I am looking for a gas fireplace or pellet insert for our 275 sq' family room in VT. This room is always about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house as it was built as an addition and the forced hot air into that room cannot be easily increased due to lack of access to the ductwork below. We would like to put in a heat source to supplement the forced hot air and at the same time have something that is attractive to look at. We were planning to put a mantle around it and a flat screen tv above.

We have looked at the Quadrafire Castille pellet insert (30k BTUs)and really like the ability to control the heat and use renewable resources. It's relatively low cost to operate and seems like a good solution. That said... we really do not like the looks of the unit. It's a c.1803 antique home that we are putting it into and we would rather have it look more like a traditional fireplace. We do not like the fact that it protrudes into the room (can't they make one with a hopper that is flush??) and don't like the sort of plastic-y look of the unit.

We also looked at a FireplaceXtrodinair clean face gas fireplace (36k BTU). With a firescreen in front of it, it looks pretty much like a regular fireplace. I hate the idea of the pilot burning gas when not using it but apparently you can run the pilot in intermittent mode and just turn it on when you want it. I am not sure how reliable this is though as it is a battery that provides the power for ignition. I am also not sure if it will provide the warmth that we want for that room and I think that it will cost a lot to operate.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions of other things to look at? A tradtional wood fireplace would not work due to the proximity of the location to the nearest wall of the main house... our chimney would have to be absurdly tall. Both the pellet and gas solutions would vent outside pretty well with a bumpout on the exterior wall.