We have three dealers near us. One dealer 3 miles from here sells Hampton & Regency (I'm confused if those are the same company).
The other two dealers are quite a bit further away (couple hours). The one dealer is pointing me to the Harman Accentra. He also sells Quadra-fire, Jotul, Avalon, Hearthstone, Vermont Castings and maybe a couple others. The third dealer is pointing to a Lopi and claims Quadrafire and Harman are crap (not sure I believe him).
Our house: 2000 sqft ranch style single story. 35 years old, kinda drafty, maybe light on the insulation, single pane cold windows etc. However we live in N. Texas. It got down to low teens the last couple days but we rarely see below 32. Wife loves a HOT heat. I don't mind making the place glow so she can slink around in her birthday suit in the middle of the winter. We're accustomed to these crap heat pump units that put out a cold heat. They suck. She wants hot heat. We initially thought we'd go with a pellet stove based on my parents recommendations. However I don't like the idea of pellets and their availability here. We both love the ambiance of a real fire. I have a used cone out of a rock crusher sitting in my back yard that I regularly start fires in just because I'm a bit of a pyro. Yes, I got in trouble in college for rolling a 50 gallon drum of diesel on a giant pile of brush and setting it alight on campus. Lucky I didn't get kicked out that day.
Would love your recommendations to get me started looking. I have to make a decision quick, like this week to grab the tax credit. Plus we're tired of waiting. We talk about this every damn year for the last 15 years. It's happening this time.
Our current fireplace is a "heat-form" by Heatilator. The old heat recovery tubes above the damper are getting removed etc. I believe I have enough current space for anything they want to throw in there. It's a huge fireplace and lets a huge amount of my heat go right up the chimney.
P.S. wife really like the Hampton HI300 we saw mainly because of the 'enamel timberline brown finish'. Me I like efficiency and would prefer something that can self circulate. Wish I had access to the Kuma Sequoia. That thing is a beast but may be too much for our little 2000 sqft.
The other two dealers are quite a bit further away (couple hours). The one dealer is pointing me to the Harman Accentra. He also sells Quadra-fire, Jotul, Avalon, Hearthstone, Vermont Castings and maybe a couple others. The third dealer is pointing to a Lopi and claims Quadrafire and Harman are crap (not sure I believe him).
Our house: 2000 sqft ranch style single story. 35 years old, kinda drafty, maybe light on the insulation, single pane cold windows etc. However we live in N. Texas. It got down to low teens the last couple days but we rarely see below 32. Wife loves a HOT heat. I don't mind making the place glow so she can slink around in her birthday suit in the middle of the winter. We're accustomed to these crap heat pump units that put out a cold heat. They suck. She wants hot heat. We initially thought we'd go with a pellet stove based on my parents recommendations. However I don't like the idea of pellets and their availability here. We both love the ambiance of a real fire. I have a used cone out of a rock crusher sitting in my back yard that I regularly start fires in just because I'm a bit of a pyro. Yes, I got in trouble in college for rolling a 50 gallon drum of diesel on a giant pile of brush and setting it alight on campus. Lucky I didn't get kicked out that day.
Would love your recommendations to get me started looking. I have to make a decision quick, like this week to grab the tax credit. Plus we're tired of waiting. We talk about this every damn year for the last 15 years. It's happening this time.
Our current fireplace is a "heat-form" by Heatilator. The old heat recovery tubes above the damper are getting removed etc. I believe I have enough current space for anything they want to throw in there. It's a huge fireplace and lets a huge amount of my heat go right up the chimney.
P.S. wife really like the Hampton HI300 we saw mainly because of the 'enamel timberline brown finish'. Me I like efficiency and would prefer something that can self circulate. Wish I had access to the Kuma Sequoia. That thing is a beast but may be too much for our little 2000 sqft.
