furnace filters (one for the Clayton and the other for the heat pump system). When I am running the Clayton, I put the baffle in the heat pump furnace filter slot, and when I am running the heat pump, I put a baffle in the Clayton filter slot. This prevents the air from working backwards into the cold air returns and such. Works great.
Thunder, that is a beautiful home. We too love the knotty pine interior. Here's a couple pictures as we were finishing up. We're still not sure of the bookcase. I was not in favor of it and now my wife is beginning to think about removing it too.
Backwoods Savage, that looks great! I told my wife if I can't have a cabin right now, at least I can have a room that's like a cabin. Thanks for sharing!
Ha! That is what my wife tell people. She says, "This is his cabin." Only difference, you have some better bucks hanging.
You're welcome. It's been a process, but the system is very good now. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. By the way, the Clayton is made by United States Stove Company, which you can find by Googling their name.
I always liked the duct board myself. I did a little HVAC work during my college days. It makes for a tight insulated duct system. I haven't seen it used off a wood stove before. Looks like you have your home heating system pretty well covered. Also looks like you could burn plenty of wood with the two stoves when needed. But you live where there's plenty of trees around also....
Thundar, Here is pic of my clayton 1600G. Stove works great but chews thru alot of wood. Are you running a barometric damper ?
