So,
We're closing on a new (to us) home soon and after reviewing several options, my wife and I have pretty much settled on installing a new heat-producing Zero Clearance Fireplace...along the lines of a Fireplace Xtrordinair or Quadrafire 7100...these are the two I've mainly been looking at and would welcome any thoughts, suggestions or advice on either of these two units or any others I may want to consider.
I'll be replacing a cheap-o ZC unit, so there's an existing chase to use, I'll have to enlarge the opening and do some framing as well as replace all the poorly done cultured stone with something nicer. The fireplace is on the main level with a fairly open floorplan above and finished basement below. The fireplace is positioned on the interior portion of a wall seperating the house from the attached garage. I'd like a unit that I can burn 24/7 if I want to...something heavy duty and solid that will provide the bulk of my heating needs...home is like 1900 sq ft above grade and 2900 with the bsmt. I'd also like the unit to be able to run at least one or two ducts...I know this is tough, but I'd really love to be able to heat the basement at least somewhat...it's a space we'll use a lot and while I know it's hard to push heat down, anything that will keep the chill off would be great. The entire house is serviced by a single zone forced air furnace system with the thermostat in the living room where the FP will be...so, anytime I'm running the FP, the furnace won't kick on. If I can just dump a bit of heat down there I can keep the room up to temp with an Eden Pure type heater or something. BTW, the basement is wood-framed, not block, so it's insulated very well and should heat easily.
I keep getting conflicting opinions on these two particular units, I was pretty much sold on the 7100 until talking with a dealer yesterday who sell them both and just raved about the FPX over the 7100...claims to sell a couple hundred FPX's per year and only a handfull of the 7100's...said FPX blows 7100 away in terms of quality...so, now I'm kind of on the fence again. Both of these units are quite expensive, so I'd love to hear from anyone with suggestions on cost cutting or more reasonably priced options.
Thanks so much!!
Matt
We're closing on a new (to us) home soon and after reviewing several options, my wife and I have pretty much settled on installing a new heat-producing Zero Clearance Fireplace...along the lines of a Fireplace Xtrordinair or Quadrafire 7100...these are the two I've mainly been looking at and would welcome any thoughts, suggestions or advice on either of these two units or any others I may want to consider.
I'll be replacing a cheap-o ZC unit, so there's an existing chase to use, I'll have to enlarge the opening and do some framing as well as replace all the poorly done cultured stone with something nicer. The fireplace is on the main level with a fairly open floorplan above and finished basement below. The fireplace is positioned on the interior portion of a wall seperating the house from the attached garage. I'd like a unit that I can burn 24/7 if I want to...something heavy duty and solid that will provide the bulk of my heating needs...home is like 1900 sq ft above grade and 2900 with the bsmt. I'd also like the unit to be able to run at least one or two ducts...I know this is tough, but I'd really love to be able to heat the basement at least somewhat...it's a space we'll use a lot and while I know it's hard to push heat down, anything that will keep the chill off would be great. The entire house is serviced by a single zone forced air furnace system with the thermostat in the living room where the FP will be...so, anytime I'm running the FP, the furnace won't kick on. If I can just dump a bit of heat down there I can keep the room up to temp with an Eden Pure type heater or something. BTW, the basement is wood-framed, not block, so it's insulated very well and should heat easily.
I keep getting conflicting opinions on these two particular units, I was pretty much sold on the 7100 until talking with a dealer yesterday who sell them both and just raved about the FPX over the 7100...claims to sell a couple hundred FPX's per year and only a handfull of the 7100's...said FPX blows 7100 away in terms of quality...so, now I'm kind of on the fence again. Both of these units are quite expensive, so I'd love to hear from anyone with suggestions on cost cutting or more reasonably priced options.
Thanks so much!!
Matt