Heatilator VS Napoleon VS Xtrordinair

[rfrazier]

Hi Folks,

Well, I'm down to my final three and need some recommendations/comments on owners of these fireplaces: Heatilator Constitution Napoleon Z26 and the Xtrordinair (FPX) Elite 36

I have a 2800 sq ft home with an open floorplan with existing zero clearance Temco fireplace. i have forced hot air that will allow me to turn the air handler on and circulate air in the home. I have searched and read all the threads and it seems that they Xtrordinair and the Napoleon will work for me, however I'm not sold on the CAT of the Xtrordinair. Are they really that difficult to maintain and use? Although I'm a techie I like simple stuff at home and want to treat this thing like a furnance, with long burns at night and during the day. As for the Heatilator Constitution - the dealer is pushing that one hard because he has one in stock and sells alot of them - surprising to me it is almost as much as the Xtrordinair, however I can't find many that have this unit nor can I find a lot of information on it. I'm not even sure of the EPA rating on this fireplace although it is listed as EPA Phase II compliant.

Please if you have any of these models give me your two cents. Oh, one more item, the family does tend to have allergies and I noticed last year in burning with the Temco the smoke tended to bother these allergies. I believe it to be the negative draft that would occur at times and I suspect that I will not have the same issues with the ZC High efficiencies with the doors closed - am I accurate with this thoughts?

Thanks again to all that post - I find these forums to be very informative and quite frankly the ability to hash out a major purchase like this relieves a lot of stress over the purchase.

Thanks

- Hoping to keep the oil man away this winter -

 

[the_dude]

Hi Folks,

Well, I'm down to my final three and need some recommendations/comments on owners of these fireplaces: Heatilator Constitution Napoleon Z26 and the Xtrordinair (FPX) Elite 36

I have a 2800 sq ft home with an open floorplan with existing zero clearance Temco fireplace. i have forced hot air that will allow me to turn the air handler on and circulate air in the home. I have searched and read all the threads and it seems that they Xtrordinair and the Napoleon will work for me, however I'm not sold on the CAT of the Xtrordinair. Are they really that difficult to maintain and use? Although I'm a techie I like simple stuff at home and want to treat this thing like a furnance, with long burns at night and during the day. As for the Heatilator Constitution - the dealer is pushing that one hard because he has one in stock and sells alot of them - surprising to me it is almost as much as the Xtrordinair, however I can't find many that have this unit nor can I find a lot of information on it. I'm not even sure of the EPA rating on this fireplace although it is listed as EPA Phase II compliant.

Please if you have any of these models give me your two cents. Oh, one more item, the family does tend to have allergies and I noticed last year in burning with the Temco the smoke tended to bother these allergies. I believe it to be the negative draft that would occur at times and I suspect that I will not have the same issues with the ZC High efficiencies with the doors closed - am I accurate with this thoughts?

Thanks again to all that post - I find these forums to be very informative and quite frankly the ability to hash out a major purchase like this relieves a lot of stress over the purchase.

Thanks

- Hoping to keep the oil man away this winter -

I don't own any of the three, but I will give you my $.02 any way, since I researched all three when I was shopping this spring (I didn't end up with any of them). First off, with 2800 square ft to heat, I would eliminate the Napoleon right away. I don't care what they claim the BTU or burn times are, it only has a 1.7 cu. ft. firebox, and I think you would be very disappointed with that.

Going by that logic, the Heatilator has a 2.7 cu ft firebox, compared to the 3.7 cu ft firebox of the Xtrordinair. That alone would have me leaning towards the Xtrordinair. You are likely to be able to get more heat and longer burns out of the larger firebox. The Heatilator is rated at 3.25 grams/hr of particulate and the FPX 36 is rated at 2.3 grams/hr, so it seems to be a bit cleaner. I'm not sure how to guide you on the cat vs non-cat, as I have no cat experience.

For me, it is a fairly easy decision. If the cost is close between the Heatilator and FPX, I would go with the FPX. You say you are a techie, so I would doubt you will have much issues with the cat. Yes, it will need to be replaced at some point, but I think it gives you the best chance of heating your 2800 sq ft. If I could fit it, I would even consider the Xtrordinair FPX 44.

As far as the allergies, you shouldn't get any smoke in the house when burning any of the above with the door closed. Some small amounts of smoke will likely enter during initial fire up and when adding wood.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Matt_W]

[quote author="rfrazier" date="1220505637"]Hi Folks,

Well, I'm down to my final three and need some recommendations/comments on owners of these fireplaces: Heatilator Constitution Napoleon Z26 and the Xtrordinair (FPX) Elite 36

I have a 2800 sq ft home with an open floorplan with existing zero clearance Temco fireplace. i have forced hot air that will allow me to turn the air handler on and circulate air in the home. I have searched and read all the threads and it seems that they Xtrordinair and the Napoleon will work for me, however I'm not sold on the CAT of the Xtrordinair. Are they really that difficult to maintain and use? Although I'm a techie I like simple stuff at home and want to treat this thing like a furnance, with long burns at night and during the day. As for the Heatilator Constitution - the dealer is pushing that one hard because he has one in stock and sells alot of them - surprising to me it is almost as much as the Xtrordinair, however I can't find many that have this unit nor can I find a lot of information on it. I'm not even sure of the EPA rating on this fireplace although it is listed as EPA Phase II compliant.

Please if you have any of these models give me your two cents. Oh, one more item, the family does tend to have allergies and I noticed last year in burning with the Temco the smoke tended to bother these allergies. I believe it to be the negative draft that would occur at times and I suspect that I will not have the same issues with the ZC High efficiencies with the doors closed - am I accurate with this thoughts?

Thanks again to all that post - I find these forums to be very informative and quite frankly the ability to hash out a major purchase like this relieves a lot of stress over the purchase.

Thanks

___________________________________

I can't comment on the others but.
My house is approx 2650sq ft with an open floor plan with a forced air system. I have been burning my 36 elite for 5 years now and for me the cat is not the problem. Sure you have to vacuum it every 3 or 4 weeks and have to replace it. (I have to replace mine this season @ $245 Plus the gaskit kit. Ouch!). The fireplace heats great and from all my research no one ever disputed that. When the fan( fairly quiet fan and takes about an hour to turn on) is on the air exits at an angle towards my ceiling and when the ceiling fan is on it is surprisingly comfortable at 68-74 depending on temp outside and this really moves the air. This unit will heat my house as long as I am home to feed it! This is my only problem is I can't get a good burntime with it. Maybe the new cat/gaskit will help will see this season. The book says 10 hour but I can't get half that. When I first purchased it I was not worried on burntime so I have no measure from when it was new to this point. Keeping the glass clean was some of the complaints in my research and it does get dirty when I cut the air way back for the night but I don't worry so much anymore. I just burn it hot on the next firing to help clean it.
Not much smoke enters the room as long as you open the doors slowly. I did try removing the grate to burn and more smoke entered the room when loading. I think because the coals are closer to the front doors.
Over all I am happy with it but if I could get an good overnight burn where the units fan would stay on there would be more $$ saved.

 

[the_dude]

Matt,

Just out of curiosity, what type of wood are you burning and how long has it been seasonsed? I am very curious to find out what type of burn times I am going to get this year out of my Kozy Heat. It should be interesting.

 

[Matt_W]

Matt,

Just out of curiosity, what type of wood are you burning and how long has it been seasonsed? I am very curious to find out what type of burn times I am going to get this year out of my Kozy Heat. It should be interesting.

The wood I burn is all from my property, all dead fall or leftover treetops from logging the property.
Black cherry, honey locust, red maple mostly some red oak. Small amounts of anything else I can find.
The black cherry is pretty much gone for this year. Always have locust on the ground. that stuff never rots.

I had a cord left over from last year but very late this year in getting ready. 1 Cord that has seasoned for 6 month's.
a big pile that was split for 1 or 2 month's and still splitting.
I was thinking of maybe trying to buy a bag of hardwood pellets to add for the night? Could fill the gaps between the grate and the firebrick to maybe increase burn time.

 

[Woods Dweller]

I'm having the Elite 44 installed on Monday. I pulled out my Hetailator Icon 100 2 weeks ago. I did much research before deciding on the 44.

Was very concerned about the cat. Never burned with one before, but after talking to a couple of people that have them, I think it's going to be a good thing. They obviously burn cleaner, but also seem to give a more even and consistent burn. My buddy has a cat in his stove and he says that once the cat is engaged, the heat output is incredible.

I was looking for a big firebox and the elite 44 is the biggest with the exception of the Napoleon High Country NZ6000, but that stove requires a very complicated install and was not a fit for my application. The 44 claims up to a 12 hour burn (4.4 sf box) but I'll be pumped if I can get a good 7-8.

I think the posi-pressure was the clincher for me. I like the idea of creating the positive pressure of pumping outdoor air through the stove and into the house.

Time will tell, but I'm paying a pretty penny for this baby and I think it's going to be a strong performer. I'm usually very thrifty (my wifes says cheap!) but this was not a purchase to pinch on. It's going to be with us for a very long time and I just knew that if I went on the cheap to save a few bucks now that I would have regretted it later.

Oh yeah, going with the hand hammered and it looks awsome! I'll be posting pics when it gets installed.

 

[rfrazier]

Thanks for the info, I too am leaning towards the FPX but the 36 model. As for burn times, I have heard nobody getting what the manufactures say, I'd be very happy with a 7 hr burn. I have a supply of 2yr seasoned wood that I will be storing some in Garage and basement hoping to keep the snow off of it during the winter. Should help plus there is a local supplier that sells Kiln dried wood which he claims gets a higher btu per cord, I might buy one cord this year and test it out. thanks -

 

[the_dude]

Be careful with kiln dried wood. I am told that is a good way to overfire a stove.