QUADRAFIRE 7100 FP IN LOG HOME NOT KEEPING UP

[Randy S]

Hello to all,

I am posting this for my brother. He and his family live in a Log home. Footprint measures approx. 35 x 28, with cathedral ceiling at 25' high. The FP sits in the center of the house. They had ceiling fans put in the cathedral ceiling to help circulate/push down the heat. The Quad unit will only keep the house at like 62 degrees when the outside temp. gets to 30 degrees.

We live in N GA, so our winters aren't that bad down here. The home in SQ ft. probably is around 3500 SF; is the space too big for this unit to heat efficiently? Anything you can recommend to keep it warmer/work with the unit he has?

Thanks for your input.

SG

 

[Corie]

How does he have the convection air hooked up? Is he using the outside air for convection air hookup?

 

[Hanko]

sounds like a big house, what temp are you running at. One thing I do know is the celing fans you mentioned need to pull up not push down in the winter, I know that doesnt sound right but it is. Im sure that alone is not going to correct your problem.

 

[Hanko]

I just reread your post, you say the house footprint is 28X35 or something like that, but you say the house is 3500 sq ft. It must look like a skyscrapper and be 4 stories tall. where?

 

[woodconvert]

I'm not familiar with that stove but, assuming he has good wood and the place is insulated and tight, that place should be a cinch to heat with 30F temps. I have a 2500 sq ft log home and if it's 30 outside I maintain an ash bed rather than a fire. A proper fire would cook us out. Keep in mind, the trick is to warm it up and keep it warm. It will not warm the entire house in an hour. There is a lot of heavy wood and other items in the house that take time to warm up.

 

[Hanko]

I'm not familiar with that stove but, assuming he has good wood and the place is insulated and tight, that place should be a cinch to heat with 30F temps. I have a 2500 sq ft log home and if it's 30 outside I maintain an ash bed rather than a fire. A proper fire would cook us out. Keep in mind, the trick is to warm it up and keep it warm. It will not warm the entire house in an hour. There is a lot of heavy wood and other items in the house that take time to warm up.

waht happened to the cat part of your stove

 

[budman]

I just reread your post, you say the house footprint is 28X35 or something like that, but you say the house is 3500 sq ft. It must look like a skyscrapper and be 4 stories tall. where?

I wanted to see who was going to pick that up. 28x35 is 980 sf ;-P

 

[Hanko]

I just reread your post, you say the house footprint is 28X35 or something like that, but you say the house is 3500 sq ft. It must look like a skyscrapper and be 4 stories tall. where?

I wanted to see who was going to pick that up. 28x35 is 980 sf ;-P

Do you think your the smartest guy on this site? Im might be dumb, but not that dumb

 

[Corie]

Just so everyone is on the same page.

The Quad 7100 is a essentially an EPA certified zero-clearance fireplace style furnace. It is meant to either blow heat directly into the room it's located in OR direct heat through duct-work into other rooms.

It can either pull return air from inside the house OR from outside. The idea with pulling outside convection air is to "pressurize" the house. I think it's a terrible idea and I suspect that's what the problem is here.

 

[Hanko]

if thats what he doing, your absolutly right. I thaught he just had normal wood stove.

 

[Chettt]

Two weeks ago we had a multipage discussion about this unit and its cost of $13,400 to be installed in a Maryland home. There is a guy from New Jersey who has one and likes it. Search for "Yikes!" in the topic title.

A cabin of that size in Georgia can be heated by a can of sterno. Something doesn't make sense.

 

[woodconvert]

I'm not familiar with that stove but, assuming he has good wood and the place is insulated and tight, that place should be a cinch to heat with 30F temps. I have a 2500 sq ft log home and if it's 30 outside I maintain an ash bed rather than a fire. A proper fire would cook us out. Keep in mind, the trick is to warm it up and keep it warm. It will not warm the entire house in an hour. There is a lot of heavy wood and other items in the house that take time to warm up.

waht happened to the cat part of your stove

Dunno for sure but I went through a few of them whilst running it to manufactures specs...and decided me and cats don't get along so I quit buying them and I now run cat free. (It should be noted that many many people run cats with no problems for years...I don't recommend doing what I did and I may go back...but for now, Jotul no kitty)

 

[Randy S]

Thanks for all of your replies. I am not sure if he is pulling outside air or not. Our parents have the same unit, but their home is a ranch style brick, approx. 2500 sf with open floor plan and 9' ceilings. The unit heats their home just fine.

Honestly I could be off on the measurements of the house footprint. Will double-check.

Thanks again for your input.

SG

 

[woodconvert]

Just so everyone is on the same page.

It is meant to either blow heat directly into the room it's located in OR direct heat through duct-work into other rooms.

It can either pull return air from inside the house OR from outside. The idea with pulling outside convection air is to "pressurize" the house. I think it's a terrible idea and I suspect that's what the problem is here.

Kinda lost me (which is easy to do). How can you pull air from inside??. You have to make it up somewhere (air makeup from outside, leaky doors n' windows, etc.).

 

[budman]

I just reread your post, you say the house footprint is 28X35 or something like that, but you say the house is 3500 sq ft. It must look like a skyscrapper and be 4 stories tall. where?

I wanted to see who was going to pick that up. 28x35 is 980 sf ;-P

Do you think your the smartest guy on this site? Im might be dumb, but not that dumb

That was not meant as an insult to you hot head.

 

[Hanko]

I just reread your post, you say the house footprint is 28X35 or something like that, but you say the house is 3500 sq ft. It must look like a skyscrapper and be 4 stories tall. where?

I wanted to see who was going to pick that up. 28x35 is 980 sf ;-P

Do you think your the smartest guy on this site? Im might be dumb, but not that dumb

That was not meant as an insult to you hot head.

I was only joking, no sense of hummor in this site?

 

[savageactor7]

It's the log home...

...they are the black hole of heating/cooling energy. I knew 2 couples that had those beautiful homes but on a cold day the outside walls would be cold to the touch ...they're conductors of the cold. They look good but imo they're white elephants. If you're young and thinking about getting one...think again.

 

[Corie]

Just so everyone is on the same page.

It is meant to either blow heat directly into the room it's located in OR direct heat through duct-work into other rooms.

It can either pull return air from inside the house OR from outside. The idea with pulling outside convection air is to "pressurize" the house. I think it's a terrible idea and I suspect that's what the problem is here.

Kinda lost me (which is easy to do). How can you pull air from inside??. You have to make it up somewhere (air makeup from outside, leaky doors n' windows, etc.).

Not sure where I lost you?

If you check the Quad website, they might give a better explanation than I do.

(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/downloads/brochures/bro_7100fp.pdf)


Either you pull cool return air from the house (just like a furnace), heat it and then send it back out through the ducts.

OR

You continually heat outside air and blow it into the house through the ducts.

OR

You heat outside air and blow it into the room.

OR

You heat inside air and blow it into the room.

Does that help? I'm doing my best!!

 

[jtp10181]

The brochure pretty much sums it up for the 7100.

It actually has three outside air hookups. One is the chimney air which just helps cool the chimney so lets not worry about that.

On the right side the top one is for combustion air and it MUST be ducted outside with a 6" duct and hood. It has a sealed damper door and dumps outside air directly under the firebox which gets pulled in for all the combustion air, any supplemental air it needs will get pulled in from the room.

The lower hole on the right is for "AUX" air. This dumps air into the convection chamber of the unit if the bottom "AUX" level is pushed to the right. This can pull air from outside to put a POSI pressure in the house. IMO all it does it let lots of cold air into house and is senseless to use this way unless you burn hot 24/7. You can also pull air from another room which would create a neg pressure there and hopefully help the heat travel that way better.

Corie also mentioned ducting heat to other rooms. You can hook up to two heat zones to the top of the unit and dump heat to other rooms. If you travel any sort of distance the air on the other end will be luke warm. Using the AUX air into one of these rooms will help balance the house and keep air flowing throughout.

 

[woodconvert]

It's the log home...

...they are the black hole of heating/cooling energy. I knew 2 couples that had those beautiful homes but on a cold day the outside walls would be cold to the touch ...they're conductors of the cold. They look good but imo they're white elephants. If you're young and thinking about getting one...think again.

Not so by any means. Wood is an excellent insulator. Now, if you had really small log walls...maybe. But in general, if it's constructed of sizable materials they are excellent for keeping the cold out. On the coldest day you can put your hand on my exterior walls and they are nice and warm. If your friends had monster leaks then I can see them being cold in that area but that's it. As you can see, i'm in Michigan and own a log home....if it were as you say there is no way I can heat it so easily...which I do. I know two other folks with them, one has full logs with flats on top and bottom (like mine) and one has fully machined logs. Both heat with wood and very easily.

Now, having said that, since there is a LOT of mass with a log home...if you let it get cold it WILL take longer to get everything back up to temp. The key is keeping it warm. And on a plus side, because of the mass, they don't cool off quickly either.

 

[woodconvert]

Kinda lost me (which is easy to do). How can you pull air from inside??. You have to make it up somewhere (air makeup from outside, leaky doors n' windows, etc.).

Not sure where I lost you?

If you check the Quad website, they might give a better explanation than I do.

(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/downloads/brochures/bro_7100fp.pdf)


Either you pull cool return air from the house (just like a furnace), heat it and then send it back out through the ducts.

OR

You continually heat outside air and blow it into the house through the ducts.

OR

You heat outside air and blow it into the room.

OR

You heat inside air and blow it into the room.

Does that help? I'm doing my best!![/quote]


...psht, why didn't you just say that ;-P . I'm up to speed now. Thanks.

 

[Randy S]

Thanks again for all of your replies.
The Log home my brother lives in is brand new, 6x12 square dovetail white pine logs built professionally by an experienced builder. So construction of the home is not an issue in terms of leaks/tightness. I will refer all of this back to him and have him get with the installer to make sure everything is installed correctly.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[stoveguy13]

biggets factor to cause a lack of heat is normally bad wood what is he buning?

 

[Randy S]

Hey Stoveguy,

Red and white oak, cut, split and seasoned for over 1 year.. I am confident of the dryness because mine and my father's wood came out of the same pile and it burns fine. BUT, my space is completely different; 9 ft ceilings in a 1 1/2 story 2000 sf home with a Woodstock fireview. Have not had any problems at my place. Pop's space is also very different from brothers.


thanks,

SG

 

[stoveguy13]

I would still check moister content of wood how tall is tthe chimney? is the stoved in side the house or is in a chase?