Clayton 1600 vs Hot Blast

Coalblooded · Post by **Coalblooded** » Tue. Sep. 12, 2023 6:34 am

Sure, i use an old us stove which has similar grates as the hot blasts and claytons. I found a poker about 40 inches long with a short “L” at the end that fit in the slots and holes in my grate. Before i shook the coal down i would pull out the ash pan and empty it. With it out i would reach the poker in and just “floss” the grates. In your case you would poke the grates. This will get the remaining coals hot and burning again. I would shovel out the little bits that i knocked through and return the ash pan, shake it down, add coal, and empty the pan again. This sounds tedious but if you have some experience with coal then you know if you load up a colder fire box you have a greater chance of a puff back. This method reduced the chances a ton and allowed me to clear more ashes from the fire box.
The few different types of coal i ran had very heavy ashes compared to wood and would stick to the canted sides. I went a couple of weeks with a much colder fire before i figured out this method

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Tue. Sep. 12, 2023 11:24 am

Coalblooded wrote: ↑
Tue. Sep. 12, 2023 6:34 am
Sure, i use an old us stove which has similar grates as the hot blasts and claytons. I found a poker about 40 inches long with a short “L” at the end that fit in the slots and holes in my grate. Before i shook the coal down i would pull out the ash pan and empty it. With it out i would reach the poker in and just “floss” the grates. In your case you would poke the grates. This will get the remaining coals hot and burning again. I would shovel out the little bits that i knocked through and return the ash pan, shake it down, add coal, and empty the pan again. This sounds tedious but if you have some experience with coal then you know if you load up a colder fire box you have a greater chance of a puff back. This method reduced the chances a ton and allowed me to clear more ashes from the fire box.
The few different types of coal i ran had very heavy ashes compared to wood and would stick to the canted sides. I went a couple of weeks with a much colder fire before i figured out this method

Thanks for the tip!

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Tue. Sep. 12, 2023 6:40 pm

I think I'm going to just use the Clayton this year and see how it goes. I'm going to re-run the heating ducts into the existing plenum on the oil furnace. Going to lowes tomorrow to get heating duct, fire brick and door seal.

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Fri. Sep. 15, 2023 2:04 pm

Ok, hit a few snags. The only way I can run more duct is with 6" pipe. My basement is so low and the way all the water lines and sewer lines were put in I will get Interference with anything bigger than 6". Now that the furnace puts out 1000cfm total I came up with running 6" lines an adding in-line duct fans. That should boost my cfm output quite a bit. Not optimal but besides completely removing my oil furnace and using that chimney and redoing all the duct work it's my only option. They are on separate flues aswell in case anyone was thinking they both were going into the same flu. I guess a added feature of running in-line ducts fans is if the power goes out I can hook up the duct fans to my big Lifepo4 battery to push hot air into the home.

Coalblooded · Post by **Coalblooded** » Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 4:10 am

Jm not sure that duct fans will do much, i have a 12 to 2 10 runs at abut 900 cfm. 1800 ft2 home

waytomany?s · Post by **waytomany?s** » Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 8:12 am

What was the original configuration of the furnace?

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 9:41 am

waytomany?s wrote: ↑
Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 8:12 am
What was the original configuration of the furnace?

The Clayton was setup with 1 6" pipe to the living room vent that was Teed off to go to the 2nd floor bathroom. Thats it, it was setup very ineffective.

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 9:46 am

Coalblooded wrote: ↑
Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 4:10 am
Jm not sure that duct fans will do much, i have a 12 to 2 10 runs at abut 900 cfm. 1800 ft2 home

They should, each 6" fan pushes 265cfm. I'll have 2 of those to start. Possible add a 3rd duct with and other fan aswell.

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 1:12 am

Looks like folks are visiting this site regularly yet. However, a little update, I finished installing a 6" pipe with a 265cfm inline fan vented into my living room. My air flow has increased 3 fold in that room. I need to install my other 6" pipe to heat the upstairs yet. I'm second guessing using 6" for that pipe. Since I have more room there I thought about running 8" pipe with an 8" in-line fan. That should give me 500cfm to help push the air from the basement up to the second floor. This will prob be a temporary setup till next year. I plan on getting a liner installed into my center chimney and moving the Clayton over there.

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 1:46 pm

Dustycloud wrote: ↑
Sat. Sep. 16, 2023 9:41 am
The Clayton was setup with 1 6" pipe to the living room vent that was Teed off to go to the 2nd floor bathroom. Thats it, it was setup very ineffective.

My Clayton had two 8 inch holes at the top for warm air supply. I cut in a third one for better heat distribution. Perhaps you could cut in a 2nd hole at the top of the furnace?

What model is the furnace you plan to use?

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 1:51 pm

Is this your furnace? For some reason I'm confused because this has a big square at the top for warm air supply with a 6 inch exhaust I believe..

Disregard prior post..

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 2:10 pm

Lightning wrote: ↑
Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 1:51 pm
Is this your furnace? For some reason I'm confused because this has a big square at the top for warm air supply with a 6 inch exhaust I believe..

Disregard prior post..

Yea that's the one. It has 1 rectangular hole in the top for warm air. I'd really like to talk to you on the phone lighting.

Dustycloud · Post by **Dustycloud** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 2:13 pm

Can't put a pipe into the top, not enough room.

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 2:14 pm

We can do that..
Send me your number in a private message. I'm busy at the moment but we can set up a time.

Will it be a cell number?

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 2:24 pm

Dustycloud wrote: ↑
Mon. Sep. 18, 2023 2:13 pm
Can't put a pipe into the top, not enough room.

That could be a clearance to combustibles issue.. other than that, you could seal the top square hole and cut a hole(s) into the side of the air jacket for the warm air supplies.

The 6 inch on the back is for exhaust to the chimney.

Clayton 1600 vs Hot Blast

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