New Construction - Kozy or Pellet?

[Ksquared]

We had a Kozyheat at our old house built 1992 and loved the heat it put out. We are constructing a new home in Michigan and were going to purchase and install a Kozyheat Z42CD to supplement our propane furnace. My wife really liked the looks of the Kozyheat and our past great experience. Now that I have been looking, I'm wondering if we should go with a pellet or stay the course. Obviously, I'm getting older and don't want to cut wood as often as I was when I was younger, but we can get through that. Should I be looking at a pellet? With new construction we have already framed in the chase and surround to the specifications for the Kozyheat, but my recent reading of the forum has me thinking. I am not opposed to maintenance on the unit, as we cleaned our Kozyheat at the sold home on a regular basis and had the chimney swept regularly. Any thoughts any of you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ksquared

 

[begreen]

Aesthetically, the Kozy will provide much more value to the home and visually. Economically a pellet stove will be cheaper and the convenience is nice. Maintenance on pellet stoves is continual and will be more than for the Kozy. The pellet stove will have a single torchlike flame vs real fire flames. Most pellet stoves are noisy, they are a small wood furnaces after all.

One thing to consider with new construction is the amount of heat produced. How large is the home and how open is the fireplace room to the rest of the house?

 

[Ksquared]

Aesthetically, the Kozy will provide much more value to the home and visually. Economically a pellet stove will be cheaper and the convenience is nice. Maintenance on pellet stoves is continual and will be more than for the Kozy. The pellet stove will have a single torchlike flame vs real fire flames. Most pellet stoves are noisy, they are a small wood furnaces after all.

One thing to consider with new construction is the amount of heat produced. How large is the home and how open is the fireplace room to the rest of the house?

It is a ranch home 1954 sqft with an addtional bedroom/bath combo upstairs adding 305 sqft. The unit will be placed in the great room kitchen/dining area which is all open concept and cathedral ceilings (That space is 34' x 22'). I'm not looking to heat the whole house with the unit - but have inquired about ducting the circulation air into the cold air return and then just turn on the furnace fan only to circulate.

 

[begreen]

Sounds good. Ranch homes are known to have uneven heating when the bedrooms and bath(s) are located off of a long hallway. The BRs at the end of the house get little heat from the stove. Using the furnace blower might work for circulation if all the ductwork including return is insulated. A DC variable speed blower works best in this case.

Another solution might be to run an independent insulated flex duct with an inline blower that pulls colder air from the far end of the house and feeds it into the stove or fireplace area. A return floor grille could be placed a the end of the hallway or branched into the two end bedrooms. The cool air from the far bedrooms would be replaced with warm air from the LR.

 

[Ksquared]

Sounds good. Ranch homes are known to have uneven heating when the bedrooms and bath(s) are located off of a long hallway. The BRs at the end of the house get little heat. Using the furnace blower might work for circulation if all the ductwork including return is insulated. A DC variable speed blower works best in this case.

Another solution might be to run an independent insulated flex duct with an inline blower that pulls colder air from the far end of the house and feeds it into the stove or fireplace area. A return floor grille could be placed a the end of the hallway or branched into the two end bedrooms. The cool air from the far bedrooms would be replaced with warm air from the LR.

Thank for input and ideas!

 

[begreen]

Another compromise that could save some bucks is to put a freestanding wood stove in the chase bumpout as an alcove install.

 

[Crab]

but have inquired about ducting the circulation air into the cold air return and then just turn on the furnace fan only to circulate.

I have insulated duct work running thru a 50 degF crawl space, a return near the stove. Had hoped to circulate some heat. NOPE....Running the air handler fan does not get warm air anywhere.