Thinking about getting one next year. It heats 3500sqf. My house is 3000 sqf and is forced hot air. This furnace is thermostat controlled which would be nice. It says 12 hour burn time on a full load. Can anyone let me know ya or nay on this unit?
For the most part my house is insulated. I have alot to do to get it we're I want. But I am trying a new liner and damper this year.
Heatpro should do it for sure...go for it...I had a gen 1 Tundra...I did a few control mods to it that made it go from dud to stud. But they are on to gen 2 now and I hear things are much better sorted out...cant say I have heard a single complaint about the Heatpro. I really like my Kuuma, but miss the view of the fire with Tundra.
Welcome! Hopefully if you’re burning this thing you can show us your stacks, toys, dogs and wood gathering adventures, we like it all and don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions, keeps this forum alive and well!
Welcome to the club. Lots of great folks here sharing knowledge and humor. I don't know about the wood furnace, but we have Drolet Blackcomb stove. Love it. Great stove for the $$$
Liner is a great idea...I highly recommend insulating it if there is any way you can make it fit. As for a damper, you will want to install a Fields barometric damper for that furnace...a manual damper is not a great idea on a furnace. The Fields RC line is what you want...and here is about the best price I have found on them, 6-RC - Field Controls 6-RC - 6" Draft Regulator for Wood, Oil, or Coal Don't use one of those Vogelzang baro dampers that the box stores carry...junk. Feel free to ask away on any install (or other) questions, and we need pics when you are done!
Welcome Shawn Lettre to the FHC. I don't use a wood furnace, but I would be a little nervous that you are near the max of that furnaces capabilities. In my experience, those square foot heating references are usually under ideal conditions. Whats BTU. Of furnace and what did you use last year?
That's a 4.9 CF firebox, there isn't really anything any bigger available anymore...at least in a forced air furnace. A lot depends on the houses insulation and air sealing level as you know...I had the baby brother to this furnace (Tundra, 3.6 CF firebox) to heat my place (1200 ft. basement, 1200 ground floor, ~650 upstairs...but get to thinking about it, we weren't heating the upstairs then) and it did well keeping up until it got really cold...so it did fine all but about 3-5 days per winter...at which point I fired the little fireplace stove up too...nice n toasty then. Most people would just let their gas or oil furnace run to make up the difference...as I always tell people, if the wood heater can handle 90% of your heat load, that's 90% of your heating bill gone...IMO, many times its not worth the headache to make sure your wood heater can handle 100% of your heat load, unless its your only heat source of course...
Thanks, but your point is a valid one...some adjustment of expectations may be needed if his heat load is too high here...unfortunately the Heatpro and its almost twin sister the PSG Max Caddy are the big dogs out there now for raw BTU output (Kuuma VF100 would follow a close second) since the EPA has clamped down on wood furnaces...there may be some other larger models still available out there somewhere...probably getting by the regs for now by claiming to be "coal furnaces", but there is nothing that I would personally actually consider installing...unless you like making extra firewood and cleaning your half plugged chimney multiple times per winter (BTDT ) Unless some other manufacturers can get certified (and I'd guess that SBI/PSG/Drolet will) Lamppa Manufacturing is the only one to have legit passed the 2020 indoor hot air wood furnace emissions test as of right now (there is one other one too, but they have to retest due to having passed by getting a variance in the test procedure, that was later decided wasn't allowed)
Likely too late to chime in, but here I am anyway. Our house is 3800-3900 sq ft, ~1900 upstairs, 1900 downstairs. Tall vaulted ceilings in the living rooms areas upstairs, 10' ceilings (unfinished ceiling) in the lower level. So, lots of cubic ft (as opposed to just the sq footage of the footprint). Our Kuuma VF100 is rated for 3500 sq ft, IIRC. So, not only is our sq footage in excess of the furnace rating, but with the vaulted ceilings and such, we're really pushing it. The Kuuma is our primary heat source in the winter. It can handle heating duties on it's own, until exterior temps get to the mid/high teens. At that point, it can't keep up, and we need the propane furnace assisting to keep the temp in the house (we like 68). We usually fill our 500 gal propane tank in October or so (full = 80%). It's usually at ~30% by the time we reach the following October. We use propane in shoulder season, and don't fire the Kuuma until it will run for the rest of the winter (ie, days at/below 40, nights colder). We paid ~$320 for our fill up this year, so our total propane expense for the year is ~$320. My parents live about 10 minutes away. Their home is slightly smaller (but essentially equivalent) sq footage, also with open floorplan/high vaulted ceilings. They'll usually fill up 3-4 times per winter/season. At $320 per fill, and 4 fills per season, they're spending $1300/season for heat. We're spending $320 annually, though the furnace is the only user of propane in our home. Our Kuuma cost a bit over $5k, and we spent another $5k having all the fiberboard ducting pulled and replaced with metal ducting, so $10k investment. At $1k / savings per heating season (right now gas is inexpensive), it'll pay for itself in 10 years (we've had it for 4). Of course, when gas prices spike (as it did the first two years we lived here), the ROI time drops significantly. I think my parents had $2k in propane each of those years. The savings in those two years alone paid for a large portion of the Kuuma (furnace, not ductwork). Of course, then you have the ancillary expenses of $1500 for a splitter, $1200 in new chainsaws, the time/effort in cutting/splitting wood, etc. However 1) those items retain some value, and can be sold to recoup $ if needed, so it's not lost $, 2) I enjoy the cutting/splitting/processing, so that's not necessarily a negative, 3) the 'comfort' of wood heat has a value of it's own. Same with the warm floor (upstairs) that comes from using the wood furnace downstairs. 4) With my small generator to power the blower/computer, we have heat even if the power goes out (we live in a semi-rural area). While the same could be done/said with the propane furnace, it would require a larger 220 generator. And it wouldn't be as comfortable!
Great info breakdown. Welcome to the club. Great bunch of folks here sharing knowledge and humor. Share some pics of your setup, stacks, equipment...
