When we built our home we added an air tight, high efficiency fireplace in the great room. It is driving us out of the room. The unit is a Kozy Heat Z-42 and has a max of 60,000 BTU and a min of 8,000 BTU.

The floor plan is open with about 800 square feet in the great room and another 700 square feet directly open to the great room or connected by an open doorway. The ceiling height is nine feet with 18 inches of cellulose above. The walls are six inch also with cellulose. The home is in a windy location in Upstate New York but has good efficient windows.

We have not used the fireplace for heat since the house was finished last winter but just for the occasional evening fire. On Christmas we had a party and decided to have the fire going all day. In order to maintain a comfortable temperature in the great room I had to open two windows about six inches each. The outside temperature was in the mid twenties and the wind was calm.

I was using split three year old red oak firewood and only used seven pieces all day. Once the temperature in the room reached seventy-five, I kept the air intake dampened down. It was only open enough to give us a soft pretty fire. The windows still had to be open to keep the temperature down in the comfort range. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

I have the option of ducting some heat to another area of the house but that only is 500 square feet. The fan unit will still push most of the heat into the great room because that is the shortest least restrictive path.

I have never heated a home with wood and was very surprised at the output of this unit. I do not know if I am over looking something or just plain doing something wrong. How can I burn this unit more without turning the house into a sauna? [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]