EPA certified Zero Clearance FP

[phishheadmi]

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

 

[Fsappo]

I can only say this: When selling Quads on Long Island, we sold a huge number of 7100s and always ended up with a happy customer. That fireplace was a beast, burned clean and burned forever.

 

[scfa99]

I love my 7100, so does my buddy who has one and uses the air kit to push air down into his basement. Can't really comment on the FPX. Does it qualify for the 30% tax credit? I know the quad does. any specific questions feel free to ask.

 

[jtp10181]

We did three 7100 units just this month that were all replacements of old open wood or gas units. All three new stone also, came out awesome looking. Never really get any complaints on the thing.

 

[woodracerx]

jtp10181 I see you are a heatnglo dealer any thoughts on the northstar.Thanks

 

[jtp10181]

Its made at the same factory as the 7100. Nearly the same unit. A little different configurations of air controls and air intake. Slightly smaller firebox. Different front. Same quality and function.

 

[LLigetfa]

What is the cu ft capacity of the firebox on the 7100? When I was shopping for a fireplace, I was comparing RSF models and chose the smaller Onyx over the Opal because the Opal at the time only came in a two door model and we didn't want the look and function of two doors. Had they offered the single door Opal 3 back then, I would have gone with that. I went with the 650 cfm centrifugal inline duct blower option and push cool air up to the stove from below. This allowed me to put a HEPA rated filter inline with it to clean the air.

 

[phishheadmi]

SFCA,

Do you have any idea how effectively the 7100 heats your buddy's basement? That could be the deal closer for me...if I thought I had a snowball's chance in hell of heating the basement...

 

[jtp10181]

phishheadmi, The heat zones do not work well to move air down, they are most effective with short runs to the next floor up, or the room beinhd the fireplace.

LLigetfa, I heard the 7100 was 3.2 cuft and the Northstar was 3.0 cuft. I don't know if that is 100% correct though.

 

[phishheadmi]

I understand that the heat zones do not work as effectively to move heat down as they would to move heat up or over to an adjoining room. What I'm looking for is input from someone who's actually done this or experienced firsthand how well it works. People keep telling me it won't work "well" but well is a very subjective term. As I mentioned, I know I'll never fully heat the entire basement, but if I could keep it at a reasonable temp and supplement with another heat source that would be fine. Obviously, if it just flat out won't work, I won't waste the time but if someone could offer some insight, that would be great. For example, if someone could tell me "my basement is X number of square feet and I can generally keep the temp Y degrees during the winter"...that's all I'm looking for.

Is there anything else I should be looking at that might accomplish this goal better/easier? I'm still really torn between the FPX and the Quad 7100...anyone else w/ insight one way or the other would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for all the help so far!!

matt

 

[madison]

pHisH,

If you are going to be tearing out the old unit, you might as well consider a hearth and wood stove setup, that is, if you are uncertain about your current choices.

Congrats on the new home,

Jam on

 

[jtp10181]

We have typically installed the heat zones and not used the AUX air at all. Here is an idea of the comments I have gotten from customers when running the heat zone to a basement.

"I think this heat zone must be broken, the air coming out is room temperature"
"The heat zone does not help heat my basement at all"
"We never turn that heat zone on because it doesn't do anything"

Running the AUX air to the same room and using that along with the heat zone should in theory help the heat zone function better but I have no customer input to back this up.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I have a BIS Ultima with one external duct kit run down to my basement. The basement is currently unfinished and so I haven't been heating it, but I have run the blower for a while before to test out the setup. It moves a decent amount of heat, probably enough to heat a decently insulated basement in my climate anyway. I originally wanted to run it into the central plenum, but it doesn't move anywhere near that much heat. I think the Ultima is a good bit smaller (2cf) than the others being discussed here, although there are several larger BIS/Lennox models as well. I assume the remote ducting setup is similar for most EPA fireplaces.

 

[velvetfoot]

Might it be possible to reuse the steel chimney system?
I think my Heatilator ZC had the same as the 7100.
We wound up with a small insert.

 

[phishheadmi]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far, I really appreciate all the input. After a lot of thought, and going back and forth between the ZC units, add on wood furnaces, outdoor boilers, etc I've decided to go ahead w/ the ZC style unit. We closed on the house Friday and I've been really impressed with how well the house holds the heat so far (though it's been pretty mild) and how tight it seems. I'll be building a barn in the spring, so I figure if I'm not happy w/ the performance of the ZC unit I can put a boiler in the barn and pipe it into our existing furnace. With that said, I would still like to install the unit with the most heating capacity AND the best chance of heating our finished, well insulated basement. From what my local dealer's told me, there is no option for a zone kit on the FPX, anyone know if that's the case? I really like the Quad 7100, but the above comments about the basement run make me nervous. I've read quite a bit about the Opel III and the BIS Tradition being excellent heaters...any advice on which of these would work best? I really like the clean face option on the Opel, anyone have experience w/ that? I'm not crazy about the Cozy Heat and the Napoleans are out due to price (and the fact that I don't like the brass/nickel look). Anything else I haven't seen?

 

[phishheadmi]

Also...

I just talked to my friend who was an installer/salesman in Colorado for many years and he can still get me a really good discount on a lennox or superior, I haven't checked out the superior lineup but was wondering if Lenox has anything that might compare...the Montecito Estate for example, anything that offers the duct/zone option?

 

[DiscoInferno]

Lennox bought Security a while ago, I think most/all of the Lennox-branded models are just a BIS model in disguise. That said, from the Security site it looks like all the BIS models list a forced-air heating kit, but on the Lennox site I don't see such an option mentioned anywhere even though the knockouts (and even the external ducting itself) are clearly visible in the drawings. So Lennox may not be selling the kits, in which case you'll need to get them from Security.