Z42 doors

[Goose52]

Hello and thanks in advance for any advice that may be offered. Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm moving to a lake cottage with electric heat in northern Wisconsin (a bad combination) & the best application for wood heat for our situation seems to be an EPA ZC fireplace. After reading here & other places I am leaning towards the Kozy Heat z42. One thing I haven't seen discussed is the door option. The dealer recommends the 2 cast iron doors; my wife prefers the looks of the single steel door. Anyone with experience with this unit have any preferences or thoughts on the z42 doors?

 

[begreen]

Double doors have a nice look. Some like them and say they get a bit less smoke spillage on a reload by opening only one door. Some don't like them and point out the extra gasketing required for double doors, thus more chance for leakage. Ask your dealer why they are biased toward the single door.

 

[webby3650]

I've installed both and we run on as a display all winter. I prefer the double doors. The single door is very big and the is prone to smoking out when opened. The latch also leaves a little to be desired.
The double doors just seem like they are higher quality.

 

[Goose52]

Thanks for the responses. My dealer basically said what webby said minus the smoke problem. He also said that the door could possibly warp in an over-fire situation. Not quite sure how you over-fire an air tight unit but smoke spillage is something to avoid.

 

[webby3650]

Thanks for the responses. My dealer basically said what webby said minus the smoke problem. He also said that the door could possibly warp in an over-fire situation. Not quite sure how you over-fire an air tight unit but smoke spillage is something to avoid.

It's easy to overfire new stoves. They are not airtight, they are always introducing secondary combustion air.

 

[Goose52]

Really. I have been heating with wood since '82 but I've only had 1 epa certified stove. I don't think I've ever come close to over-firing it. but then again maybe I have & didn't know it. what exactly is " over firing?"

 

[begreen]

Overfiring is taking the stove temp so high that the metal starts glowing red. You want to keep the stove below 800F. FWIW It's easy to overfire an old stove too. Just feed it a lot of air with small splits if dry wood.

 

[Goose52]

I thought it must be something like that. I can't imagine letting a stove get that hot & if I did that by not paying attention I would think that the stove I'm using would snuff it out pretty quickly if I damped down the air control. perhaps I don't have enough experience with other brands to see how that can be a problem. anyway, thanks for the replies on the z42 doors.

 

[begreen]

An overfire can happen to anyone. I've come close by getting distracted and not turning the stove air down soon enough. All it takes is a phone call, a baby crying, or similar distraction (like the internet). Now I set a timer to remind me and carry it with me. Other folks like to have a digital thermometer with a high temp alarm.