Page 8 RAIN December 1980 R£v1s£D RAINPAPER No. 1, CONSUMER GumE To WooosTovEs Bill Day 16 pp., Rl·visl·d Nov. 1980, $3.00 No mattn how you split it, wood is re-emerging as an important factor in home heating. To help insure the wood energy transition is one committed to safety and efficiency, wood stove consumerist Bill Day has closely monitored the avail- , - ·,..,.,""' "...~' II 1,~,,,~,l~~ •WnJKr- .,....N,_ .. ..,..._. ~ •w.-l fuff...... ! ...... ~ Ill 1 ability and rdiability of these products. His newly-revised and expanded Consumer Guide is a compilation of his articles in RAIN, covering the selection, installation and rL·pair of woodstoves, wood cookstoves and wood furnaces. Include? are help-, ful notes on fireplace retrofits and chimney maintenance. Essential reading for those of you interested in this revitalized energy alternative. by Bill Day and Kurt Schloth As the use of wood fuel returns to its position as America's leading source of domestic heating, we are seeing a definite trend toward more sophistication·in its use. Wood fired furnaces have some definite advantages. Large furnace fireboxes and truly automatic temperature controls require less frequent attention (labor) and often offer greater heating capacity than do free-standing wood burners. Usually the furnace system is concealed and is not part of the home decor. Wood and multi-fuel furnaces are finding a greatly e:xpanded market here in the late '70s. A number of manufacturers are now in production. Some of the best products seem to be imports whose outstanding quality follows the trend established by the importation of European free-standing stoves. Except for a very few, the bulk of the products manufactured in the USA are of relatively poor construction. Good data for quality and efficiency comparisqn are lacking. Initial costs associated with installation of a central furnace are much greater than those \\'.ith installation of free-standing wood stoves. The central furnace is only a portion of the capital expense; The chimney, sheet metal ductwork, and installation labor may exceed the cost of your furnace. Choosing a low efficiency or short-lived furnace is a very expensive mistake. Here are a few ideas which may help you determine how to spend furnace dollars. 1. Look for a knowledgeable person or company to buy from. People who have no inventory or are short-changed on· knowledge are likely ro be expensive and in the long run simple mistakes and poor advice in this area might cost as much as two thousand dollars to correct. If possible; try to find someone to deal with whose experience began-before 1973. (1973 was the year that "get rich quick artis.ts" entered the wood-fuel~d appliance field.) 2. Examine the products offered. Higher quality furnaces are likely to use a great deal of cast iron in their construction. Cast iron lasts longer when used for firebox parts. Steel warps and shows heat fatigue quickly. , , 3. Positively eliminate from consideration any furnace J '.I ·Jf .,/( whose doors or door -frames are not cast iron. When steel is used for e·ither the feed door or door frame, warpage is likely to cause uncontrollable air leaks. Efficiency is greatly reduced and loss of combustion control frequently leads to overheating. I • , 1 4. Your ·furnace should be occasionally inspected and serviced. It is best to make your purchase from a stable, local, service-oriented retailer. 5. Avoid furnace manufacturers whose literature is flamboyant. Traditionally the highest qu~lity furnaces are produced by solid, conservative companies whose products are likely to outperform the claims of the manufacturer. Poor quality products are often warranted for periods exceeding the lifetime history of the manufacturer.' • 6. Add-on units designed to supplement oil, gas or electric furnaces are, at this time, notoriously poor quality. (The Ashley, Kickapoo and Sam Daniels are qceptions.) ,The University of Maine has a pending pa_tent on a heating • system considered by knowledgeable people in the industry to represent the "state of the art" in wood combustion. Three companies have been licensed to manufacture the furnace which is an integral part of the system: Dumont Industries of Monmouth, Mai~e; Madawaska Wood Furnace Co. of Bangor, Maine; and Hampton Technologies Ltd. of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. All three versions are based on Dr. Ri.chard Hill's original design,s, but there are significant differences. Dumonfs furnace is designed to be assembled onsite in new construction; Madawaska's design is a build-ityourself model; Hampton's furnace is factory-built and installation is supervised by the retailer. In our considered judgement we feel that the Hampton design is.the most satisfactory for the average homeowner, and we will describe it in more detail. The furnace itself is carefully engineered, refractory-lined, and operates under forced draft in order to guarantee an air/ fuel _mix as close to ideal as is possible. This produces very
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