I know this is an old thread, but it seems to have spurred some interest over the last few years. I, too, wanted to know if these grate heaters worked and came across this thread, but wasn't really convinced one way or the other from peoples' responses. On a whim, I decided to buy one, so I figured I could contribute if there are others like me who are curious. First of all, I went with the Cozy Grate Heater from woodlanddirect.com, and I've owned it for about 2 months (November and December). Granted these aren't the coldest months in New England where I live, but I felt I had enough experience with the unit so far to give my two cents. Here goes: - Does the unit put off heat? In short, yes. I keep my thermostat set on 60-62 degrees. Within a couple hours of lighting a fire, my living room (where the fireplace is) is up to 70-72 degrees. It's an approximately 10x20' room and it gets plenty toasty. Some of that heat does go into the rest of the house, but primarily it heats the space where the fireplace is located. - Will this unit provide heating for your whole house? Not really. I do notice the thermostat climb a few of degrees in other parts of the house, but again, primarily it seems to heat the fireplace room. I would say these units are best suited as supplemental heat for your existing heating system. - Do these heaters provide comparable heating to a fireplace insert or wood stove? Not really. My in-laws have an insert and my mom has a wood stove, so I can make a fair comparison. From my experience, the grate heater burns wood quicker than wood stoves & inserts and doesn't put out the same amount of heat. My guess is this has to do with air control - inserts and wood stoves are airtight and you have complete control over the amount of combustion air. A fireplace door (even with a damper feature) is not completely airtight. My mom's wood stove can burn a few logs all day long. I could burn though the same amount of wood in just a few hours. Again, the unit does a great job providing supplemental heat to your fireplace room, and a little bit for the rest of the house, but they aren't going to be a whole-home heating solution. One last consideration that isn't mentioned anywhere online: The unit I purchased (Cozy Grate Heater) is designed to operate most efficiently with the fireplace doors CLOSED. It says so in the instructions. However, I discovered that most fireplace doors are made of tempered glass and are NOT recommended to be closed while a fire is burning. Tempered glass can only withstand temperatures of about 500 degrees. They do make glass doors from a special type of glass called ceramic glass which is INCREDIBLY expensive - this is the same glass found in inserts and wood stoves. Before I bought the unit, I wanted to also purchase new fireplace doors. After discovering this, I decided to keep my existing doors just in case the glass on the new doors ended up cracking. I did call the company that makes the cozy grate heater and asked about this. A nice woman I spoke to told me she's never had a customer call and complain that their glass doors cracked. So far (again, 2 months in), I haven't had an issue - I don't build raging fires and I keep the burning logs at least 6 inches from the glass. Just be aware of this if you're considering buying a grate heater. All in all, I'm very satisfied with my grate heater. I wasn't expecting it to perform as well as an insert, but rather wanted it for supplemental heating of my living room. I love having a fire, but hated the smoke and lack of heating efficiency. This unit has certainly met my expectations. Sorry for the long-winded response, but I'm hoping this will help others out there who are in the same situation I was two months ago!

I used a combination of IPE clips (prior to the embedded stainless steel washers) & IPE plugs. I used plugs on the 2-row border & at the ends of each decking board. I used the IPE clips in between. I did that because I thought the IPE plugs would be quite visible when looking across the deck. However, I discovered the plugs blend in quite well after staining. The IPE clips were expensive & it took a a lot of labor time. However, I have been quite satified with them as there has been no movement after 2 years. Maybe it is because I got good IPE 5/4" X 6 decking but I don't know if that was the case. Regardless, if I do another deck I would countersink & plug everywhere. I can do that quicker than the labor required for the IPE clips, it is less expensive, it does have better holding power, & it does not look like you have dots all over the deck which is what I originally thought it would look like.

well if you have a rough idea on the addition you can talk with the designer about the best approach. Go ahead and get this system designed and installed. Note: you can save costs by using CPVC pipe such as Blazemaster). Just be sure to talk to the designer about the proposed addition and let him/her see what drawings you have for the additions. Two systems might be the easiest/ best approach. Also be sure to get a waterflow alarm (this will alert you when the system is operating or if somehow a pipe/ head gets broken or leaks) The designer should be able to provide a lot more info than I can, as A) I am not a designer B)my area of focus has been more toward special hazards. PS: here is info on a multipurpose system so you could possibly save money on the addition (it taps your cold water lines vs running a separate pipe from the meter) Ask the designer if this might be an option (it will depend on your water pressure and volume). http://www.firesafehome.org/sprinklers/multipurposeSystems.asp here is an idea of what the varieties of heads are like: http://www.firebusters.com/sprforhome/sprpictures.phtml http://www.firebusters.com/sprforhome/moresprpictures.phtml info on blazemaster pipe: http://www.blazemaster.com/featuresBenefits/overview.asp they can be made minimally intrusive on your decor scheme Also Email me: JASON1083 AT COMCAST DOT NET let me know where you are in Tx and I may be able to provide you some additional designers to contact.

Due to kitchen fire, I need cabinets/new kitchen fast. I have been reading reviews for different cabinets and I’m really nervous to proceed with stock or semi-custom cabinets. I definitely don’t want to wait for custom any advise?