Newbie looking to swap gas fireplace with wood zero clearance

[Withoutink]

Hi All,

Newbie here, I have been lurking and trying to get up to speed on Zero Clearance fireplaces. My wife and I live in the North GA mountains in a 3 floor home ~4000 sq ft (that includes a finished basement). The house has three exterior heat pump/ac units, one for each floor. The people who built the house installed a gas fireplace, which was never connected to gas. So, it's been sitting there wasting space. There is I guess what you would call a false chimney, which is shrouded at the very top. I will take some pics later and append them to this post for further clarity.

Anyway, we are looking to pull out the unused gas firebox & gas logs and replace it with a zero clearance wood fireplace. Then have a flue dropped down the false chimney and connected to the fireplace.

We have a budget of about $5.5k or so total (for fireplace, chimney flue, demo, installation and finishing). We spoke to a fireplace company near our home, and they figured we should budget:

$1k-1.2k to setup the double wall chimney flue pipe
$1k for labor (install flue, demo, install fireplace, install surround, mantle etc)
$3k+/- for a High Efficiency Zero Clearance wood fireplace

Note: this is all ball park mind you, they haven't come out yet to measure or do a site survey, this is based on photos I showed them.

Here are the fireplaces he showed us:

• Flame Monaco ($2.7k). He said that this is a budget friendly, ZC, wood fireplace, that is efficient and works well.
• Ventis HE250 ($3.2k) This he said was also a nice efficient ZC, with a more modern feel, as well as incorporating a single door.
• HearthStone WFP- 75 Montgomery ($3.6k) A bit pricier, and a bit larger in appearance, single door.

Then after stumbling upon hearth.com, I found the following options (although I don't know pricing yet):

• Osburn Stratford, which is about the same as the Flame monaco. It seems it may have a few more bells and whistles though, from my research?
• Pacific Energy FP25 or FP30
• Valcourt FP10 Lafayette
• Kozy Heat Z42

We are looking to use the fireplace a lot during the fall and winter, probably 70-80% of the time, we know it won't heat the whole house, but if we can use it to save on some $ on the electric bill over the fall/winter we will be happy campers. We also want to enjoy the view of the fire.

I am not sure we will get the gravity or forced feed option, for pushing air elsewhere, as I am not sure it will fit in the budget or will be easy to do, based on the design of the house and where rooms are etc....

Personally, my instinct is for a single door fireplace, I think it provides an unobstructed viewing area. So, I was initially against the two door layout. Is this a valid concern, or is there a benefit I do not see with a two door layout?

Should we try and sell the old gas firebox and logs? Or just let them haul it away?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Pics to follow soon.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Wisneaky]

Definitely sell the gas one unless they are going to give you credit towards the new one for taking it. Especially since it has never been used.

 

[Grisu]

At 5.5K total you are indeed looking at the budget end of ZC fireplaces. The KozyHeat may already be out of your price range unless you are willing to do some of the work yourself. Is there actually a chase with chimney above the fireplace or is it a direct-vent unit?

Have you thought about making an alcove with a nice hearth and placing a freestanding stove in there? That would fit better within your budget.

 

[Withoutink]

At 5.5K total you are indeed looking at the budget end of ZC fireplaces. The KozyHeat may already be out of your price range unless you are willing to do some of the work yourself. Is there actually a chase with chimney above the fireplace or is it a direct-vent unit?

Have you thought about making an alcove with a nice hearth and placing a freestanding stove in there? That would fit better within your budget.

We can maybe go a little higher. I would dig a stove, but the wife doesn't like the look, or the space it takes up.