August 2013

KUUMA VAPOR FIRE 100 wood furnace results

As many of you now I installed a Kuuma vapor fire last year. Well I just got around to cleaning my chimney for the last piece of info needed to give an accurate opinion. The chimney was as clean as a whistle, A little dust ash, that's it. There was a little soot in the inside Single wall pipe, 1/16 of an inch. This furnace was everything they said it was. This was my only source of heat last winter, if it didn't work I was screwed. It worked flawlessly. My house about 2,000 sq ft, NEVER dropped below 70* Even on the coldest days where some peoples boilers could not keep up. This furnace is said to equal 100,000 btu fossil fuel furnace. Well a coworker that lives 5 miles away with a 125,000 BTU oil boiler on the coldest days could not keep his house out of the 50's. First time that has happened to him in the 20 yr's he's been there. My house was 72*. This wood furnace is as easier to use than any wood burning appliance that I have seen. Almost as easy as fossil fuel, the exception of course is tha t you have to put wood in it twice a day. Even that is easy, scrape the ash down the grate, pull the coals forward, toss in your wood, close the door and walk away. Even my wife can use it. (and that is saying something. she is VERY girly) Don't come back for 8 to 12 hours. 1 piece of wood = 1 hr of burn. I never loaded the furnace full, so I don't know how long a burn it can have. But it can do at least a 12 hr burn 3/4 loaded. I got the h2o coil with it, which gave me 3 free showers a day. Wood usage was the same amount of the same wood as the winter before with the wood stove. If you recall that winter 2 yrs ago was no winter at all. Last winter just wouldn't end, needed heat in june for crying out loud. So twice the winter and hot water with the same amount of wood, and 1 million percent easier.

As for customer service, they are amazing. I have never encountered such good service. There was trucking damage upon delivery, They wrote me up a repair quote the same day. I had an issue upon start up on a Saturday morning. I called them and the owner answered the phone and had my issue resolved in minute's. ( a spring adjustment) I called on a weeknight at 7 o'clock with a question, again the owner answered the phone and answered my question. Darrell ( the owner) is truly excited by his unit, and how it works. American made, with true American quality, with old time American customer service. I am very pleased with the Vapor fire 100 and would happily recommend one to anyone. The only thing I don't like is it's hard to remember the spelling of Kuuma.

P.s It works great when the power goes out as well. And flue temp is around 250*.

P.ss I loved showing the guy's that ride along with me all the houses that have smoke coming out of there chimney's, then driving by my house and seeing nothing coming out of mine, not even the heat squiggles. They could not believe I had a fire going at the time.

Dan Westmoreland
Sandown, NH

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/242982.htm

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/204314.htm

Kuuma Vapor-Fire Comparison

The biggest difference from the Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 and 200 to any other hot air woodburning furnace is that the Vapor-Fires are true gasification furnaces, while others aren't.  With emissions as low as .01 gr/mj or less than 1 gr/hr. and combustion efficiencies of 99%, you know for a fact that gasification is taking place. Also, at the same time, smokeless burns are taking place and further demonstrate gasification.  Remember this, when there is no smoke, there is also no creosote.

 

With emissions that average 5 gr/hr or more or .3 gr/mj,  you won't have smokeless burns and true wood gasification.

 

Consequently, the Vapor-Fire furnaces stand alone for efficiency, safety and enhancing our environment.

Tired of Skyrocketing Heating Costs?

What is the impact on total wood consumption per year if you use a super efficient furnace like our Kuuma Vapor-Fire?

Here are the important numbers that need to be examined: 1 gal. #2 fuel oil = 140,000 BTUs; 1 gal. propane - 91,500 BTU's; 1 cord paper birch wood = 21 M BTU's; 1 cord red oak = 25 M BTU's.
KuumaVapor-Fire furnaces were tested to have an overall efficiency as high as 85%, 99.4% combustion efficiency, less than 1 gr/hr of emissions, 99% "Smokeless" burn cycles, internal flue temperatures 285-400 degrees F., and external flue temperatures 150-250 degrees F. Kuuma Vapor-Fire furnaces have been used for over 25 years with no condensation issues whatsoever, because the flue temperatures are still high enough to support a natural draft system when installed according to our written directions.
A good estimate for oil usage for a heating season would be 500-1,000 gal., with lots of variables. We'll take a look at an average home using 750 gal. of oil for the heating season. 750 gal = 105 M BTU's. If a wood furnace was 100% overall efficient, which is not possible, it would take : 105 M BTU's /21M=5 cords of birch or 105 BTU's/25M=4.2 cords of oak.
Our KuumaVapor-Fire furnace at 82% average overall efficiency would be; 105 M BTU's/(21Mx82%) = 6.09 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/(25 M x 82%) = 5.12 cords of oak.
Most manufacturers struggle to hit 60% overall efficiency, but we'll look at their results based on 60%. 105 M BTU's/(21M x 60%) = 8.33 cords of birch or 105 M BTU's/ (25M x 60%) = 7 cords of oak.
Therefore, using our efficient Vapor-Fire furnaces will, without a doubt, use less wood to deliver the same amount of BTU's you'd require in oil or propane for the heating season then a less efficient furnace would. The other big advantages are minimal air pollution, longer more even burns, and minimal creosote accumulation from 99% "Smokeless" burn cycles. The safely aspect is also huge in saving homes and lives.
I'm quite sure alot of manufacturers will be very surprised to see their furnace test results when regulations come into effect in 2013-14. They're not going to believe how much air pollution and wasted wood their so called efficient furnaces have produced. Many manufacturers will have to fold or redesign their furnaces quickly. I'm thankful that I invested the time, effort and money in preliminary testing so that our company is prepared for the future. We knew the regulations were forthcoming.

Heating Season

Ready to ship out 3 more Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 Wood Gasification Furnaces.  With heating season fast approaching it's never to early to get prepared. 

We designed both the Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 and Kuuma Vapor-Fire 200 furnaces to eliminate wood smoke. This gets rid of the creosote and air pollution at the same time. If there ever was a GREEN product, the VaporFires are that. They make wood burning safe and more environmentally and operator friendly. They burn wood up to 99% of each burn, "Smokeless". Less than 1 gram per hour of emissions are produced to enhance and not harm our environment. The burn is controlled automatically by simply turning the knob on its unique 24 volt computer for the level of burn you desire. This eliminates the guess work involved in safely and cleanly burning wood. The 24 volt computer does it automatically for you, start to finish.

The World's #1 Wood Gasification Furnace

Intertek Testing Results

High Burn

1.0 Grams/Hr of Emissions

99.4% Combustion Efficiency

82.4% Overall Efficiency

Medium Burn

.45 Grams/Hr of Emissions

98.1% Combustion Efficiency

84.4% Overall Efficiency

Low Burn

.65 Grams/Hr of Emissions

98.9% Combustion Efficiency

86.3% Overall Efficiency

 
Intertek is an accredited world leader in the testing, inspection and certification of consumer goods and works with more than one-third of all global retailers' supply chains

Kuuma Wood Gasification Forced Air Furnaces

"Kuuma" principle - the logs burn from the front to the back. Primary air ignites only the amount of wood that will combust with the available oxygen within the fire chamber. Electronic control precisely regulates the amount of preheated air admitted into the fire chamber. Because the gases and volatile liquids burn at approximately 1000 degrees Fahrenheit it is important that the secondary air is preheated before it is introduced into the secondary zone. The fire burns with a nice soft low flame resulting in a highly efficient burn for a long period of time. You don't need a raging fire to produce a clean burn and useful heat.