Hi,

I’ve searched the forums but only see build vs reno scenarios for this.

The goal would be to decrease our heating costs.

We are in a 2000sf 30-yo home in western Canada. We hardly have the worst of winters but 3 months a year we can have spells of -20 C. Despite some of the double pane windows now failing (hand-built, nailed, wood window frames make replacement impossible shy of a very, very large reno bill), during the summer it can be 23*C in and 38*C out with no AC-so summer efficiency is good.

It is slab on grade with propane fueled in-floor radiant heat and contiguous concrete throughout (one floor except for an open attic area). It’s an open design with a wood burning fireplace in the great room at one end of the house; we typically heat the closed bedrooms at the other end to only 16*C while we hold the rest at 19.5*C.

We’re trying to figure out installing a good wood insert into the fireplace box (and possibly installing a ceiling fan at the other end to draw warm air through to it) would improve efficiency given the nature of slab heating. We’re not sure given the cost of the slab cooling and reheating overnight/when we’re out.

All input and considerations valued. Thanks!