Want to take the edge off when burning my fireplace, heatradiator or stoll grate heater?

[Roveer]

So I've kind of stopped burning my fireplace because it puts out very little heat and I know it's probably pulling heat out of my house. For the balance of this winter I'd like to try one of the low cost alternatives just to see what it would do.

I've been looking at the fireplaceradiator.com product and also the Stoll grate heater. These are 500-700 dollar under door air blowers that throw some heat back into your room.

I have a fireplace guy who's suggesting high efficiency inserts (Travis industry products) for some serious heating and I'm trying to decide if I want to make that commitment to cost / wood etc. Costs will probably be 4-4.5k for serious units installed.

But for now I want to decide if I should do the low cost alternative. One good thing would be if I do, and move on to an insert I have another FP that I could move the blower unit to.

This one is the Stoll Grate Heater

This one is the fireplaceradiator.com unit.

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with these and if they are even worth my time. I'm not expecting any kind of high output, but it would make me feel like I was at least putting some heat back into the house. 500 bucks is not going to break me, but if it's really just not worth it, then I'd rather just dump it into the oil tank as much as I hate doing that.

Any comments about the two options would be greatly appreciated. I know Stoll is a pretty good company but their product is slightly more expensive and it seems like they are getting their heat from almost underneath the fire where as the other product at least has a fireback type thing that would capture more of the heat. Comments welcome.

Thanks,

Roveer

 

[NinjaTech]

I really don't see either of those doing much for heat in an open fireplace. I'd save the money and put it towards an actual insert.

 

[Roveer]

I really don't see either of those doing much for heat in an open fireplace. I'd save the money and put it towards and actual insert.

I may not have been clear in my initial post. Both of these units are designed to sit underneath a set of glass doors (which I already have). I believe you then burn with the door closed.

Maybe someone with more knowledge can correct me if I have made a mistake in my assumption.

 

[begreen]

I may be mistaken but I don't see how one of these units could sit under the existing glass door if the glass door already closes tight to the bottom channel of the fireplace opening. I think you need to buy their door to fit this unit.

 

[Roveer]

I may be mistaken but I don't see how one of these units could sit under the existing glass door if the glass door already closes tight to the bottom channel of the fireplace opening. I think you need to buy their door to fit this unit.

I've emailed fpr and found this on Stoll's site:

"Brand New! from Stoll, the Grate Heater captures heat from your wood-burning fireplace. The new slim profile allows you to increase the efficiency of your fireplace while keeping your existing door."

FPR replied to my email with the following:

"Yes, that style of door does work with the Fireplace Radiator, however you would need to remove your doors and adjust them up 1 1/8" to sit on top of the front diverter bar of the Fireplace Radiator. Most doors have room for this adjustment but not all. It depends on your fireplace opening height and how the doors mount in your fireplace."

Your just pushing the door up a 1 1/8". Existing door still sits against the FP opening just a little higher. Now you will need to be able to move it up either by having additional space or possibly cutting the brick a little higher. If you had a steel lintel at the top that would probably be a deal breaker. I don't believe that is the case in my FP though.

Roveer

 

[batchman]

I used to have something like these back in an ol' 1720 farmhouse.

In another fireplace I had a set of "C" shaped tubes, drew air in from bottom and out the top by convection - but you had to make sure the upper pipe stuck out past your hearth (LOL) and glass doors were not part of the plan. You just had the chimney damper to play with.

The under-door unit was much better of course, because you could reduce the waste some by way of the glass doors (as you've presumed) and their draft control. When I did this it was more like $125 but that was early 80s money, so probably similar cost LOL.

Either was better than nothing, the units you're looking at were a lot better than the plain tubes. I think I recall the air coming out of the tube version was hotter, as it is really "in the fire" but there was more heat gain with the style you're looking at due to the draft control.

I'm in a different house now, came with an insert for my cordwood burning pleasure. Much better, although I am still working on how to get it to draw outside air instead of from the room. With the number of people switching to pellets and the sturdy nature of inserts, you might do better taking that $500 shopping on CL for a used insert with a fan unit. Would be a project for sure given the install needs, making the new unit a lot easier.

Cheers,
- Jeff

 

[Oldman47]

It sounds to me like the Heatilator from the 70s. Those used hollow tubes to form a grate for the fuel to sit on. The idea was that the heat from the flames would heat the air in those hollow tubes and promote circulation of that heat into the room. It was sound science for an otherwise closed fireplace to dump heat into the room. Of course the air passages had to pass into the room even though the firebox was otherwise shut off. There is a picture of one here (broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/GRATE-Fireplace-Grate-Heat-Exchanger-Furnace-Blower-Heatilator-Wood-Pellet-Burn-/201289570430)

 

[davenorthshorema]

I tried the exact one with same setup. Smoky smell in the house and didn't heat well at all! I used mine for less than a season and thought to myself. What a waste of money.
I found this website and installed an insert and never looked back. Best move EVER!
I wouldn't do it. My 2 cents.

 

[dougand3]

Even with glass doors, you still have an "open fireplace". Can't control the intake air. I'd apply that money to a real insert. Esp if these gadgets are $500-700.

 

[Dix]

I went through this same torture thinking process back in the day. I understand what you're going through. It's what brought me here, to these forums.

End result, and best bang for your buck in the long run is to just suck it up, and do the insert / free standing stove. (My 2 cents)

In the weather we've had, I'm heating the entire house (2000 SF) with 2 wood stoves, and making it work in the same climate.

With those tube things, your still going to throw heat up the chimney when the fire goes out, doors or not.

You've been here since October, it's time to get cranking, either way. But I doubt you'll be happy with the tubes.

Good luck ! Either way, get some firewood seasoning, you'll need it what ever you decide.

 

[Roveer]

I think I've heard enough. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I'm going to forgo the blower idea and just invest my time and money in a good Lopi insert for next fall. That'll give me some time to get a good woodpile going as well. Now I have to start my research on getting good wood cut to the right size for an insert.

Roveer

 

[begreen]

Is this a masonry or zero-clearnance fireplace? Do the research and home in on a model now before cutting the wood to size. Note that inserts that extend out onto the hearth often heat better than flush inserts. Flush inserts almost always need to have a blower going to deliver heat.

 

[Dix]

What BG said.

The PE extends from the front of the FP Throws heat when the power is out. It might not be 74 + in here in that senario, but I'm not going to freeze.

 

[Roveer]

Is this a masonry or zero-clearnance fireplace? Do the research and home in on a model now before cutting the wood to size. Note that inserts that extend out onto the hearth often heat better than flush inserts. Flush inserts almost always need to have a blower going to deliver heat.

So, I'm seriously considering a Lopi Large Flush Hybrid Fyre.

(broken image removed)

This will give me a nice fireplace look with lots of heating. Everything I've read about this stove seems to imply that it is cutting edge, high efficiency and well made. I really don't want to interrupt the hearth by putting in an insert/stove that sticks out into the room. That might be pushing it a little. I don't mind at all that I will have to use the blower. I'd be interested in anyone's input. I'll most likely get a 20% discount on this stove due to my FP guy and the fact that I am in the construction industry. Install will be probably only the cost of the materials.

Roveer

 

[Dix]

Is the FP masonary or zero clearance? Mucho importante !!

 

[Roveer]

Is the FP masonary or zero clearance? Mucho importante !!

Masonry w/2' stone hearth.

 

[Dix]

Masonry w/2' stone hearth.

Move on, go forward, don't look back, its not where you are going