FP 30 Getting ready for install

[Budge]

We are getting ready to install our FP 30 with craftsman surround in our new home (just about ready to insulate). We have a couple of general questions.

1. We plan on having a raised hearth, how tall should the hearth be? As in the piece that sits directly in front of the fireplace.

2. Does utilizing the remote ducts (heat dump) move a substantial amount of heat? We would want to dump the heat to the basement. Main floor is 1500 square feet, basement is 1500 square feet, and second storey is 1000 square feet.

Your input is appreciated, thanks.

 

[bfast250]

I built my hearth so that it was 3" lower than the bottom of the lower grill. My thinking is that it would pull less dust/ash that way and I preferred that look as well. I used steel studs and stone for the hearth. The steel studs + durock + stone hearth slab we're the perfect height.

The remote heat duct works good. I haven't used mine as much as I planned because of the noise. I plan to use some rubber washers to isolate the fan from the floor joists. It puts out good heat though.

Good luck on your install!

 

[begreen]

The hearth height can be what you want it to be with reason.

Heating a basement with the remote duct may bring mixed results. If the basement is well insulated then it may make a notable difference. If it's cold and leaky, then it's probably still not going to be that comfortable.

 

[Drewman]

...
1. We plan on having a raised hearth, how tall should the hearth be? As in the piece that sits directly in front of the fireplace.

2. Does utilizing the remote ducts (heat dump) move a substantial amount of heat? We would want to dump the heat to the basement. Main floor is 1500 square feet, basement is 1500 square feet, and second storey is 1000 square feet.

1) I prefer the hearth raised so that is a bit easier on the knees when loading. Plus it's nice to sit and warm your back, for a few seconds. Here is a scale drawing I drew for our install. each box is 4 inches. I forgot to take into account the hearthstone height of 1.5 inches. So like most building projects we had to build it about 10 inches so the hearthstone could sit on top then the arch surround flush on that.

2) Your home is similar size to ours (ours is 2000 main, 800 upper, 1800 basement). Our basement is unfinished with poured concrete walls. We put both remote kits on to dump heat in our basement. We did this as our last home had 8 foot ceilings and got way too warm so we thought we could dump heat in the basement. Our current home has 16 foot ceiling though open to a loft so the heat goes up and warms the upstairs rooms nicely. The main floor is mostly warm too except for some of the farther away rooms. We also thought we may finish the basement so it would be easier to install now versus later. So back to your question, it does move the heat, we don't have the noise issues like bfast250 but we just don't use it since we are not in our basement much.

I don't believe I would install it again if I had to redo it. The cost doesn't seem to justify. It would be nice if we built the home around the unit, had the fireplace in the center of our home and used the remote kits to move air horizontal versus down.

Fun stuff!