ZC Fireplace...

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David Tackett

Member
Oct 17, 2012
178
Waynesburg, Kentucky
I am looking for recommendations of ZC fireplaces from people who own them. I am trying to figure out what type I want and what brand. I am trying to heat over 2000 sq ft. with this option. I know I should go with a stand alone, but the wife thinks differently. I will be installing it myself. I am looking for the type of ZC fireplace that has insert qualities with a blower.
 
I have experience with a couple of these units. The Quadrafire 7100 has been a great unit for my house and can put out alot of heat, it is a secondary burn technology stove. It has fans installed in the bottom of the stove that can move a moderate to low volume of air, but this is acceptable to me as I rarely use the blower in the box because the stove will run us out of the living room, it is 32X15 with 15 foot cathedral ceilings my house is 2300 sq feet total. I do use the heatzones, and in my application they work well, the heat zones allow you to duct heat to other parts of the house.

At my inlaws they have the Fireplace Xtradonair it is a cat stove, and they are very happy with it because of the positive pressure feature of that stove, this is good if you have an old draft house. The blower in the FPX will move much more air than the Quad will, but it does not have the heat zone option.

I installed both of these units and installation was relatively straight forward if you follow the instructions outlined in the manuals. I did however find the Quad manual more informative that the FPX manual.

Hope this review helps.
 
Thanks for the info. What price should I expect to pay for either of these units? I don't like going in to a place not knowing what is a fair price.
 
I dont know what my inlaws paid for the FPX, but I paid 4400 for the stove, chimney and 2 heat zone fans kits, not including the class B vent pipe 4 years ago.
 
I have the Quad 7100FP and it is the primary source of heat for our 2964sqft 1story house (newer construction). It does a really nice job of heating the house; we are pleased with its performance and aesthetics. That said if we lived in a different climate I may have chosen a freestanding stove. In OR the winters are not that harsh, and aside from the 2 to 3wks during the winter where it is in the 20s during the day and teens/single digits at night, most of our 4 to 5 heating months are one big shoulder season. If we lived in a really cold climate, I would likely have installed a free-standing woodstove.

I did not have the zone heat set-up (1 story house), butI plumbed the aux air to pull air from the far end of the house. Can't verify how effective that is, but when I designed the house I placed returns in the ceiling above the stove in the great room as well as the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen so I can simply turn on my HVAC fan to recirc the air. I've measured ceiling temps up to 109deg w/my IR gun and the air coming from the floor vents at ~86deg so I know warm air is being effectively circulated by the HVAC fan. I also typically have the blowers running on the unit, with the Rheo set to cut off when the fire goes down. I have been able to get 6- hr burns w/enough coals to get a fire going again.

Our house was built 4yrs ago and the stove was just under $4000 and ~28' of SL300 air-cooled pipe w/chimney cap and shroud was ~$700. Do a search on ZC FPs, there is a lot of info available in this forum . Best wishes on your install!
 
I have the RSF Opel 3 with the central heating option. I am very happy with the performance, and would recommend the set up. I did the install myself and would be happy to offer my 2 cents on any questions you might have. I don't recall what my investment was. (I may have blocked it out... not cheap!)
 
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