New Pacific Energy FP30 Installation Progress Thread

[saydinli]

Hi folks,

Been lurking here for a few months now and finally pulled the trigger on a Pacific Energy FP30 Arch with a remote vent/blower kit to heat the rec room in the basement below.

It is being installed today and I'll update this thread as the work progresses. The fireplace is being installed now and the stone work will follow in Dec. My stone guy is going to be beefing up the floor joists in the basement by installing a 3 ply 2 x8 beam on posts (cradle), across the span, about 24" out from the back wall, to support the huge weight of stone going up the 18ft wall.

Here is the first photo of the platform it is resting on.



Here's the second with the first section of pipe installed;



Here's the 3rd with another section of pipe:

 

[mcdougy]

Looks like it will sit proud in the room.....keep the photos and such coming. It seems difficult to find any threads like this on the fp 30

 

[Squisher]

Yes. It would be great to see the outcome and hear about how it performs for you.

 

[mcdougy]

How do you like your summit? .......sounds like the fp30 is a summit in a box.

 

[Squisher]

The summit is a top notch stove imo. Incredible heat and burn times. I'm seriously impressed with it so far with one full season under its belt. I liked it so much I'm in the process of rejuvenating a PE insert to go in my masonry fireplace. Not because I really need any extra heating capacity but moreso because I can no longer stand the inefficiency of the open fireplace and imo. Secondaries burning away through that nice clear glass are nicer to watch than an open fire anyways.

The airwash is awesome on the summit. I literally never, as in ever clean my glass. Mind you, I burn well seasoned wood and utilize thermometers. No guess work.

This is a recent pic of a load just taking off. My glass just stays like that in definetly.

 

[Squisher]

My guess is you are going to be very happy with your fireplace.

 

[Woody Stover]

This is a recent pic of a load just taking off.

Indeed!

 

[mcdougy]

The summit is a top notch stove imo. Incredible heat and burn times. I'm seriously impressed with it so far with one full season under its belt. I liked it so much I'm in the process of rejuvenating a PE insert to go in my masonry fireplace. Not because I really need any extra heating capacity but moreso because I can no longer stand the inefficiency of the open fireplace and imo. Secondaries burning away through that nice clear glass are nicer to watch than an open fire anyways.

The airwash is awesome on the summit. I literally never, as in ever clean my glass. Mind you, I burn well seasoned wood and utilize thermometers. No guess work.

This is a recent pic of a load just taking off. My glass just stays like that in definetly.
View attachment 187502

How long will a full stove last? What size is your home& insulation quality? Are you able to ONLY use the wood to heat?

 

[Squisher]

My home is about 2600sq ft. I'll say 14 up and 12 down. Basement is finished and insulated, whole house I'd say average to poor insulation and the summit will heat the whole place. The extra 200ft upstairs is a mud room that is the furthest from the stove and stays a bit cool, the dogs stay in there in the winter. Next furthest is two upstairs bedrooms and two bathrooms, which will stay a comfortable sleeping temperature and then the kitchen slightly warmer to the living/dining room which are at the top of the stairs to the basement and the stove is near the bottom of the stairs where it vents into a interior lined masonry chimney. The downstairs stays warm, but the two downstairs bedrooms can be kept reasonable by keeping their doors closed. We keep our home very warm, to hot for most.

I seem to have great natural convection in my home and rarely ever run any kind of fan but sometimes will use a floor fan to push some air around when it gets colder out.

I heat the whole place with the summit but also have a high efficiency forced air natural gas furnace if need be. Our winters ar fairly mild but the odd -15 to -25 Celsius stint we get here and there the summit can struggle to keep up if I'm not right on it. Part of my motivation to convert my upstairs fireplace to an insert. So I can have a little extra oomph when needed.

 

[Squisher]

I get reliable overnight burns with the summit. 6-8hrs of good heat and 8hrs plus with still coals. This is with Doug fir. I've burned a bit of hardwood and could have coals easily lasting 10-12hrs on a full load of hard maple.

 

[saydinli]

So the inside section of the chimney pipe is now complete. The Outside Air Kit is installed. Today they will be completing the outside section of pipe through the roof and then the remote vent kit down to the basement. Once they are done I'll be wiring up the fan speed controls for both the fireplace and the remote vent kit.
I find it funny that in the PE FP30 manual it recommends adding a switch or fan control to the fireplace blowers but don't include and in the optional remote vent kit a fan speed control is included. I guess its all about keeping costs down.

I'll post more picture once they are done the job later today.

 

[Squisher]

Nice progress. Can hardly wait to see the pics of it with fire in the box! I'll be really curious to read your thoughts on it as you break it in and use it.

 

[Squisher]

I'd also like to see a couple pics of it up close and looking inside the firebox too if possible.

 

[saydinli]

So the installation is complete and is fire ready. We placed a sheet of concrete board in front of the unit temporarily as required so we could could use it. Here are pics of the final work done.

This is with the Remote Duct installed


A bit closer look....



Close up of the ducting going through the floor to the basement...



A close up of the Outside Air duct....



Remote Ducting through the basement ceiling....

A view of the whole Remote Vent Kit system (not in its final resting spot as a support beam will be installed across the span to support the weight of the stone going up, and then a bulkhead to enclose the ductwork)...



Close up of the rheostat included with the Remote Vent Kit....


Close up of the blower head. I apologize, but I should have taken the picture before putting the cover on, but its just a basic fireplace barrel fan you can pick up at any fireplace store or website installed in a metal casing....

 

[saydinli]

So after hooking up the 2 fan controllers, I finally fired up this bad boy, and let me tell you, it is one bad ass heater. It wasn't that cold last night (approx 10 in the evening dropping to 3 over night) so it did get very warm in the house.

Once the fire got nice and hot I had to open up all the windows to allow the " New Fireplace Smell" to evacuate for a couple of hours. But I tell you with the heat that this thing put out, I needed to have the windows open regardless. In fact I left our bedroom & family room window open (both on the second floor) a crack all night just to remove the excess heat.

Let me know if you have any question about the FP30 and the installation, I'll try to respond as soon as I can.

Can't wait for the stone work (which won;t be until Dec 12 !) Oh well at least we can use the fireplace and get off the oil burner!!

And now the fire shots...

Just lit.....



After about 40-50 mins. I added a couple of splits to the kindling coals.....

 

[Mike M.]

Nice! Mine throws the heat also. These units breath so easily it makes them simple to use. One question - although it's fairly warm yet, do you feel cold outside air coming in the home from the stove air control area? Note the unit must be cool/cold for this to be noticed.

Sent from my SM-G900R6 using Tapatalk

 

[saydinli]

Nice! Mine throws the heat also. These units breath so easily it makes them simple to use. One question - although it's fairly warm yet, do you feel cold outside air coming in the home from the stove air control area? Note the unit must be cool/cold for this to be noticed.

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As a matter of fact after day one of the install I did notice a bit of cold air coming from in and around the air control. However, at that time , the OAK was installed, but the chimney wasn't yet. I attributed it to the outside air coming in with nowhere to go but into the room. I forgot to check it again after they finished. I'll try to remember to check it again when it cools down.

 

[mcdougy]

Awesome.....looks like nice and tidy install. Did you kick on the remote fan? Was the air very warm coming out of the duct? It would be sweet if you monitored box surface temp before and after turning on the fan? I have no idea if it would change or not.

 

[saydinli]

Awesome.....looks like nice and tidy install. Did you kick on the remote fan? Was the air very warm coming out of the duct? It would be sweet if you monitored box surface temp before and after turning on the fan? I have no idea if it would change or not.

Yes I have been keeping the remote fan running whenever the fireplace is burning. It keeps the basement nice and warm. Once the the FP reaches temp, warm air does blow out nicely. We have a walkout basement with a set of double doors on on end and a single door on the other with a bunch of windows in between so it was a challenge for the oil burner furnace to keep the basement warm because of the thermostat being up on the main floor.
Not with this set up now. Its is nice and comfortable now. No blankets and slippers needed, .
One thing we haven't really had to use yet is the FP30's internal blowers as this thing just radiates a ton of heat into the room. I also have a low speed circulating fan on my oil furnace that I keep on to move the warm air around to all the rooms. It draws nice warm air from the cold air returns in the living room and at the top of the stairs above the fireplace where it gets REALLY WARM .

 

[saydinli]

My guess is you are going to be very happy with your fireplace.

You guessed right Squisher. We are VERY HAPPY

 

[mcdougy]

Ok time for more feedback and pictures.....how has everything been working? Any cold draft from oak? How long is a load lasting? We need more info.....

 

[saydinli]

Ok time for more feedback and pictures.....how has everything been working? Any cold draft from oak? How long is a load lasting? We need more info.....

Everything has been working great..... too great as a matter of fact . This fireplace puts out allot of heat if you load it up too much so I've been trying different load sizes and techniques to figure out what works best. The warmer than normal outside temps has made it a challenge for sure but we're getting it figured out. With the temps only hitting the freezing point briefly overnight (or not at all), we get a good bed of coals going before we go to bed and throw in one or two medium rounds, that seems to keep the house comfortable overnight with a small amount of glowing embers left to assist the reload in the morning. The house is only 4 years old and is pretty well insulated so it holds heat pretty good.
Yesterday morning around 7:00 am I loaded a bit of kindling and about 3 splits and that was it for the rest of the day. Didn't touch it again till dinner around 6:00pm. House stayed nice and comfortable at 71-72. (but it was around 55-60outside) .

I have not experienced any cold air from the air control area that I have noticed since everything has been done. This unit gets a great draft going and lighting fires from cold is a breeze and its not long before its up to temps and I'm lowering the air control right down for a slower steady burn.

I don't have any other pictures to post up at the moment because nothing else has been done. The stone won't be going up till Dec. but some of the framing and the new beam will be going up in the next couple of weeks so I'll post pics of that work once its done.

If there's any particular pics you're interested in, let me know and I'll post them up.

 

[mcdougy]

Get the kindling and wood ready....we are getting the cool weather that your fp 30 is designed for. More pics and feedback wanted

 

[saydinli]

Get the kindling and wood ready....we are getting the cool weather that your fp 30 is designed for. More pics and feedback wanted

Yup looking forward to the cold weather for a change lol. Wifey got the FP30 going this morning at 7:30 to get ahead of the cold temps coming today.
We've just been loading 2 splits at a time all morning and we're at a comfy 71-72 depending where you are on the main floor.

Here a couple of pics l. The air control was all the way down.




Here's a closeup of inside the firebox.





Here's the whole front of the unit



Here's a short video

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[Squisher]

If that is the same firebox as the summit, which it appears to be. It's meant to be loaded N/S(straight in) for best performance. It'll make it easier to stuff it right full with no worries of wood rolling onto the glass.

Looks great though!