Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers with NON EPA-Certified Models Only => RidgeWood Stoves, defunct, support only => Topic started by: Roscoe on December 31, 2014, 06:24:04 AM
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For those of you that don't know, Ridgewood is now offering a fan option on their stoves. To retro fit an older stove it's around $250.
If anyone currently has one or is planning on installing one, please let us know how it works.
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I would be interested in doing this. did you talk to someone at ridgewood or do they have photos of it some where on there web site?
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They have a prototype in the works. Nothing for sale yet. Craig said call for details
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I don't have any issues with just the natural draft, it works fine for me. I do think that adding the fan option is a good idea though...... give the customers what they want if they want it. What I would like to see is a setting on the controller that would close the draft door once the stove drops below a low set point, say around 140, to help preserve the coals and heat that are left if you happen to be away for a while or forget to load it. I have a snap disc switch (set to open at 145 degrees) on the copper just before the water to air HX that kills the power to the thermostat that runs the fan in the furnace so it won't deplete all the heat in the water. It basically does the same thing as a Central Boiler thermostatic valve. Then the furnace thermostat takes over when the house drops below 65.
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That would be cool. I like the idea of at least having the option. I may have to try it just to see how it works.
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What about adding a timer.
They make 6hr, 8hr & 12hr digital timers.
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Slim has a way to shut the damper if water gets below 160* or whatever you set it at. It is posted on here somewhere.
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I don't have any issues with just the natural draft, it works fine for me. I do think that adding the fan option is a good idea though...... give the customers what they want if they want it. What I would like to see is a setting on the controller that would close the draft door once the stove drops below a low set point, say around 140, to help preserve the coals and heat that are left if you happen to be away for a while or forget to load it. I have a snap disc switch (set to open at 145 degrees) on the copper just before the water to air HX that kills the power to the thermostat that runs the fan in the furnace so it won't deplete all the heat in the water. It basically does the same thing as a Central Boiler thermostatic valve. Then the furnace thermostat takes over when the house drops below 65.
Chas, if you put a 140 disk at the boiler and put it in line with the coil for the draft door, you would have what you want, closed under 140.
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I spoke with Ridgewood on Dec. 29th. They made it sound like the option was ready and for sale.
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I don't have any issues with just the natural draft, it works fine for me. I do think that adding the fan option is a good idea though...... give the customers what they want if they want it. What I would like to see is a setting on the controller that would close the draft door once the stove drops below a low set point, say around 140, to help preserve the coals and heat that are left if you happen to be away for a while or forget to load it. I have a snap disc switch (set to open at 145 degrees) on the copper just before the water to air HX that kills the power to the thermostat that runs the fan in the furnace so it won't deplete all the heat in the water. It basically does the same thing as a Central Boiler thermostatic valve. Then the furnace thermostat takes over when the house drops below 65.
I have the same setup on mine.
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I was told it officially released today. 250 bucks. 4 bolts and two wires.
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I would like to see some pics of it. I wonder how it attaches to the door?(self tappers,drilling,ect..)
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Craig said he's gonna put Some info on there site soon
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I would be very interested in this! If I pick one up I will post pics.
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Same, Very interested.
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Craig said he has one running on a boiler at his shop
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Slim has a way to shut the damper if water gets below 160* or whatever you set it at. It is posted on here somewhere.
He sure does. A user posted a picture of the modification at the follwoing post.
LINK: Slimjim's Strap-On Aquastat Modification (Click Here for Picture of Modification) (http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?topic=6722.msg54913#msg54913)
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So anybody get one yet? Thinking I may pull the trigger tomorrow.
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i would like to see it work. to be most efficient there should be some sort of baffle welded on the interior of the door directing the air down onto the coal bed, and also up towrads the top of the firebox (to achieve a good secondary burn). I have a unit that is identical to the ridgewood. It is natural draft as well. the door is identical to that of a ridgewood. I ordered and hooked up a fan this fall and it did work great. the only issue i had was small pieces of ash and coals spitting out the top of the stack. I worked with it for a few days and came to the conclusion that the air path to directly on the fire. i believe is the air path was diverted a bit it would work great. I took the fan off and I am now back to running it as normal. I am going to fabricate a baffle for the inside of the door where the air comes in this spring and try it again.
Also, hopefully the fan deisgn that they offer comes with a damper and solenoid kit. These are very critical from my experience. otherwise to much air still leaks in even when the fan is off.
If anyone gets the blower upgrade i sure would love to see some pics!!!
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James I didn't see this in Ridgewood Web site. Where are you planning on ordering one from?
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They aren't on the website yet. You have to call Craig direct.
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Got mine in the mail yesterday. I hope to install tomorrow. Will try and post pics.
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Awesome. I'm gonna order mine tomorrow. Didnt get around to it today.
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Ok thanks
Rosco I can't wait to see pictures
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Called and ordered mine today. Can't wait to get it.
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What is the going price? Does anyone wanna share what they paid? I really want to do the upgrade but kinda wanna know what it would cost plus I would have to have it shipped to Wisconsin obviously.
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ffbare.......$250 plus freight and tax if applicable.....
I did not get mine hooked up today....ran out of time before having to head to work
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Does it look like a easy hook up?.
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Supposed to be 4 bolts and two wires.
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It would be cool to see some pictures! :thumbup:
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I called and talked to tim from ridgewood a few weeks back. he said he wouldn't recommend the fan. he says they have two stoves running at the shop one with a fan one without. can't remember the exact number but it was close to double the stack temp with the fan installed. he says that meens your pushing a lot of heat out the stack. I wouldn't mind having a fan but I would wouldn't like wasting all that heat. did craig mention anything about the stoves performance with the fan installed when anybody ordered?
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I'm gonna leave mine the way it is. Works fine with the natural draft.
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I didn't talk to craig when I called, so I can't say. My reason for doing it is I'm burning a lot of green wood this year and having trouble with recovery times when its real cold.
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Does it look like a easy hook up?.
Real easy.............about 10-20 minutes. 4 self tappers and 2 wires.
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I didn't talk to craig when I called, so I can't say. My reason for doing it is I'm burning a lot of green wood this year and having trouble with recovery times when its real cold.
Yeah I figured I'd try it as well. I have a lot of tree service wood...some seasoned....some not so seasoned. I'm hoping with the fan I wont have to baby sit the stove after loading it with mixed wood. We will see.....
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Green wood is my problem as well. It's so sad when you get home and your Temps are low and you just had a smoldering fire all day. Pictures anyone? I called last night to order one, I will try again later today to get one ordered up.
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I just got off the phone with the lady at Ridgewood, she will be getting one out to me early next week. The people at Ridgewood really go out of there way to make sure that all your questions are answered and they are more than helpful. Great experience so far!
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Ya there customer service is awesome.
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It's amazing how nice these guys are, seriously you don't find businesses ran like this. I'm happy I went with a Ridgewood
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I'am having the same problem with my wood not being dry as it should be. I have a hot water system in my house. It draws a lot of heat out of the water sometimes. My wood will be better seasoned next year.
And yes the customer service is great with Ridgewood. Craig delivered my stove and stayed a while to expanded the stove. Great people!!
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The whole organization at Ridgewood are awesome. I researched a lot of companies and preferred to purchase from a small company. It is a really well built, simple furnace. Our furnace drafts well but our wood is typically seasoned a full year. That is one reason I went with a company that has natural draft opposed to a fan unit. All my neighbors have either a Central Boiler or Hardy. I liked the Central Boiler design much better so I chose a Ridgewood based on there similar design to the CB.
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stack temps are hotter with the forced fan because there is much more combustion going on. even tho u may loose a bit more out the stack while it is running, im sure u get back up to your high limit much faster. Im sure the Forced Fan equals more wood, butt...u will have way less creosote build up in the stove bc when it burns, it is burning HOT!
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Glad to hear success stories about there OWB and great costumer service people who stand behind there product is key..
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With a few creative modifications you could have the best of both worlds.
Get a two stage Ranco thermostat then set your differential at 10 and 20 then either:
1: add the fan kit and use it with the two stage thermostat, when the fist set point is hit the Ranco will just open the damper on the fan for natural draft, if the water temp continues to drop from a large heat load or green wood then the second setting starts the fan.
2: If the fan is too small to allow natural draft leave the original set up on the stove and make a second mounting for the fan then run it like in #1.
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Mlappin that would be the cats meow! I ordered one of these kits when it comes in I may see how it looks and so some type of upgrade like you said. Great idea :post:
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Anyone have a photo of that fan option?
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Anyone have a photo of that fan option?
I hope to install mine this week...photos will follow
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Look forward to the install pics, and how well it works for you.
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Can't wait to see the photos! And if it shortens your burn time.
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Got mine up and running today. The problem is that I am unable to upload the pictures. They are the correct size and the forum says the uploader is full. PM me your # and I will text u a few pics.
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Hey Roscoe,
Can you send the pics to my email? vpmeyers@reagan.com
Thanks,
Vincent Paul
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Got mine installed tonight. Extremely easy. Had to get 4 self tappers to attach the doghouse to the door. Hardest part was getting my fat hands in to hook up the wires.
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j448/James_Bodeis/20150123_220751_zpsrk30bbgv.jpg) (http://s1086.photobucket.com/user/James_Bodeis/media/20150123_220751_zpsrk30bbgv.jpg.html)
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j448/James_Bodeis/20150123_214211_zpsnh8mkn2w.jpg) (http://s1086.photobucket.com/user/James_Bodeis/media/20150123_214211_zpsnh8mkn2w.jpg.html)
.These are the only pictures I thought to take. Got a little excited to get it going.
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Give us a update on how well it works. Looks pretty good. Do you have any more pics.
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Not right now. Ill try to get the cover off and snap a few but I'm working today and then going to the woods and probably won't be home before dark. Works well so far. I've got a blazing fire in no time, Temps recover quickly even if the house is calling for heat which it hadd not been able to do. Also, I woke up to the most wood still in the stove I have had so far. Took about 10 minutes if that to install.
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Looks good! So your burn time about the same?
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I'm thinking mine may be longer. Most of the wood I put in last night was still there this morning. Usually I just have a pile of ashes when I get up. The thing recovers so fast it burns for shorter periods at a time. This is of course only 1 night. I will monitor my usage through the week and update.
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I will agree, recover times are painful when your house is calling for heat constantly. The natural draft doesn't seem to do the job. I'm burning green wood wood with some seasoned and if its cold and windy the boiler can't keep up. I have to keep opening the door for 20-30 minutes to try get the water temp back up. This is very frustrating, not unusual to have 150 degree water temps unless I open the door for more draft constantly. Like others have said when house is calling, and you have a great heat demand the boiler just never recovers with the natural draft... making for a cold house, and furnace blower never kicking off.
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Intensedrive do think if you had seasoned wood you wood be alright with the natural draft?
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I have a Ridgewood 7500 with no stack extensions or fan and I am using seasoned oak as well as dead trees I am cutting off my property, and barn beams and oak pallets from work. I am having no issues with keeping the boiler up to temp. I am set at 182 off, 172 on and getting fast recovery times with no issues heating my house, garage and domestic water. Rake the coal bed forward in the morning and then again at night and add a few oak 4x4's then seasoned oak on top and forget it. Was -20 here a few days ago, had wood left after 11 hours of burn time. I like the fan option if you want to burn green wood, but mine works great without it due to having seasoned wood.
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I have the 6000 and have no issue with recovery times. Working great . Have a 3 foot stack
Been getting 14 to 16 hours burn times.
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Hi,
I think having properly seasoned wood would help. Not sure it would fix everything. I'm going to look into the fan option based on the reviews.
Intensedrive do think if you had seasoned wood you wood be alright with the natural draft?
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jamesbodeis how is the fan option going? Are your burn times still good?
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So far so good.
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Well...I have had my blower option running for about a week now on my 7500 so I figured I would report back for any perspective buyers....
Keep in mind I owned a forced draft Wood Doctor WD14000 for almost 10 years and this 7500 with the fan is a totally different animal. That old WD would burn any type of wood, seasoned or not with 24 hr burn times not out of the question. Even with temps in the single digits during the day and 20 below at night, the WD only required to be filled once a day. Ok....enough about that defunct stove/company.
Sight unseen I took delivery of the 7500 in Sept. 2014 and was a little unprepared for it because all my wood was split in big chunks. The capacity of the 7500 is about 3/4 of the old WD. I learned quickly that the 7500 likes small, seasoned wood so I bought the fan option in order to burn some big, sometimes not 100% seasoned pieces.
My 7500 has 3' of chimney added to it. I run my temps 175-185.
First, Because of the door configurations on a Ridgewood, the fan does not fuel the fire directly but rather fuels the firebox. The concept still works but recovery isn't as fast.
Second, with seasoned wood, the recovery time is next to nothing. With mixed seasoned and green, recovery time is about half of the natural draft. Burning big split Ash rounds, recovery time is just a bit better than natural draft.....not much. I did not try green wood as I did not want to baby sit my stove with temps in the teens. All were tested with a nice bed of coals. Obviously the more moisture in your wood, the more you will burn trying to get up to temp.
Third, the fan set up makes it a pain in the ass to maintain the creosote build up (if you have any) on the draft door. I know a lot of guys (myself included) have burned up solenoids because of the door flap getting glued into place. Paper clips or not, you still have to maintain that draft door.
Last, a lot of guys ask if the fan was worth it. I paid almost $300 to get it to my house and I live in Michigan. Hook up was easy and the people at Ridgewood were great but I don't think I would buy it again. Instead I would try adding another section of chimney and/or stick to burning small, seasoned pieces of wood. Another option would be a completely new door set up, something that resembles Hawken, CB, WD....you get the picture.
Hope this helps
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I have my blower assembly on my home made a few feet from the stove and I have never had any creosote or "gum" hold up my blower door. I used a 3 inch pipe and cut it down where it enters the stove below the door to 2 - 1 1/2 inch inlets.. this works great. never a problem
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge)
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I have my blower assembly on my home made a few feet from the stove and I have never had any creosote or "gum" hold up my blower door. I used a 3 inch pipe and cut it down where it enters the stove below the door to 2 - 1 1/2 inch inlets.. this works great. never a problem
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge)
Nice stove build but it is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT set up
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Roscoe i am not surprised by ur findings. I was expecting to here something along these lines. I have a Ridgewood 5000, almost identical to the ridgewood in design and function...i bought and hooked up a fan w/damper kit to the draft door a few months back in hopes to acheive being able to burn bigger logs and chunks off wood. I was having the same issues it sounds like u were having...it would burn great if i put small split peices of seasoned ash or oak...but if i put any larrge rounds or green in...my burn times and efficiency went to crap. Anywho, i got the fan all hooked up and it worked great for the most part...expect for the fact that it just blew the air directly onto the fire. Most units, like the WD have a baffle system on the inside of the door to evenly direct the airflow across the firebox from left to right, and also bottom to top. I expereinced incomplete burns and uneven burns. I also found that i was losing a ton more heat out of the stack, and also was seeing a bunch of sembers flying out from time to time along with ash. So, I took the draft fan off and went back to normal operation with natural draft. about a month later i decided to try adding an additional 4ft of stack on (i was already at 6 ft) and WOW! what a damn difference, NO NEED FOR A FAN NOW! within 4 minutes of the draft door opening there is an inferno roraing! recovery times are MUCH better, and i am able to throw whatever i want in there and it burns.
I Think that if there was some sort of baffle system on the inside of the door to direct airflow it would be much more efficent...but i would suggest just extending the stack..only cost me $22 for 4ft more of 8 inch pipe
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I meant to say i have a TimberWolf 5000, not a ridgewood 5000. lol ^^^^^^^^^^^^
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I wish there was a better way to direct the air. It blows pretty much dead center so that area burns faster than the rest. But for me since I am buring pretty much all green this year, it has helped my recovery times, and I am not using any more wood so far.
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I have my blower assembly on my home made a few feet from the stove and I have never had any creosote or "gum" hold up my blower door. I used a 3 inch pipe and cut it down where it enters the stove below the door to 2 - 1 1/2 inch inlets.. this works great. never a problem
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/billie_boy7/silvers%20replacement/003-1.jpge)
Nice stove build but it is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT set up
I understand it is completely different roscoe, I was jus posting so that people realize they don't have to buy what some one else has decided is best for their stove. many on here (perhaps you too) have the capabilities to manufacture something for themselves and this post was just to show that if you use your imagination you may overcome a problem that seems to me a lot of folks are having. (this sticky flapper syndrome)
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Any updates for the draft fan option?
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Anyone else running this forced draft set up besides myself and Jamesbodeis? If so, what do you think of it?
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I installed my boiler last year and built a large woodshed, so I did not have a lot of time to cut wood. I am starting to run low on seasoned wood which burned great this winter with the natural draft, and it is hard to get in the woods with all the snow we have. I purchased a fan on E-Bay, looks like a hair dryer with a cover that slides to control the amount of air in and out. I fabricated a mount and cover for it at work to cover the front and sides and aim the blower at the draft door bottom so when it opens, the air blows in. I put a switch on it so I can choose fan or natural draft depending on my wood available. Filled it with green maple and beech yesterday and it burned great during the day, added more wood around 9:00 last night, and still going fine at 9:00 this morning. I have the fan running at 1/2 of the available air flow. I will run it like this for a while and let you know. So far, so good and allows me to burn green wood.
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I made my own force air for my stove. Not a fan of it. To much of the air goes up the chimney. I made it for the fun of it.
I wonder if it would work better if there was a baffle in the back of the stove. Something like CB has in there stove. Something to keep the air from short circuiting right out the chimney.
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I did notice when I loaded the stove last night with the fan on high my stack temps were high, like you say Wissel12, and blowing the air right out the chimney. My fan is 60 cfm I believe, so I cut the flow to 1/3 and it seems to be the right amount. I have it on a switch and view it as a helper to burn green wood if I need too. Like I said, mine ran great all winter on natural draft with seasoned wood, but I am running low on it.
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i ordered a 75cfm blower with damper solenoid kit offline and made makde it myself as well.....it did burn much hotter and the ability to burn green wood was there, but i noticed the same thing...stack temps were insane...also i noticed it didnt burn evenly. with most door mounted fan units there is a baffle on the inside of the door that directs air flow evenly over the bottome of the fire and ususally has a one port directing air to the top of the fire, some like the old wood doctors for example....but, with these units being originally set up for natural draft, they dont have any fort of baffle system, just a str8 pipe right one the fire.