Clearance around fireplace insert

[PutnamJct]

Hello Everyone,

I am another newbie pellet owner and am glad to have found this forum. I ordered my
Quadra 1200 insert in August 05 and it is FINALLY being installed this
weekend. I am pretty psyched about it since we are supposed to go back to a normal winter here in NY. I think it
was 55 degrees here yesterday.

I am hoping to use this pellet insert to heat most if not all of the
house, (1500 sq ft split level). I can't handle the 400 plus dollar a
month oil delivery anymore. The truck was here yesterday and I cringe
seeing it back down the driveway.

Anyhow, the insert is going into a fireplace in the den/office. The
clearances in the manual in regards to the brickface and the mantle
are ok, I am wondering about furniture in the room (desk is only a
foot or 2 from the edge of the fireplace). Will I need to re-arrange
the room? Don't want to burn the place down.

Thanks & Hopefully I will be able to help someone else in the future!

John

 

[webbie]

Hello Everyone,

am hoping to use this pellet insert to heat most if not all of the
house, (1500 sq ft split level). I can't handle the 400 plus dollar a
month oil delivery anymore. The truck was here yesterday and I cringe
seeing it back down the driveway.

Anyhow, the insert is going into a fireplace in the den/office. The
clearances in the manual in regards to the brickface and the mantle
are ok, I am wondering about furniture in the room (desk is only a
foot or 2 from the edge of the fireplace). Will I need to re-arrange
the room? Don't want to burn the place down.

Thanks & Hopefully I will be able to help someone else in the future!

John

Furniture is a combustible, so it should conform to the specs in the manual. These are usually fairly close over to the sides and perhaps on diagonal, but are usually more directly in front of the unit. This is due to the radiation through the glass.

The "rule of thumb" is that when the unit is running on full the combustibles should be no more than a little warm to the touch., although lab testing allows them to get much hotter. For instance, 110 degrees would feel hot to you, while UL may allow up to 170 degrees.....UL does not take into account ruining paint, etc. - just safety.

As far as heating the whole house cheaply, make certain you compare the cost of fuels! With oil coming down a bit, you'll find that oil at $1.75 a gallon is cheaper than Pellets at $225 a ton. A rough calc is this....

Move the decimal point two places - in other words, oil at $2.25 a gallon is approx. equal to pellets at 225. a ton. Of course, this does not take into account the savings of space heat over central heat nor the renewable fuel (feel good factor) of pellets. But it is important to know you might have a $400 Pellet Bill now.

 

[PutnamJct]

Thanks Craig. I wish oil was $2.25 a gallon but it has averaged $2.63 all season. I can't see oil coming down to $1.75 anytime soon if ever again. It was $1.90 back in November 04 and has climbed steadily since then. While I believe that we are being screwed royally by the whole oil industry that is fodder for another discussion. I was figuring that even if I had to use 3-4 tons of pellets next winter ($750 to $1250) it would beat the $2100 - $2300 for oil if the prices stay the same next year as they are now. Maybe I'm not considering some other factor?

John

 

[webbie]

Thanks Craig. I wish oil was $2.25 a gallon but it has averaged $2.63 all season.

John

Just my assumption since I am paying $2.30 for gasoline, which includes a lot of taxes and additional refining.

Wholesale price now for heating oil is about $1.70 (NYMEX)

As usual, the less competition and the further it has to be transported makes for higher prices.

 

[PutnamJct]

And there's the rub! The difference in NYMEX wholesale vs Residential Delivery in NY was roughly 55 cents in November 04, this week it is 90 cents. Add on the additional 35 cent rise in the wholsale price. Just a wee bit of price gouging but I digress

John

 

[babalu87]

I am wondering about furniture in the room (desk is only a
foot or 2 from the edge of the fireplace). Will I need to re-arrange
the room? Don't want to burn the place down.

Thanks & Hopefully I will be able to help someone else in the future!

John

Unless you want to sit at the desk in boxers/briefs/bannana hammock.....God forbid you'll want to move the desk area for comfort sake alone

I would only want to be that close to the stove when loading it or taking the chill off from being outside

 

[elkimmeg]

John without a lot of code searching and quotations furnature ect should be at least 3' away in Canada its 4'
As for savings that is price dependent what you can purchase pellets for and what oil cost will be next heating season.
With the demand for pellets, bigger than the current manufacturing or damn close to it, They may not be as attractively prices in May, June, and July, as in past years . IT's a gamble. Get your supply ahead of time while stock is available

 

[PutnamJct]

Thank's everyone! Install was bumped up to tomorrow morning, I'll let you knowhow it goes.

John