Quadrafire 7100 vs. Heat n Glow Northstar/ HELP!!! NEED ADVICE ASAP/ Want to make a decision Monda

[leftyscott]

Had the fireplace guys over to my house today to tear out my 25 year old smoke dragon in preparation for a quad5100. Long story short... can't put an insert in and meet code... Am now opting for a new fireplace.

Leaning towards the 7100 b/c 16 hour burn times compared to 10 w/ the northstar.

Either way I ill end up spending $3k more for the fireplace vs. the insert, mostly due to the 40 ft. chimney.
Dealer can give me the 7100 for only $300 more.

Anyone have either of these.

fyi house is 2200 sq ft. high ceilings, not good insulation.

 

[begreen]

Can you expand a bit on why putting in the insert violates code? This is a big chunk of change. What's the old Kodiak installed in?

 

[leftyscott]

Can you expand a bit on why putting in the insert violates code? This is a big chunk of change. What's the old Kodiak installed in?

It appears the kodiak is welded to the surrounding heat shield. THe guy who was at the house has 30 years experience and has never seen an insert set up like ths. He did mention that a very small insert could fit which got me thinking it was a space problem. It all made sense when he was tellng me it yesterday.

My problem is I don't know that what I'm looking at is any different than any other insert set up.

I want to believe this guy.... but I'd like to be sure.
It's a more difficult job to put a new fireplace in as compared to an insert.

Hope this makes better sense.

 

[jtp10181]

Welded? uhhh.... Angle grinder and sawzall can fix that.

Personally I would get a second opinion on that before I go any further. To do a northstar you will have to remove the entire brick chimney structure and run a new SL300 chimney and build a chimney chase around it. Unless you can gut the "flue" out of the existing chimney and run the SL300 inside which is still a lot of work.

The 7100 and Northstar are essentially the same unit. The 7100 is slightly bigger (can't tell without a tape measure). The 7100 has the AUX air feature which most people (dealers included) don't understand or use correctly.

Can you post the pictures?

We have seen some welded in funky metal crap welded inside masonry fireplaces last year. Sawzall took care of it.

 

[leftyscott]

Welded? uhhh.... Angle grinder and sawzall can fix that.

Personally I would get a second opinion on that before I go any further. To do a northstar you will have to remove the entire brick chimney structure and run a new SL300 chimney and build a chimney chase around it. Unless you can gut the "flue" out of the existing chimney and run the SL300 inside which is still a lot of work.

The 7100 and Northstar are essentially the same unit. The 7100 is slightly bigger (can't tell without a tape measure). The 7100 has the AUX air feature which most people (dealers included) don't understand or use correctly.

Can you post the pictures?

We have seen some welded in funky metal crap welded inside masonry fireplaces last year. Sawzall took care of it.

There is no masonry chimney to work with. They're going to have to pull out the existing flue (40 feet) and run an entire new flue up there. I believe that's where a significant part of the extra cost is.

I'll post some pics, here.

 

[leftyscott]

Here is a pic of the old insert.

 

[leftyscott]

Here are a couple more.

These are taken from the top of the insert.

 

[begreen]

Tis indeed an unusual setup. Looks home brewed. Is that masonry surrounding the steel housing or just surface tiling?

 

[leftyscott]

Tis indeed an unusual setup. Looks home brewed. Is that masonry surrounding the steel housing or just surface tiling?

It's all surface tile. Part of this project is to replace the tile over the hearth with that owens-corning synthetic rock.

Thanks

 

[Chettt]

Why is it that these 7100 Quadrafire's sell so well in southern, mild winter states? This seems like a product designed for Saskatchewan but the questions are always from the SEC. I used to live in Arkansas and I do realize there is some cold weather but unless you're heating a 10,000 sqft home I would get a second opinion on installing a small woodstove, pellet stove or insert.

 

[leftyscott]

Why is it that these 7100 Quadrafire's sell so well in southern, mild winter states? This seems like a product designed for Saskatchewan but the questions are always from the SEC. I used to live in Arkansas and I do realize there is some cold weather but unless you're heating a 10,000 sqft home I would get a second opinion on installing a small woodstove, pellet stove or insert.

I am mainly interested in a larger unit because I like the long burn times.
I like going to bed warm and waking up just as toasty.

 

[jtp10181]

Tis indeed an unusual setup. Looks home brewed. Is that masonry surrounding the steel housing or just surface tiling?

Yes, definitely looks home made and not legal. After seeing the picture, the guy may be right in that he cannot do another wood insert.

 

[leftyscott]

Tis indeed an unusual setup. Looks home brewed. Is that masonry surrounding the steel housing or just surface tiling?

Yes, definitely looks home made and not legal. After seeing the picture, the guy may be right in that he cannot do another wood insert.

There is no masonry in the area where the insert sits. It's basically just a metal box.

Went to the store yesterday and got it all worked out.

Going with the Quad 7100.

Thanks All.