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[PitMan]

Hello, Im new to the forum and outdoor wood burners. We just moved up north and are looking at getting a FA outdoor wood burner because our first (and last that BIG) electric bill made me faint! I am going to make a return in the house but I dont know how to hook up the hot air coming in to my existing ductwork without it blowing backwards through my air handler? My house has rectangle metal duct and I know how to tie into it but not how to keep it from going backwards through the air handler. I know I have to put backdraft butterfly dampers to keep it from blowing back into my wood furnace but thats with round flex duct. Do they make something similar for the rectangular metal?

[PitMan]

This is a crude drawing of what Im saying.. the box on top is my air handler and the box on the bottom is my wood burner. Sry for the poor drawing.. its the best I could do LOL

[hondaracer2oo4]

Pitman, Any particular reason why you would want to go with a forced hot air owb? These units are very inefficient. The way that 99% of us with forced hot air systems in the house go is with a traditional owb with water and use a water to air heat exchanger in the forced hot air duct to bring the heat in. This system works extremely well.

[PitMan]

Its about half the price. Where we live it shouldnt have any trouble keeping our house warm. Dont get me wrong.. I would love to be putting in a boiler but that isnt a option at this point.

[hondaracer2oo4]

What unit are you looking at?

[PitMan]

Shelter SF3042 Outdoor Wood & Coal Furnace.. $2,299.99 @ Menards

I would like to go with the Earth Bear cub 305 but as I said.. not really feasible at this time and our last electric bill is forcing my hand! 

[mlappin]

I'd go with a water stove over forced air anytime. Is there any way you can finance a water OWB?

Like has been pointed out forced air is not as efficient, it's a lot easier to run pex lines in the future to where you might need more heat than insulated ducts. You can also heat a hot tub or whirl pool tub with a water OWB it could also run radiant heat for your floors, heat your domestic hot water, and could even heat a side walk to end shoveling snow, a forced air boiler can't do any of those.

[PitMan]

Like I said.... it is not a option.

[capitalpyro]

I know I have to put backdraft butterfly dampers to keep it from blowing back into my wood furnace but thats with round flex duct. Do they make something similar for the rectangular metal?

You could talk to a good sheet metal fabricator and explain what you need. They can usually make just about anything related to duct if you find a good one.

You may also be able to modify an old fire damper and install it in the appropriate place (just a thought). Look at these pics and see if they are useful.

http://tinyurl.com/njsjl9l

[hoardac]

You can save yourself a few hundred buck through walmart with free shipping.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shelter-Furnace-SF3042-140-000-BTU-Outdoor-Wood-Coal-Burning-Forced-Air-Furnace/33450920

[cantoo]

I can't offer advice on the ducting but if a water boiler is out and you are installing hot air then maybe you should consider putting something in your basement. Maybe that isn't an option either but used hot air units would be a pretty small market I would think. If you buy a unit for in the house at least you would be saving money to put towards an water boiler and you could sell your inside unit then or keep as back up. That's what I did, just took longer than I figured because I bought a used water boiler. I used a Hotblast for 8 years and now it's back up.

[hondaracer2oo4]

You would be able to get a used owb for around 3k if you look around. There are also some manufacturers that are very close in price range to the 3k for a new owb. I can't remember off of the top of my head which ones but some people will chime in hopefully. Are you all ready with your firewood right now ready to go? It is late in the season already if you don't. You may want to think about having this ready to go for next fall/winter. In that case it may be an option to save an extra few hundred dollars up to get a boiler instead of a hot air furance. I am just not a big fan of them because of the inefficiency and the fact that you have to pipe large duct work into the house which is going to look quite ugly.

[BoilerHouse]

Something like this -

http://www.ventilation-system.com/cat/200/

[Scott7m]

Ridgewood has a small boiler now thats 2799! 

[PitMan]

Thanks guys. I have looked for used boilers and it isnt looking good for my area. I get that some of the cheaper boilers are close-ish to the same price but they are much much more costly to hook up... right?