Gas fireplace inserts

[mattkatie7]

Should I buy a direct vented fireplace insert? I have looked at many brans,anyone know if Quadrafire or Avalon is better?

[birddog6419]

I have dealt with both inserts the direct vent is a good choice with newer homes, and the avolon is more installer and service friendly

[macair]

Actually, how long a manufacturer has been around is not as important as how "service friendly" a unit is. There are many realitively new manufacturers out there with even better, more efficient and more advanced or user friendly units. These should be considered in my opinion. Check out Valor by Miles Industries. This line has units that are very price competative as well as incuding features that either don't exist or are only options with the larger manufacturers.

[birddog6419]

I checked out the valor insert and I am not impressed with the BTU rating or the fact that it has an optional fan.

[macair]

Granted, the BTU's are not meant to go into jobs that require heating larger areas. For the market it fits, it has taken over our other lines business. Remember I mentioned price competitiveness. For the buck you get quite a bang.

[birddog6419]

This person is comparing Quadrafire to Avalon and Valor
isn't even in the same class. Apparently they are looking for heat.

[macair]

You're right in one respect, birddog, we have gotten off the subject. The original post was "Should I buy a direct vented fireplace insert? I have looked at many brans,anyone know if Quadrafire or Avalon is better?" Nothing was mentioned about the amount of heat they were looking for. If you think Valor produces no heat you have never installed one. But to answer the question if it's being used for heat and not mearly for atmosphere for short burn times Direct Vent is the safest way to go (in my opinion). As for which line is best? Quadrafire is manufactured by Hearth and Home Technologies which is the same company that produces Heat-n-Glo and Heatalator. They are one of, if not the largest manufactur of Hearth Products in the business with more offerings than any other. Avalon is manufactured by Travis Industries which is the same company that brings us Lopi units. They're both good companies producing good equipment. But they're not the only manufacturers of high quality hearth products. Let your taste, budget and needs direct you. It's not all in a name. Do be careful when you do narrow it down to a unit you like. Make sure it does have a good tract record and can easily be serviced by other HVAC or Hearth dealers. If the dealer you bought it from should no longer be available you will still need someone willing and able to work on it.

[absolutezero]

Originally posted by macair
You're right in one respect, birddog, we have gotten off the subject. The original post was "Should I buy a direct vented fireplace insert? I have looked at many brans,anyone know if Quadrafire or Avalon is better?" Nothing was mentioned about the amount of heat they were looking for. If you think Valor produces no heat you have never installed one. But to answer the question if it's being used for heat and not mearly for atmosphere for short burn times Direct Vent is the safest way to go (in my opinion). As for which line is best? Quadrafire is manufactured by Hearth and Home Technologies which is the same company that produces Heat-n-Glo and Heatalator. They are one of, if not the largest manufactur of Hearth Products in the business with more offerings than any other. Avalon is manufactured by Travis Industries which is the same company that brings us Lopi units. They're both good companies producing good equipment. But they're not the only manufacturers of high quality hearth products. Let your taste, budget and needs direct you. It's not all in a name. Do be careful when you do narrow it down to a unit you like. Make sure it does have a good tract record and can easily be serviced by other HVAC or Hearth dealers. If the dealer you bought it from should no longer be available you will still need someone willing and able to work on it.

Has anyone heard of a Johnsmith fireplace insert? I think that is the name of the one I have. Hard to read due to the age of the unit.

[SeattlePioneer]

If heating a room is the main purpose of the quipment, my recommendations are 1) extend the existing heating system for the home to the additional room if possible.

2) Use a wall furnace if 1) isn't possible. Wall furnace tend to be far more robust and reliable than gas fireplaces, in my experience. The heavy use of routinely heating a space tends to be hard use for gas fireplaces.



Seattle Pioneer