We just got the Lopi version of this which has arched doors and a nice spiderweb pattern in the framework. We looked at every brand, Cozy Heat to the Vermont Castings Brookhaven. They all seem to make a version of this. I think the Lopi was the biggest and gives the most heat, some of the others dont have a blower. But they don't give off much heat, the dealers will be quick to admit that. They are intended more for above bathtubs, and in corner cabinets in offices. Just a little ambience, not much heat.
But for a heat source, I expect that the large 18,000 btu burner on my gas range will give more heat. But they are nice looking. We have a VT Castings small gas fireplace with a blower in our addition that gets too hot so we dont bother with it much. I dont like the blower, it ruins the atmosphere, but it's the only way to spread the heat out into the room.
good luck

Our living room has giant single pane windows, so it gets very cold at night -- was somewhere around 60 degrees the other night (hey I'm in So. Cal., for inside -- it's cold). My DH has allergies, so we installed a gas fire set in our fireplace. When we turn it on, it warms the room very nicely to a comfortable, but not hot, temperature. I don't know the BTU output of the fire set, but the firebox is a standard sized wood-burning firebox, and we bought the medium-sized log set to go in it.

Lopi has not turned up in any of the searches. I love it! It has very shallow depth and lots of style. Do you have the iron or enamel finish?

I had to laugh at the gas range heat source. We will have induction, so no heating the kitchen. Our LR FP is Vermont Castings. It gets hot, which was really good when we lost power for a week in an ice storm several years ago. The ledge of the insert was hot enough to cook on since the fan didn't work with the electricity out.

Here is a link to a great site--we haven't purchased from them but their products are beautiful and seem a bit different to me--we also are planning a gas fireplace in the kitchen and it better give off heat! Would love to hear more about this idea that they don't really give off heat and are just decorative...

I have a friend who uses a gas "wood" stove in her three-season enclosed porch, making it a 4-season room. That thing definitely puts out heat. It might be Vermont Castings. We prefer a fireplace but you might investigate the stove idea too.

Holly

Here is a link that might be useful: Victorian Fireplace Shop

I hear you. When we lived in So. CA, there was only a minimal heat source in the apartments. A more realistic fire is possible with gas logs than an insert. They are not as energy efficient; that's a problem for DH. I'm glad it worked well for your DH.

I'd forgotten about the Victorian Fireplace Shop. There are very nice period-style units. I'll keep it in mind. I think a fireplace is safer in terms of heat transfer. Don't stove's get hot? With a dog, cat and not much aisle space, we'd forever be getting burned :( We'll stick with a FP too.

we got the black iron finish and I like it a lot, it has more of a real fireplace look than the enamel. Our Vt Castings is black enamel, and it's almost too shiny.
Did you find the arched spider web doors? I think they add a lot, but most people want a clear view of the fire. We also got the brick beehive back, which seems really cozy.
The works was just over 2k.
mrs b

I have one gas Victorian fireplace in my kitchen and then one in my DR and one in the Master bedroom and one in the livingroom. Here are pics. They are all gas coals , 3 from the Victorian Shop and the one in the LR is a custom design with the original 1890's summer cover.

Kitchen :

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DR:

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MasterBR:

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LR w/o cover:

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LR w/ cover

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Mrs. b: Yes, the spider web arched cover is nice. I would definitely consider the iron version. Our Vermont Castings FR is cast iron. I was afraid the enamel would chip; I am very clumsy! This is ours, but I see it doesn't show up very well.

Trailrunner: oh, the 1890s cast iron summer cover is fabulous! Some of the gorgeous mantles are a work in progress. Are the FPs original to the house? I'm guessing you liked the Victorian Shop!

Sorry for the blurry pic of the dining room fp. It is beautiful. I had to laugh at the "works in progress " they are done !! I like the rustic look ...actually I have a gal. of soy gel stripper and I am waiting til warmer weather to start again after a several year hiatus.

Yes all the fp are original to the house. We uncovered the ones in the kitchen and the MBR and had a new stainless steel flu installed as I wanted all things to vent. You don't want non-venting as they are only able to be used on a very limited basis and some folks ( me included ) can smell the gas.

The ones in the DR and the Kitchen are Valor brand. They are great. The one in our MBR is a Robinson-Willey and although it works very well they need more care and service. The one in the LR is GREAT. my fp guy made it...forged the steel so it looked good with the cover. He did a great job and it puts out huge heat. I can "hear" the gas meter !!

An aside, the summer covers are quite rare as folks were supposed to donate them to the cause of the WWl or ll ( I have heard different stories) so they could be melted down, Ours was wrapped in towels and hidden in the "play house" out back. We are glad to have it even if it is unpatriotic.

We like the Victorian Shop a lot they are a very good company. c

I think a fireplace would be gorgeous, but wood burning is a lot of work. A pellet stove is much easier to maintain and provides a consistent source of heat. They are also not hot to the touch so are safe for young children and pets. See the Fireplace forum and do a search for pellet stoves if you want to know more.

I have a 150 year old house & the kitchen was originally the back parlor, complete with a fireplace.....well, actually a f/p opening & not much else. I had a plain wood mantel made to match others in the house, flanked the f/p with floor to ceiling shallow pantry cabinets, & 'set' a glass fronted cabinet on the mentle to act as a china closet. We had a ventless gas log put in since we didn't want the expense of rebuilding the flue; it doesn't produce great amounts of heat, but it takes the chill off.

This is similar to my surround, but mine is the salvage yard version with a gas log bought on ebay rather than the pricey version shown here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Similar to mine

Love the idea, couldn't make it work in my space.

But I really like the Napoleon Park Ave. The flame is much more realistic to me than the Lopi, and the silly sounding light in the firebox really adds a lot to the overall look.

Putting it in one of the bedrooms.

Trailrunner: There are two doorways with trim partially stripped in our house, that were projects started so many years ago, I am embarrassed to say. Suffice it to say, my 20 y.o. sonÂs growth measurements are on the frame. As careful as I was, the cat ingested tiny paint chips or paint dust and got sick, so I stopped. The doorways are both part of the kitchen remodel; they will finally get the TLC they deserve.

The ValorÂs concept of radiant heat is interesting. The framing required is too large for our location. I wish I could make it work. The small Portrait series FP is a better size for the kitchen. How does operating all your fireplaces effect the total heating costs for your house? Our LR FP was not in the original house, but neither was the LR. A PO replaced the front porch with a small flat-roof room and FP. We left the FP when we extended the room and changed to a gable roof.

Fran: Thanks for the suggestion. We definitely need a hands-free FP that will be used for supplemental heat when we are in the kitchen. Pellets or wood are too much care. I didnÂt know there was a fireplace forum. IÂll take a look there, too.

Antiquesilver: your hutch- fireplace adaptation sounds beautiful. Would you be willing to share some pictures?

Oruboris: you have obviously seen a Napoleon Park Ave. installed since you like the light. Selecting a FP will be a challenging choice to make!

Cothele: the use of the fp's has made a big difference . We have the Valor in the kitchen running 24/7 when the weather is really cold. I close the doors to the morning room and the whole kitchen/sunroom area is toasty all night and I don't need to bump up the HVAC at all in the AM. I love the fact the whole unit is hot. I put my coffee there while I read the paper. There is no danger to people or pets even though it is not a big distance between the island I now have and the unit. My cat lays there all the time on the rug. You would have to actually press yourself against it and hold there to be burned...I rest my backend there on cold days LOL! We heat the whole DR for 30 minutes before a meal and again that stops us from bumping up the HVAC. That particular Valor really is a workhorse too. We rarely use the one in the LR since it is SO HOT and also really sucks gas. Our gas heat bills have dropped several hundreds a month since we use the gas fp's and also we added storm windows and a new HVAC Trane unit. The units are rated at approx 75% efficiency and my fp guy said that is quite good. I know they save us money as I said since we can isolate areas we want to keep hotter w/o increasing the thermostat. Our bedroom stays really toasty ( I know a lot of folks like it cold but I want it a bit warmer than the 64 that the furnace is set on at night). We have a Co2 meter plugged into the wall for safety and we have the doors closed. It is very comfortable.

I have one doorway and door into the morning room that is staying "rustic" my painter was horrified but I like it LOL . I can hardly wait to see your pics . Hope this longwinded note has helped. c

My cat will think the FP is just for him! I hadn't considered a creature curled up on the floor when I calculated the aisle width, LOL.

These old houses...I'm glad to hear of the drop in heating costs. It will help justify the expense of the FP. Our 1 1/2 2-story house has separate upstairs and downstairs furnaces. We keep the downstairs at 60 in winter and the upstairs at 80 in summer. Honestly, the concept of zone heating came to us in the UK. The cottages we rented on holiday all had small portable heaters to be moved around to the room we were currently using. Duh, why heat the whole house unless we have guests and are USING the whole house? It makes a significant difference in heating and cooling costs, which have dropped precipitously. I love your kitchen, BTW!

Thank you . I guess I have missed your other posts. What is you house ? We have been in ours since March 2002. We converted the attic space to living space that winter. We have a heat pump up there. I don't turn on the heat up there unless it is really cold outside or we have guests, even though there is an open staircase and I know the heat from downstairs rises and the HVAC is affected by the colder temps up there. We have a skylight up there that opens so in the summer I open it and turn on the ceiling fan to help with heat gain. I do run the ac up there in summer and keep it at 80. Our downstairs reg HVAC unit is the top of the line Trane and we really like it. I keep it set at 64-68 depending. I can't take it with the 12 foot ceilings and having it too cold. I have circulation problems in my hands and feet so I have to wear plenty of winter clothes. You are used to the cold I am sure being in IN. Please post pics I would love to see your house. Caroline

thank you everyone for all this info, especially Trailrunner. I want to install a gas FP in our soon-to-be renovated kitchen--I was planning on a raised hearth since we need extra seating (it is really in a little family-room area off to the side)--do you all with gas FPs think a raised hearth would be OK? How close can you sit to one comfortably? Trailrunner, I know you said it's not a burn hazard...I am just thinking about how deep to make the hearth.

After you ordered from the Victorian FP shop, did you have a local person who specializes in FPs install it? WOuld that be an HVAC person or something else? I think our GC does not know a lot about FPs and I would rather find my own sub, if I can figure out where to look.

Thank you! Looking forward to warmth...it is 15 degrees here right now (outside Boston)...

Holly

Caroline, I just looked at your pics from your homepage, and our houses are very similar. Yours probably started out with two front gables; we added one of ours in a major remodel 20 years ago. I am also a retired nurse and love gardening.

Our house was built in 1892 by a railroad conductor. There had been about 10 owners when we bought the house in 1982. Here is a picture from last winter.

The kitchen will be in the back of the house at the paired window.

The house was originally located about where the pine tree is in the previous picture. It was moved and elevated on a crawlspace sometime before 1915. This is an early picture postcard.

Hi Holly, I sit about 1- 2 ft away and that is fine . The higher the setting the more heat the farther away you sit. We have a local chimney sweep who also sells and installs the FP's. I had the plumber run the gas line which was no biggie as we already had gas for heat and waterheater. He also put in the stainless steel liner in a new chase that my contractor built as that particular old chimney was no good. So you need to have a plumber for sure for the gas stuff and a licensed person to install the FP. I have switched fp guys this year as I found someone much much better about 45 min. away. He is very reasonable and has a great attitude . You might want to see what the installer/local fp places have in stock and then you would not have to order the fp yourself. A raised hearth sounds lovely and you could have cushions and sit there on a cold morning and have your coffee too ! Caroline

Thank you Caroline--I am so excited about this fireplace thing. When we first moved in 8 years ago we were going to build a wood-burning FP in this room, until we found out that code would require us to have a chimney about 20 ft. tall! (b/c of rooflines). I am so glad we waited--we are now going to do a remodeling that is completely different from the layout we would have done then. I still love "real" FPs but I am really looking forward to pushing a button and having supplemental heat!

Cotehele--good luck with your own FP!

Holly

Judy that is a fantastic house !! Wow I love the old picture. What happened to the tower?

Our house has the "two sisters" in the front and one on the side. Yes they are original to the house. They are called sisters here in the South.We added the windows when we had the attic converted. We would not be able to add them like they are now as the Historic District is even more strict than it was in 2002.

Do you have pics of the inside ? We did the masterBR and the sunroom and the kitchen last year. We are done now except my "garden" LOL. I am no horticulturist and I struggle all the time.

If you looked at the photobucket album then you saw the new sunroom decor. I am so pleased with the way it has come out. I am sitting out there now as it is 70 here today...I bet you are about tired of the cold by now. My SIL is in Central Ohio, in Napolean , and she said it was -15 !!! Yikes.

Holly good luck to you and please post lots of pics...we all love pictures . Caroline

Don't buy any gas FP until you see it burning: to me, the quality of the fire is the #1 factor in the decision. I'd chosen a couple on the basis of overall design and efficiency until I saw them in action.

Your local shops will have them plumbed in and ready to burn.

The Valor flames come up very nicely and it is not apparent to anyone who sees them in our house that they aren't "real" coal . I agree you want good looking flames. The Valor company makes a very good quality product. c

Caroline: I love your sunroom. The view to the back yard is fantastic sitting at the table. Yellow is a warm, cozy color to me. You have a nice collection of linen. I wish it were 70 here!

We remodeled about 20 years ago. I don't have any good pictures of the inside of the house. The unfinished attic is now our MBR, bath, office, cafe, lounge, winter living space. The pyramidal roof was shifted to the center of the house and a clerestory was added for light and ventilation. The center of the house is open 30 feet from the first floor to the clerestory ceiling, and the upstairs living space if flooded with light all day. We also did the work on the LR (I mentioned above). A few years later the first floor bath was redone. None of the other rooms in the house have been touched, and they need work! Now that I'm not working much, it may finally get done. :)

Holly, it's universal, time changes the original plans. It helps when waiting gives a nicer result. Good luck with your project.

We did a kitchen /family room...took down a load bearing wall(steel beams..ca ching ca ching) and took out a back staircase so that we now have approx 30X 22 kitchen/great room with a peninsula/breakfast bar dividing. We (after the fact of course) decided on a gas fireplace and because the walls had been installed built a double mantle raised panel fireplace enclosure (ca ching,ca chi ng)with a Mendota gas fireplace. 7,000 to 40,000 BTU's with infinite settings as well as blower.. We had baseboard heat installed and have used it once in 6 months and we live in New England. It is beautiful and powerful. I ordered the one with real brick and 2 level burners. I'd send a picture but have lost my digital camera during the renovation process. I'll get a new one soon. I chose a gorgeous Walker -Zanger tile border (ca ching ca ching) to frame , and I love it

cotehele: that open area upstairs sounds wonderful. Our stairwell ( you can see the old stained glass door is inset in the stairwell wall) is open all the way up and floods the foyer /stairway with light . Then we have a 9ft bank of big windows facing West up there and the big skylight. The celing is 18 ft up there. There are a lot of pics in the photobucket of all this. I hope you will post pics of that delightful sounding upstairs!!

linny: yours sounds wonderful too !! I would love to see your fp when you get a chance to post. I don't know that brand but will look it up.

I have a Lopi woodstove between the kitchen and living room.

I cook soups on the stove, keep a tea kettle for constant hot water on top, and have a rocking chair to sit next to it in the kitchen.

I really like how warm the kitchen is and the cozy feeling we get from the woodstove. It uses the chimney that probably once served a wood cookstove.

Caroline, I wasnÂt thinking yesterday, looking at your pic. The sunroom is fabulous! I love the sink! And, the stained glass is beautiful.

Linnymac, you have a nice kitchen/great room, wish I could see it!

Birkie: Your wood stove is attractive and functional. When I asked DH about adding a FP in the kitchen his first comment was of the small gas stove in his grandparents kitchen. It is a fond memory of mornings we sat around the stove, read the paper and talked. I hope we can capture that cozy family atmosphere in our kitchen.

I love this thread...although maybe not strictly about kitchens it's about something that will be integral to our finished space.

Linny mac, I too would LOVE to see pictures. We will be building the FP from scratch and I am realizing how many elements there are to it--hearth, surround, mantel, etc. etc.--I too want brick on at least part (because it's warmer than tile, and warm-looking) but I'd also like to incorporate some tile in the surround. I was thinking I'd use the same tile that I use for the backsplash around the cooktop and that way integrate the two spaces.

I think Mendona and Valor are the same company--according to a Google search.

cotohele: thank you , you are very sweet. We have done a lot to the house. Every room has been redone now so I am FINISHED.I don't need anything now but to change a couple light fixtures and get a couple cool tables in the morning room. But that is ALL. I have to repeat this to myself on a regular basis LOL.

Holly I am glad you found that about Valor, I didn't know. I don't know what era your house is but there are some cool tiles that are specifically for fp surrounds ...Dutch tiles also and Victorian tiles that are beautiful.

Can hardly wait til you post pics. You can get antique mantles at salvage yards and they are so beautiful. I have one that we refinished and glued back together and put in front of the only non working fp we have. I love love it. If you like I will post a pic. c

Holly, I want to see your house too! Do you have pictures? I am not sure what material to use on the FP face. My conceptual visualization is getting weaker the more complicated the kitchen becomes! I like tile if only because I hate the brick on our LR FP.

Caroline, I would love to see your antique mantel, do post pics. I can not imagine doing everything you have done to your house in 5-6 years, especially with taking care of your mother and your grown children living with you. Enjoy your well-deserved break in the wonderful sunroom :)

cothele: here is the mantle we found. It was in my friends' garage, she is the one that had the sunroom birdhouses and bookcase at her shop. She gave me the mantle as it was in several pieces and needed to be stripped. I stripped it ( this was a couple years ago when I still thought stripping was fun LOL) and DH helped me glue it back together. Then we knocked out the sheetrock and the plaster to expose the old brick and nailed the mantle to the wall. The chimney was falling down in the attic and had to comeout anyway to make room for the bedrooms upstairs. This pic was taken at Christmas.This is our foyer which is a very large room. We don't have anything in it except an old gateleg table. I have gotten used to it as an open space and don't think I will fill it up .

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What a find! You have a generous friend. The mantle is nice, and the over-mantle has lots of detail and character. Very cleaver way to use the brick. We have a chimney that needs to come out. Wonder if I could use that around the kitchen FP.

I understand your comment about open space. DH has always been a pitcher and I a saver. He is converting me. We are slowly making a less cluttered house. I like it. Each piece is more precious and there is less to clean.

I saved all the old brick that was the chimneys. I then bought 3000 old bricks. These were used for the patio outside the sunroom and the walkways around the backyard. I had the brick mason use the old bricks form the chimney to fill in the area for the hearth in the foyer. As you can tell I love old brick. It is not hard to clean it at all and they are surprisingly sturdy. If you can find a way to use them in the kitchen then I would. Also as I did you can go to salvage yards and get old used bricks that are VERY cheap. I still have a stack and am working on a project around the little house in the backyard to use the last of the 3000.

How do you say "no more projects !! LOL".

The time has come I guess to learn how to post pics...I will fiddle some tonight. We live in a 1910 Victorian (rather plain, not gingerbready). The new FP will be in an already-existing addition that we're going to tweak...so it will be a while before I have any new pictures to post! I'm not even sure yet when work will start. Hopefully April or May.

I love old brick too...we found a place that sells salvaged brick and used it for a retaining wall in front of our house...we have a chimney in the kitchen that is covered up right now (can't use it for FP though :() and I can't wait to uncover it--I hope that brick is pretty!

Holly that is what we did when we did our kitchen last year. The freestanding Valor was already there from when we had opened the fp in the kitchen and MBR during the 1st remodel. When we had the kitchen gutted to the studs we found 2 brick chimneys. One was where the sink was and the other was the one that was hidden in the wall and we already had the mantle there and the Valor. So we recovered the one where the sink went and I got up on a ladder and stood on the mantle and cleaned the mortar off and coated the exposed brick with a couple coats of water based poly. You have to do that so the brick dust etc doesn't drift down. I had a huge shop vac from my contractor and wore a mask . The cleaning of the brick makes a MESS. But it was worth it. I love the look. It is a main focal point of the kitchen.

Please post pics. you download to Photobucket and then make the album public or click on the 3rd line down under the picture and then cut/paste it to the message here. It is easy and there are several tutorials for posting pics here. C.

Judy/Cotehele,

I'm going to reiterate what Oruboris said about making sure you go to various fireplace shops to see the actual model in action.

We are probably getting a Valor for our livingroom (we have an old one in the basement). One of the features that will work for us, is that it can be turned down really low. I gather that some of the high output models can't be turned down too low, so that they end up being turned off, cuz they are throwing off TOO much heat! Another, is that it has a thermostat, and for our house, it will probably be a more efficient way of keeping the upstairs warm than our present old inefficient furnace! We're having roof/chimney leaking problems at the present, and have to watch the budget, so it buying the FP has now been put on the back burner, but I have a sister and a friend who both recently installed a Valor and they're both really happy with it.

Rahelen,
One of the best features of our LR fireplace is the thermostatic control. The flame and fan can also be set independently of each other and the thermostat.