fireplace update

[salopez]

OK good info from everyone. Here is some more stuff I should have relayed.

I am not thinking of an insert wood stove only pellet. This way I can run intake and exhaust up current flue with class a pipe.

We would rather not use wood to keep the mess out of the main living space.

Our house is a kit designed to be on a crawl space but we have a basement. The guys that built it only put a return in the basement so moving hot air right now is not easy.

The room in question is vaulted and has loft plus a big hole for spiral stairs. I cannot use ceiling fan to mix air since that will stop heat from rising from basement heat source.

I do not have HVAC blower wired to generator at this point but could add it. I am more concerned about heat with power the. Without. Temps were in low 20's when power was out. First floor was 60 and basement high 70s. We just stay in basement for power outages. When temps get lower the upstairs just can't stay warm even with power on. I hate using electric back up in HVAC system.

Our majestic is very small and does not really ever heat up more then 5 feet from it. For example our neighbors have the same house but no wood stove and they struggled to keep their living room in the low 50's and the rest of the house above freezing.

I am looking to take the chill out of the house in extreme temps that is easy for my wife as I am not home usually in bad weather as I plow snow. She knows how to use the gen. And all the machines.

The real question is what do you think will offer more/better heat pellet stove insert or glass logs?

 

[KennyG]

This year we replaced an old wood insert in the family room with a Regency gas insert. Some of the same issues - we did not use the wood insert because of the mess and it's a awkward place to get wood to. We also have a small Osborne wood stove in the basement. The new insert is sealed and 85% efficient. Installation involved dropping two small flexible metal ducts down the existing chimney - intake and exhaust. It has an automatic blower but will operate (no blower) without power if necessary. Since we spend a lot of time only in the family room and the furnace thermostat is in the hall just outside the family room, it has reduced gas usage by a significant amount.

 

[Welshman]

All the inserts I have looked at are meant for masonry fireplaces only, and that included some Regency models. Which one do you have?

Mine is a Regency I3100.

 

[s219]

Mine is a Regency I3100.

How about that -- the specs sure do allow for mounting in factory fireplace as long as a new flue pipe is run up (so the old flue pipe becomes a chase basically). I learned something new!

 

[Welshman]

How about that -- the specs sure do allow for mounting in factory fireplace as long as a new flue pipe is run up (so the old flue pipe becomes a chase basically). I learned something new!

I'm really happy with mine. I paid $3100 installed for it in Jan. 2011, and think I've saved a fair amount of electricity as a result. I'm "all electric" and use a heat pump, too. Besides, we like the aesthetics of it. We have an open floor plan with a cathedral ceiling on the main floor. I have a ceiling fan mounted at the peak about 4' out from the fireplace, and the heat rising from the fireplace will spin the fan.

 

[lockhaven]

OK good info from everyone. Here is some more stuff I should have relayed.

I am not thinking of an insert wood stove only pellet. This way I can run intake and exhaust up current flue with class a pipe.

We would rather not use wood to keep the mess out of the main living space.

Our house is a kit designed to be on a crawl space but we have a basement. The guys that built it only put a return in the basement so moving hot air right now is not easy.

The room in question is vaulted and has loft plus a big hole for spiral stairs. I cannot use ceiling fan to mix air since that will stop heat from rising from basement heat source.

I do not have HVAC blower wired to generator at this point but could add it. I am more concerned about heat with power the. Without. Temps were in low 20's when power was out. First floor was 60 and basement high 70s. We just stay in basement for power outages. When temps get lower the upstairs just can't stay warm even with power on. I hate using electric back up in HVAC system.

Our majestic is very small and does not really ever heat up more then 5 feet from it. For example our neighbors have the same house but no wood stove and they struggled to keep their living room in the low 50's and the rest of the house above freezing.

I am looking to take the chill out of the house in extreme temps that is easy for my wife as I am not home usually in bad weather as I plow snow. She knows how to use the gen. And all the machines.

The real question is what do you think will offer more/better heat pellet stove insert or glass logs?

without electric the pellet stove is just as good as a chair when it comes to heating

 

[sld]

The pellets will give off way more heat than gas logs.

One group 31 battery and inverter will power my pellet stove for at least 8 hours. With 3 in the boat in the garage I always have one ready. I've never pushed a single battery extremely far since I have more than one. Luckily, we've never been without power for more than a day before....at least in winter.

I have a crappy fire place upstairs with pellet stove in the basement. I would love to replace the fireplace but just looking at it, it appears that bricks will have to be removed from the wall to get it out. Surely they didn't trap the insert in the opening?

 

[FredH]

I have had a 30+ y.o. wood stove , a newer technology wood stove , a pellet stove , a pos. Fireplace that did not even look good let alone work worth a dang and now finally a Quadra Fire Fireplace in 2 different house's . The advance's in technology have made a difference in how well each type work and the effectiveness of the various fuel type's .

For me , with the way our house is built , I went with a fireplace replacement , thus the Quadra Fire . It is basically a zero clearance wood stove in a big box . The old for looks only fire place was a built in , thus when we replaced , we went the same route . If I had chosen to do a complete remodel , I likely would of went with pellet stove in a free standing model like most wood stoves are .

As mentioned , Most , if not all pellet stoves are at least now equipped to have battery back up as a option if not standard . The only thing I would make sure of is the Auto ignite feature . Ironically some do not have that feature , you end up having to use little fire starter blocks , ( M.I.L. had a stove like that ) . Gas / Propane I have no experience with although neighbor has a small built in propane in their bedroom that seems to work good for a one room deal . Even has a Remote control , so you don't even have to get out of bed !!!

We looked at replacing my Parents wood stove with either gas or pellet . Based upon size of house , We are leaning towards pellet since most have a higher BTU rating per hour than any gas stove available . That is the area I would look at . BTU's per hour at max , initial cost , yearly operational costs , ( costs of pellets per year versus consumption of gas per year ) .

Fred H.

 

[dixstir]

we have a 1500 sq foot home , we have a qudra fire pellet stove up stairs and a kozy heat bricked in fire place down stairs. no problem to keep it 70 or even 80 , we use a lot of wood but only a pallet of pellets each winter.done this for about 17 years with pellets , before we had a corn stove dint like that very well.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I heve this fireplace (actually, the Onyx-1) and its a Zero-Clearance fireplace (ALL of their fireplaces are zero-clearance http://www.icc-rsf.com/c/iccrsf/file_db/pdfs.pdf_en/Onyx_ang.pdf) that would work perfect in a pre-made fireplace, or even not. Mine is built into an outside wall with nothing but 2x4's and sheetrock around it. It should work great inside a pre-fab. There are blowers, gravity vents, screen door kits, thermostat kits, HVAC kits (hook to existing vents), etc.. Its even gas log caplable The 7" Excel stainless insulated ventpipe they use are better than the SuperVents with a higher certification.. Take a look around.

Onyx 2 Fireplace | ICC Chimney - RSF Fireplaces




After first burn and 'cure' - Daytime and night time pics... These were taken after install before finishing.