btu ratings for quadrafire

[wannabegreener]

I just looked at the quadrafire wood insert (cast iron which I was told is new for this year). The brochure seems wrong and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it. Here is the info:

cast iron voyageur 1.83 cu ft. box 77% efficient 46,341 btus

steel 3100 1.85 cu ft. box 87% efficient 47,000 btus

These numbers look wrong, same size box but the efficiency is much higher but the btus barely change.

If I look at the regency/hampton I get these numbers:

hi200 1.4 cu ft box 77% 55,000 btus

hi300 2.3 cu ft box 77% 75,000 btus

I can't imagine that the hi200 with 23% less cu ft gets 19% more btus. Someone seems to be either inflating their numbers or low-balling their numbers.

Any thoughs?

Thanks

Dean

 

[jotulguy]

most of these numbers are marketing numbers i agree. the key is what type of wood you are using. if you happen to only have pine you will see much lower results then you would with a good dry hard wood. the Btu ratings are deceiving any way. the number the give you is if you are burning it with the air wide open. everyone i know wants burn time so they normally burn them half or just below half open.

 

[wannabegreener]

I was just surprised that their numbers were so far off from what other companies have reported. I understand about the fuel source generating different btus, but they must know that also.

My house is about 2500 sq ft and not really open design. Fireplace is on the end of the house in a room that is about 15ft x 18 ft. I was looking for a Jotul 550 but the 2 local dealers don't make me fell very comfortable with their service so I started looking at the quadrafire. Anyone have any first hand comparison of these 2? Any recommendations to a newbie on what would be a better size?

Thanks

 

[jotulguy]

it will be a challenge for any of them to heat that space..... if you can fit it try and find one that has at least a 2 cubic foot fire bow. that is the rule of thumb for getting the 8 hour burn time. and if you use it 24/7 you will have a shot at keeping that space warm. if you want to find another Jotul dealer in your area they have a dealer locator on the website. (broken link removed to http://www.jotul.us)

 

[wannabegreener]

jotulguy,

Thanks, I thought that the 1.8 cu ft quadrafire might be too small. I didn't think I would be able to heat the whole house, even with the jotul 550, just wanted to take a dent out of the oil bill. I have looked through the jotul catalog and can't seem to find the fire box size of the 550. Any idea how big it is. I think I can fit just about any size insert into the fireplace. Only issue is trying to find one that the wife likes the look of. Anything steel is out. Has to be cast iron. Her #1 choice is the jotul 550. There is another dealer that I'll go see tomorrow. Hopefully they are better in the service department area. All of the rest of the closest dealers are all owned by one of the companies that I want to stay away from.

Thanks for your help.

 

[jotulguy]

the c-550 is right around that 2 cubic foot firebox size. they arent big on putting those numbers out because you can measure a firebox a few ways. at the end of the day though it does take a 22 inch stick in the front and is rated a big heater!