Quadra-Fire 7100 - To duct or not to duct

I guess it depends on how long the runs are. if under 30' i would go for it. make sure you include a cold air return to pull air out of the room you're sending the heat to.

By cold air return he means hook up to the AUX air. Personally I would keep the heat zones as short as possible. We have run these straight down a few times and the customers normally complain they don't get much heat out of it. I would keep them going upward and as short as possible. Running the AUX air to the same area should help a lot by creating a pressure difference making the warm air want to go there. We normally don't run the AUX air because honestly no one around here seems to understand it except me.

I am getting ready to install a Quadra-fire 7100 after a recent house fire from a previous fireplace. I am wondering if you could help answer a couple of questions about heat zones. I was considering having the installers place one of the heat zones in the basement, which would probably be a 5ft run. In addition, I was thinking about running one upstairs, which could be 15ft. The only thing is that our upstairs is fairly open to the downstairs. Would you need a heat zone installed upstairs or would it take care of its self. We could install it in another spot upstairs, which would help with heat distribution. However, it would be just about 30'. The house is roughly 2300sqft, with 420sqft finished bonus room above the garage. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I got this same message as a PM. Here was my response.

Go for the shortest run with least amount of elbows, with the most effective placement. Its a balance. Also I would duct the AUX air to the same areas as the heat zones. This will help pull air from those areas and make it easier for the heat zones to push more air back.

Thanks for your help! I'll make sure to share my Quadra-fire 7100 install story after it is complete.