FX 36" ELITE VS TRADITIONAL FP...IN TEXAS!

The FPX is real heating machine. The traditional fireplace will make no heat to speak of and pull lots of conditioned air out of your home. If you are just wanting a fire to watch then that would certainly be much cheaper.
The FPX really needs to be on an outside wall, sometimes that’s a deal killer for certain floor plans.

I moved to Texas (Hill Country northwest of San Antonio) a couple of years ago. Our first winter we were surprised at how cold our house felt. Last winter was less extreme, and we were also more comfortable because of some improvements we had done in the house. Nevertheless when a furnace went out, we had to rearrange our furniture to eat our meals close to our traditional fireplace (unfortunately not suited to an insert, or we’d have put one in there a year ago). The fireplace helped for space heating near it, but it certainly couldn’t have heated our house, or even the whole large room. Thankfully our bedrooms still had heat, but we probably had to run that heat extra because of using the fireplace.

How’s your access to wood? Would you want to do the work to heat with it or just have fires for ambiance?

If I were starting from scratch, I’d find a nice spot for a freestanding stove, if possible, but that’s just what I’m used to. I don’t have personal experience with high efficiency fireplaces, but reports are that some really do put out the heat. How large a room would it be heating? Would there be good airflow to other parts of the house?

Texashomeowner said:

Plenty of access to wood (on 11 acres) for regular fireplace, but I read you can't just burn any wood in the elite insert. Also, it is not on an outside wall, is that a dealbreaker? Our living room is 18x19 with 11 ft ceilings...not huge...whole house is 2000 sqft. Husband does not want freestanding stove.

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It’s not always a deal breaker. The FPX has 2 cooling vents that must be mounted on an outside wall as well as the remote blower. There are some exceptions, but there’s a limit to the distance the vents can run.

I have no experience with the FPX, and Webby’s a professional, so he’ll give you good guidance.

What kind of wood do you have mostly? Down here we have live oak and Ashe Juniper (cedar) which both burn well once seasoned. If I still had the stove I had before we moved to Texas, though, I’d be hesitant to pack it full of those two woods because they do burn hot. New stoves and new wood types both have some learning curves involved.

I think the biggest question for your fireplace decision is whether you’re looking to provide real heat for your home or whether the fireplace is only for ambiance during a few family gatherings and the rare snowfall. If it’s the former, the FPX is the way to go. If you posted a floor plan sketch, it might help Webby give some guidance on whether it would work for your setup.

We love our wood heat and would definitely go for a stove or fireplace insert if we could. Other circumstances make it not feasible for us right now. Our home can be cold because of being built on an uninsulated slab and having large numbers of huge metal-framed windows. The high ceilings are great for most of the year, and I’m glad we have them, but it also lets the heat stratify overhead. Ceiling fans run on low in reverse help us with that.

I got overheated this morning doing some work outside, and it brought on a massive headache. Thankfully my husband took over kid duty for the next little while. I’m sure looking forward to cooler weather.

I have heated with wood for 26 years here in Texas. Fireplace, Wonderwood heating circulator and now Jotul 500 Oslo.

I would go with the largest possible rear flue stove you can purchase. When the winters get well below freezing or the power fails, you will want as many BTU capacity as you can use.

One compromise would be the Hearthstone 8570. This is a rear flue stove designed to partially fit into a fireplace to get the benefit of
easy cleaning and more heat transfer.

Texas123 said:

I have heated with wood for 26 years here in Texas. Fireplace, Wonderwood heating circulator and now Jotul 500 Oslo.

I would go with the largest possible rear flue stove you can purchase. When the winters get well below freezing or the power fails, you will want as many BTU capacity as you can use.

One compromise would be the Hearthstone 8570. This is a rear flue stove designed to partially fit into a fireplace to get the benefit of
easy cleaning and more heat transfer.

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He doesn’t have a fireplace to vent a stove into though. To have one built just to install a liner and a stove would be silly. If you want big heat, you can’t go wrong with the FPX.