I did research on the GW and based on the posts selected the Fireplace Xtrordinair FPX44. It is a wood burner and will serve as part of my backup heat source.

I have a geothermal heat pump system and a backup power generator to run the electrical emergency heat for these units was cost prohibitive - so I upgraded a wood burning insert to the FPX 44 and a gas insert to the FPX 864.

I have not turned these on yet (house is near completion) but here is why I picked the FPX 44: can handle 36 inch logs, has a 10-12 hour burn time on a full load of logs, can generate 76K BTUs/hr (1/2 of what I need for the entire house) , and it looks nice.

The down sides of the FPX 44 are: it is expensive, the hook up is complicated - it requires a fan with exterior vent to suck in air for combustion and that drives extra duct work and electrical work and it has two other 8 inch flex ducts for air intake as well, it is weighs a ton. I call it "the beast".

I also upgraded a gas firplace to the FPX 864 TRV for similar reasons as above. The 864 has two settings - one for ambience and one for backup heat. In the backup heat mode, it can generate 31K BTU's per hour. It also has an output vent that you can use to throw heat into another room besides the one that the fireplace is in - and I wanted that feature to heat my master bedroom and bath area when in backup heat mode. It also looks nice too.

Between the two FPX units, I can heat my entire house with no power. I will have a small power generator to run the fans for both fireplace units.

Hope this helps

Another vote for the FXP 44. Yes, it is a beast, yes, it is pricey (but all the good ones are) and yes it takes professional installation, but it pumps the heat out and IMO can't be beat for looks and fit/finish. We have a 2100 sf, 2 story, kinda sorta shingle/cottage style house with propane fired radiant heat on both floors, but we're in northern NY on the shore of Lake Ontario, and we get wind, snow and cold, and wanted to have a woodburner back up that could handle the whole house. We've only had 2 fires in it (last May when installed), so I'll have a full report sometime this fall or winter, but it's rated for 3500sf, so should heat our house very well.

The other unit we considered was the Quadra Fire 7100, which is also a good unit and well built, but we liked the FXP better in looks and think the fit/finish is a bit higher in quality than the 7100. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either unit.

Here's a pic when the surround was freshly installed. We don't have a mantel yet, but someday (soon I hope), I'm going to decide what I want.

sandyponder

Check out www.chimneysweeponline.com. They will tell you that the Pacific Energy Series had the longest burn times in tests they performed. With the gold plated door,etc, the price here in the PNW is $2095. I`m replacing my old Pacific Energy (circa 1985) next season with the Pacific. Another feature I like about this one is there is a heating area on top which is good for when the power goes out. There is a picture of it on chimney sweep. Hope this was helpful. *By the way, my older fireplace still works fine after 21 years, it just is not EPA certified, and the newer ones also burn about one-third less wood.

Littlemeadow,

A big lopi fan here. We had a lopi answer in our previous home. 1200 sq feet and it heated well with a blower. Now we are in 2500 sq feet and our liberty can heat it all night(6hr burn)with or without the blower as it is a freestander.

Peace here in colorado.