Opinions on den renovation and fireplace upgrade

[TwoBees]

We will be renovating our den this spring to be a playroom/family space. We currently do not use the room because it is much colder than the rest of the house. There are several reasons for the temperature difference - it is the only part of the house on a slab, the room is not well insulated, the old fireplace is drafty, and the heat in that room is not great. We are debating two different fireplace options and I would love some thoughts/suggestions/BTDT advice. The fireplace was converted to gas (has a gas log) by the previous owners and no longer works well. We had a local fireplace company come out and take a look and give us some estimates. The options are:

1. Replace the burner and logs and get new, better insulated doors for the fireplace. This setup would add minimal heat to the room and the doors would need to be open when the fireplace is one. This means that either we could not run the fireplace when the kids are in the room alone or we need to gate off the fireplace area. We may or may not need to consider an additional heat source for the room, depending on how it feels after the rest of the insulation is added. Additional heat source options to consider are a space heater or a wall heater (such as an Envi http://www.envi-heat.com/ which I think would be around $200).

2. Add a full gas insert and new insulated doors. This would be an efficient heater for the room, would be fully enclosed, and would be hot to the touch but not harmful if the kids touched the front. This would be a good $2000 more than option 1.

I want to go with option 2. DH is more budget minded and wants to go with option 1 (option 2 is financially feasible although we may need to hold off on some additional house renovations, none of which are urgent, for a bit). We are planning to stay in the house for a long time and are doing these renovations for us, not for resale purposes.

Thoughts?

Thanks so much.

[jgenie]

I would go with option 2. We redid our fireplace when we bought our current house but since we were in a hurry we didn't do the insert. Waiting for the insert would have delayed the masons which would have delayed the painters delaying the flooring company etc etc. We knew we wouldn't be using it very often so it wasn't a big deal for us but if you plan to use it for heat it will make a big difference.

[twowhat?]

Hmmm - I know you didn't ask this but do you need the fireplace at all? Is there another fireplace elsewhere in the house?

If you need/want the fireplace and would use it frequently where you live, I think I would want option #2.

[TwoBees]

Hmmm - I know you didn't ask this but do you need the fireplace at all? Is there another fireplace elsewhere in the house?

If you need/want the fireplace and would use it frequently where you live, I think I would want option #2.

I guess I never thought of not using it...we certainly don't have to because we can supplement the heat in the room in other ways, but it seems silly to me to do a total reno of the room and not do something with the fireplace. Plus I would think that it would be drafty leaving it as is? Maybe not? There isn't another fireplace in the house.

[MamaSnoo]

For option 2, do you mean something like a direct vent fireplace? That is what we have now. I really like it. It adds a lot of warmth when on, and no discernible loss of heat when not in use.

[twowhat?]

I guess I never thought of not using it...we certainly don't have to because we can supplement the heat in the room in other ways, but it seems silly to me to do a total reno of the room and not do something with the fireplace. Plus I would think that it would be drafty leaving it as is? Maybe not? There isn't another fireplace in the house.

The only reason I brought it up is that if you don't need the fireplace, maybe you could tear it out and do built-in bookcases or something you deem to be more useful for the space for the same cost. I've seen so many houses with stuff piled up over the fireplace, even shelves put in front of it LOL because storage was more important.

[TwoBees]

For option 2, do you mean something like a direct vent fireplace? That is what we have now. I really like it. It adds a lot of warmth when on, and no discernible loss of heat when not in use.

Yes, I think that's what it would be.

[TwoBees]

The only reason I brought it up is that if you don't need the fireplace, maybe you could tear it out and do built-in bookcases or something you deem to be more useful for the space for the same cost. I've seen so many houses with stuff piled up over the fireplace, even shelves put in front of it LOL because storage was more important.

Oh! I see what you mean. The entire wall that the fireplace is on is exposed brick, so we are not going to be tearing it out. That would not be an easy hole to patch. :) Fortunately I am planning to do faux built-ins (IKEA hack style or similar) along a different wall.

[twowhat?]

Oh! I see what you mean. The entire wall that the fireplace is on is exposed brick, so we are not going to be tearing it out. That would not be an easy hole to patch. :) Fortunately I am planning to do faux built-ins (IKEA hack style or similar) along a different wall.

Ohhhhh. I was assuming it was a fireplace with simple drywall around it, LOL!!! Tearing out a whole brick wall is a whole 'nother story!!

[newnana]

"savings" depends on price of electricity in your area versus the cost to run your fireplace. At my house, the extra $2000 would have paid for itself in 4 years, I'm the money miser in our house.

If I ran a space heater for 12 hours a day, I'd average a cost of $3/day in my area. x7 days/week = $21/week. x4 weeks/month = $84. x6 months a year = $504. Assuming no changes in electricity costs, that fireplace paid for itself in 4 years plus or minus the cost to run said fireplace. Depends on the difference between gas and electricity costs in your area and it's always good to have options depending on how the market goes with which is better to run. Those numbers also depend on your climate, hours of usage, etc.

Here's how to calculate it for your particular unit/electricity prices:

http://energyusecalculator.com/electricity_spaceheater.htm

[hwin708]

I would consult with a spray foam installer and an HVAC engineer (not just a regular HVAC contractor. There are companies that specialize specifically in designing efficient systems), in order to deal with the fact that the den is drafty and not insulated properly. You are just throwing money out the window, and making a stuffy environment with a fireplace, all to "correct" a problem that could likely be truly fixed.

[California]

If the purpose of the room is to be a playroom for your kids, then option 2 sounds like the best fit. That'll give you the freedom to leave the kids playing in there for awhile.

[HannaAddict]

Option 2 for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WatchingThemGrow]

We had problems with keeping a room the correct temperature and debated between repairing the old fireplace or investing $2000 on zones for the HVAC system. (we chose this!) It's been great having control over how much air is pumped into that room now. we love it!

[DualvansMommy]

Option 2 for sure! We did something similar to our den with a drafty old fireplace and older sliding door. We just rebuild the fireplace with new chimney, insulated the den and replaced sliding door. Even with hardwood floors and rug, it feels tons warmer from previous set up with carpet too!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[TwoBees]

Thank you everyone! We are going to be insulating the room, so hopefully that will take care of things. I'm not sure if zones heating is an option but I'll look into that as well.

[azzeps]

Option 2 or consider a mini-split. Would not recommend zoning... we no longer do that for customers.... seems it's unreliable in the long run.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Option 2 or consider a mini-split. Would not recommend zoning... we no longer do that for customers.... seems it's unreliable in the long run.

Really? Had no idea! We just did it 2 years ago. What happens?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[azzeps]

We just seem to have lots of customers who are unhappy with their zoning. Sometimes the dampers stop working. I'm glad yours is working for you!