I'm in Seattle. I have Runtal towel warmers in all of my bathrooms. Aside from the delightful luxury of having a warm towel when you step out of a tub or shower, you'll never have musty smelling towels again. In our climate, I think a towel warmer is almost a necessity. I use it the year-round, although I do lower the temperature setting in the warmer months. My towel warmers are on automatic timer and temperature controllers. They come on in the morning automatically, then turn off during the hours when they're not needed (I can override the setting if my usual schedule isn't adhered to). They are simply wonderful. It's amazing how quickly you get spoiled. When I'm away and have to dry off with an unwarmed towel, I really miss it. Mine are the Runtal electric Neptune models. I highly recommend them. Here is a link that might be useful: Runtal Towel Warmer/Radiators

HH: I am no expert by any means, just a homeowner trying to get heat out of his masonry fireplace. I have experience with only one insert - my own. Here's my best shot at your questions: "Would glass doors prevent the cold house effect?" Yes, the glass doors would prevent the cold house effect of an open burning fireplace by eliminating the excess combustion air that is consumed by the fire. "Is there any way to get heat out of the fireplace with closed glass doors? Does enough heat radiate off closed glass doors to heat a room or more?" The problem with getting heat from a fireplace with closed glass doors is the glass itself. Most glass doors are made of tempered safety glass which does not allow UV rays to pass through and provide heat. This is why I made the comment in a previous post to possibly combine the grate heater with a set of glass doors. The glass doors in most quality inserts are made from ceramic glass which allows UV rays to pass through. Some glass door manufacturers use ceramic glass, but it can be very expensive. I do not know if a set of ceramic doors would provide enough UV energy to heat a room (I wouldn't think so, but it's just my opinion). "Why does an insert heat better than just glass doors? Afterall, the insert needs to draw the house's air too. And it is just a firebox in a fireplace which itself is kind of like a firebox". An insert heats better because it is made to extract heat from the fireplace (the glass doors alone are made more for looks or when the fire is burning down to prevent smoke from coming back into the room). Similar to a set of glass doors, it controls the combustion air for the fire by providing just enough air to feed and maintain the burn (an adjusting lever controls the intake air flow). The insert eliminates the excess combustion air that makes a room cold since cold outside air must replace the excess combustion air. As previously noted, most quality inserts use ceramic glass in the doors. Most inserts have at least one fan that draws separate room air into the non-combustion passages of the unit, circulates the air around the passages, heats the air, and sends it out of the discharge vents at high temperatures. Inserts that do not have a fan rely on natural conduction from the hot surfaces of the insert to release heat into the air. Inserts that are EPA-certified also have a "post-combustion" zone which further burns the gasses from the wood to provide a cleaner burn and as well as additional btu's compared to burning only the wood. Last year, I measured the temperature of the heated room air from the discharge vents of my insert using a multi-meter with a thermocouple attachment. I measured a max temperature of 348 degrees F at the vent, 280 degrees F at one inch from the vent, and 148 degrees F at two inches from the vent. I get decent heat out of my unit. "What makes an effective insert? Should it be made of cast iron or steel? Is the insert with a bay front a better design than the flat front because it has more radiant area?" I only have experience with my own insert so I don't think that I can provide a good response. Maybe you can make a separate post for this question. I would want a variable speed fan that is fairly quiet. My fan can run in "blow dryer" mode if I choose to but it is fairly loud at blow dryer speed so I keep it at medium speed. I think that the bay front may add more room to the firebox (not sure about this), and may provide a surface area to keep a pot of water so that humidity can be added to the room (plus more surface area as you noted). It is a nice look but you need additional hearth floor area under the bay. I hope my answers helped you.

Be sure to have a load calc done to be sure you get the equipment properly sized for your home, also have your duct work checked to be ure it has enough compacity for the proper air flow for the equipment as well. May also want to have your homes insulation level checked both in your attic and walls, and also your windows before having a load calc done as any upgrades in those areas may cause your new equipment to be oversized which will make the furnace short cycle costing you more money to operate and shotening the life of the equipment. Ceck with your utility compnay see if they have a weatherization program, if you quailify, they will insulate, upgrade your frunace if needed, check all your appliance's for efficicency and replace if needed, and should you quailify you may only have to pay a mere 10% of the total cost. Alot of States have very similar type programs now a days and it should be taken advantage of IMO. Price should never be a dicding factor, where the installation and the fact that you trust the company installing the equipment is most important other than price. Be sure the contract includes everything necessary and that everything agreed upon between you and the company is in wirting. If it's not in wirting they won't do it unless you pay for the extras. Good luck !!! I had my old furnace replaced last year it was a Tempstar furnace lasted 25 yrs with minimum maintinece but had it replaced with Carriers Infinity 3 stage furnace, very nice equipment and am hopful this summer I will have the AC replaced with a Perfromance 15 or the Ifninity 2 stage HP to give me the Hybrid heating.

The room will definatly gain heat if sun is alowed to hit glass door. Much has been discussed about floor covering. To get maximunm benift of sun don't put carpet,cork or other insulators on floor where sun hit's floor. Without insulation sun will heat floor. If windows don't leak air heavy drapes is more bang for the buck compared to new multi-pane windows. The additional glass has no insulating value at all. The air trapped between panes is what stop's heat loss/gain. Heavy drapes create dead air space that does the same thing. Replacement windows are far overrated and expensive. To properly install a window require's extensive demolition which is rarly done. Botched installations are common. Before spending that kind of money,have someone you know has has experience in home construction and you TRUST look at yours. Caulking and weatherstrip repalcemnt can make a big difference for little expense. I realize you are not pleased with some things previous owners did but I doupt they had anything to do with under slab ducts. Not saying it isn't done but ducts beneath slab aren't usually installed unless insulated. Before stopping them off try and have a trusted person have a look. I could give countless cases where ac techs made untrue statments. Not neccessarly being dishonest,they simply didn't know better. One come's to mind where ducts were underfoot similar to yours. When I went out to look at hvac for new owner,the neighbor came over while I was at outdoor unit. He said rest of house was always comfortable but the dining and living rooms had never heated or cooled well since house was new. What I found was carpet scrapes that had been thrown into floor openings. They had blowen down and piled up out of sight blocking air flow. You need someone with training and experience to help you make decisions and they need to be there,not in another state behind a keyboard. I realize that isn't solving your problem but hopfully you get a trusted friend to help you sort this out before spending your life savings chasing it.