Hey guys I’ve been thinking here lately on swapping out my drolet tundra wood furnace. I’ve had it since they first originally came out but got lucky enough to not have any cracking issues. I would like to have something with a little bigger firebox and something that I can get longer burn times out of. Does anyone have any suggestions on what would be best or any mods I could do to my existing drolet to make it perform better, as I said before I have one of the original first units and have done nothing to it since I’ve owned it. I would really like to have a outdoor unit but I can’t justify the cost of one. Just thought I’d see what you guys thought was best.
There are some excellent mods that you can do...and I've done 'em...made it into a completely different furnace...but it is way too much to type out, yet again. Everything you could ever wanted to know about a Tundra is posted in a HUGE thread over on "that other" site. Just google "Everything Drolet Tundra" it'll be the 1st thing to come up (I'm the OP) then click the link I have on the bottom of the 1st post, that will take you to a glossary of sorts, just look up where it talks about installing a temp controller, and a speed controller...the TC info starts 10-15 pages in or so IIRC, the SC is somewhere around the halfway point I think (somewheres 50-60 pages range maybe?) Look for "3fordasho" posts, he has the best info on doing the TC. The mods themselves are pretty simple and inexpensive to do if you have some basic wiring capabilities. Also, if you would rather just go with a larger unit, the Drolet Heatpro is the big brother to the Tundra...a lot of heater for the money! And I have not heard anything bad about them at all. There are others that could be recommended, but you are getting up there in price range pretty quickly after the Heatpro...best of the best would be the Kuuma Vaporfire...but you are talking about a $5300 (+ shipping) furnace too...all depends on what you have in mind I 'spose...just an bit of interesting trivia, the VF100 is the only forced air wood furnace (as of right now) that will be legally sold new come spring of 2020. They have passed (and exceeded) the EPAs 2020 emissions test, nobody else has been able to pull it off so far...I'm sure someone will though. Can't believe you have a 5-6 YO Tundra and no cracking...you are one of the few!
Could you tell me a little more about the mods, what do they do differently , how is the performance, how hard and costly are they to do etc. I wouldn’t be against doing a few mods to it and just keep it for the upcoming cold season. Once it gets cold the Drolet runs non stop as it is our only source of heat for the house besides a small stove upstairs in the living room as we have no other backup
Well, the temp controller (TC) monitors the temp of the firebox via a thermocouple that goes in the stove pipe right off the furnace. You program the TC as to what range the damper is allowed to be open (hi and lo) then it will only allow it to be open in that range...if there is a call for heat, either from the house thermostat, the factory on/off switch, or the timer switch that gets installed...it allows you to load and walk away since you don't have to be there to shut it off like the factory switch. I tried using the T-stat for a bit, didn't like the results...just used the timer switch then...once the load is going good everything is in "auto-pilot" until its time for re-load. The speed controller (SC) monitors the temp of the heat exchanger tube (center one) just like the factory snap switches do, but instead of on/off, it varies the speed of the blower to match the heat that is available. What this allows is the fan to run at a high speed when the fire is rocking early in the burn cycle, then it slows the blower down until the very end where it might (maybe) cycle on/off a couple times...instead of the hours on end of the on/off cycling that the factory snap switch offers. This means the blower spends much more time actually running, putting heat into the house, instead of just sitting there waiting for the snap switch to get hot enough to run again for a minute...which leads to a lot more off time than on time during the second half of the burn cycle. Both of them only require tying into power, and basically wiring "in series"...pretty easy. I wired a relay in with mine just because the TC I bought had NO contacts instead of NC...so the relay is not needed if you buy the right TC. I have less the $50 in everything...the stuff is available on ebay and others...prices seem to have gone up just a bit since I did it a few years back, but it is still a very affordable mod. Like I said before, all the details you'd ever want are available in the thread I mentioned if you google it...I can't do a link here to that site, this site won't let me...and that site won't allow link to here either (just to be fair)
I went over and looked it up for ya... The TC info starts at page 13, post #306. The SC info is scattered around (well they both are somewhat) but probably the best SC info that is all in one spot is once again 3fordasho's post #2547 on page 102. My setup is not identical to his, but more or less the same...and I think we have both been very happy with the results (he actually is running 2 Tundras with the same setup, 1 in the house, 1 in the shop) I have my setup on mine, and one installed on my sisters Tundra too. If you buy the same TC that either 3fordasho or myself did, he posted how to program his...and I have a cheat sheet for mine too if you go that way...IMO figuring out how to do the programming was the hardest part of the whole thing for me...but I did buy a controller with chinglish directions too... A lot of "bang for the buck" to be had here...makes the furnace much more user friendly too. Like I said before...I probably have less than $50 in the whole deal...3fordasho spent a lil more because he bought a more expensive TC...but neither one of us has had any trouble out of them...I think quite a few people have installed the cheaper one like I used, with no trouble from it...well, other one guy who had trouble following directions, and had zero wiring skills!
They have since went to the Tundra II...which is the same furnace more or less with some small changes to address the cracking issues the original model had, and now use a plenum for the supply ducts instead of direct connect...also have a variable speed controller on the blower now too. IIRC MSRP is now $2250 or so...if you shop around and catch a good sale they can be bought for ~$1750. As of right now they are about the most bang for the buck wood furnace out there...IMO obviously. The T2 also has a big brother...the Heatpro...about $500 more...same unit, just a lil bigger. This is the T2...
When Menards closed out the original tundra a few years ago I could have picked up one for well under a grand. Great Deal
Ok guys can I get some information on these units?I am also looking at one as a option verse a outdoor gasser unit for my new house.I have the HT200 stove at the moment but wondering about burn times and such with the furnace?
Mine was the T1...but the T2 is basically the same firebox design with a few changes made to deal with the T1 cracking issues. Haven't heard too much from the early adopter T2 users (which is usually a good sign everything works fine) but they should have a very similar burn time to the T1. For me an average was 8 hrs between loads...that would be maybe 2/3 to 3/4 full...and it would go 10 to 12 hours in warmer weather (lighter heat load days) I would load before bedtime (say 10-11 pm) then again before work (6:15 to 6:30 am) and then the afternoon/evening loading time varied depending on what the temps were inside and outside. If it was real cold out and the house needed heat I would load again at 4 PM or so....if the weather was warmer sometimes I would just wait until 6 PM and then load again at 6 AM...and I'm sure you are familiar with how load size and wood species comes into play here too...there is just a lot of variables here to say for sure what your burn times will be exactly...but I think my results are pretty much average for most T1 owners. I really like having the indoor furnace because the radiant heat off the furnace keeps the basement (and therefore the floors) warm too...and can go down to load in my underoos if'n I wanna...
