Which Way Would You Go With a Furnace?

jeromemsn wrote:Brutespeed, to bad you didn't say if you had a pond or not on your property. One of the best Geothermal manufacturers is located just over in Ft. Wayne Ind. With a 1/3 of an acre of pond at 8 ft. deep you can have an endless supply of heat and cool and all you need is a pump. Thats my next adventure in a couple of years.

Yes I do indeed have a pond, and I have been thinking of putting a Geothermal in down the road. For now I want to use all the Ash wood that I have thanks to the beetles.

I fired my Hopsco V1500 up for the first time the other night. I don't have the chimney up as high as I need to yet, and I haven't installed the supplied thermostat yet either, but this furnace quickly got my house up to an uncomfortable temperature. I'll be wiring up the thermostat today, which controls the Dayton 1500 cfm blower and the amount of wood that is burned. I'll add some pic's when I get a chance. Bob

My house had all electric heat and since I started burning wood with the Hopsco V1500 the electric heat has not been used. Right now it is 3 degrees outside and the house is toasty warm! With the all electric heat this house does not have any ductwork, and right now I have just one 10" heat inlet and one 10" cold air return. I have pictures at the link here, and I'll be adding info and more pic's asap.
**Broken Link(s) Removed** Bob

After having used this outdoor furnace for several months I can say that I am very pleased with it. I can load it at night around ten o'clock and wake up the next morning to a nice warm house. Here is a link to my installation.
**Broken Link(s) Removed** Bob

I would like to know more about the hopsco. Has anyone had one for a year or two to tell me how they like it?

Thanks!

BruteSpeed wrote:After having used this outdoor furnace for several months I can say that I am very pleased with it. I can load it at night around ten o'clock and wake up the next morning to a nice warm house. Here is a link to my installation.
**Broken Link(s) Removed** Bob

Name at least three things wrong with this photo:

1. Chimney not higher than any structure within 10 feet.
2. Chimney hot higher than the roof line.
3. Wood fired furnace installed on combustible wood pallet.
4. Power connected with cord and plug, non-water resistant connection.
5. Ducts not insulated.

OOPS, that's 5. I'll quit now.

The siding on that house would be brown/black after a short time plus I bet they get some smoke leaking into the house.

miltre wrote:I would like to know more about the hopsco. Has anyone had one for a year or two to tell me how they like it?

Thanks!

I don't know anything about that furnace and don't want to sound negative but processing enough wood to get through one winter takes lots of time and effort not to mention cost for saws etc.
I enjoy processing a little wood ( a cord or two) but when you're talking 8+ cords to get through one winter, that's no fun... been there done that.
If you plan to buy firewood, you really need to "do your homework" because you may not save much if any in heating costs.
Those are just a couple things I would consider before even looking at wood fired furnaces.

steamup wrote:

BruteSpeed wrote:After having used this outdoor furnace for several months I can say that I am very pleased with it. I can load it at night around ten o'clock and wake up the next morning to a nice warm house. Here is a link to my installation.
**Broken Link(s) Removed** Bob

Name at least three things wrong with this photo:

1. Chimney not higher than any structure within 10 feet.
2. Chimney hot higher than the roof line.
3. Wood fired furnace installed on combustible wood pallet.
4. Power connected with cord and plug, non-water resistant connection.
5. Ducts not insulated.

OOPS, that's 5. I'll quit now.

That was a temporary installation to get through that Winter. Last year we got the chimney up higher than the roof, it drafts better now. Smoke was not a problem for us, the house did not get discolored from the smoke. That wood pallet has been replaced by a concrete pad, although the wood pallet was not a problem, in fact the snow seldom melted off of it. When we poured the pad, the electrical connection was redone with a water resistant connection. The ducts were insulated shortly after that picture was taken.

This load of wood will last approx two weeks. We have found the wood does not have to be split into as small of pieces as what we have here in the trailer. This furnace does a great job of burning logs that are only split into two pieces, and the wood will burn longer. We have put up a new building and we will be buying another one of the Hopsco furnaces for the new building.

Pictures sure tell a much more detailed story. I would advise anyone that posts pics to advise that this is a 'temporary install'.... and weather permitting.....otherwise the 'bag slitting' and 'blood letting' can be gruesome.

Thanks for the updates, and hope you took the observations posted for what they were: constructive in nature, not demeaning. Nice Install, good planning, and a thankful family. Did I forget affordable.....

Looks real good BS--hey, you chose the user name-- Can't say I miss all the blocking, spliting, moving, moving, moving & moving again, but I do know how well wood can work.

Still gonna be an inefficient smudge pot.

Hey BruteSpeed, I take it you don't have a basement to put the furnace in? How many cord of wood for the winter? Reason I ask about the basement is that you are probably helping heat the outdoors. If it were in a basement, any lost heat would rise and help heat your house

I have just finished my 1500 install also and was wondering where you got insulation wrap for your pipes bs?