Over the last couple years I've mostly been a lurker here, so I figured it's time I contributed something.
My original thread here sorta describes my situation about a couple years ago, sorry but I deleted my Photobucket account so no "before" pics:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/wood-stove-recommendations.45523/
Long story short, took some time but we finally saved up enough cash to get a decent fireplace last fall (2011). After much deliberation and research (much of which was done on here) we finally decided to go with the RSF Opel 3. I chose that model for a couple reasons, mostly because of the available options such as the ash drawer, central air blower and front blower. The other one we were considering was a Quadrafire, I forget the model, had the same options but it was quite a bit more expensive, quite a bit larger and it was "iffy" on whether it would fit properly in the chase.
The company that did the install was Hobbs Mechanical out of Wellington, KS. I have nothing but great things to say about them. Price seemed too low to be true . . . $6,900 installed and hooked up to the central HVAC, that included tear-out of the old fireplace and installing the new one but no finish work. They did an amazing job. Showed up early, worked hard all day, didn't cut any corners and cleaned up after every work session so I didn't have to deal with any mess while they were gone. We developed a small water leak during some heavy rain in the summer about 6 months after the install. They came out right away and fixed up the leak for no charge.
Anyway, after they were done it was up to me to finish things out, so I ripped out the entire flagstone wall, replaced with drywall and decided to go with manufactured ledgestone around the fireplace. I had hired someone to do the drywall and ledgestone, but they both flaked out on me (stopped answering calls) so I ended up doing the whole job myself.
This was my first experience doing any kind of masonry work so I was a little nervous but I think it turned out well. Installed hardi-backer around the fireplace, wire mesh and base coat of quick-set mortar, then started sticking on bricks. Thank goodness we were replacing the carpet in this room next, it is a messy, messy job. I had tarp over the floor but still . . . messy.
All said and done, we really love the Opel. It puts out crazy heat. Surprisingly enough, this thing is actually heating our entire 4,800sqft home pretty darn well, without using the furnace at all, down to outside temps of about 28*F. Below that, the furnace kicks on to help out. I keep the thermostat at 68*. We absolutely love using it. I know "heat" should be "heat" but the fireplace seems to put out a much denser, penetrating kind of heat. Can't explain but it's just better . . . I'm sure most of you know what I mean.
I started out using mostly the central air blower but found that when it gets really cold, the room blower actually works better, for our home at least. The central blower does great at distributing the heat, but I think alot of heat is lost in the ductwork and the pressure is pretty low. The central air blower is only 600cfm I think, compared to a typical furnace fan of about 2000cfm. I can turn the furnace on fan-only and move the heat around better but that dilutes the heat with room-temperature air from the return vents. Also, due to our ductwork configuration, it was impossible to hook it up in such a way that the heat was delivered to all vents in the house, so some rooms get no heat when the central fan is blowing. Don't let this deter you -- on a smaller home, I'm sure it would work much better.
The central fan is also great at sucking heat out of the fireplace room, it can get a little hot in there sometimes. Kick it on for a few minutes, cools it down in there quick.
The combination of central blower and room blower is working out great for us. During the day I can run the central blower and get heat throughout the first floor of the house pretty well. At night I turn it off, just run the room blower (or no blower) and the heat naturally travels upstairs to our bedrooms quite well.
The manual states the firebox can handle 18" logs, which it can easily. The firebox is not square, it's wider in the front and can handle about a 22" log towards the front, and 18" across the back. Diagonally you could get maybe a 24" log in there. There's a thermostat for the room blower in the bottom grate that will not allow it to turn on until the firebox gets up to temperature, this can take 45 minutes or so when you're starting cold.
Burn times. I shouldn't complain, but I wish they were longer. It's hard to define exactly when the "burn time" ends but I feel comfortable saying you're pushing pretty hard to get 8 hours out of this unit. Cramming as full as I possibly can with good hardwood, I'd say 7 hours max before you're down to a bed of coals that is not producing much heat. Overnight it's definitely not doing much for us by morning, still enough coals there to easily restart with a quick stir and fresh wood (maybe a little blowing) but it's not putting out much heat.
The verdict? We were consistently using about 2,000 gallons of propane per hear, on average. First year with the Opel, we used less than 500. Based on my last fill price of $1.85/gallon back in April, that unit saved me $2,775 the first year. It was a very wise investment!
A few pics of the install
Old fireplace torn out:
Behind the flagstone that covered this entire wall, we discovered not one, or two, or three, but SIX layers of wallpaper underneath the flagstone. This pic is the only decent one of the final, bottom layer. The home was built in 1890 so I can only assume it's from around then
New Opel in place, chimney and central air hooked up
Drywall done, hardi-backer up
Stone veneer installed
Crappy pic, sorry, but it's all I've got of the completed room. I used 16" ceramic tiles for the hearth. Yes I took down the stockings right after the pic
My original thread here sorta describes my situation about a couple years ago, sorry but I deleted my Photobucket account so no "before" pics:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/wood-stove-recommendations.45523/
Long story short, took some time but we finally saved up enough cash to get a decent fireplace last fall (2011). After much deliberation and research (much of which was done on here) we finally decided to go with the RSF Opel 3. I chose that model for a couple reasons, mostly because of the available options such as the ash drawer, central air blower and front blower. The other one we were considering was a Quadrafire, I forget the model, had the same options but it was quite a bit more expensive, quite a bit larger and it was "iffy" on whether it would fit properly in the chase.
The company that did the install was Hobbs Mechanical out of Wellington, KS. I have nothing but great things to say about them. Price seemed too low to be true . . . $6,900 installed and hooked up to the central HVAC, that included tear-out of the old fireplace and installing the new one but no finish work. They did an amazing job. Showed up early, worked hard all day, didn't cut any corners and cleaned up after every work session so I didn't have to deal with any mess while they were gone. We developed a small water leak during some heavy rain in the summer about 6 months after the install. They came out right away and fixed up the leak for no charge.
Anyway, after they were done it was up to me to finish things out, so I ripped out the entire flagstone wall, replaced with drywall and decided to go with manufactured ledgestone around the fireplace. I had hired someone to do the drywall and ledgestone, but they both flaked out on me (stopped answering calls) so I ended up doing the whole job myself.
This was my first experience doing any kind of masonry work so I was a little nervous but I think it turned out well. Installed hardi-backer around the fireplace, wire mesh and base coat of quick-set mortar, then started sticking on bricks. Thank goodness we were replacing the carpet in this room next, it is a messy, messy job. I had tarp over the floor but still . . . messy.
All said and done, we really love the Opel. It puts out crazy heat. Surprisingly enough, this thing is actually heating our entire 4,800sqft home pretty darn well, without using the furnace at all, down to outside temps of about 28*F. Below that, the furnace kicks on to help out. I keep the thermostat at 68*. We absolutely love using it. I know "heat" should be "heat" but the fireplace seems to put out a much denser, penetrating kind of heat. Can't explain but it's just better . . . I'm sure most of you know what I mean.
I started out using mostly the central air blower but found that when it gets really cold, the room blower actually works better, for our home at least. The central blower does great at distributing the heat, but I think alot of heat is lost in the ductwork and the pressure is pretty low. The central air blower is only 600cfm I think, compared to a typical furnace fan of about 2000cfm. I can turn the furnace on fan-only and move the heat around better but that dilutes the heat with room-temperature air from the return vents. Also, due to our ductwork configuration, it was impossible to hook it up in such a way that the heat was delivered to all vents in the house, so some rooms get no heat when the central fan is blowing. Don't let this deter you -- on a smaller home, I'm sure it would work much better.
The central fan is also great at sucking heat out of the fireplace room, it can get a little hot in there sometimes. Kick it on for a few minutes, cools it down in there quick.
The combination of central blower and room blower is working out great for us. During the day I can run the central blower and get heat throughout the first floor of the house pretty well. At night I turn it off, just run the room blower (or no blower) and the heat naturally travels upstairs to our bedrooms quite well.
The manual states the firebox can handle 18" logs, which it can easily. The firebox is not square, it's wider in the front and can handle about a 22" log towards the front, and 18" across the back. Diagonally you could get maybe a 24" log in there. There's a thermostat for the room blower in the bottom grate that will not allow it to turn on until the firebox gets up to temperature, this can take 45 minutes or so when you're starting cold.
Burn times. I shouldn't complain, but I wish they were longer. It's hard to define exactly when the "burn time" ends but I feel comfortable saying you're pushing pretty hard to get 8 hours out of this unit. Cramming as full as I possibly can with good hardwood, I'd say 7 hours max before you're down to a bed of coals that is not producing much heat. Overnight it's definitely not doing much for us by morning, still enough coals there to easily restart with a quick stir and fresh wood (maybe a little blowing) but it's not putting out much heat.
The verdict? We were consistently using about 2,000 gallons of propane per hear, on average. First year with the Opel, we used less than 500. Based on my last fill price of $1.85/gallon back in April, that unit saved me $2,775 the first year. It was a very wise investment!
A few pics of the install
Old fireplace torn out:
Behind the flagstone that covered this entire wall, we discovered not one, or two, or three, but SIX layers of wallpaper underneath the flagstone. This pic is the only decent one of the final, bottom layer. The home was built in 1890 so I can only assume it's from around then
New Opel in place, chimney and central air hooked up
Drywall done, hardi-backer up
Stone veneer installed
Crappy pic, sorry, but it's all I've got of the completed room. I used 16" ceramic tiles for the hearth. Yes I took down the stockings right after the pic
