I heat with natural gas and the cost is not too bad. My furnace is approaching 15 years old and will likely need replacing soon. I'd like to keep natural gas as my main source but I am looking at the option of having a separate furnace also attached to the ductwork that would burn wood. Has anyone done this and how well does it work? If you have references I could check out I would appreciate it. Also, as usual, photos are always helpful.
Wood furnace advice
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hr3
Veteran Member
I have had this unit for about 10 years and love it,, Englander 3,000 sq. ft. Wood-Burning Add-On Furnace-28-3500 at The Home Depot It works very well,, normal winter about 4 cord for 3000 sf. @ 72 deg.
Baby Grand
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If I had forced hot air duct work instead of a hot water system, I'd give serious consideration to Kuuma:
Kuuma "Smokeless" Vapor-Fire High Efficiency Wood Gasification Furnaces & Fantasic Sauna Stoves by Lamppa Manufacturing Inc.
They advertise extremely clean burn, low stack temperature with little to no creosote.
I'm assuming that wood consumption would also very economical.
Kuuma "Smokeless" Vapor-Fire High Efficiency Wood Gasification Furnaces & Fantasic Sauna Stoves by Lamppa Manufacturing Inc.
They advertise extremely clean burn, low stack temperature with little to no creosote.
I'm assuming that wood consumption would also very economical.
Ken45101
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If you have air conditioning on your system, hooking a different heat source to the ductwork may cause problems with the heat exchanger unless there are proper lockouts.
Actually we used a wood furnace for several years but just had a short duct from the furnace in the basement to the first floor, with it's own single register. In the proper (central) location, that works well and you can avoid hooking into your central ductwork.
Unless your ductwork is well insulated, it seems to me that a lot of heat is lost via the ductwork. Well, maybe not "lost" but it heats the basement and other places it passes through.
Instead of replacing your gas furnace, you might consider a gas unvented fireplace. They are much more efficient than a furnace. My son has a high efficiency propane furnace that he doesn't use, instead he heats with a propane fireplace. Much less costly (I've done the same at another house and really cut the heating bills.)
Back to the wood furnace idea, we replaced ours with a modern EPA wood stove centrally located upstairs. It's much more efficient and we use much less wood and we also get to enjoy sitting in front of it. I don't think most wood furnaces are as efficient as the modern EPA woodstove.
Actually we used a wood furnace for several years but just had a short duct from the furnace in the basement to the first floor, with it's own single register. In the proper (central) location, that works well and you can avoid hooking into your central ductwork.
Unless your ductwork is well insulated, it seems to me that a lot of heat is lost via the ductwork. Well, maybe not "lost" but it heats the basement and other places it passes through.
Instead of replacing your gas furnace, you might consider a gas unvented fireplace. They are much more efficient than a furnace. My son has a high efficiency propane furnace that he doesn't use, instead he heats with a propane fireplace. Much less costly (I've done the same at another house and really cut the heating bills.)
Back to the wood furnace idea, we replaced ours with a modern EPA wood stove centrally located upstairs. It's much more efficient and we use much less wood and we also get to enjoy sitting in front of it. I don't think most wood furnaces are as efficient as the modern EPA woodstove.
Thomas
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Have you consider pellet furnace?
savageactor7
Platinum Member
A way less complicated workaround would be to just put a wood burning stove in your living space...and let the NG furnace be a reliable back-up heater.
Pellets are also a very good alternative, many plus's with them...
... but since you inquired about wood I kind of figured you have your own free source of wood...if you don't. disregard the advice a a wood stove.
Pellets are also a very good alternative, many plus's with them...
... but since you inquired about wood I kind of figured you have your own free source of wood...if you don't. disregard the advice a a wood stove.
This is the only issue I have had with my wood furnace (Charmaster) hooked in parallel with my heatpump HVAC system. The original design had a simple gravity-close non-return damper in the duct from the wood furnace to the heatpump air handler plenum to prevent the heatpump fan from back flowing and recirculating through the wood furnace. No electrical/control interlocks, just relying on having the heatpump thermostat set WAY lower than the furnace.
This worked great for heatpump and for air conditioning, but the wood furnace really needs to have convective air/heat flow when the fan is not running to work well and the gravity-close damper was preventing this. So I am now in the process of changing out the simple damper with a barometric damper (finally found some at "FAMCO") that has an adjustable counterweight so I can set it to just barely OPEN when there is no fan-forced airflow, but to then CLOSE should the heatpump fan come on to prevent reverse airflow. I'm also adding a second non-return damper in the common cold air return duct so that the wood furnace cannot recirculate through the heatpump airhandler.
- Jay
Thanks for all the comments and links. I still have a bit of research to do in order to decide what's best. We have 45 acres of hardwoods on our 78 acres and all the equipment for cutting and splitting. My first choice was a stove in the living space but finding enough room is an issue as our rooms are small. We have a vented NG fireplace for backup heat. The wood is simply for having a backup fuel source as well. I don't think the distribution system of NG should fail but all this talk of propane shortages makes a guy think twice about being more self sufficient.
blackdog2086
Gold Member
I've had the following boiler system for about 6 years now, and it has probably paid for itself several times over. Central Boiler - Outdoor Wood Furnace for Home Heating I don't have the luxury of natural gas, and am stuck with propane which in my area is much costlier. Like you, I have plenty of good hardwood on my property, so my fuel source is nearly unlimited. For a forced air system, you need a heat exchanger, which is basically a large radiator that is installed between your furnace blower and the outlet vents in your house. The fact that it's outside, is a huge plus as far as carrying wood into the house and the mess that usually accompanies it, not to mention ash disposal.
hunterridgefarm
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I bought this unit from TSC about 5-6 years ago. However they had them at TSC this year and they are a lot smaller now. It is made by US Stove.
It is ran into my duct work and I have a return set up into the blower at the back. I have a heat pump with propane furnace as back up. I installed dampers for the return and where the blower enters the duct work. This way if the wood furnace is not being used I can close it off when using the heat pump or AC in summer.
It works great and easily heats the 2000 sq ft living area. I also have 2000 sq ft unfinished basement and it will heat it and the living area if needed. I put a "T" in the top of the stove in case it get a little warm upstairs I take the cover off and let it blow in the basement.
I can usually go 3 years without filling the propane tank. This is the third year with no fill up and currently the propane tank is at 30% on a 600 gallon tank.
It is ran into my duct work and I have a return set up into the blower at the back. I have a heat pump with propane furnace as back up. I installed dampers for the return and where the blower enters the duct work. This way if the wood furnace is not being used I can close it off when using the heat pump or AC in summer.
It works great and easily heats the 2000 sq ft living area. I also have 2000 sq ft unfinished basement and it will heat it and the living area if needed. I put a "T" in the top of the stove in case it get a little warm upstairs I take the cover off and let it blow in the basement.
I can usually go 3 years without filling the propane tank. This is the third year with no fill up and currently the propane tank is at 30% on a 600 gallon tank.
