The Fireplace & Goal Setting
December 2017

As Christmas creeps up on us, the excitement that I am feeling is two-fold; I’m excited for spending some much needed time off with family and friends, and my family and I have purchased a house! We have a big scope of renovations to do on this home before we move in, and we get the keys in early January 2018.

We’ve owned homes before but we’ve never really had the opportunity to put our own spin on a home in the way that we’re hoping to with our new rural home in Peterborough County.

What I’m wanting to share with you folks is that with unlimited options for fireplaces that I have access to, why myself and my family have jumped aboard the Mendota gas fireplace bandwagon; and why I think you should too.

My goal:

To heat as much of our new home with a Mendota propane fireplace as humanly possible.

First, the space:

Our new home is a rather large ranch style bungalow in two parts, one original, one addition – approximately 1200-1400 square feet on the main floor with an unfinished basement over the original house, a large finished rec room in the basement addition. Ranch style bungalows are notoriously difficult to heat, so to try to do the lion’s share of the heating with a single propane fireplace is optimistic and aggressive on my part – but here’s why I think it can be done:

The specifications:

Mendota DXV-35 Deep Timberwith logs, remote, fan, grace black front, two burners (front and rear).

Fuel type: propane, 13,000 BTU/hr – 33,000 BTU/hr (can be had in natural gas as well), 76.4% CSA P.4 efficiency

Venting: vertical, through the roof with offsets, cap and flashing – more on this as we go along…

Control: thermostatic remote control

Heat distribution: Versi-heat heat transfer system – more on this as we go along…

Introduction to the fireplace manufacturer:

Mendota: America’s Luxury Fireplace

“Mendota luxury fireplaces are custom built in limited numbers for the thoughtful buyer who is interested in something better and more unique than the “builder box” fireplaces that are installed in low-cost housing, condos and apartments. Mendota uses only the finest materials including 18 gauge aluminized steel for outer casing, NeoCeram® glass and stainless steel burner systems, and our fireboxes are continuously seam welded.

What’s more, Mendota fireplaces are certified ANSI/AGA safety tested, high efficiency wall furnaces. Our fireplaces have won “Best of Show” honors at the National Hearth Products Association Expo and have been listed as a “Best Buy” value for gas fireplaces by Consumer’s Digest.” – (http://mendotahearth.com/mendota-fireplace-faqs.php#q2)

The biggest reason that my family and I made the decision to order a Mendota fireplace was that the Mendota is a heater grade gas or propane fireplace with realistic logs, great decorative options and a fabulous turndown – it’s rare to find a fireplace that burns propane that has any real range at all, let alone from 33k BTU/hr down to 13k BTU/hr (60%)!

To compare, the Regency B36-XTE gas fireplace in propane turns down from 31k BTU/hr to 25k BTU/hr (20%). The Kingsman ZCV39LPH has a similar turndown – 29k BTU/hr to 23k BTU/hr – (20%).

There’s not a thing wrong with the Regency B36 or the Kingsman – and certainly, the value that both of those fireplaces offer is huge and the price point is much lower for both in comparison to the Mendota, but the turndown feature on the Mendota DXV-35 is enormous, and to be comfortable in the space that we’re in is a critical factor here.

We’ve had fireplaces in previous homes that offered too much heat, and to be able to have long runtimes and enjoy the fireplace for fire viewing is part of what we’re wanting to accomplish, as it’s intended to be a focal point.

Stay tuned – we’ll keep you posted on the progress of our project!