We have struggled heating one portion of our home for the last 4 years. The home is a 70 year old colonial. We live in Eastern Ma and can have long cold winters. The majority of our home is insulated with a basement underneath, and feels fairly warm (we keep it at 63, so not sure that this term really applies On the right side of our home (if you are looking at it), the garage was converted to a family room. It has pitched high ceilings with a ceiling fan. There is a fireplace insert in this room. In addition, it has a bench out front, and a large rectangle space underneath the bench (supposedly for firewood). Well, the previous owners did the conversion. It is unlikely that any insulation was used on the floor or walls. This room is frigid. Despite being its own heating zone (separate from the one that covers the rest of the house), the floor is like an icebox and there is a draft so large, we have put wood covers over the fireplace and "wood" area underneath, for 6 months of the year.
We have decided to replace the fireplace in there with a high efficiency wood fireplace, since we need to try to keep this room from sucking out all the heat. We have done research and have pretty much decided on the Quadrafire 7100. Our concern is that it is extremely pricy (today we were in the fireplace store and were quoted $7600 plus tax for the unit, installation, and chimney piping equal to 2 stories- not sure we need all this piping - but piping quote alone was $1100). This is not including the demo of old unit and finishing when it is done (hoping to do this ourselves). In addition, this room is located at the edge of the home. It has high vaulted ceilings, and we are concerned that heat produced by the unit will get trapped here, and not really heat the transition portion of the home as well, which can be cold, especially the floor. We have a few questions for those of you familiar with this unit or other similar units. We do like the "fireplace" like look of the quadrafire (you can see the fire in the glass) and the high efficiency / burn time, so we can leave it burning through the night and while we are at work.
Questions are:
1. We asked the saleman about the ducting for the unit, and if we could duct into the 1/2 wall island area(shown in the picture), aiming toward the floor (there is an open vent there for the water radiator - boiler). He seemed to think that the ducts dont work, and wouldn't work for our situation. Does anyone have experience that would suggest otherwise?
2. Are there other units we should be considering. We don't want to spend this much money and be disappointed. We don't have lots of cash. We think this would make a big difference in our oil bill and the feeling in the house, but if we spend this money and are disappointed, that would be dreadful. Are there others that could offer the same kinds of features we are looking for, that we have not thought about.
3. We will be ripping out the old fireplace, dry wall, etc. We will also be taking out the bench and hole below. We will insulate the wall (we suspect there is none) and put a hearth at the floor level instead. Should we have concerns about this process, since there is currently a fireplace there? Could we reuse any of the chimney components for our current fireplace for the quadrafire.
4. How far will we need to mount the tv above the quadrafire in order to safely run the tv (afraid of the heat output).
5. Is installation feasible for handy, but not technical do-it-yourselfers?
I really appreciate any input. I am attaching two pictures to describe the space we are discussing.
Thanks again.
Jacey
We have decided to replace the fireplace in there with a high efficiency wood fireplace, since we need to try to keep this room from sucking out all the heat. We have done research and have pretty much decided on the Quadrafire 7100. Our concern is that it is extremely pricy (today we were in the fireplace store and were quoted $7600 plus tax for the unit, installation, and chimney piping equal to 2 stories- not sure we need all this piping - but piping quote alone was $1100). This is not including the demo of old unit and finishing when it is done (hoping to do this ourselves). In addition, this room is located at the edge of the home. It has high vaulted ceilings, and we are concerned that heat produced by the unit will get trapped here, and not really heat the transition portion of the home as well, which can be cold, especially the floor. We have a few questions for those of you familiar with this unit or other similar units. We do like the "fireplace" like look of the quadrafire (you can see the fire in the glass) and the high efficiency / burn time, so we can leave it burning through the night and while we are at work.
Questions are:
1. We asked the saleman about the ducting for the unit, and if we could duct into the 1/2 wall island area(shown in the picture), aiming toward the floor (there is an open vent there for the water radiator - boiler). He seemed to think that the ducts dont work, and wouldn't work for our situation. Does anyone have experience that would suggest otherwise?
2. Are there other units we should be considering. We don't want to spend this much money and be disappointed. We don't have lots of cash. We think this would make a big difference in our oil bill and the feeling in the house, but if we spend this money and are disappointed, that would be dreadful. Are there others that could offer the same kinds of features we are looking for, that we have not thought about.
3. We will be ripping out the old fireplace, dry wall, etc. We will also be taking out the bench and hole below. We will insulate the wall (we suspect there is none) and put a hearth at the floor level instead. Should we have concerns about this process, since there is currently a fireplace there? Could we reuse any of the chimney components for our current fireplace for the quadrafire.
4. How far will we need to mount the tv above the quadrafire in order to safely run the tv (afraid of the heat output).
5. Is installation feasible for handy, but not technical do-it-yourselfers?
I really appreciate any input. I am attaching two pictures to describe the space we are discussing.
Thanks again.
Jacey