Heating New Family Room W/ Gas Fireplace?

Slowtrawl

We are adding a new family room, with a total area of 384 SF, 9' ceilings so 3,456 CF.
I am wondering about heating this area
Rather than extend the ductwork from our existing furnace, I am thinking of using the new gas fireplace as the heat source in this room. We rented a condo at a ski place in British Columbia last year and the heat for the main living area was a gas fireplace. It utilized a programmable thermostat and the fireplace had a fan. This set-up seemed to work well. I have stubbed over gas for the fireplace.
We are in the Seattle area and require heat for +/- 8 mos. of the year.
I also have added a 170 SF office off the side of the family room, which I intend to install a electric in wall heater.
Any opiniions on this? Any recommendation on fireplace brand or type?
Thanks

LNG24

That is quite an expensive option! You would be much better off running the duct work. If you want a Fireplace, put one in, but do not rely on it for heat. One, they are not an efficient means to heat the space. If running duct work won't work for you because of distance, structure etc, try electric radiant floor heat or Electric Hydronic Baseboard heaters.

Mike Finley

It's an expensive up front option like was said, however I'd not toally agree on being inefficient. A gas log fireplace is about the most inefficient thing there is but a heating fireplace is pretty reasonably efficient. I've done a handful of them over the years, the more realistic they look the more they cost. I think I average about $1800 on the unit. Cozy heat, Napoleon, I can't think of the others. I like to set them up with the remote control option, works like turning on the TV.

I'm not sure I would do one as the only heat source though. I think that is what LNG is referring to about being inefficient. Probably true over the long run compared to running duct work.

Pegleg Smith

I think I would be looking at another means of heating this space. I think you might regret the gas bills you will be generating. If you don't want to extend the ductwork look into a mini-split heat pump. They work pretty well. Your room and office space will be comfortable year round.

BreyerConstruct

We're looking to build a small addition right now- and are also considering the same thing, so this thread caught my eye!

Our situation is different, in that my house is heated by oil-fired hot water, and there doesn't seem to be an efficient (given the style & layout of existing construction) way to tie-in to that system. So, we'll be installing a gas fireplace into the room, which I already happen to own.

Sometimes you can't do the "best", so you have to settle for the best possible, or best you can afford...

~Matt

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neolitic

Matt,
Have you looked into electric
"hydronic" base board heaters?
They can work out pretty nicely.

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BreyerConstruct

I honestly haven't. Pardon the simple question, but where would I get one?

The fireplace would come out of my master suite, which will then need a heater. However, It might not be a bad idea to add one of those hydronic baseboards to the addition as well.


~~
For the record, I've got a 100 year old home that we've rebuilt and adjusted to serve as a home and offices & shop space for the business.
With a growing business and family (2nd is due on Dec. 31st), we're trying to stretch our housing arrangement as long as possible. (Construction businesses aren't getting real estate loans easily right now).

I promise, I'll bring in pros for any areas we're not equipped, licensed, or able to do! I'm not a DIY-er.

~Matt

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thom

Heat n glo makes a wide range of efficient gas fireplaces. I've installed them in the past with a thermostatic remote and blower. Set the temperature on the remote and set the remote on the table. It does exactly what the OP asked for.

you can find them on the web at http://www.heatnglo.com/products/fir...Fireplaces.asp

nhmaster3015

Had to think about this one for a bit. Basically the gas fireplace is probably not the most efficient way to heat the space but then again it will add atmosphere to the space and you can turn it way down when not in use. I think I would put it in and run a duct or two also.

woodmagman

Using a gas fireplace as a main heat source is o.k. in my book. Providing it is a direct vent. Just adding duct work may not be the answer, your existing furnace and heating system was sized for the house, you added addition volume and square footage, so it may not be large enough now. This is one of those items that shows up when comparing apples to apples. A customer is having a 70 thousand dollar addition put on and the prices coming to him very by 10-20 grand. One contractor is putting in 20 feet of 5” pipe and three floor grills and the others are increasing the furnace capacity.
There are fireplaces that put out 20-30 thousand BTU more then enough to heat an average room and then some. A problem that can occur is the fireplace can be so efficient that it interferes with the furnaces thermostat. The room is open to the rest of the house and the heat leaves the area and down the hallway to the thermostat. The rest of the house like the basement and main floor bedrooms that have their doors closed, can become cold as the furnace thinks everything is o.k. and does not come on. It is best to put an independent heat source like a fireplace in a closed space on its own thermostat so this does not happen.

RCPainting

Would a pellet stove work? I use mine as the main heat for my 1,000 square foot home, have electric furnace I use as well.
Pellet stove have fans, low/high settings, very efficient.

Slowtrawl

Wow. Thanks for the input.
Let me clarify why I was looking at not extending ductwork;
The new family room is a far distance from the furnace, around 50 lineal feet.
There is also a stair system to get it through that presents a problem.
It is a pain and I would have to hire this out. My goal is to do as much myself as humanly possible.

In addition to the family room, we are also adding a master bedroom. Including bath it is 434 square feet. I am planning to extend ductwork here, since this additon butts up to the end of the existing trunk line. The furnace heats the existing house well (2,448 SF) so I thought heating an additional 17% of floor area would work OK.

Another option would be to not extend any of the existing ductwork and install an additional gas furnace and ductwork to heat the added square footage.

My original desire for utilizing a gas fireplace was cost, since we are planning to install one anyways (actually 2, one in the new master as well), so I thought I could kill 2 birds

I'l call a couple local HVAC guys and see what they see as the solution.

Thanks again for the input, this board is a great resource.

trades01

why put in a gas stove? the price of gas is just going to keep going up i am going through the same process i am puting in a wood stove with in a few weeks you will have the stove burning just to your likings

Hearthman

Gas direct vent fireplaces are an excellent choice for supplemental zone heating. However, they are not intended or recognized as 'primary sources of heat'. Even though they are tested and listed to ANSI Z21.88 as vented room heaters and can legally be controlled by a thermostat, they still require a primary heat source.

The HG, or Heatilator brands are among the best but there are many other great brands out there. Contact your local hearth retailer and visit their shop. Find out about their service dept. and specifically if their techs are NFI certified and if they have taken any training by the mfrs. You can buy the best Fp in the world but without proper tech support, service and parts, it falls back with the rest of the pack.

BTW, if you go to the websites of some mfrs., you will find a nifty design tool for choosing your fireplace and the look.
HTH,
Hearthman

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LNG24

Go ahead and put int he Gas Fire Place for comfort and atmosphere in the Master, but if you have no other option, put in the Hydronic Electric Baseboard heaters as well.

@ Breyer Const: Expanding an Oil or Gas fired hot water system has to be one of the easiest things to do 3/4 copper pipe and you can run it up, down or over through any size wall. Most systems are way over sized for the house anyway. Ex: my old system was rated at 151k btu's and all my house called for was 80k btu's.

For the record: I pulled my 10 yr old oil fired boiler and sold it on craigslist, same with the oil tank. I heat solely with a wood stove now!

I only have one Cool Room and when I use that room , I can easily push the temp up to 70 with a small electric heater.

For resale purposes, I will be installing a Gas Fired On Demand wall mounted boiler at some point as not everyone will want to heat with wood, but for now...I love the stove.

BreyerConstruct

LNG-
Don't tempt me, I've got all cast pipes & units, and brick interior walls to work with... If I get it in my head that I want to do that, I may have to move the family out for a bit, and just about all I can afford right now is a tent!

~Matt

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neolitic

Intertherm is a brand I've used a lot
and had very good results with 220V.
Even put them in three seasons porches
a couple of times and had happy HO's.

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BreyerConstruct

Thanks Neo!


~Matt

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pbreazeale

The fireplace will be very expensive to operate, unless gas is much cheaper in Seattle. I would probably go with a gas wall heater from home depot. they are available in many styles, different BTU's and vented or unvented. If upfront money isn't as much of an issue as long term cost, I would go with a "mini-split". It's a unit with 2 components, one that hangs on the wall, and another outside the house. That would give you both heat and air-conditiong.

LNG24

This thread got me thinking and I did some research. There are gas wall heaters and electric wall heaters. Then I found Vent Free Gas Fireplaces. No Vent means that ALL the heat goes into the room!

First one I was was in Home Depot, but those were complete units. I;d want to make my own surround and mantel. I did some searching on line and came across Vanguard (which has the same parent company as the stuff at Home Depot) http://www.vanguardheat.com/index.htm

This might be a good option for you AND ME! I would enjoy a fireplace in my room! Why don't I put one it? Chimney! I would not want one in this location. Would not look good outside. I would much rather have a wood stove there as I already have one down stairs that heats the entire house sans this room.

These Vent Free systems heat 800 - 1200 sq. f.t depending on the sized unit. Yeah I know gas is expensive, but I need it anyway for my stove and future Tankless Water Heater so...