Anyone had any experience with "HOT BLAST" furnaces? Mine's rated for coal/wood and is set up in my mobile. Former owners used it for heating. Is it any good? Any major problems? Used to heat with a wood stove so am familiar with using dry, seasoned wood. Just not too sure about the furnace. Thanks to all.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), March 24, 2001

Answers

Response to Hot Blast Furnace

I used to have one in our other farmhouse about 10 years ago. It was from TSC and bright red. It heated the house good and we had it hooked into the duck work. The one thing I did not like was the fact that it was airtight. When the stove reached a certain temperature, the thermastat would close the air draft going into the firebox, and the stove would "puff" for air, shooting that little door open for just a second. It did not like to be cut off from any air. It would send smoke into the back room, puffed out the draft door forceably, which in turn would go right up the fan at the back and thru the duckworks. I don't like the "auto" drafts.

On ours outside, we just open or close the draft by hand. You can put up a small shed and put that thing in there, and just blow the hot air in and then hook a return air straight to the fan on the back of the stove, that way no smoke could get in. Ours outside is normally supposed to go in a basement. There is a thread on how we did it.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), March 25, 2001.