Wood stove vs high efficiency fireplace (*without* blower)

[sarahbee]

Hi all,

I've been reading old posts on here while researching our options, but haven't quite found the answer to this question.

We were planning to put in a wood stove to supplement the heat pump that came with our house (which does not work great in our climate and is expensive to run). Ideally we'd like to be *mostly* heating with wood in the winter.

We've now had two people try to sway us to get a high efficiency wood fireplace instead of wood stove. They claim that they are as efficient or more. I raised concerns about it requiring a blower to heat as well as a wood stove (based on some of what I read here), because we also want this as a heat source if the power goes out (we're rural and that's not uncommon) and we'd have to run new electric for it. The salesperson responded that it isn't necessary to have a blower and that the heat will still be the same.

So - is that true? Aesthetically, I would actually prefer the fireplace (we already have an old standard fireplace that we were planning to remove and seal up the space), but not to the point of compromising our ability to heat (which is the whole point).

Thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

What is your preference, an insert in the existing fireplace or a freestanding stove in a new location, or a modern ZC fireplace? How large an area would the stove be heating?

 

[brenndatomu]

The salesperson responded that it isn't necessary to have a blower and that the heat will still be the same.

It won't be the same, not even when the blower is running, but especially when it is not on!

 

[Highbeam]

Salesmen are expert at selling their product. Even when their product is inferior for your needs.

 

[sarahbee]

What is your preference, an insert in the existing fireplace or a freestanding stove in a new location, or a modern ZC fireplace? How large an area would the stove be heating?

Aesthetically, the high-efficiency fireplace but we had already planned our design with a freestanding wood stove. We aren't willing to sacrifice heat for aesthetics, so that's why I'm fact checking the salesperson.

The house is about 3000 square feet, high ranch bungalow, and the unit will be upstairs (which is the area we want heated).

 

[begreen]

Great, that will open up options while keeping costs down. Tell us more about the area that you want to heat. How many sq ft? What is the floorplan like, open or a large room with a hallway and bedrooms off that? Are there high ceilings?

 

[Bad LP]

Some salespeople do more damage to the ones who actually know what the hell they are talking about.