Advice on insert location

[joewasilla28]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the site. Been reading a lot but figured I'd post my specific situation since so many of you seem to have such great experience and advice. I'm in upstate NY, recently relocated, house is 2600 sq ft, split between two floors. The house was built in 1975 and seems very 'tight' and well insulated. Each floor has a centrally located masonry fireplace that is large enough to handle the Lopi large flush hybrid insert, which is what a local dealer is pushing us towards. We do like the look of the unit and seems most reviews are good. I was hoping to put the unit on the lower floor and heat the whole house but the dealer is saying it won't work well because of the layout - the staircase, which is wide (3 feet), basically ascend along the stone masonry of the back of the fireplace, so it's not optimal for heat flow up. I was toying with the idea of strategically cutting in some thru the ceiling registers to help get the heat upstairs. I can't decide what to do. I really was hopeful about putting it downstairs, but don't want to spend the money and them have it not do the job. Any advice? Thanks all for reading!

 

[PaulOinMA]

You mentioned you have registers. Forced hot air? My Lopi salesman mentioned to just run my thermostat on fan mode to circulate air, if I want.

 

[PaulOinMA]

BTW, I interviewed in Norwich for Norwich Eaton years ago. Good thing I didn't end up there since they soon moved the folks to Cincinnati.

I remember that there was a great, old Queen Anne-style house on the main street that was for sale and my wife and I looked at it. It was described, I think, as "old Doc Jacoby's" house. Neat house!

 

[joewasilla28]

Hi, I don't currently have registers... sorry for the way I worded that. I actually have oil/ hot water baseboard heat. I meant that I could construct simple openings between the 2 floors and put a decorative covering that looked like forced hot air registers. I thought a good deal of heat could then rise up from the lower floor that way. My last house had forced hot air... wish I had it now!

 

[joewasilla28]

BTW, I interviewed in Norwich for Norwich Eaton years ago. Good thing I didn't end up there since they soon moved the folks to Cincinnati.

I remember that there was a great, old Queen Anne-style house on the main street that was for sale and my wife and I looked at it. It was described, I think, as "old Doc Jacoby's" house. Neat house!

Wow! I think I know the house! We are only here since August, but really like it so far. We always wanted to live "in the country", and its truly beautiful up here. There are some beautiful old homes on main street, and most are meticulously maintained, which looks like a full time job, what with the incredible craftsmanship! I didn't know that about Norwich Eaton. Guess we were almost neighbors!