Hi,
TL;DR - I'm looking for the largest viewing (ideally with double doors) mountain lodge style fireplace I can get in Wa. state.
Been lurking for a year or so and decided to register when it became clear I needed to call on the collective wisdom here for some help, so let me say thank you in advance. My wife and I are building a new home in Washington state in a classic mountain lodge style. The home is about 3500 sq ft, and the fireplace will be in the great room (not along an exterior wall) with ~30' ceilings. The floorplan is open to the kitchen and dining room, and the fireplace is *the* focal point of the house, and getting this right is something I care about deeply. I just can't seem to find the right solution. I also have a ton of respect for the passion around wood stoves here, but we're only considering fireplaces.
Before anyone asks - heat output and efficiency are not super important to us, aside from wanting to balance the aesthetic of what we want in a fireplace with wanting to be reasonably good stewards of our air quality.
Before I get to examples of what we're looking for I'll list our ideal use cases:
- Large gasketed glass doors that can be used open (with a screen) or closed.
- non catalytic combustion for lower maintenance
- our designer pegged ~50" width as the ideal proportion given the size of the room and stone surround. Can probably be a little smaller and still be OK?
I hesitate to say money is no object, because it obviously is, but I've yet to find a factory built fireplace at a price I wouldn't pay assuming it was *the* right one for the space. It's just that important to this house design.
Options we've considered, and our concerns:
Renaissance Rumford 1500 - We had landed on this one for a while, but the lack of any rustic surround keeps giving us pause. I also haven't found any examples of a metal/ironwork custom surround with this one that would add some rustic flair, so I don't know how possible it is to do that.
Valcourt Frontenac - Same basic concern as the Rumford, though the fact that it's wider than it is tall is a bit more the right style? Again, haven't been able to find examples of custom surrounds to add rustic flair.
Valcourt FP15A (Waterloo Arched) - Closer to the right style but wished they had a 'ironwork' type option for the surround. Viewing window is shorter than we want (~15"). Width of the overall unit seems reasonable.
Hearthstone WFP-100 - Too rustic?
Viewing area seems too small
Ventis HE350 - Style is OK, not great. Viewing height is shorter than we want.
Napoleon NZ6000 - Style-wise good, but not legal in Wa?
FPX 44 Elite - Style-wise also good. Viewing window height is among the tallest for double doors, I think. Higher maintenance w/CAT. We're worried that it'll put out so much heat we won't be able to use it for aesthetics!
Did I miss any? I hope so, because we just can't seem to find the right solution. We also considered the modular masonry fireplaces like Mason-lite, Isokern, but they strongly disrecommend operating with the doors closed.
One closing note - if I could just put the Acucraft Hearthroom 44" in and be done, this would be decided. But it's unclear if we're allowed to install it even as a decorative unit in Wa, and we've gotten conflicting information (regs say one thing, multiple fireplace shops say non-heater fireplaces are exempt). It is the *exact* style we want. It's so perfect it's making us consider just going with the gas version of it. And I *hate* gas fireplaces.
Again, thanks ahead of time for any help. Especially if you read the whole thing.
-Fyn
TL;DR - I'm looking for the largest viewing (ideally with double doors) mountain lodge style fireplace I can get in Wa. state.
Been lurking for a year or so and decided to register when it became clear I needed to call on the collective wisdom here for some help, so let me say thank you in advance. My wife and I are building a new home in Washington state in a classic mountain lodge style. The home is about 3500 sq ft, and the fireplace will be in the great room (not along an exterior wall) with ~30' ceilings. The floorplan is open to the kitchen and dining room, and the fireplace is *the* focal point of the house, and getting this right is something I care about deeply. I just can't seem to find the right solution. I also have a ton of respect for the passion around wood stoves here, but we're only considering fireplaces.
Before anyone asks - heat output and efficiency are not super important to us, aside from wanting to balance the aesthetic of what we want in a fireplace with wanting to be reasonably good stewards of our air quality.
Before I get to examples of what we're looking for I'll list our ideal use cases:
- Large gasketed glass doors that can be used open (with a screen) or closed.
- non catalytic combustion for lower maintenance
- our designer pegged ~50" width as the ideal proportion given the size of the room and stone surround. Can probably be a little smaller and still be OK?
I hesitate to say money is no object, because it obviously is, but I've yet to find a factory built fireplace at a price I wouldn't pay assuming it was *the* right one for the space. It's just that important to this house design.
Options we've considered, and our concerns:
Renaissance Rumford 1500 - We had landed on this one for a while, but the lack of any rustic surround keeps giving us pause. I also haven't found any examples of a metal/ironwork custom surround with this one that would add some rustic flair, so I don't know how possible it is to do that.
Valcourt Frontenac - Same basic concern as the Rumford, though the fact that it's wider than it is tall is a bit more the right style? Again, haven't been able to find examples of custom surrounds to add rustic flair.
Valcourt FP15A (Waterloo Arched) - Closer to the right style but wished they had a 'ironwork' type option for the surround. Viewing window is shorter than we want (~15"). Width of the overall unit seems reasonable.
Hearthstone WFP-100 - Too rustic?
Viewing area seems too smallVentis HE350 - Style is OK, not great. Viewing height is shorter than we want.
Napoleon NZ6000 - Style-wise good, but not legal in Wa?
FPX 44 Elite - Style-wise also good. Viewing window height is among the tallest for double doors, I think. Higher maintenance w/CAT. We're worried that it'll put out so much heat we won't be able to use it for aesthetics!
Did I miss any? I hope so, because we just can't seem to find the right solution. We also considered the modular masonry fireplaces like Mason-lite, Isokern, but they strongly disrecommend operating with the doors closed.
One closing note - if I could just put the Acucraft Hearthroom 44" in and be done, this would be decided. But it's unclear if we're allowed to install it even as a decorative unit in Wa, and we've gotten conflicting information (regs say one thing, multiple fireplace shops say non-heater fireplaces are exempt). It is the *exact* style we want. It's so perfect it's making us consider just going with the gas version of it. And I *hate* gas fireplaces.
Again, thanks ahead of time for any help. Especially if you read the whole thing.
-Fyn
