Hey Pelletheads... I wanted to get some opinions from people that have been there, done that. I'm in the planning process of adding a 16 x 20 3 season room onto the side of my house. I'm not planning on connecting it to my main forced air HVAC system. I'd like to keep this room separated, and only heat it (and cool?) it as needed. It will have a crawl space foundation, lots of windows, and standard 2x4 wall construction. One side will attach to my living room, and the other side will butt up against an existing deck. I'll use Andersen sliding patio doors between the house and the 3 season room and the deck. Basically, it will be a finished space, and reasonably easy to heat and cool, but it won't always be conditioned. I looked into a mini split, but my HVAC guy quoted $6-8K for a complete system installed. That's a boat load of cash for a system that won't get used all the time. Heating and cooling this room implies that we've actually taken the time to sit down and relax. We already have over 3000 sq foot (including basement) of finished, conditioned space, so I don't feel a need to keep the proposed 3 season room cooled. I was thinking of buying a portable air condition and venting it through a window if we decide that it absolutely HAS to be air conditioned at some point. Heating. Wood? Pellet? I currently do most of my heating with a St. Croix Revolution multifuel furnace, so I lean heavily towards the pellet option. I'd have to buy wood, so I wouldn't save any money there. I found a Mt Vernon AE pellet insert for sale locally. I'd have to construct a fireplace, but I was thinking about making that part of the 3 season room anyway. The downside is that I have a fireplace constructed specifically for a certain stove, and may have trouble finding something to fit that spot if I ever get rid of that particular model. Thoughts on the Mt Vernon AE? I won't need that much BTU to heat 320 sq ft, but it will warm up quickly that way. Anything I'm missing, or not realizing?
Depending on your sun/shade situation, and with lots of windows, I would question the need for an AC. A ceiling fan may be all you need, unless the sun beats down on that room all day.
It will all depend on how well its insulated and how good the windows are. Our similar space(10x20) seems to heat easier than it cools. Tons of solar gain because of all the windows.
If it was me, I'd get a free standing pellet stove, not an insert but then I don't do fireplaces anyway. Inserts will always be a PITA because of the tight clearances and the need for maintenance and of course I lean towards a true multifuel unit and not a pellet only unit because I like the flexibility of burning any readily available biomass fuel and in my case that is field corn. My multifuel stoves will burn ANY biomass from processed wood pellets to pellitized switch grass.
My SIL in North Carolina has a 3 season room. It has lots of windows and a ceiling fan. No AC. It does have a fireplace with gas logs that easily heats the room when it's time to chase away the chill
