Got Wood said:BrowningBAR said:
I have no experience with this stove, but 4 hour burn times on a cat fireplace insert that claims 75% efficiency with a 4.3 Cubic Feet fire box would seem... very frustrating.
I love the look of the insert and was thinking about redoing the living room at some point to accommodate something like this. But, based on this thread, I think I will change my long term plans.
I really have no regrets installing the FPX. It really is great looking, I'm dang proud of the finishing stone work I did cause I dont consider myself exceptionally handy but I got some good help and love the end result. the large fire box and viewing glass doors really are nice to view. find myself staring at it a lot. And it does kick out a great amount of heat. I would say it provides 98% of the heat for the house with the exception being those brutally cold winter mornings when the furnance kicks on for a short time before I get it blasting heat again. The POS system does work too - I have some older drafty windows and when the fan is running there is no draft. It circulates the heat through my house nicely too. So, its great looking (a real center piece to the room) and provides all the heat for the house.
The burn time length has been frustrating but only because I hear about these 10-12 burn times on this forum. I have never used any other wood burning unit for primary heat so I dont have any comparison point. The unit does fall short of advertised lengths but my guess is most do too. With the shorter burn lengths I probably use more wood than those with other units (Last winter I used 5.5 cords). The burn length isnt a big issue for me as I work from a home office and as a family we prefer cooler sleeping temps and dont mind waking up to a cooler house.
I am in the same boat as you I love the unit and can't beat the looks of it.
It's just my nature to try and improve things and right now this stove is a challange and i enjoy it. I would not be unhappy with any improvements but at the current moment I am content with it's performance.