ZC without a blower

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Mulie1

New Member
Sep 9, 2009
1
Southern Colorado
Hi there!

I am getting ready to make the leap but I keep getting conflicting info. I am replacing my inefficient ZC gas with an EPA wood fireplace (like a Regency, or a Kozy Heat). Do these units really throw much heat into the room without the blower? Some folks say yes others say no way. Can you help me sort this out?

Thanks!!!
 
Mulie1 said:
Hi there!

I am getting ready to make the leap but I keep getting conflicting info. I am replacing my inefficient ZC gas with an EPA wood fireplace (like a Regency, or a Kozy Heat). Do these units really throw much heat into the room without the blower? Some folks say yes others say no way. Can you help me sort this out?

Thanks!!!
I should be able to tell you how the Kozyheat does without the blower within a couple months. I just unloaded and set it into place last night. But I don't anticipate burning it for a while.
 
without the blower running, all you have is radiant heat, so only going to get heat from the front, not much. my brother found during a power outage his insert would not keep the house warm without the blower.
 
Dakotas Dad said:
without the blower running, all you have is radiant heat, so only going to get heat from the front, not much. my brother found during a power outage his insert would not keep the house warm without the blower.

Not completely correct. You will also get natural convection. The only thing the blower does is give you forced convection vs. natural convection.

I was actually just talking to a coworker that used to have a quadrafire insert and he said that it heated really well even without the blower.

IMHO, I would get it without the blower, but wire it in so you can add the blower later. Then if you decide it's not circulating heat enough you can get the blower for it.

As to what I plan to do if I happen to need a blower to get more heat out? I'll just grab my high-velocity fan and put the outlet near the bottom grate and force cold air into the bottom. That fan was MUCH cheaper than the blower kit (fan was free on Craigslist vs. $300 for the blower kit on the Kozyheat).
 
I would expect the performance without the blower would depend to a certain extent on the make/model, installation, house layout and location of the unit. If it is the type of fireplace that can be set up correctly for convection heating and centrally located in a house, it may do an adequate job without the blower. If the fireplace is at one end of the house, in a room with a cathedral ceiling, it may convect, but all the heat may pocket up at the peak of the ceiling. That could lead to a cooler room and house, especially if there is no ceiling fan to break up the heat stratification at the ceiling.
 
The cost of the blower motor would, I guess would be ~$200?

Depending on the difficulty of retrofitting the blower (? if unit needs to be pulled) I would pay up front... In most cases, most of the posts on this site are "not enough heat" vs too much and a blower would help with the "not enough heat" complaints.
 
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