I'm trying to gather some info. on RSF fireplaces.

[21acrewoods]

I'm comparing them to the Quadra-Fire 7100 with two heat zones. I have a 2300 sq ft multi-level newer construction and am worried about evenly heating all rooms of my house. I haven't had a chance to visit my nearest RSF dealer and was hoping I could show up there with some good questions for them.

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[begreen]

Customer looking for some RSF information, calling LLigetfa to the front desk.

I believe some RSF models are ductable. In the meantime do a search on RSF here in the forums. They have a good reputation. You might also want to compare KozyHeat fireplaces.

 

[LLigetfa]

I have the Onyx with the 635 cfm central blower option. 15 years ago, with my former home, I had the same unit and sucked hot air up from the top. In my current home I went against the published practice of blowing hot air and instead blow cold air up from underneath. That allowed me to put a furnace filter inline and everyone knows cold air is easier to move than hot air. My 2200 sq ft home is open concept and drawing floor level air at the opposite end of the house works well for me.

If I had the choice today, I would go with the larger Opel3 but that wasn't available ten years ago.

 

[21acrewoods]

The Kozyheat models didn't seem to have the effeciency of the Quadra-Fire. Do they offer something my nearest dealer didn't point out to me.

I can suck air off of the floor in the cold rooms of the house and blow that air into the room with the fireplace. correct????

 

[LLigetfa]

I can suck air off of the floor in the cold rooms of the house and blow that air into the room with the fireplace. correct????

The Onyx has an 8" entry in the bottom of the unit for a duct and I have the duct going down through the floor. The blower is drawing air off the crawlspace floor below and blowing up to the stove. Essentially it's a 4 foot high basement which is classified as a conditioned crawlspace. The warm air is drawn down at the entry to the crawlspace to make up for what I draw out. This air warms the main floor and eventually drops to the crawlspace floor as it cools only to be picked up and recirc'd.

 

[mlouwho]

love the RSF Opel & Delta, can't gp wrong with either of them

 

[jrousell]

I have owned an RSF Opel for about 6 years now. We have it centrally ducted and distribute the heat throughout our 3000+ sq. ft. house.

What specific questions do you have?

 

[bgoodwithwood]

I also have the RSF Onyx with the blower in the back. It is not setup for central heating but keeps us nice and toasty. It does struggle a bit when the temps go way down and I have not had much luck with a good long overnight burn. Other than that, the stove is well made and the flame display is great.

 

[ClubbyG]

This is my first year with an RSF Opel II. After I bought it, I often wondered if I should have bought the Kozyheat Z42 instead since the Opel mandates 7" ICC chimney =$$$$, but overall I like it very much. I am heating roughly 2200 sq ft. (my wife has most of the other rooms filled with crap and hence the doors are closed on most rooms

When temps drop to 5-15 f, I agree with bgood--it struggles, but I think that is due to my less than seasoned wood. I have finally managed to get some good overnight burns, following the advice on these forums of buying a unit with a large firebox (Opel II = 3.6 cu ft)

The best advice I can give you is to avoid ANY venting options until you get it installed and to see what the unit does in your environment (just like my dealer warned). Wait and see how the unit behaves in your home. I feel like I have totally NEUTERED my stove by installing a gravity venting kit on it I replaced a heatilator with the Opel in an existing internal chase, and figured a vent on the side would be nice to spread heat around the room (and also cover the hole where the previous vent was).

Since having done that, however, my unit often now only gets secondary flames on the right side at times, with consistent foggy glass on the left. This coincides with the vent being on the left hand side above the doghouse, so by nature I would guess the firebox is colder on that side. Not sure if design flaw or just mother nature...

Come spring, I am ripping out the gravity vent and going back to plain stock heat out the front louvre!

After many soul-searching days of staring at the expensive 7" stack rising above my roof, I am now content...lol. BUT...spending hours trimming up the free and oversized wood I get my from my father in law, I still sometimes wonder how the 22" log capacity of the Kozyheat z42 and 6 " chimney would have fared. Alas, I have accepted the 18" max log size for the Opel II...

With 2300 sq ft, I would recommend OPEL II or III from RSF (same exact units except II has 2 doors). Then, also compare with the Kozyheat as BeGreen mentioned.
If it were ever possible, I would love to see a 'shootout' between the RSF and Kozyheat units based upon total price of stove+chimney and some scientific formula of btu's. Either way, they both seem like good choices!

As for me, I can honestly recommend the RSF Opel II with the 18" and venting caveats...

Also, FWIW, the Opel II + III are NOT EPA certified without the cat option, but they have a secondary burn tube, and I can attest that they produce little smoke with the right wood and a good deal of heat, so they must be pretty darn close!

Good luck in your quest! I'm still a newb, but I've learned a GREAT deal from this forum and from many hours spent sipping bourbon and enjoying (studying) the flames from my Opel II.

 

[bgoodwithwood]

Clubby is right on the money. I think the ICC 7" Class A S/S chimney cost me just about as much as the Onyx stove did. But, like in many things, you get what you pay for. I have had the chimney swept and each sweep remarks at just how little buildup ends up in the chimney. I have a vacustack cap on the pipe as well to keep positive draft and have had no issues. Now, once I get the overnight burn down I will be psyched. I still think it is something that I am doing as I have only been a woodburner for about 3 years. . .and there is still much to learn. . . .

 

[jrousell]

ICC chimney is one of the things that I loved about the stove. It relaly is top of the line chimney pipe. From the research I did it was worth the extra money in my book. is tested against stricter standards than most HT pipe you buy in the states...

but-- all chimney pipe of quality is expensive now... I think you ahve to go with eth stove you want...

I looked at kozy's line as well as others... there are many good units.

my suggestion is to look very closely at the install manuals for each stove you are loking at. They all have slight differences in their ducting setup[s, as well as having slight differences in how you stone around them.... The devil is in the details... one of the ZC units didn't let you put stone facing right onto the stove, but instead had an air gap.... that was no good for me... others had slightely more or less advantages ducting setups for me....

For me I wanted the biggest possible and strongest made firebox too... central ducting was a must for me... others might want a smaller unit, or able to settle with just pushing the heat into an adjacent room...

I have a drafty 3000 sq ft house and the Opel will heat it no problem. On those -20 F nights it has to run around the clock though... but that said- in my house with all its drafts on a -20 night- I expect ANY single stove would be pushed to the limit.

 

[jrousell]

the security chimneys brand BIS stoves are also worth a look in my book. The ultra/ultima and panorama all are worth consideration . The panorama is a nice looking unit-- and has Cat if you want super long burns overnight...

Napolean also puts out a relaly big sized ZC unit now that was not available 7 years ago when I was looking...

 

[LLigetfa]

I still sometimes wonder how the 22" log capacity of the Kozyheat z42 and 6 " chimney would have fared. Alas, I have accepted the 18" max log size for the Opel II...

I buck all my own wood, so the 20 inch length (23" max) on the Onyx is nice as longer wood stacks a bit more stable and my stacks are 9 feet tall. The shorter length on the Opel would be nicer for those that buy their wood C/S/D as 20 inch isn't that common and putting shorter splits in a wider box doesn't bode well for long overnight burns. I think the shorter splits and the dimensions of the Opel's box would lend itself to using the same length splits to load N/S or E/W. N/S loading lets you get more BTUs per hour when you need it.

Since I did the doghouse air mod, my coals last longer on my overnight burns but yet I can open it up to burn down the coals quicker when it gets real cold and I need lots of heat. When it gets down to -40, my Onyx struggles to keep up and the coals tend to build up. I still wish I had the larger capacity of the Opel3 and wouldn't sweat the 2 inch difference in log length. The taller box would take larger splits for overnight and leave more room for coal and ash buildup.

As for the chimney, IMHO that is not the place to cheap out. Kinda like not buying a $5 crash helmet.

 

[jrousell]

I regularly put logs over 20" into my Opel.. Is the Opel 2 smaller than the original Opel?

 

[ClubbyG]

I regularly put logs over 20" into my Opel.. Is the Opel 2 smaller than the original Opel?

I can take 20" toward the front, but definitely not in the back of the firebox, as the width is shorter. It looks much like the unit you have adkdadto4 (beautiful setup, btw!) Is the Opel smaller in the back of the firebox?

Not a huge deal as i expect to take down a bunch of trees this year and will cut and split them myself.

I agree with you all--the chimney is not the place to cheap out and i did notice before i bought that the chimney is rated to a much higher standard than others--3 30 minute chimney fires! A good reminder that I did indeed make the right choice.

 

[annb]

ClubbyG

If you don't mind my asking, how much did you spend on your Opel, ducts, chimney, etc? How much chimney did you need? We're considering the Opel 3, and we're trying to determine how long before the propane savings has covered the price of the stove.

Thanks,

Ann

 

[annb]

Adkdadto4,

Our house is a fairly drafty, old farmhouse with about 2900 sq ft. We are working to tighten it up a bit, but I'm just curious how much wood you burn in a year?

Thanks,

Ann

 

[ClubbyG]

I think all told, for 16' ICC chimney (actually 18 or so feet except 2x30 deg. elbows as an offset), cap, roof bracing kit, cathedral ceiling radiation shield, factory flashing, stove unit itself with standard louvres (similar to other companies, you pay for a base unit and then have to pay more for the bloody vents and louvers), and a gravity venting kit for the side of my chase, it came out to around $5000... The stove itself was like $2500 and I spent probably the same amount on all the piping...Did the install myself with gracious help of members of this forum and more than a few calls to ICC-RSF.

I figure it will pay for itself in a few years, but more than that, the woodheat is so much more satisfying than the forced hot air furnace. I am ripping out the gravity vent. I got it to waft the heat around on the side, but it makes the stove heat unevenly with one door always turning brown and the other side clean as a whistle with good secondary flames...very irritating.

 

[annb]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it and it does help. My two-story house will need about 30' of pipe. I love the two-story ... except when pricing chimney pipe! There's a dealer a couple of hours from here. I think I'll take a look at the fireplace.

 

[ClubbyG]

Good Luck!

The RSF's are all definitely excellent stoves. For me, it would be a choice between the RSF or the Kozy Heats...All in all, I am happy with the Opel II....

 

[annb]

adkdadto4,

How well does the Opel with the central heating option do at moving warm air? Some guys say the ducting options never work well. Is the air hot when it comes out of your registers? Thanks.

 

[jrousell]

adkdadto4,

How well does the Opel with the central heating option do at moving warm air? Some guys say the ducting options never work well. Is the air hot when it comes out of your registers? Thanks.

I think that you have to be careful what you are talking about when you say something does or does not work.

for example - a single gravity duct might not move much air- especially if it has to go far in the duct.. gravity ducting alone helps- but still isn;t ideal -- think of it as a helper...

but central ducting with a "pull-side" axial blower like I have works awesome- heats my whole 3000sq foot house.

the air noise near teh fireplace is my only peeve.. when you are moving thta much air-- you hear a air whooshing noise in that room.. that is louder than I had anticipated.. but it definitely works as far as moving heat

 

[Rob From Wisconsin]

We're in the market for a fireplace, and one of the shops we went to carries both Kozy Heat
& RSF. When it came to system pricing (fireplace & flue), they were both fairly close in price
(Fireplace more for one, Flue more expensive for another). In the end, I personally kinda like
the RSF better. Even though it is a bit smaller, it seems to be engineered better.

My 2 cents worth........

 

[annb]

adkdadto4,

How well does the Opel with the central heating option do at moving warm air? Some guys say the ducting options never work well. Is the air hot when it comes out of your registers? Thanks.

I think that you have to be careful what you are talking about when you say something does or does not work.

for example - a single gravity duct might not move much air- especially if it has to go far in the duct.. gravity ducting alone helps- but still isn;t ideal -- think of it as a helper...

but central ducting with a "pull-side" axial blower like I have works awesome- heats my whole 3000sq foot house.

the air noise near teh fireplace is my only peeve.. when you are moving thta much air-- you hear a air whooshing noise in that room.. that is louder than I had anticipated.. but it definitely works as far as moving heat

Thanks. That helps a lot. Is the "pull-side" axial blower the system that is sold by RSF?

Also, could I locate that blower in the crawl space directly below the room where I want to locate the fireplace? And, would it help with the sound? We have a little bit of crawl space and then basement. The furnace is in the basement.

Also, do you use a thermostat with your set-up? I've heard mixed reviews about it. What are your thoughts?

I got a quote on the Opel 3 with pipe, clean face installation, thermostat and central heating option. It came to $7200 before tax and installation. I'll need about 30' of pipe. That's $2823 for the fireplace, $2528 for the pipe and one elbow, $245 for the thermostat and $1578 to get the central heating. I'm wondering if there's an online site where I might be able to purchase this set up for a little bit less. I've looked but haven't turned up anything yet. I was expecting to come in at about $5500.

Thanks again.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

online site for RSF? i dont think so. Also, if you purchase your system online expect to install it yourself. Most dealers and sweeps stay away from labor only jobs. Also, dealers are only required to service and warrant the units they sell. Not ones you buy elsewhere.