Hyfire II questions

HI, I would like to install a Hyfire II into my old 2 story brick farm house. It would have to be put into the dirt floor basement, possible corrison problems? I would like to have the heat jacket on it so that I could tie it into my existing warm air furnace. Do you think that with a dirt floor and stone foundation and 3 layer brick walls this stove would be able to keep up the heat without over firing? I live in the Cumberland valley of PA and it gets pretty windy and cold here. I know I'm long winded but the oil burner is killing me.

I have been heating my plus 150 year old, 2000 sq ft farm house with a Hyfire II for three seasons now. Its installed in the cellar, I tied it in to two six inch heating ducts to the main room. We leave the cellar door open for return air. IT is my primary source of heat, I use the forced air for back up only. This year I installed the jacket, put two eight inch ducts with in line fans to the previous six inch ducts. Its too early to tell how this arrangement is going to work, I suspect that it will only improve performance.

During the coldest days here in the north land, with the previous set up, I only had both burners on just about two thirds of the way to max.

As far as corrosion is concerned, I run a dehumidifier in the basement during the summer months.

The folks at leisure line are the best, they know their stoves.

By cellar I guess you mean it has a dirt floor as well, is there any clearance issues that I may need to be aware of. My basement is roughly 6'6" from floor to the bottom of the joist.
Thanks much for the info. I will be waiting further updates on your system.

You can reduce possible corrosion issues by placing the Hyfire on a platform of bricks. A dehumidifier will definitely help. Also a 150 watt light bulb inside the stove's box will keep it warm and the humidity inside down during the damp summer months.

Getting the most of a stove in a basement or cellar should include using small ducts from cold air returns to the inlets of the distribution blowers on the stove. Without these return air ducts you are heating the cold air drawn off the floor of the cellar, the coldest air in the house. The basement walls and floor cool this air significantly.

If you can put in a 4" or 6" duct from a distant part of the house, and have this attached to the inlet of one of the distribution fans on the Hyfire, you will be creating a loop of circulation. This is what forced hot air heat systems do. They have a closed loop, all air heated is returned air from the heated portion of the house.

Think of forcing air into a box [a room], it will soon fill up, and the only flow of air would be leakage around the edges or corners in the box [doorways]. Now cut an exit in the box, and see the increased airflow that carries heat into the box. The return airflow is vital.

The HyfireII is a VERY capable unit. With proper ductwork, I'm sure you will be happy with it. I had a HyfireI that I used for awhile, it did a great job.

Give Jerry at Leisureline a call, he is very helpful. He won't try to sell you something that won't work.

Greg L

Hi 45,
A Hyfire is a great stove. I will definetly cut cost. I can't give you advise on how much it will cut you energy bill, but coal is the cheapest heat going. Remember, the secret to staying warm is insulation.
Jerry LLS

Sorry to say the insulation issue is kinda mute at this point. The house had foam bead bard installed under the interior paneling, maybe 1 inch thick. So short of gutting the interior of the house and reframing the whole inside, not much I can do...I think! You know never say never.
But anyway the oil furnace will keep the house warm on all but the coldest windiest days....I just hate paying the oil bill. I will continue to lurk in the shadows gathering information as possible....
You guys are a wealth of knowledge....and common sense!

There's a calculator I have in developement here, note it's a beta but fully functional and should be accurate:

[dead link removed]

The DOE XLS spreadsheet its based on can be found here (link courtesy of Yanche):

http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls