Hi everyone-
As you may know from my previous thread, I am looking to replace an old zero-clearance fireplace in a place I'm moving into this spring with a new high efficiency zero-clearance fireplace.
The 2 main fireplaces I am considering are the Fireplace Xtrordinaire 36 Elite & the Heat N' Glo North Star. I know that they're both very good fireplaces from what I've heard. I do have several questions about them that I am hoping the diverse members of hearth.com can help me with.
1. My previous experience with high-effiency stoves/fireplaces has been with Secondary Burn models, which makes me lean towards the North Star since the FPX-36 is a catalytic model, but how different is it operating a Cat. model?
2. Is there a big price difference between those 2 models?
3. I can't seem to find a square-foot heating capacity for the North Star... does anyone know what it is?
4. I really like the way you can run a couple of heated air ducts from the North Star to other areas of the house, can the FPX do that also?
5. not super important- main curious, but I noticed that while the FPX & the North Star have very similar dimensions (only a couple-three inches difference), the FPX's firebox is a whole cubic foot larger- is there a reason for that?
6. Is one significantly heavier than the other? (this unit somehow has to make it up to the living room on the 3rd floor)- also related to that- is one easier to take apart for transport up 2 sets of stairs than another?
7. If I manage to tear the old ZC unit out in one piece, would it have any re-sale value? (might as well make a few bucks off of it if I can)
8. Finally, unrealated to the specific models, but are the cord wood BTU estimates for stoves & fireplaces based on hardwood or softwood? (If the ratings are based on hardwood, that'll mean they'll be lower for me, since I'll be burning softwood [which might actually be good, since the units are probably a bit large for the heating area])
Thank you everyone in advance for putting up with my long posts & number of questions! I'm trying to get as much info ahead of time as I can!
As you may know from my previous thread, I am looking to replace an old zero-clearance fireplace in a place I'm moving into this spring with a new high efficiency zero-clearance fireplace.
The 2 main fireplaces I am considering are the Fireplace Xtrordinaire 36 Elite & the Heat N' Glo North Star. I know that they're both very good fireplaces from what I've heard. I do have several questions about them that I am hoping the diverse members of hearth.com can help me with.
1. My previous experience with high-effiency stoves/fireplaces has been with Secondary Burn models, which makes me lean towards the North Star since the FPX-36 is a catalytic model, but how different is it operating a Cat. model?
2. Is there a big price difference between those 2 models?
3. I can't seem to find a square-foot heating capacity for the North Star... does anyone know what it is?
4. I really like the way you can run a couple of heated air ducts from the North Star to other areas of the house, can the FPX do that also?
5. not super important- main curious, but I noticed that while the FPX & the North Star have very similar dimensions (only a couple-three inches difference), the FPX's firebox is a whole cubic foot larger- is there a reason for that?
6. Is one significantly heavier than the other? (this unit somehow has to make it up to the living room on the 3rd floor)- also related to that- is one easier to take apart for transport up 2 sets of stairs than another?
7. If I manage to tear the old ZC unit out in one piece, would it have any re-sale value? (might as well make a few bucks off of it if I can)
8. Finally, unrealated to the specific models, but are the cord wood BTU estimates for stoves & fireplaces based on hardwood or softwood? (If the ratings are based on hardwood, that'll mean they'll be lower for me, since I'll be burning softwood [which might actually be good, since the units are probably a bit large for the heating area])
Thank you everyone in advance for putting up with my long posts & number of questions! I'm trying to get as much info ahead of time as I can!
