Old Wood Burner turning to gas.

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Hi all, have been a long time wood burner, Fisher Insert, and am looking at a Valor Legend G3 Direct Vent Insert 739 ILN on Natural Gas.
I have 1500 sq ft house that I have been heating with the wood stove for many years, and am hoping the gas insets will be up to the task as well.
The dealers don't seem to recommend a fan for these units, but my experience with wood burning tells me I should have one.
Would appreciate any and all comments on this gas unit and fans.
 
HemiDeuce said:
Hi all, have been a long time wood burner, Fisher Insert, and am looking at a Valor Legend G3 Direct Vent Insert 739 ILN on Natural Gas.
I have 1500 sq ft house that I have been heating with the wood stove for many years, and am hoping the gas insets will be up to the task as well.

What woodstove were you burning? The max btu's according to specs on the Valor website
indicate that you'll get about 16K (+/-) out of that insert. I will be honest when I tell
you that if you expect to be as warm with this gas unit as you were with a woodstove,
you will be disappointed (ie. COLD). I would recommend something with more OOMPH (read btus).
Regency makes some excellent gas burning inserts that are kick ass heaters. If you can get
a big Regency in your fire place, you might DOUBLE the btu output of that Valor unit


The dealers don't seem to recommend a fan for these units, but my experience with wood burning tells me I should have one.
Would appreciate any and all comments on this gas unit and fans.

In my experience, a ceiling fan can do as much as a blower. Both working together are better than not
having either one...In a power outage, without a back-up generator, you won't have the choice, so I guess
it's your call...
 
I agree with DAKSY about the ceiling fan. I think it moves the air better than a blower. Of course I don't have a blower on my gas stove and if I did it would blow into the room and not to the area I want to heat. I do have a blower on the woodstove and we never use it. It's great if you are in the room with it but it doesn't do much for the rest of the house.
 
Thanks for your replys.
The wood stove is a Fisher Insert that I have modified with a positive damper, enlarged HD smoke shelf, gasketed doors and a Condor thermostat on one of the doors. I'll try and attach a picture.
I have been able to get 24 hour burns with this unit using Douglas Fir that has been dried for about 6 months.
I use about 1 1/2 cords in a season here in the Pacific Northwest.
I use a fan infront of the stove blowing into the lower chamber under the stove and exiting the top of the stove, another, on top of a book case beside the stove that blows across the stoves rising heated air. An ajacent open room with a cathederial ceiling has a ceiling fan, and another fan on the far side of the room blowing into the kitchen, and yet another another fan blowing down a hall.
I plan on keeping the existing fans except the one infront of the stove, and thought a fan in the bottom rear of the Gas Insert that would draw air in from the front and exit it out the top.
I looks at the Regency and thought it was a very good insert but with my size restraints, the Valor had a higher BTU rating at 26,000 and a turn down rate of 6,500, that fit in my arch shaped fireplace opening.
I looked at fans from a place that I saw on here called www.fireplaceblowersonline.com and wondered if they would be the answer.
Thanks again for your help.
 

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Just reporting back on my Valor G3 instal and it works very well. I have the temperature set at 72 degrees, 24 hours a day and it keeps the house very comfortable. I instaled a fan in the insert, and with a couple of additional fans situated around the house all is warm.
 
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