Sizing a ZC Fireplace

For the past few months, I've been set on a Quadrafire 7100 for my living room. Earlier this week, I began to move the project forward by getting an estimate from a dealer. He walked into my house and said that everything they sell would be too large, and would boil us out of our house.

I'm wanting to heat the whole house at least most of the time with this unit. Our house is around 1400 square feet with insulation of varying qualities, depending upon the room. Most of it is 2 layers of R-13 fiberglass packed into 2x4 stud bays. It's a 1.5 story, with about 950 square feet on the first floor and 450-500 upstairs. The room that the fireplace will go in is 13x20. The heat should go upstairs rather easily, as the stairwell is on the other side of the room from the fireplace, and the ceiling is flat to the stairwell.

The initial dealer suggested we go much smaller. So I found a dealer that sells Pacific Energy products, specifically the FP16, and I have a quote on the way for that. And that's about the size of unit that the initial dealer recommended. The Pacific Energy dealer didn't try to talk me into the bigger model when I said how much I was heating. However, I'm wondering if I should bump up to the FP25, however, that's about the size that the first dealer said would still be too large, as he did not recommend something as large as a Quatrafire Pioneer II (2.7ft3 vs 2.5ft3 firebox).

Thoughts?

Edit: I should explain that the 30NC in my signature is in my uninsulated basement, and this fireplace is going on the first floor. One of my goals with this project is to not heat the outside so much, and the 30 does a great job of that through my block walls.

begreen said:

I think you will be fine going up to a FP25. The additional capacity will help extend burn time and will provide reserve heating for cold days. You might also want to look at the Flame Monaco (similar to the Osburn Stratford).

Is a freestanding stove on the first floor out of the question?

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Yes. My wife does not like the look of a freestanding stove, and I've tried every manufacturer I could find, she doesn't like any except the Jotul F370 but prefers the fireplace look.

I'll get the pe dealer to price me out an fp25. The first guy I talked to has me worried about cooking myself out, and all of my experience with wood burning comes from basement stoves, so I'm not sure how much a stove or fireplace would heat a room that's insulated.

But I'll check out the fp25. PE has a feature that I remember reading about that allows them to burn lower while still cleanly, which may be an advantage duri g the shoulder season. I also have a cord or so of popular that would help to dial it back a bit.

kennyp2339 said:

Many members have had great luck with epa tube stoves that are wrapped with soap stone because it gives of a gentle heat, also have you considered a cat stove like a Woodstock or Blaze King? I know for a fact that I can dial down my BK princess and have a steady comfortable heat curve that lasts for ungodly long hours.
This might be a simple solution for you.

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I was replying on my phone at work, and didn't see this.

I like the idea of a Woodstock hybrid myself, or even a BK from their Ashford series. They would solve the issues that I see with sizing, I could just dial it back if it was warmer outside. But my wife doesn't like the looks of either: she wants the fireplace look, I want the efficiency of moving my heat source into my living space. A ZC fireplace seems to be the easiest way to satisfy both of those requirements.