ZC Fireplace Recommendation for 2 Story Great Room

[havermeyer]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I will be building in the Spring and we are looking into options for zero clearance fireplaces in the great room. The great room will be roughly 22 ft x 23 ft with 23 ft vaulted ceilings. The first floor is pretty open and part of the 2nd floor will overlook the great room. We also plan on having a large ceiling fan in the great room. As of right now, the hearth will be fairly large (8 ft wide) and located on an interior wall (attached is the floor plan of the great room). The first floor will be about 3000 sq ft and the 2nd floor about 2,500 sq ft.

Some of my requirements/thoughts:
- Efficiency is as important as aesthetics. Bigger the viewing window the better.
- No preference with cat vs non-cat
- Ideally no fan (looking at using gravity vents). If there is a fan, I don't want to hear it.
- N/S loading is preferred but not required.
- Will most likely be using an outdoor air kit.

We went to our local stove store and the salesperson recommended the RSF Focus though that fireplace seems small for the room. The Stuv 21 is intriguing but not a whole lot info on it in this forum. Looking for any and all recommendations!

Thank you!

 

[begreen]

RSF is a good brand. Unfortunately they dropped the Delta which was a heat monster. Look at their Opel series fireplaces. They're much larger than the Focus. The most efficient ZC fireplace is currently the Montecito Estate. It qualifies for the tax credit.
FPX, Kozy, also make some large fireplaces.