Taking the Huge $$$$$$$ plunge!!!

[scottandlorig]

I am new to this forum so let me give y'all a little back ground:

We had our house (2200sf) ranch house built in 2005 and we decided to go with a wood burning fireplace. At the time I knew nothing about fireplaces, never been around them, Just knew the wifey wanted the crackle and ambiance of real wood. The fireplace is in the great room witch is attached to the kitchen, dinning room and foyer, all in an open floor plan with a 14 foot vaulted celling. Little did we know that so called fireplace (CFM36) would actually heat all those rooms. We are constantly chucking wood in it every hour, or more, and it is falling apart. But we are loosing a ton of heat when it is not running So we thought we would research REAL fireplaces and decided on the Northstar. We will be getting it installed on the 27th.

I was wondering if any owners of this brand could chime in and let us know what they think of it and is $3900 a decent price? Also, what size logs (diameter) should I start splitting? I burn mostly Ash and we live in Mid Michigan.

Thanks,
Scott.

 

[bogydave]

Don't know much about fireplaces, other than they are not very efficient.
Wood stoves & wood stove inserts can be over 70% efficient & burn less wood & can be used to "heat" your house.
Many good models out there with catalytic, blowers, sizes etc.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I was curious so I had a look at Northstar fireplace product details and a pdf install manual I found online. They say they have emission level of 3.25 grams per hour and certified to the EPA Phase II criteria.
I imagine that they function like an insert in that you really need a blower to get the heat out of them, but they recommend, or at least have provision for, hooking up ducting so you can move warm air into another room, which seems like a good idea to me.
Don't know the exact model you're getting, but they look good to me. Although if the power ever goes out don't expect to get too much heat out of it.
Here's the link I was looking at.

 

[soupy1957]

Getting set up for heating with wood is an investment, for sure!! By the time it's all done, (including buying wood and all the tools), it runs into the "thousands."

If you are going to invest your hard earned dollars in the hope of heating your home with wood, I'd re-enforce bogydave's point, and say that you should seriously consider a stand-alone stove. You can either stand it in front of your existing chimney setup and run it out that way, or in a totally different location.

If all you are seriously thinking of doing is having a fire every so often to turn on the wife's buttons (or whomever), then an Insert will be fine for that.

Don't count on an Insert to do the heating of your home for you. It will disappoint you, in my humble opinion. Your money is too valuable to waste.

-Soupy1957

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Scott. We live west of you but quite a ways west. This forum also has members closer to you. rdust comes to mind as he should not be very far from you. He is a great guy too.

I can not comment on the insert but will comment on the log size to split. First, one has to realize that wood will not dry until it is cut to firewood length and split. Then it should be stacked out in the wind (and sun if possible but wind is more important) for a year or more. However, if that ash you are burning is already dead, you can get by with burning it a bit earlier. I split most everything that is 6" diameter or larger. I do keep a few rounds in the 6" range though as they make good overnight logs as they burn slower.

Good luck.

 

[raybonz]

I think that's a great looking fireplace and essentially is an insert with secondary burn technology.. From what I read you could heat your house with it so it is no ordinary fireplace.. Run a blower on that beast and you'll realize some serious heating capability.. Keep us posted on how well it works for you and be sure to burn seasoned dry wood for real results..

Ray

PS: I am assuming some type of secondary burn technology if it meets EPA phase II standards.. Ordinary fireplaces would not meet that standard and I doubt you could get an overnight burn with a standard fireplace...

 

[scottandlorig]

Thanks for the replies, The stove is rated at 55,100 BTU's & 77.8% efficiency rated and qualifies for the tax credit. We will be getting the blower unit and is rated to heat a 2200sf home. As far as a stand alone unit, I would love one, but the wife wants one built in the wall like the one we have now. This unit however is much nicer looking and will be clad in river stone. More importantly the efficiency of it compared to the pos one we have now should make a huge difference. We have a friend with the same size house with a Vermont Castings insert that is a lot less efficient than this model and they say it heats about 80% of their house.

This is what it will look like when we install it.........

 

[BrotherBart]

That Northstar will get'er done just fine. And is a beautiful fireplace to boot.

Congrats and welcome to the addiction.

 

[Dix]

Thanks for the replies, The stove is rated at 55,100 BTU's & 77.8% efficiency rated and qualifies for the tax credit. We will be getting the blower unit and is rated to heat a 2200sf home. As far as a stand alone unit, I would love one, but the wife wants one built in the wall like the one we have now. This unit however is much nicer looking and will be clad in river stone. More importantly the efficiency of it compared to the pos one we have now should make a huge difference. We have a friend with the same size house with a Vermont Castings insert that is a lot less efficient than this model and they say it heats about 80% of their house.

This is what it will look like when we install it.........

Sweet

 

[raybonz]

Thanks for the replies, The stove is rated at 55,100 BTU's & 77.8% efficiency rated and qualifies for the tax credit. We will be getting the blower unit and is rated to heat a 2200sf home. As far as a stand alone unit, I would love one, but the wife wants one built in the wall like the one we have now. This unit however is much nicer looking and will be clad in river stone. More importantly the efficiency of it compared to the pos one we have now should make a huge difference. We have a friend with the same size house with a Vermont Castings insert that is a lot less efficient than this model and they say it heats about 80% of their house.

This is what it will look like when we install it.........

Scott your wife has good taste I'll say that! That will be one impressive setup when it's done.. Look forward to the finished product..

Ray

 

[heatxchanger]

Scott,

What you need to replace that old POS builder-box fireplace is a zero-clearance,high-efficiency, EPA certified fireplace. This is exaclty what the Northstar firepace is. A zero-clearance, high-efficiency, EPA certified fireplace is nothing more than a high efficiency, EPA certified stove built into a insulated sheet metal box which gives it zero clearance capablity. As others have mentioned, the only good way to extract heat ifrom such a fireplace is to circulate air between the "stove" and the "insulated sheet metal box" and this is done with a blower.

Good luck with your new Northstar

 

[scottandlorig]

Scott,

What you need to replace that old POS builder-box fireplace is a zero-clearance,high-efficiency, EPA certified fireplace. This is exaclty what the Northstar firepace is. A zero-clearance, high-efficiency, EPA certified fireplace is nothing more than a high efficiency, EPA certified stove built into a insulated sheet metal box which gives it zero clearance capablity. As others have mentioned, the only good way to extract heat ifrom such a fireplace is to circulate air between the "stove" and the "insulated sheet metal box" and this is done with a blower.

Good luck with your new Northstar

Thanks, I have been researching these for quite a while. We looked at a Napoleon last year but I have read some reviews and most were not favorable at all. With the blower kit on this I hope to be able to quit using Consumer Energy's Gas most of the time.

 

[heatxchanger]

I believe the Heat & Glo Northstar and the Quadrafire 7100 fireplaces are very similar (same parent company I think). Another zero-clearance, high efficiency, EPA certified fireplace in the LARGE size category that gets favorable reviews here at Hearth.com is the Kozy Heat Z42.

 

[Hanko]

My folks have what they call a fireplace extraordinaire at their 2000 sq ft log home in Northern Michigan, it is actually is a cat fireplace. has the blower and does a hell of a job.

 

[argus66]

may be alot $$$$ now but you will save a lot more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ over time. plus it will look better.

 

[SKIN052]

Scott, best of luck with the new wood burner. How are you going to vent that thing? Are you already set up for that?

 

[SpeakEasy]

What you're getting looks to be a lot like what I have. And yes, it is beaucou $$$$. But man, is it ever worth it!

-Speak

 

[bmxcinci]

I got my northstar installed last October. I have it vented to the basement, although the only thing left from the original vent kit is the pipe that taps into the stove. My wife and kids love it. We burn 24 7 through the winter. If you have any question let me know.

 

[scottandlorig]

Scott, best of luck with the new wood burner. How are you going to vent that thing? Are you already set up for that?

We already have a chase and chimney. The old chimney will be removed and new one installed in the old chase. We can't wait, it will be in on the 27th. I will post pics......