SQFT - Size of House or Room

[MidwestHearth]

Ranch Style Home, normal ceiling height
Sketch of Layout Attached
SqFt of Home: 2200

FireplaceX Large Flush Hybrid vs Medium Flush.

Opinions on buying an insert rated to heat 2500SqFt vs one rated at 2000SqFt that will be in a room ~800sqft. The intent is to use insert 24/7 to at best heat the house at a comfortable level, at worst, use furnace part time.

• House is 2200sqft, room insert is in ~800.
• Should I be concerned that the ~800sqft family room will get uncomfortably hot?
• I plan on trying my hardest to move cold air in a convection pattern from familyroom/kitchen to livingroom/dining. Anyone with a similar layout achieve a comfortable airflow?

Let me hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Have you considered getting a fireplace with a ducted heat option? I'm wondering if the return air could pull from the other areas.

Is there a basement or crawlspace?

For a convection loop only one fan on the floor running on low speed would be necessary. The far right fan would work well for this.

 

[MidwestHearth]

Have you considered getting a fireplace with a ducted heat option? I'm wondering if the return air could pull from the other areas.

Is there a basement or crawlspace?

Thanks for the reply! There is a basement. I have thought of how I could modify the house, years down the line, but I'd like opinions on what I am currently working with.

 

[begreen]

Fan location noted.

If you are putting in a new fireplace then ducting it makes the most sense. It will be quieter and more convenient. A small return at the end of the hallway and in the dining area would suffice. It would be difficult to retrofit this unless rear access to the fireplace is excellent.

 

[MidwestHearth]

Fan location noted.

If you are putting in a new fireplace then ducting it makes the most sense. It will be quieter and more convenient. A small return at the end of the hallway and in the dining area would suffice. It would be difficult to retrofit this unless rear access to the fireplace is excellent.

Pre-existing fireplace, inside the house envelope.

 

[begreen]

My bad, I glossed over the insert and had new FPX fireplace on the mind. With decent convection you can heat the whole place. Both inserts will do the job, but the larger insert will give you longer burn times. For Illinois I would lean toward the larger insert.

In the future convection can be improved by running insulated ducting in the basement with a quiet inline fan, but for now try one between the dining and family room. that will create a circular flow. It won't help the far bedrooms much, but at least you will be heating a larger area of 1600? sq ft.

 

[MidwestHearth]

My bad, I glossed over the insert and had new FPX fireplace on the mind. With decent convection you can heat the whole place. Both inserts will do the job, but the larger insert will give you longer burn times. For Illinois I would lean toward the larger insert.

In the future convection can be improved by running insulated ducting in the basement with a quiet inline fan, but for now try one between the dining and family room. that will create a circular flow. It won't help the far bedrooms much, but at least you will be heating a larger area of 1600? sq ft.

I have read a lot of your posts from new members concerned that they will overheat the immediate room and it sounds like I can control the temperature of the immediate room, based on how much wood I put into the firebox. So I am leaning towards the FPX Large Hyrbid, but I can hear my install/sales guy saying to me "Inserts need to be burned hot to function properly."

Would you say these two scenarios would be the same in terms of heat output in immediate room?

• FPX Medium, with 2.2cf box run packed with wood = FPX Large Catalytic 3.0cf run 3-4 logs per reload?

 

[begreen]

Both will do the job. The large is a cat stove with a fairly large range of output. It's EPA rated at 8,500to 35,300 BTU/hr. I think you'll be ok loading 4-5 splits at a time during milder weather, but full loads during winter cold.

The medium flush insert is a conventional tube stove. You will still be doing smaller fires of 4-5 splits in milder weather and full loads in cold weather. The difference between the two will primarily be the time between reloads with a full load of wood. In below zero weather you may need to run the furnace to supplement the heat with the smaller insert, but that depends on a lot of factors besides just the stove size. The large insert will have a bit more maintenance and fuel restrictions with the catalytic convertor.

 

[Ashful]

It’s likely the large can be dialed down to put out just as little heat as the FPX medium, given it’s a cat stove. Every maker designs their stoves differently, to meet the mandates, but in general cat stoves can turn down lower than non-cats.

 

[FPX Dude]

Go with the large, you're in much colder weather than me, and that's what I have. Also, you'll have fun experimenting with those fans, read the posts on blowing cold air to the stove, don't fight the natural convection that'll occur.