# Is Quadfire 7100FP $2000 better than Xtrordinair FPX 36 Elite?



## ahreno (Dec 13, 2008)

I'm deciding between a quadfire 7100fp and a Xtrordinair FPX 36 Elite.

I had a chimney fire and will be replacing my entire chimney and mason fire place. I think i'm going to choose one of these fireboxes. It will save me a lot of cost on the chimney (since it will just be wood frame with a single brick exterior) and is more efficient than an insert and looks nice.

I have an estimate of $5688 installed for the Xtrordinair FPX 36 and an installed price of $7744 for the Quadfire.

Anyone have any opinions on either? I hear great things about both. The benefit to me of the quadfire is the ability to run ducting to other parts of the house (that is NOT included in the estimate however).

Would love some insight on this... it's hard to get unbiased opinions from a "salesman"


----------



## scfa99 (Dec 13, 2008)

How big of an area are you looking to heat?  what is your goal with the unit ambiance, supplemental or fully heat with wood?


----------



## 73blazer (Dec 13, 2008)

Just a note, in case you didn't know, the FPX is a catalytic unit, meaning you'll need to replace the cat (~$400) every 3-7 years they say, depending on how good the wood your burning is. On the upside, cat units are much easier to achieve secondary combustion, not that the quad isn't. 
Both are built extremely well and will last a long time.

I kinda wonder how the FPX is so cheap installed, usally they are in the $7000 range, because they are more complicated to hook up with thier pos-pressure system, the prices I got for these were both very much the same installed, FPX being slightly more, in the $7k range.


That said, I personally do not buy into FPX posi-pressure system. I do not like the idea of taking cold outside for heating a home. Outside air kits for combustion air, yes, those work great, increase your efficiency and have no-ill effects. But the posi-pressure system FPX units have to pull outside air, circulate it around your firebox, and push it into the house, I don't like it. I know the marketing material says it'll create positive pressure so instead of a fire using air from your house creating negative pressure, FPX design pressurizes your house. Well,  I think ithat creates 2 problems. The major of which is, you don't want a pressurized house. You want a balanced house. Because with pressurizing, then, you start to push warm heated air into and thru all the walls, door cracks, window crevices, etc, warm air condenses upon hitting cold air, so now you will have moisture in your walls and areas you don't want moisture. If you have an older drafty poorly insulated house, this effect will become very apparent. The 2nd issue is, your trying to heat 20degree outside air. Why not start with 70degree air and blow it around your firebox and back in.  For combustion air, taking 20degree air and blowing it into a 1100+ degree firebox, is no consequence, the percent change isn't much different than using 70 degree air for combustion. 
My neighbor has been burning a FPX in a log home for 8+ years now. He's got a very drafty home, and he in the process now of replacing some wood in and around the attic because it's rotted. There is no evidence of roof leaks or the like, and it's very difficult to prove the FPX  posi-pressure system did it, but if I were a CSI, that'd be the first thing I would investigate as the culprit. Of course, he's never replaced his cat, I've seen it, it needs replaced, he refuses "It's fine!" he keeps telling me, "These are expensive!", he says. Smoke is usally coming out his chimney, so perhaps his burning methods are more of an issue, he tends to let his house swing alot, like 65-78, which isn't so good for moisture reasons also. SO I can't say it's the FPX, but, I just don't like the idea of pressurizing my home. 

I'd investigate why the FPX is so cheap installed, did you quote you everything? Chimney system, posi-pressure system...all that, because it's not an easy install. Persnally, I'd hang my hat on the 7100, but that's just me!

Good luck, and post up pics of the retro-fit!



BTW, the 7100, with an optional add on (see their accessories page) can posi-pressure your house to, if you really buy into that solution.


----------



## ahreno (Dec 13, 2008)

My house is about 1700 square feet. 888sqft downstairs and a little less up stairs.  The house only has electric inwall heaters in the rooms... kitchen and dining room have no source of heat... basically the fireplace will be the main source of heat (hopefully) for the downstairs and ideally upstairs... supplemented by the inwall heaters... I chose wood fireplace because of the ambiance.  

I don't think i buy into the posi pressure thing either... my house is definately old and drafty...  I do like the idea of the fan being outside for noise reasons though.  I was not aware of the need to replace the catalytic unit.

Damn... now i'm second guessing.


----------



## oak194 (Dec 13, 2008)

Well here's my personal experience with my 7100, my home is 2800 sq ft. and using two small fans blowing from the upstairs down to the living room where the 7100 is, I heat the whole house. I paid a little less than $7K installed with the valley forge front, that is the wrought iron version. That included tearing out my old ZC fireplace and putting in a new chimney. They only thing i regret doing right away is puttting in the additional vents when it was installed. But that will have to wait till next year.
And so far the oil furnace hasn't run once! Which was the point of the 7100. I get burn times around 12-14 hrs, that is from a full burn to having enuff embers to reload. 
For the $$ we paid I have no complaints. I really like my 7100, just ash removal is a little bit of a pain when burning 24/7 like I do.,


----------



## jtp10181 (Dec 14, 2008)

Don't get to hyped up about the heat-zones on the 7100FP. If you plan on running them downward at all, or more then 10ft or so you will be disappointed. They work best when run straight up to the next floor, or up and then straight back into the room behind the fireplace. Also I have a theory they would work a lot better if the AUX air was ducted from the same room as the heat zone to return the cool air back to the fireplace, but we have not tried it yet. I keep telling people it should make them work better but I have not heard of anyone doing it yet (on here or locally).


----------



## ahreno (Dec 14, 2008)

In my situation the heat zones would go straight up about 7ft into an attic then "T" and go about 8 feet in either direction...  i assume that wouldn't work so swell?


----------



## jtp10181 (Dec 14, 2008)

You can't Tee off the Heat Zones. The unit has two knockouts on the top, and you can only run two ducts. The kits come with special boxes that go on the end with the fans in them. With that setup I think it could work OK if you were able to duct the AUX air into the same room down low someplace to return the cool air from floor level back to the fireplace room.


----------



## ahreno (Dec 15, 2008)

so the heat zones aren't really worth it?  What about the $2k price difference between these two fireplaces?


----------



## jtp10181 (Dec 15, 2008)

They can be if used correctly. Most people expect too much from them though.

Sorry I cannot compare since I am only familiar with the 7100FP.


----------



## ahreno (Dec 15, 2008)

Thanks for your input... Go Badgers! (I'm from wausau originally).  

Anyone else have any opinions to share?


----------



## dskup (Dec 21, 2008)

I own a 7100FP and I couldn't be more pleased with it.  I looked very hard at the FPX 36, as it was my second choice.  In the end I couldn't ignore all the negative publicity surrounding the posi-pressure feature.  A friend of mine is an FPX dealer (but not Hearth and Home), and he told me they've had a lot of problems in the past with the FPX.  He also said there have been some improvements in design and that they have had fewer issues lately.  I'm sure there are owners of the FPX out there who would passionately defend the unit.  But for what it's worth, I've been running my Quad for a year now and it rocks.  I have no complaints at all.  It puts out a ton of heat when you need it, yet it's very controlable at lower burns.  It's airflow design is such that I can routinely start a fire with a single match and small piece of fire starter.  It has a large firebox, and large viewing area.  It's a big improvement over the older free-standing stove I also own.

I bought mine for considerably less than the quote you recieved.  Perhaps they're quoting the packed insulation chimney rather than air cooled?


----------



## jtp10181 (Dec 21, 2008)

You don't know what the $5688 includes. They might be doing some reconstruction of the house also since a masonry chimney needs to come down and a wall put up.


----------



## dskup (Dec 22, 2008)

True.  There are a lot of variables.


----------



## ahreno (Dec 22, 2008)

it did not include any tear down of old chimney or building the new thing... just installing the fireplace and the stove.  I called the local dealer (the first was an individual rep) and their price for just the fireplace was $1600 or so less. So i think this guy is just trying to take advantage of me.


----------



## dskup (Dec 23, 2008)

You will probably be pleased with either unit.  First and foremost I would find an experienced and trustworthy installer.
Once she's in there, she ain't comin' out (without a fight anyway).  I think about how much trust I put in the installer 
often, as I'm burning through the night and my young kids are sleeping upstairs.


----------



## eloise (Feb 9, 2009)

Ahreno,
  I have been looking at the FXP and Quad 7100 also.  Also looked at teh Opel.  I  still have not bought a unit.   What did you end up buying?  I priced FPX  and install was in 7000 range w/o the chase cap  which was another  700-800. I have concerns about the air cooled vent pipe     because it might be harder to start  a  fire with cold air in the chimney pipe. (the FXP has two inlets to draw air into the air cooled chimney pipe).  The cold air in the vent pipe  would be heavy air and hard to create an updraft,  I am also  about smoke in house when starting fire.
As for  fan  on  air intake  for firebox>   I read on other posts about putting the  air intake   in  the house as opposed to outside   therefore drawing in warmer air,  not  cold outside air.  This person  put  the air intake for his firebox in his crawl space.   the unit was not a   posi-pressure FPX though.   In this case, I would have concerns about creating a negative pressure balance in the crawl space or  basement.  The cold air drawn in  could  be enough to freeze some water lines or cause cold floors on the first level of the house.


----------



## Got Wood (Feb 9, 2009)

I installed a FXP elite 44 in November. Cost approx $7k. I am very pleased. I find the POS pressure system to work well - spreads the heat throughout the house very nicely and it certainly cuts/stops the drafts. I have no experience with the Quafire but assume it is a solid unit as well. I went a few different local dealers and went with the one I felt most comfortable with. I think you will be happy with either


----------

