Just installed a US Stove wood furnace

Weekend_Sawyer · November 09, 2015, 09:38:36 AM

I picked up a model 1400 wood furnace used but in good condition. My house has no central air so I had to put in some duct work. This is not a problem as my basement is unfinished and I was replacing an older wood stove with the same size flue so I had pretty much smooth sailing. I ran 8" hard duct and reduced it to 6" when I Teed into it to make a run to a register. I installed 3 registers, one in the bedroom, one in Diane's sewing room and one to my den/junk room. I fired it for the first time yesterday and am quite happy with the installation. Last night the temps dipped into the 30's. I filled it at 7:30pm and at 5am it was still keeping the house toasty warm. So far I'm liking it.

woodmills1 · November 09, 2015, 06:11:04 PM

Not sure but it looks like 2 8 inch pipes coming out the top, and they seem to be run into each other?

beenthere · November 09, 2015, 06:24:17 PM

The top silver pipes are likely coming from the warm air plenum around the hot box.
The stack appears to be the rust-colored one out the back and into the chimney.

mjeselskis · November 09, 2015, 07:22:42 PM

I have the same furnace in my garage and it works great. Mine has a induction blower on the back to feed the firebox which works great for getting the fire started.

Weekend_Sawyer · November 10, 2015, 12:24:20 PM

Quote from: woodmills1 on November 09, 2015, 06:11:04 PM
Not sure but it looks like 2 8 inch pipes coming out the top, and they seem to be run into each other?

Yup, I never had central air so no air ducts in my house at all. I only need to heat the back of my house with this so I ran the 2 outlet pipes into 1. I was going to let the front stack just be open to the basement but I get plenty of residual heat off of the stove and uninsulated duct pipes. This unit was made for a bigger house than mine. It's rated for 2500 and my house is about 1300.

woodmills1 · November 10, 2015, 06:22:08 PM

yes I knew the rust colored was the smoke pipe, but why run 2 8 inch into one same size then later down to 6. It seems that would raise air speed and cool the air. Most hot air systems start large and drop area when air is sent off to heat space.

Weekend_Sawyer · November 11, 2015, 08:38:27 AM

It's more stove than I need.

This stove is rated for 2500 sq ft
My house is about 1300 and I currently only have 3 registers coming off of the wood furnace.
I didn't need the 2nd outlet to go anywhere so I ducted the 2 into 1.

Hope this clears it up for you
I'll update this post when we get some consistently cold days. So far we have only had 1 night dip into the 30's.

Just Me · November 11, 2015, 01:17:43 PM

I have the same stove. Works well, mine is tied into the ductwork.

I think it may be a mistake to tie the two ducts together that way. That stove will warp badly if the electric goes out when it is burning hot, so with cutting the airflow in half as you have done I can see the same problem coming up even under normal conditions. I would dump the other 8" into the basement to keep your floors warm if you don't want all of the heat upstairs, but I would not choke it off.

My 2 cents

Larry

Weekend_Sawyer · November 12, 2015, 12:13:08 PM

Quote from: Just Me on November 11, 2015, 01:17:43 PM
I have the same stove. Works well, mine is tied into the ductwork.

I think it may be a mistake to tie the two ducts together that way. That stove will warp badly if the electric goes out when it is burning hot, so with cutting the airflow in half as you have done I can see the same problem coming up even under normal conditions. I would dump the other 8" into the basement to keep your floors warm if you don't want all of the heat upstairs, but I would not choke it off.

My 2 cents

Larry

2 cents spent wisely Larry, I'll make that change.

Just Me · November 13, 2015, 07:48:51 AM

My house is 1300 ft as well, and the unit is too large but like you I found a deal on it from someone that bought too large, $600 and it only burned a week. I have a hard time this time a year not overheating the house, but I am above the 45th parallel so most of the winter it is just fine. Mine is in the basement as well and I have a dedicated wood room, 10x12' right next to it that I can load from the outside. I wanted a garage door like you have but my wife nixed it because I would end up with an old car all torn apart in there. She's right. :D

If I bought new I would get the smaller unit so I could burn it hotter. I have mine set up next to a gas furnace that takes over if the stove runs out of wood. I super insulated the house when I built it so I could afford to heat with NG, but who knows how long NG prices will stay down. Besides, I have ten acres of maples to keep cleaned up, may as well make use of the dead and down.

I've used mine for three years now and it has been fine, no issues other than the damper in the door getting gunked up with creosote, again because it is a bit large and I have to burn slow. I looked at an outside boiler and in my case they would never pay for themselves before they were rusted out because of the small, tight house. I only use about 9 face cord a year with this setup.

doctorb · November 13, 2015, 11:54:21 AM

Here's my question.....

Why does every member of the FF who has posted a pic of their basement wood burning stove have a basement that's much cleaner than mine, and I don't even have a wood burner in my basement?

submarinesailor · November 13, 2015, 12:08:00 PM

Quote from: doctorb on November 13, 2015, 11:54:21 AM
Here's my question.....

Why does every member of the FF who has posted a pic of their basement wood burning stove have a basement that's much cleaner than mine, and I don't even have a wood burner in my basement?

Dr B - If I posted a picture of my basement as it is right now, the internet would shutdown or run away from it. Particularly after the major termite problem. :

:

:D

thecfarm · November 13, 2015, 08:33:48 PM

A picture of my basement would not bother me,BUT a picture of my garage would. At least I have a winding path through it.

Just Me · November 14, 2015, 07:10:21 AM

You may have already figured it out, but I have found that an ordinary garden hoe is the perfect tool for tending this unit. Once in a while I burn mine hot for a bit and use the hoe to scrape the dried creosote off the sides.

Larry

Weekend_Sawyer · November 16, 2015, 06:26:31 AM

Quote from: doctorb on November 13, 2015, 11:54:21 AM
Here's my question.....

Why does every member of the FF who has posted a pic of their basement wood burning stove have a basement that's much cleaner than mine, and I don't even have a wood burner in my basement?

The only reason that part of my basement looks clean is because we had just poured a couple of yards of concrete in that part of the basement. The rest of it is a dirt floor stacked with junk. I was going to just pour a pad big enough to fit the stove but I had a couple of friends come over and we did an area about 11x25. 4"thick. 140 bags of Sakrete later I had a nice pad.

Quote from: Just Me on November 14, 2015, 07:10:21 AM
You may have already figured it out, but I have found that an ordinary garden hoe is the perfect tool for tending this unit. Once in a while I burn mine hot for a bit and use the hoe to scrape the dried creosote off the sides.

Larry

I am noticing quite a build up of creosote. I'll have to keep an eye on that.