Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace: An Honest Review

Burning wood is an economical and efficient way to heat your home, especially if you live in an area without access to other sources of fuel (like natural gas, coal, or propane). And the best way to deliver wood heat to your home is by way of a wood stove or a wood burning furnace.

If you’re in the market for a new forced air wood burning furnace, your options are slim due to new EPA regulations. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some good models available.

At HY-C, we manufacture EPA-approved wood burning furnaces in our factory in St. Louis, Missouri. And in this guide, we’re going to take a close look at our Shelter SF1000E model.

We’ll cover important specifications like the furnace’s heating capacity, its efficiency, the area it can heat, its cost, and plenty more. By the time you’re finished here, you’ll be able to decide whether or not a Shelter SF1000E wood furnace is right for you.

Discover the Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace

Shelter SF1000E overview:

Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace Specifications

Whether it’s a car, a lawn mower, or a wood furnace, when you’re making a big purchase, the specs are vital. They can make or break your decision. These all-important metrics tell you just how you can expect your new equipment to perform.

Let’s talk about five important specifications of the Shelter SF1000E:

1. Heating capacity
2. Heating area
3. Firebox capacity
4. Efficiency
5. Dimensions

Heating Capacity

A furnace’s heating capacity is measured in British thermal units (or BTUs). There are several ways to measure BTUs, but here, we’re going to look at three:

1. Maximum peak input
2. Maximum peak output
3. Average output capacity

Maximum peak input is pretty easy to understand. It’s the maximum amount of heat energy in the largest load of wood that a furnace can hold (in BTUs). In a Shelter SF1000E, that number is 289,000 BTUs.

Maximum peak output is how much heat is delivered into the home when the furnace burns its largest possible load of wood. In Shelter SF1000E furnaces, the maximum peak output is 143,500 BTUs.

Finally, there’s average output capacity. This is — on average — the amount of heat energy the furnace delivers throughout the home every hour. For Shelter SF1000Es, the average output capacity is 46,435 BTUs per hour.

Heating Area

Heating area is simply the size of the living space that the furnace is able to heat (in square feet). We recommend using a Shelter SF1000E wood furnace to heat homes up to 2,500 square feet.

Keep in mind that the performance of your furnace depends on a number of factors (e.g., how well-insulated your home is, how your home’s ductwork was installed, the type of wood you use in the furnace, how well you maintain the furnace, etc.).

Firebox Capacity

The firebox is the interior portion of the furnace in which firewood burns. The firebox’s capacity is simply its volume (in cubic feet). The Shelter SF1000E’s firebox capacity is 3.4 cubic feet.

The size of a furnace’s firebox determines how much wood it can hold, which in turn determines other key specifications (like maximum peak input, maximum peak output, burn time, and more). With its 3.4-cubic-feet firebox, a Shelter SF1000E has burn times as long as 9 hours.

Efficiency

A furnace’s efficiency is the difference between the heat energy inside the fuel load and the actual heat delivered throughout the home (in terms of a percentage). The SF1000E, for example, has an efficiency of 79%.

This means that if you put a load of wood into the firebox that contains 100,000 BTUs, you can expect the furnace to deliver 79,000 BTUs’ worth of heat.

Dimensions

Dimensions are simply the length, width, height, and weight of the furnace. The Shelter SF1000E measures 45-½” x 26” x 42” and weighs 435 pounds.

It’s a relatively small, lightweight wood burning furnace, which makes it easy to maneuver into its installation location. Its small frame also makes it ideal to install inside tight spaces — a feature further aided by its low clearances to combustibles.

Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace Clearances to Combustibles

Furnaces get hot. So hot, in fact, that if flammable materials (like drywall, wood floors, papers, clothes, and more) are too close, they could potentially go up in flames.

This is why wood burning furnaces have clearance-to-combustible ratings — minimum distances that flammable materials need to be kept from the furnace to ensure safe operation.

The Shelter SF1000E requires that flammable materials be kept at least 6 inches away from the sides of the furnace and at least 12 inches away from the back of the furnace. Other comparable furnaces require further clearance-to-combustible distances:

• Drolet Heat Commander side clearance: 11 inches
• Drolet Heat Commander back clearance: 14-¼ inches
• US Stove Hot Blast HB1520 side clearance: 16 inches
• US Stove Hot Blast HB1520 back clearance: 26 inches

This means that — especially compared to other models on the market today — the Shelter SF1000E is conducive to safe installs in tight locations, making it much more accommodating when you have limited space.

Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace Cost

Many factors come together to determine the cost of a wood burning furnace: the materials used in its construction, the size of the furnace, the electrical components used, whether or not it was manufactured in the USA, etc.

Shelter SF1000E models have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $3,250. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what you’ll pay for one, though.

Retailers who carry our furnaces have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to what they charge for an SF1000E. Some locations may sell them for as low as $1,999, while others may charge as much as $3,600. Be sure to shop around.

It’s also worth noting that the SF1000E meets the IRS’s requirements as a qualified energy property which makes it eligible for a 30% tax credit. This tax credit has a cap of $2,000 and can be used toward the cost of the unit itself or its installation.

Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace Electrical Components

Installing a wood burning furnace is hard work. You have to hook it up to your ductwork and build a chimney for it. If you’re doing this on your own, it can be difficult, and if you pay a professional to do it, it can be expensive.

What’s not difficult or expensive, though, is hooking up the furnace’s electrical components.

Most wood furnaces require the help of an electrician to wire the thermostat, draft blower, distribution blower, and electrical control panel. The SF1000E, on the other hand, comes with pre-wired electrical components. In other words, all of that work has been done for you.

Installing the electrical components of the furnace are as simple as attaching them to the unit and plugging them into each other. After that, they’ll be ready to go — no electrician or advanced knowledge or training required.

Should You Get a Shelter SF1000E Wood Burning Furnace?

Buying a wood burning furnace is a big commitment. They require time, money, and a bit of know-how to use and maintain. In the best-case scenario, though, they’ll provide plenty of wintertime warmth while saving you money over alternative heating sources over a long enough time period.

But should you get a Shelter SF1000E?

To answer that question, first, consider the size of the furnace and your available installation space. Be sure that you have enough room not only to accommodate the furnace itself, but also its required clearances to combustibles.

Next, take price into consideration. If you’re switching to wood heating from a different energy source, keep your old annual heating cost in mind, and determine how much wood your furnace will require to provide comparable heating. It’s probable that, within a few years, your furnace will pay for itself.

Finally, compare the specs and price of the SF1000E to other popular furnace models on the market today. After doing some homework, pick the one best suited to your home, budget, and heating needs.