Hey all, been a while since I posted. Has anyone have any experience with a Englander wood furnace? I have the opportunity to buy one in good working condition for cheap. I would use this to replace my Grandpa bear in my 40’ x 40’ shop. I would also replace my fuel oil furnace and use the existing duct work. I do not have much experience with wood furnaces. How are the burn times? Forced air wood heat vs. radiated wood heat? My problem I’ve been dealing with is I have a large shop with very little insulation. The grandpa bear will keep it warm in there of your out there babysitting it and keeping the stove top temperature above 400. But the minute you shut it down to go in the house the building starts losing heat. My hopes with the forced air deal would be hopefully the plenum will keep the hot air cycling. I could be wrong. I appreciate any advice. Thank you, Fred
I've never owned a 28-3500, but I do know they enjoy a decent reputation...but, I think that unit may still be a bit on the small side for your shop...not sure how it compares firebox size wise to the GPB? Unless you need the furnace to duct warm air to the far corners of the shop, I'd say that the radiant heat of the stove will feel warmer. And just FYI, you will need to check the clearance to combustibles on the ducts...fuel oil and wood furnaces have different specs...the wood furnace needs greater clearances...
I believe the firebox size is comparable. The feel of the heat radiating off the stove feels great. One corner of the shop is 75-80 and the opposite side is 60-65. I wonder how much radiation you would get off of a wood furnace?
Mainly just off the front, because the rest of it is covered by an air jacket... convection heat instead of radiant...
I’d say burn times depend on the version of the 28-3500... MarkG has one pre EPA secondary burn tubes. He could tell about burn times in his furnace. And agree about firebox size- the 28-3500 is quite large.
All 28-3500 are pre EPA...the 28-4000 is the EPA version...hoping they offer a 28-4200 EPA 2020 version...otherwise $3k ish is about your starting point for a wood furnace now. (well, there currently is one option that is less, but I'm pretty sure it will soon be pulled off the market, as it should be, its a lawsuit worthy POS!!!)
Ah, gotcha...Fire Chief FC1000/Shelter SF1000 specifically, but any of the larger models of the same line too...basically any/all of the FireChief / Shelter furnaces that are still available these days...too bad, they used to make some decent stuff.
