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michoumonster

Direct vent fireplace ducting to other rooms?

michoumonster
12 years ago

Hi, i am wondering if i install a direct vent gas fireplace that is heater rated, is it easy to duct the heat to other rooms? Am considering it for a new construction basement about 1000 square feet. Is the warmth enough to eliminate need for an additional forced air heater installed?

Comments (4)

  • remodelzombie
    12 years ago

    Two years ago we put in the Lennox Ravelle 42" Direct Vent fireplace in our guest house above a two car garage at our home in Lake Tahoe. This fireplace is the sole heat source for the guest house. The space is approx. 23 x 23, 530 sq feet.

    It's connected to a thermostat and we bought the forced air duct kit and ducted to two separate areas in the bathroom and also the main room. We have a two separate switches to both of the ducted areas with the ability to have them on or off.

    Frankly, the ONLY time we turn on the two ducted forced heat areas are when the heat has been turned down and we want to heat the area up quickly.

    We have turned off the fireplace fan and turned the flame down to low, otherwise this fireplace would blow us out of here with the heat it throws out. The low settings work perfect for our small space.

    We have been very happy with the Ravelle. This fireplace is extremely efficient and I would highly recommend for this application.

  • michoumonster
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hi Remodelzombie, thanks for your post. sounds like the ravelle is on my list of fireplaces to check out! I was wondering, is the fan loud? i have heard that some blower fans are too loud to use.

  • remodelzombie
    12 years ago

    I actually turned the fans on to check this out because, as I said, we rarely use them. You basically hear the air rushing out of the two vented areas (not the fan blower) just as you would hear when your main house heating system turns on. The difference is, my two heating ducts are not connected to the thermostat so you would have to turn them on and off only if you required more heat to those areas. You wouldn't want to leave them on permanently because when the fireplace turned off and cooled down, the fans would eventually be blowing cool air until the fireplace turned on again and warmed up.

    Another thing I should mention, they recommend that your forced air ducting be run up to 20 feet maximum from the fireplace and a two duct maximum.

    The blower on the actual fireplace won't turn on until the fireplace has reached a certain temperature, it has variable speeds and creates moderate noise. This fan really throws out the heat if you want it! I hope this helps.

  • michoumonster
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Remodelzombie, thank you! this has been so helpful!

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