Yukon-Eagle Multi-Fuel Furnace

http://yukonenergyco.com/eagle1.htm

I was wondering if anyone had any experience/opinions about using this type of furnace. Looking at the manual on-line, anthracite is preferred, but bituminous could be used. Seems like the best of all worlds. Thanks.
Don

I would stay away from the oil/solid combos, they are very expensive, bulky and inefficient on the oil side. Buy their add on coal unit and tag it to your existing system, you will save a lot of money which you can spend on coal.

Had one. It was in my house when I got it. The heat exchanger cracked in it so smoke was going directly into the house. It was one of the first things I got rid of. My in laws installed it 15 years or so before.

Never burned coal in it.

It was a fill up with wood every 4 hours.

My neighbor had one of these things, and had major problems with the coal grates breaking. He said it was a design flaw, the company sent him several grates as replacements even after the warranty period expired. From his experience, I'd stay very far away from it.

Thanks for the info. I was just looking at ideas in case my current gas furnace would ever need to be replaced. Over the years i've used alsost every kind of heat (IMO coal hot water being the best) but never dealt with any kind of combo unit. Guess I'll just stick with the Alaska for now, and maybe try to hook it up to my hot air system this summer.

Improper use or mis installations are the most common issues we see.
I am a service rep and know that these issue noted here are not common.
Most folks get long life if maintained properly just like anything else that's mechanical.

I have one of these. It was in the house when I bought in in 1999. Furnace man says oil burner is running at 85% efficiency, said that's pretty good for ANY oil hot air furnace. I burned wood one year, pain in the a$*, dirty, lot of work, lot of cleaning of the heat exchanger and flue pipes. Been on nut coal the last two years and am very happy with it on coal. Takes about 5 minutes, twice a day to shake down coal and load fresh. First year with the coal grates the nub where you put the removable handle broke off, first from one grate, then the other. Bad cast on both, you could see the porosity. Sent the nub back to yukon and they sent me two new grates. Very good customer service. One of things I like is you DON'T have to cover the oil gun because it's in a separate burner area so if you let the coal die out, the oil kicks in automatically. (In a keystoker you have to manually switch back to oil). Don't know how cost compares to others but so far this has been a very good unit for me and I think it's over 30 years old. (I looked into updating the thermostat to a digital that the company now makes and read the serial # off to Yukon. Think they said it wouldn't work cause my unit was pre 1978?) Anyway I keep my house warmer (about 73F) and am very happy with this unit and would consider it again though I think a stoker might be an option too.

I'm also a Yukon-Klondike user, although wood-only. My furnace is 30 years old, and this will be its final winter, as it's in need of major repairs. You can't expect much more from a wood furnace! I want something I can load up for the day and have the fire burning when I return home at night, as well as cut the amount of work and the mess that comes with burning wood. I'd also like to be able to use it earlier in the fall, to further cut my oil usage. I'm seriously considering a Keystoker hot air furnace. This in no way is a bad rap on my Yukon though. It has given us 30-winters of mainly trouble-free heat, and saved many, many $$$ that would otherwise have been spent on oil, and we've been a lot warmer than we would have been otherwise. The only parts I've ever needed were a couple grate sections over the years, and replacement fire bricks. My experience with Yukon's customer service has been top-notch. If you don't mind the work of burning wood and are thinking about a furnace, definitely give it some consideration. I've never tried burning coal in it, so can't help from personal experience, but I can say that I can only use this furnace when it's no warmer than 20, as the heat drives us out if it's any warmer, and since the fire's just smoldering away, the chimney fills with creosote. I'd imagine with a hotter coal fire, we'd have had similar problems with milder weather, minus the creosote.

international86 wrote: although I'd imagine with a hotter coal fire, we'd have had similar problems with milder weather, minus the creosote.

You'd be pleasantly surprised. The coal is easier to dampen down and smolder when not calling for heat. I'm ok up to about 40 deg. outside temp. Much more than that and the house heats up a bit but only to maybe 76-78. (I keep it at 73F). I did wood one year and never again. It's a great coal burner though once you figure out the drafts, bed depth etc.

I have a Yukon Eagle that the previous owner installed 27 years ago. They only burned oil with it, but I've burned coal the last three years with no issues (though it took me a little time to learn how to burn properly), and it kept the house nice and warm. The furnace is in need of lots of work, so I have a new LL Pioneer I've set up and test burned and it also heats the house, just not as evenly since there's no real circulation to the ends of the house (but it's easier and cleaner than the Yukon). Someday I'll replace the Yukon with a smaller oil-only unit now that I have the LL.

All that said, my only real complaint with the Yukon Eagle is the ash pan and shaker. The pan is like a V with no back, and it doesn't really catch all the ash on the sides and back, so it's a bit of a mess to deal with. Also you need to open the fire door to shake the grates, which sends dust and ash through the air more than I like. I don't have a basement, so the laundry room gets more dust than it should if I'm not really careful, or there's any breeze when I open the door to take out the ash. Other than the ash cleanup issues it's been a good furnace, and still will be my backup unit for the week or two that I won't be burning coal each year (the oil part works well still too).

I've not used the other combo units, so can't really compare to them, but if you need a multi-fuel furnace, this should be worth looking at if you don't mind the mess from the ash shakedown and removal.

Chris