Furnace advice - adding a wood burner to forced air
 

Okay, with the predicted fuel prices, we are seriously thinking about a wood furnace to suppliment our heating.

Currently we have forced air, not sure of the size but I was told by the guy who does our annual service that it is a bit undersized. The house is roughly 1900 sq ft and the furnace is 105,000btu.

I have been looking on the net and found these...

http://www.vogelzang.com/Norseman2500.htm

http://www.barbecues.com/web/catalog...spx?pid=187795

http://www.englandsstoveworks.com/28-3500.html

What exactly would be involved in installing something like this? Is it something that would be worth installing?

FWIW, we will have all the hardwood we could want from my father in law.

Nobody, huh?


Bueller? Bueller?

Is the home fully insulated?

drafts sealed...?

I've seen wood burners tied to the furnace a few times, but most common complaint is having to haul out the ash and trying to get rid of it. It's a lot of work. Have you considered upgrading your furnace to a 95% effiency? What is your fuel source ie. gas, oil, LP? How tight is your house? And as the previous post asked insulation, windows, etc? I don't know if one woodburner is better than another, sorry.

Yes, we have insulated, sealed drafts, new windows and doors. The furnace is oil and is only about 6 years old.

We want to go to wood because we can get all the wood for free, just have to cut and split it. Instead of working hard to earn money, this would be like working to spend less money.

After doing a little research with the help of a friend, It was suggested that instead of a wood forced air setup, we should go with a wood boiler and add a heat exchanger into the plenum of our existing furnace. any info on something like this?