# Regency 5100 - the first few months



## jjd (Jan 25, 2013)

So I know the Regency 5100 is a new stove, and lots of folks are looking for reports of it out in the wilds, and how it works.

About 2 months ago I bought and installed a 5100.

Price:
Stove, blower, ash pan, freight, state sales tax, sitting in my garage was just a whisper under $3000.

Performance:
The house I'm heating is a 1600-ft basement. Fully uninsulated, 1 30' wall above ground, with a garage door in that wall... not even close to what you might call air-tight. First floor is also 1600', upstairs is about 1200'. So a total area of about 4500 to heat. House was built in the early 80's so its not a drafty old house, but it sure isn't super tight modern construction either. 

With the outside temps in the 30's ovenight, and days in the upper 40's I've been able to keep the floors at 70-72 basement, 68 1st, and 64 2nd. This is a nice gradient, as the upstairs is all sleeping rooms, and we like it cooler up there. The basement ceiling/first floor at about 72 is nice on my toes, and gone was the previous cool draft that I disliked so much.

I was able to load the stove in the morning before I leave for work, and still have a good coal bed 12 hours later when I got home... not a ton of heat coming off at that point, but plenty good to get some fresh wood to ignite in just a few minutes. Again, in the morning there was plenty of coals, and a fresh piece of wood ignites in < 20 seconds. 

Now that temps have dropped into the 10-12 overnight, and daytime highs in the 20's, the 5100 can't keep up. I've lit the harman coal stove in the family room, and that plus the 5100 is keeping us toasty. 

Frankly I'm stunned that this stove puts off enough heat to keep the whole place warm down to normal Virginia winter temps. I think with some sealing upgrades, and some additional insulation the 5100 might stand a chance of keeping the whole place heated even in the cold periods.

The brochure says 80,000 BTU, but that seems low for a stove of this size, and the volume of wood in the box, and stack temps. The F2400 F3100 and F5100 can't all be 75-80K-BTU stoves?

Also the brochure claims 30 hour burn... perhaps a chemist might call it a 30 hour burn, but those who are heating with it, 15-18 hour max. 

One surprise is the draft control. Its a single lever on the left-front that has about 1.5" of total movement... that is all the control/precision you get in regulating the burn. There are no marks, guides, or references to try to get the control back in the same place once its moved. 

The ash pan is HUGE. I've burned about 3/4 of a cord at this point, and have only had to empty the pan 3 times. 

I have the blower, it was a 'free' upgrade when I made my purchase. I've run the stove with and without and it really doesn't seem to make a huge difference in the total heat extracted from the stove. I can see cat/stack temps are a bit (50 degrees) lower when I run the blower, so some extra heat is being pulled out of the stove, but net-net the temp change in the house is nil blower vs no blower. It might be the total surface area of the stove is enough to radiate the heat. 

Speaking of size, the stove is HUGE. I read the dimensions, I held a tape measure up where I was planning to put the stove, and knew about how big it was.. but once it came out of the box it sure felt a lot bigger in person. Roughly 3'x3'x3' 


The one problem I am seeing, is coal buildup. Because during the week, we are out of the house a lot, there isn't much time to leave the coals burning, and I'm forced to load up the stove before the coals have burned down as much as I would like. On the weekends I'm able to burn them down, but I loose a bunch of wood capacity due to the volume of coals. 

This stove has a voracious apatite for wood. When I'm burning it hot on the weekends, I can easily go through most of a wheelbarrow a day of wood. The house stays nice and warm, but dang, that's a lot of wood. This now leads back to the plus side of having that garage door in the basement.... Getting a wheelbarrow of wood to the stove is quite easy. =).

I'm really able to see the difference in the burn between some very well seasoned wood I have and some less well seasoned stuff. The dry burns a whole lot better, amazingly so. 


So the overall is, I like the stove. Heats better than expected, easy to live with, should only take two heating seasons to to pay me back vs running the heat pump.


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## Huntindog1 (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks Nice info on the stove as I know several on here was interested in that new design.


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## Jack Fate (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks , good to get some up to  date info   .now if I could actually see one.  it could be a contender in my new stove quest

Cheers


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## jjd (Jan 25, 2013)

Jack Fate said:


> .now if I could actually see one. it could be a contender in my new stove quest


 
I can offer a few picture, but there is no substitute for being able to go hands on in a local showroom.


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## Jack Fate (Jan 25, 2013)

jjd said:


> I can offer a few picture, but there is no substitute for being able to go hands on in a local showroom.




The local dealer (65 mi ) doesn't stock any or any cat stove either. So far I can't find a cat stove for 100 mi. Any brand ! Gonna end up buying  blind . So may end up with a Woodstock  . I really want to see the refractory in the stove I buy , 
or the lack off


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## jeff_t (Jan 25, 2013)

How does it do with a low burn? When it was first mentioned here, everyone was hoping for a non-ugly alternative to a BKK.
FWIW, I'm doing about 14-16 hours heating a lot less than you in these temps, though with crappy insulation and drafts that need attention. To be fair, we've been single digits and below zero night, and today is the first day we've been over 20.


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## jjd (Jan 25, 2013)

jeff_t said:


> How does it do with a low burn? When it was first mentioned here, everyone was hoping for a non-ugly alternative to a BKK.


 
I was originally looking at a BK, and the girl vetoed it.

So I really don't have a good point of reference, as this is my first modern stove, but I can get 14-16h out of it when the draft is turned to low. It might 'burn' longer than that but the heat output is getting down too low for my needs.


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## turbocruiser (Feb 9, 2013)

Thanks for taking the time to do that terrific review! Really gives a great idea of what the stove is able to accomplish.  I know you already know all this and also made a mention of it but a big source of heat loss is the garage door down there in the basement.  I'd love to see the stove's performance with that somehow sealed and also insulated.  Maybe I missed it but what type of wood/s are you burning?


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## jjd (Feb 9, 2013)

turbocruiser said:


> I know you already know all this and also made a mention of it but a big source of heat loss is the garage door down there in the basement. I'd love to see the stove's performance with that somehow sealed and also insulated.


 
it is both sealed, well as well as you can seal a garage door, and is insulated.




> Maybe I missed it but what type of wood/s are you burning?


 
Almost exclusively  red/white oak.


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## Todd 2 (Feb 9, 2013)

Nice post of the 5100, not bad for 4500 sq ft and a single stove. Coaling with full loads burning 24-7 is an issue we all get better at working out in time. Glad you are enjoying it other than its apatite 

Todd2


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## Beetle-Kill (Feb 9, 2013)

jjd, don't forget the particulars- temps., air setting, dbl. or single wall pipe, etc.,etc.
This is all good stuff.


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## jjd (Feb 10, 2013)

Beetle-Kill said:


> don't forget the particulars


 


> temps


The included cat temp gauge is what I call in a car, an 'idiot gauge'. There is an active/inactive range, but no temp's marked. I've got no idea what the in-cat temp is, but...


I have a thermometer right next to the cat thermometer, that reads 475-500, stove temp. Stove pipe, about 2-3 feet above the stove reads 300-350.​ 


> air setting,


 
This ia with the stove fully open. ​ 



> single wall pipe,


 
Stove pipe is single wall. Comes out the top of the stove, runs 3' 90 degree then 18" into a clay pipe that runs into a masonry chimney. Chimney is +/- 30-35', Runs from the basement up 2 more stories, and then exits above the main roof. 

My firewood is a bit less dry than I would like. We didn't get enough put up early enough, and have gone through the very dry already. Next year I've got a better idea of how much I need to get stored.


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## michburner (Feb 10, 2013)

what region are you in?  How much wood have you gone through so far?  This is an 8" flue, correct?  Dealer near me doesn't have one on the floor, so I couldn't actually put my hands on one.  Is it built sturdy and made to last forever?  What are your dislikes about the stove?  Would you buy it again?


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## jjd (Feb 10, 2013)

michburner said:


> what region are you in?


Central/Northern Virginia



> How much wood have you gone through so far?


 
Only started burning in Jan '13, so far, about 1.5 cords. My guess for a full season I would burn closer to 6 cords.

before we get into whats a cord, I subscribe to the 4'x4'x8'=cord. 



> This is an 8" flue, correct?


 
Yes.

My stove guy could only get a 6" clay pipe from the local masonry supply, so I have a 8->6 reducer on the top of the stove. I'm not thrilled about that, becuase the step down from 8" to 6" pipe is a MASSIVE reduction in cross section area... about 40% reduction.

I'm going to hit him up in the sumer to source a proper 8" pipe, and redo the connection at the proper size. 



> Is it built sturdy and made to last forever?


 
Appears to be.



> What are your dislikes about the stove?


 
Was hoping for longer burns at higher heat outputs. While it will be 'burning' 12-18 hours after loading, it really isn't putting out much heat. The brochure quoted 24 hour burn times, and I'm sure that combustion could be occuring 24 hours later, if I can put a hand comfortably on the stovetop, then is sure isn't heating much. If you can tend it every 8-12 hours you can get good heat out of it. If you can tend ever 4-6 hours, you can get A LOT of heat out of it.

There are 'side shields' that install into the top, outside edge of the firebox, and are about 2" wide running front to back. These are not firmly fixed and are held in by gravity. If you bump them with a log when your loading, you can dislodge them. With a hot fire, there is no sane way to get them back into place. This has happened 2-3 times so far. If we let the fire burn way down, and I put on a heavy welding glove, I can generally be fast enough to get it back into place.

The door latch gets hot in operation. If you have the stove fairly warm, its too hot to touch with bare hands.




> Would you buy it again?


 
If the wife didn't get a vote, I would have gone blazeking. Its got a great reputation for long burns and steady heat throughout the burn. This stove is a bit more uneven in heat output. A few hours after loading you can get great, chase you out of the room heating, but it won't do lower steady burns as well as I would have hoped for.

Lets face it, this is a HUGE stove, with massive heat output. If you need that capability it certainly delivers on the promise. If you wanted a 20k BTU for 18 hours, well it won't do that as well as I'd like.

As we get into March in Virginia I should be seeing warmer temps, and I'll get more of a feel of how it will do low-er burns, assuming I don't run out of wood first. I've got about 3/4 of cord left, and its going to be a race to see if I run out of wood, or heat needs first. The house has a nice heat pump, and it should do a fine job in March's more mild temps, but I would like to not have to run it if I can.


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## aansorge (Feb 10, 2013)

Didn't realize this was a cat stove until now.  Wow, that is quite a stove.  I wonder how much of an affect the substandard flue is having on overall performance.  Still sounds like it is throwing a ton of heat for a pretty darn long while.


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## jeff_t (Feb 10, 2013)

Be interesting to see the change in performance with a properly sized flue. The short vertical before the 90 probably doesn't help much, either. What is the flue size of the masonry chimney? Any chance of getting an 8" liner in it?

How does the air control on the stove seem? Do you get much secondary burn from the tubes? Wonder if it's capable of a cat-only burn.


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## jjd (Feb 10, 2013)

jeff_t said:


> . What is the flue size of the masonry chimney? Any chance of getting an 8" liner in it?.


 
8x8 square clay.



> How does the air control on the stove seem? Do you get much secondary burn from the tubes?


 
Having never had anything to compare it to, I have no idea if the air control is good/bad.

Yes, when I get a good dry load of wood, there is lots of secondary burn visible around the air tube just before the cat.


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## rideau (Mar 9, 2013)

Six cords of wood in Virginis'a climate is a lot of wood. Lot of work getting it ready, lot of time, lot of space needed to store it.

You replied to someone that you are burning with the air open, exterior single wall flue temp 300 - 350. You are loosing some heat up your chimney with flue temps that high, and if you are indeed burning all the time with your air wide open, you are loosing some of the advantage of a cat burn. Smoke will go through the cat too quickly for the cat to have time to combust it all. Are you doing this because you have to to keep the fire going because of wet wood? If not, once your flue temp thermometer reads 250, try engaging the cat and starting to slowly close the air down. Keep closing it down slowly, as much as you can, as long as you are able to maintain at least red glowing on the wood. That should give you a long, low, even cat burn with a great deal of heat output from the cat's combustion of the volatile gases. As the cat combusts more of the gases, the stove top temp should rise and the flue temp drop. You should be able to get substantially more heat from less wood. If you cannot achieve this type of a burn, install a stovepipe damper. You have a really long flue, and you may be getting too much draft to slow the stove down enough for a nice long cat burn. If you do have too much draft, there is nothing else you can do to stop wasting wood/heat. You'll always have a secondary burn rather than a long, slow cat burn, and you will burn a lot more wood in the same period of time.

Addendum:  Just read on another thread that the firebox will hold 90 pounds.  Of course, that will vary with the species of wood, but by comparison the PH holds 60 pounds.  It very easily achieves 12 hour cat burns, putting out substantial heat all that time, with way less than a full load.  I would think if you can get your stove burning in low cat mode, you'll easily get 18 or more meaning ful hours of heat out of it.  If you can get it near the performance of the PH, I bet you can aim for 24 hours of menaingful heat with a firebox containing 90 pounds of wood.  Go for it.


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## jjd (Mar 9, 2013)

rideau said:


> Are you doing this because you have to to keep the fire going because of wet wood? If not, once your flue temp thermometer reads 250, try engaging the cat and starting to slowly close the air down. Keep closing it down slowly, as much as you can, as long as you are able to maintain at least red glowing on the wood. .


 
The stove came with very minimal directions on how to set the drafts, what temps to try to achieve etc... 

I was trying to heat the house, and full air, was not over heating the house, so I was running it there.

I;ve already gotten 2 cords put up for next year, and should have another 2-3 cut by the end of March, so I should have lots of dry wood for next year.




> Go for it


 
I will. I'm out of wood for the year, and it hit 63 today, so the burning season is over for me, but I've goten some good tips from reading here, and should be in better shape for next year.


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## Hogwildz (Mar 9, 2013)

*I was trying to heat the house, and full air, was not over heating the house, so I was running it there.*
That right there is your problem. Full air is sending all your heat up the stack and out into the wild blue yonder.


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## jjd (Mar 9, 2013)

all makes sense....


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## begreen (Mar 9, 2013)

After the wood is starting to burn fully, drop down the air supply in 50% increments or so, every 5 minutes or so. With dry wood you should be able to run the stove once it is burning well with the air almost all the way closed. Do that and I think you will notice a major increase in heat output and with less wood consumption.


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## webby3650 (Mar 9, 2013)

jjd said:


> My guess for a full season I would burn closer to 6 cords.


Holy Cow!! I'm in mid-south Indiana. I am going through a about 2 cords. Thats with two stoves and sometimes 3. Wood is our only heat source. I'm heating a '71, 2300 square feet ranch and it's way too hot in here most of the time. Are you sure you are burning 6 cords?


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## webby3650 (Mar 9, 2013)

Do you have any pics of the stove, or any of the secondary,cat action? 
The Cape Cod sure has some great action, and could easily get 18-20 in a bit smaller house. I just demand a little bit more since we don't have a central back up.


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## jjd (Mar 11, 2013)

webby3650 said:


> . I'm heating a '71, 2300 square feet ranch and it's way too hot in here most of the time. Are you sure you are burning 6 cords?


 
Ya, I am.

Remember I'm heating more than 2x the space as you are, 40% is UNINSULATED, and has a very non-air tight garage door in the space as well.


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## MrBigLog (Sep 18, 2013)

Hi All, I too purchased a Regency 5100 and am thrilled with the performance .My question is to the group, I was told and the dealer also showed me per the manual that the stove has to have 8 inch double wall and an 8 inch liner when venting into a masonry chimney. He said that running it on 6 inch would void the warranty because it would over draft the stove causing warping and or cracks. The double wall was needed because of the low flue gas temps and the high efficiency. Why is it that someone is running it on 6 inch? Is this ok? Whats the condition of the stove that's running on 6 inch and going up like 35 feet? is all good so far? I am looking to hear everyone's input and also going to email Regency to see if this was true..


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## Huntindog1 (Sep 18, 2013)

Call regency directly.


6988 Venture St, Delta, BC V4G 1H4, Canada ‎

+1 604-946-5155 ‎


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## MrBigLog (Sep 18, 2013)

WOW, just hung up with a tech named Larry from the east coast after being transferred.I cant believe I actually got to speak to a live person,thanks for the info.Here is the deal in a nutshell 8 inch 8 inch 8 inch lol,the stove was designed to run 8 inch double wall inside and insulated pipe or liner as in my case (masonry flu) and nothing else  ,he did indeed verify that anything above and beyond the manual would void the warranty. hope this helps i know it eases my mind that i didn't get suckered into buying more expensive pipe and the dealer was spot on with what he sold me. Keep praying for snow so we can burn this monster 24/7 the way she was meant to be used.......


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## Huntindog1 (Sep 18, 2013)

Well if the stove is that finicky then its gonna cost them some sales. They designed that stove from the ground up their designers should have built in a little flexibility as everyone has different setups.

I figure since they have a limited lifetime warranty they are going to nit pick the installs.


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## MrBigLog (Sep 18, 2013)

From my prior wood burning experience I always had 6 inch pipe with 6 inch stoves,so this is new to me, as my dealer said it would over fire the stove if i ran it on 6 inch because of increased draft and it was way to small for the cross sectional for that size firebox and you can go up 1 pipe size but not down unless it was tested that way. The double wall isn't for clearances as i thought but to keep the draft going because of the almost 86 percent efficiency he said that the exhaust wasn't that hot like older stoves so it had to have the dbl wall pipe to keep it flowing. . I just don't want to void my warranty or burn my house down at the sake of saving a few dollars


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## begreen (Sep 18, 2013)

If the stove is designed for 8" then it requires 8". This is true for almost every extra large wood stove. True for the Blaze King King, Hearthstone Equinox, Kuma Sequoia, Country ST310, etc.. No surprise here at all and certainly not the sign of a finicky stove. A big stove will move a larger volume of air through its belly to burn a larger volume of fuel. Likewise some small European stoves can get away with 4-5" flues.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 18, 2013)

That is a discussion we need to have in a thread here sometime with participation of stove makers and maybe some of our resident engineers. I have always felt that my 5.5" liners draft harder than a 6" would due to velocity.

I will start that thread here soon.


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## Huntindog1 (Sep 20, 2013)

Thats gonna be hard for Woodstock to beat that Regency 5100 if its 86% efficient.The 5100 stove grams emissions is 1.46.

Not sure if thats exhaust efficiency or  room caloric efficiency. Caloric efficiency I think is where the calculate the expected btu's from the loaded wood and then measures how much heat gets put into a specialized test room that the can measure heat in calories or calculate it. I guess they measure stack calories or btu's also.

To add to the 8" Flue discussion, I guess if  your putting out those kinds of dollars for a Regency 5100 stove the additional cost of replacing your flue system isnt a big deal. But I think most people have 6" flue systems so most people getting this stove are also in for a flue replacement. How long does it take to break even on an install like that?


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## jjd (Dec 27, 2013)

Ok, its time for a followup. 

Got the chimney cleaned over the summer. The sweep was surprised how clean the stove had burned given the volume I ran through it last year. So even with some less-ideal wood it was doing OK. Gasification + cat apparently makes for a nice clean burn

So how is this season going?

Started this season with about 5 cords (the 128 cu-ft kind) stacked, dry and ready to go.  90% red oak, a bit of poplar in there. Oak samples metered at 18-23% moisture on the ends. 

The stove is burning MUCH nicer with good dry-er wood. Yes, yes, we all know that stoves burn best on dry wood, but have to re-hear it from time to time. 

Reloads get back into the active-cat range very quickly. The heat output is much improved. We have been able to keep the whole house 65+ all season, even with stretches of 15-20 degree days. 

Got a trailer that holds about 1/4-1/5 of a cord that the lawn mower can tow into the basement garage, and park it < 20' from the stove. Might be the best thing I've ever seen for getting wood into a house, and near a stove. Load it on the weekend, and I can generally get to the next weekend without a trip to the pile.

Now I need to figure out how to handle each piece of wood less. I think from tree to stove I handle each piece 10 times... It would help if the logs were on the same property as the stove, but that's not going to happen for a few years.


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## PeterT (Jul 31, 2014)

G'day JJD.  Thanks for the ongoing updates mate ... they are greatly appreciated!  Regency released the F5100 here in Australia only a couple of months ago now (in fact the model number down here is F5102B).  Anyway, I am wondering what kind of burn times you are now getting since you have sorted the wood and given that you have a better handle on the nuances of the stoves operation.  Also, I would be keen to learn of what sort of wood (i.e. hardwood/softwood species) you are putting through the beasty.  Cheers PT


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## 8ball (Jul 31, 2014)

jjd said:


> So I know the Regency 5100 is a new stove, and lots of folks are looking for reports of it out in the wilds, and how it works.
> 
> About 2 months ago I bought and installed a 5100.
> 
> ...


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## 8ball (Jul 31, 2014)

H


jjd said:


> So I know the Regency 5100 is a new stove, and lots of folks are looking for reports of it out in the wilds, and how it works.
> 
> About 2 months ago I bought and installed a 5100.
> 
> ...


hi
I am surprised you got a blower with your stove but you don't mention the Airmate that the fan is designed for. Get the Airmate and you will feel like you have two 5100's in the basement. It's a big deal!


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## jjd (Jul 31, 2014)

PeterT said:


> Anyway, I am wondering what kind of burn times you are now getting since you have sorted the wood and given that you have a better handle on the nuances of the stoves operation.



When I'm home on the weekends and can feed it more regularly I can get 6-8 hours of solid, high heat output. During the week if we load it well, 10 hours later there are still a good amount of coals that make for a easy relight of the fresh wood.



> Also, I would be keen to learn of what sort of wood (i.e. hardwood/softwood species) you are putting through the beasty.  Cheers PT



Mostly I've been feeding it Northern Red Oak, with a small amount of pine and poplar mixed in. Generally will run the softer woods on the weekends when I can feed it more often as they don't have as long a burn as the oak.


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## jjd (Jul 31, 2014)

8ball said:


> I am surprised you got a blower with your stove but you don't mention the Airmate that the fan is designed for. Get the Airmate and you will feel like you have two 5100's in the basement. It's a big deal!



The blower assembly has a chamber across the whole back of the stove, and it comes up to the top and turns to blow air across the top. I'm sure the airmate that covers the top would help get more heat extracted. I'll have to ask my dealer for pricing on it.


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## 8ball (Jul 31, 2014)

jjd said:


> The blower assembly has a chamber across the whole back of the stove, and it comes up to the top and turns to blow air across the top. I'm sure the airmate that covers the top would help get more heat extracted. I'll have to ask my dealer for pricing on it.


The price is double the heat , so you can turn that puppy down somewhat get longer burns move a ton more hot air.
Should cost around 100.$


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## webby3650 (Jul 31, 2014)

jjd said:


> When I'm home on the weekends and can feed it more regularly I can get 6-8 hours of solid, high heat output. During the week if we load it well, 10 hours later there are still a good amount of coals that make for a easy relight of the fresh wood.
> 
> 
> 
> Mostly I've been feeding it Northern Red Oak, with a small amount of pine and poplar mixed in. Generally will run the softer woods on the weekends when I can feed it more often as they don't have as long a burn as the oak.


Good coals left after 10 hours? This is very surprising! I thought this stove was supposed to be a competitor of the Blaze King King? The King Ultra comes standard with the convection deck too. This is surprising news.


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## begreen (Jul 31, 2014)

jjd, any plans to insulate the basement walls? Without insulation up to a third of the stove's heat is going out the walls and heating up the ground.


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## PeterT (Aug 1, 2014)

G'day JJD.  Thanks again mate for the updated info.  Like Webby, I am really surprised that you are only getting about 10 hours or so before a reload when Regency is clearly claiming up to 30 hour burn times (??).  Whilst I appreciate this figure is at the upper end of the burn spectrum, you would still tend to expect maybe 24 hours at least.  However, I have seen claims on Regency Americas website stating that the F5100 is 85% efficient but when I checked the EPA certified stove listing it states an efficiency of only 79% (that's still pretty good but a far cry from 85%).  Here in Oz,  I have again seen statements of 77% efficiency (against our standard) but official test data reveals that it is in fact only 73%.  I don't know about others but I find this to be misleading and bordering on false advertising.

Anyway,  I am seriously in the market for a large stove to heat approximately 450m2 (4800sq ft) with an existing ducted air transfer system to do most of the distribution.  My aim is to obtain a stove that will future proof me against some of the new standards that are coming down the pipe because there is a growing level of angst by policy makers about wood heaters (unlike the US and Europe they are not readily embracing the virtues of wood heating).  So this tends to narrow the field considerably.

I have read with considerable interest and thanks the insights provided by some serious blokes on Heath.com such as Webby3650, Begreen and many others who have provided a wealth of knowledge and first hand experience (particularly the thread 'Blazeking Ashford 30 vs Cape Cod').  Indeed,  I was very keen on the Lopi Cape Cod and followed its development for some considerable time in anticipation of its release here in Oz, which was delayed and only introduced in mid June 2014.  Unfortunately, it has been released in Oz for a unit price of $A5,399 .... yep you read it right $5,399 OUCH   I am sure there will be many sitting here reading this and saying WTF!  ..... and this price does not include the blower, flue or any of the other trimmings or installation.

The Regency F5100 was released a little bit earlier as I understand and upon Googling I found that it is selling for about $A3,800 at the moment (stove only) but they do have a promo on for a free flu kit at the moment. But this is only for the stove and so the blower assembly, Airmate and ash pan are all extra.

I would have considered a number of Blazeking offerings but forum member BKVP has advised me that BK has no immediate plans to venture Down Under .... seems like you blokes are keeping them pretty busy .  I would have also liked to have considered Woodstock Soapstone but their stoves have not undergone any Aussie testing and so it pretty well rules them out.  Pity, they seem to have some very good offerings and they seem to be ahead of the curve on the innovation side of things, as is Blazeking and Lopi I must say.

I had also considered the Alderlea T5/T6 after reading some very good recommendations and a superb review by Begreen (i.e. for his T6). The Alderlea T6 is available in Oz for $3,500 (stove only) but upon further research it (as a non-cat)  is just on the borderline of  future emissions/efficiency compliance standards.  Also, with an efficiency of 64% it would cost me an extra ton of wood per season to run it as compared to say the F5100 or 2 ton as against the Cape Cod (the CC has an efficiency of 83%). This is a pity as I love the way the Alderlea stove is constructed and how their cooktop works.

Anyway, sorry for me dribbling on here but I hope this gives you blokes a good insight into how things kinda stack up for us Down Under.  Cheers PT


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## begreen (Aug 1, 2014)

> "I get 6-8 hours of solid, *high heat* output"


Sounds like the stove is being pushed pedal to the metal. The OP is heating *4500 sq ft *from a "fully uninsulated" basement. I doubt other stoves would do much better under these conditions. This is more wood furnace territory. Insulating the basement could save some cords and extend burning time considerably. Having the stove on the first floor would have it idling on low burn most of the time.


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## PeterT (Aug 1, 2014)

begreen said:


> Sounds like the stove is being pushed pedal to the metal. The OP is heating *4500 sq ft *from a "fully uninsulated" basement. I doubt other stoves would do much better under these conditions. This is more wood furnace territory. Insulating the basement could save some cords and extend burning time considerably. Having the stove on the first floor would have it idling on low burn most of the time.


I suspect you might be right BeGreen but then to be fair to JJD I haven't seen any other commentators revealing extended burn times.  I am sure we would all love to hear from them if they exist.  A san aside, do you know if Pacific Energy is looking to Cat / Hybrid configs for any of their stoves in the foreseeable future?  I must say I do like their styling and the cooktop config.  Given that they already have a presence in OZ then any prospective development could be worth waiting for.  PT


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## stovelark (Aug 1, 2014)

x2 BG,  the guy is heating 4500 sqft.  Although he is in a milder area than myself,  still sounds plenty cold.  6 cords of wood to provide most of the heat doesn't sound that much out of line.  Most of us with "regular" sized homes, use 2-3 cords of wood.  Thanks for the info JJD,   you're getting peppered pretty good with questions...  all of us are looking for info on the new stove.  Good luck with it, it sounds like the stove is having to work its tail off to provide heat too......


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## begreen (Aug 1, 2014)

Yeah, the first year was a learning experience with semi-seasoned wood and operator. He was running the air pretty much wide open the first year. That is not how to run these stoves. Second year got better. It was a colder winter and less wood used. Insulating the basement would make another major improvement.


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## jjd (Aug 2, 2014)

ok, I'll try to get to all the questions...

Yes the stove is under sized trying to heat as much space as it is. I'm hoping to move out of the current place in a year or so... therefore I'm not putting any money into  improving the current situation by insulating the basement. I did have some trim work done on the outside of the house. That included replacing the weather stripping around the basement garage door, and that has made a noticeable improvement in the temp of the basement this summer. I'm hoping it will continue to make things better in the winter season. 

New place I'm looking into a wood boiler + storage to be the heat source, but thats a topic for another thread.



> am really surprised that you are only getting about 10 hours or so before a reload when Regency is clearly claiming up to 30 hour burn times





> Good coals left after 10 hours? This is very surprising! I thought this stove was supposed to be a competitor of the Blaze King King? The King Ultra comes standard with the convection deck too. This is surprising news.



There is no auto-draft regulation, like the BK (wanted a BK, wife DQ'd on looks). I'm burning on minimum draft setting during the day, so I don't know how to get any longer of a burn time. We've tried E-W vs N-S loadings, and that changes burn times a bit, but still no where even close to a 30 hour burn. When I get home after 10-12 hours away, the cat temp is down to about 200 degrees. There are usually 1-2 logs that are reduced to just coals in the back of the stove. I rake them forward, and get small splits to rekindle in just a few minutes with the door open. The stove will take 22" wood, but most of my wood gets cut to 18" so I'm probably losing a bit of capacity there. But we try to load to one side, and then get a few logs on the other side front-to-back to fill the hole.

The one thing I know is wrong/not ideal about my setup... I have an 8x8 clay chimney, but the stove installer had to step down to a 6" pipe to get inside the 8x8. This chimney is also very tall... 3 stories + above roof projection, and it comes through the roof peak, so its a tall as it could be.  I've never measured the draft, but it may be an over drawing setup. It is 100% inside the house, except for the above the roof part.

The stove dealer said this was a 6" stove, and there was no limited details on Regencies web site, and the dealer didn't have literature when I ordered the stove. It wasn't until it was home, and unpacked that I learned the stove had an 8" flue on it. Stove installer assured me it would be ok, to reduce to 6" to make the transition into the clay flue. The chimney sweep has had good things to say about the relative cleanliness of the stove pipe & flue vs the wood volume we are burning, so thats a good indicator.



> Yeah, the first year was a learning experience with semi-seasoned wood and operator. He was running the air pretty much wide open the first year. That is not how to run these stoves. Second year got better. It was a colder winter and less wood used. Insulating the basement would make another major improvement.



I think I was coming up to speed on how to burn a gasifying cat stove by the end of season 1, but the wife... well thats been a sore spot even on year 2. The number of times that I come down and find the stove in bypass mode, or recently reloaded and not hot enough to gas/cat, and choked off to minimum air, just watching the smoke coat the glass. We had some weekend 'how to run this stove' sessions, and by the end of season 2 we had no more of the burned a full load in bypass or 'smoking the pig' incidents.  She grew up with an old non-air tight stove, and is used to adjusting the stove every 30 minutes. Its taken a lot of effort to get her acclimated to batch burning.

Setting up for year 3 - I've got 6 cords cut/stacked and ready to go at the house and another 3 at the farm, most of its been cut for > 1 year and the moisture meter says some of it is already < 20%. The 'fresher, wet' end of the stack is at 25%, so we should be in good shape for this coming season.


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## begreen (Aug 2, 2014)

With a small and tall straw on the stove have you tried adding a key damper to reduce draft?


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## jjd (Aug 2, 2014)

begreen said:


> With a small and tall straw on the stove have you tried adding a key damper to reduce draft?



I have not. The stove doesn't seem to over fire even with the draft fully open.


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## PeterT (Aug 4, 2014)

jjd said:


> I have not. The stove doesn't seem to over fire even with the draft fully open.


 I spoke to the Australian distributor today and he advised me that extensive testing with different flue diameters had been undertaken with this stove and they found that the stove's efficency dropped dramatically with a 6" flue.

8" was the optimal size but a 7" flue (with an 8 to 7" reducer) was considered acceptable also. In fact the Aussie install manual refers to the 8" to 7" reduction as an option as 8" is not common in Oz.
He also said that it is important to reduce flow through the cat to get optimal results/ maximum burn times. Given your situation JJD, it seems Begreen's advice about installing a draft control mechanism to slow your exhaust flow might very well be your best solution outside of course of replacing your whole flue with 8". I hope this helps PT


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## jjd (Aug 4, 2014)

PeterT said:


> He also said that it is important to reduce flow through the cat to get optimal results/ maximum burn times. Given your situation JJD, it seems Begreen's advice about installing a draft control mechanism to slow your exhaust flow might very well be your best solution outside of course of replacing your whole flue with 8". I hope this helps PT



Just so we have full disclosure, I've got about 3' of 6" pipe from stove top, to a 8x8 clay tile masonry chimney. So I am not running a 100% 6" flue. The chimney is in the 35-40' tall range.

I did _A LOT_ of reading over the weekend about draft control dampers, and bungalow syndrome.

I rarely see my air tube lighting off the gas as it goes into the cat. When I do it lights for a few seconds, and then goes out, stays unlit for 5-10 seconds, and then lights off for a few, and repeats.

I'm beginning to think the draft control on the 5100 is a primary air control and the secondary air has no manual control... but that's a guess. If that were true, my tall stack is probably causing an over-draw on the secondary and the top of the stove is both too cool/ to lean to get a good secondary burn.

So I think I'm going to add a manual damper in the 6" pipe this season, and see if I can slow the air flow down so I can get longer burns and see some secondary burn action.


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## PeterT (Aug 5, 2014)

WOW ... a 12 metre flue ... now that's a monster of a flue when you consider that most tests are undertaken on a + 4.6m (15') flue!  Whilst I am certainly no expert, it would seem this might indeed be where your problem lies JJD.  Depending upon how the first 3' flue section is configured, perhaps you could just replace that section with an 8" flue section which may be all you need to make a real difference in burn times and therefore extended heat output.  Any additional cost for the 8" would surely be recovered in quick time through reduced fuel costs alone I would think. PT


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## jjd (Aug 5, 2014)

PeterT said:


> Depending upon how the first 3' flue section is configured, perhaps you could just replace that section with an 8" flue section which may be all you need to make a real difference in burn times and therefore extended heat output.  Any additional cost for the 8" would surely be recovered in quick time through reduced fuel costs alone I would think. PT



I'm not sure changing 3' of pipe from 6 to 8" would make that much of a difference. certainly the velocity of flow in the 6" pipe is higher than it would be in a 8" pipe, but If the flue is capable of over drafting from a 'restrictive' 6" pipe, then a less restrictive 8" pipe I would think could permit even more draw.


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## PeterT (Aug 5, 2014)

Your point certainly seems logical here JJD so perhaps others might be able to confirm the dynamics and relationship between flue dimensions, heights, temperature etc . As I currently understand it, with a lower cross section of flue (i.e. 6" as opposed to 8") it does not require as much heat to heat the air within the flue and therefore increase the draw. Perhaps my understanding is incorrect here and so I will bow out to others with far more knowledge on such issues. PT


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## jjd (Aug 5, 2014)

PeterT said:


> As I currently understand it, with a lower cross section of flue (i.e. 6" as opposed to 8") it does not require as much heat to heat the air within the flue and therefore increase the draw. Perhaps my understanding is incorrect here and so I will bow out to others with far more knowledge on such issues.



I would believe that the 12 meters of 8" flue have a much greater influence than the 1 meter of 6", and would dominate the behavior of the flue.


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## PeterT (Aug 5, 2014)

I suspect you are probably right JJD but that first 3' might be a big deal given that it is directly connected to your stove.  It would be interesting to see what others might think and suggest here.  Also, I was flicking back through this thread and I noticed MrBigLog (who is a new F5100 owner also) made a few comments back on the 19 September 2013.  He seemed pretty impressed and happy with his stove but didn't really give any details other than he was running a straight 8" flue.  It would be interesting (if he is still tuned into this thread)  to hear what burn times he is achieving (type of wood, temperatures etc.) and how he is actually setup (i.e. is he in a multistorey building like yourself or single storey for example ... flue height etc).  Whilst I am considering a number of tertiary aspects about the stove I will eventually get, I am nevertheless seriously considering this stove myself (given the warranty and the advertised burn times) and have made some preliminary enquires here in Oz.  However, I find myself somewhat stymied by few reviews or comments (outside of your detailed and excellent review JJD) about the appliance in general so it makes it a little harder to grasp the nettle because the overall costs to acquire and install one in Oz is high by comparison to the US so I have to get it right the first time around. PT


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## Huntindog1 (Aug 5, 2014)

My stove and situation are slightly different but I have an idea that helped my as I run to a 8" Thimble in a masonry flue thats something like 7" x 11" of the main masonry flue.

I had alot of trouble running 6" pipe to a larger flue with 8" thimble.

I put an adapter right on top of the stove and rain 8" pipe all the way to the flue.

Trying to feed such a tall large volume flue from a smaller volume 6" run of pipe seems to be the issue.

The only way I can explain it helped me and my operation of a non-cat stove is this:

The hottest part of the flue system is at the top of the stove. Being able to run 8" pipe with a larger volume of air flowing from the hottest part of the stove giving you a larger volume of hotter air moving up to your masonry flue helps the balance of the system.

So in your situation you need to feed your chimney with all 8" pipe to make sure the system balance is right.

Plus like begreen mentioned a damper will give you some adjustment if your draft is too strong.

I wonder with such a tall flue what have alot of draft what kind of wind tunnel effect of pulling thru a 6" pipe like you have , does that increase velocities?


I would paint the basement with white paint ,  I used Valspar Duramax  from lowes. White is highly heat radiation reflective. Most your heat from a wood stove is radiated heat. Those basement walls absorb alot of the radiated heat if just plain block walls. Putting a semi gloss paint like duramax which has ceramic dusts in it for durability makes it highly radiated type heat reflective. This helped me alot  heating from my basement wood heat.


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## jjd (Aug 5, 2014)

> So in your situation you need to feed your chimney with all 8" pipe to make sure the system balance is right.



I can not. The thimble is 6". I could run 8" from stove to thimble, but that's the best I could do.




> I would paint the basement with white paint ....


already done =)


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## bholler (Aug 5, 2014)

You say you have an 8 by 8 class a chimney with a 6 " crock are you sure that is right?  class a is round and the connection at the bottom would be the same as the flue size.  all that being said with the height of your stack that short peice of 6" is not going to make much difference at all.  i would try a damper it might help.  I have one on mine that is 30' tall and it made a big difference in heat output.  but my stove is totally different.  But i would bet you are over drafting it and loosing allot of heat and shortening your burn times significantly.


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## jjd (Aug 5, 2014)

bholler said:


> You say you have an 8 by 8 class a chimney with a 6 " crock are you sure that is right?



the chimney builder put a 8x8 as a horizontal from the flue into the room.

When my stove guy went to do the install he was a bit perplexed as he had never seen it done this way. The 8x8 was chipped out and a 6" round was installed to replace it. He told me  8" round was unavailable from the local masonry supply places.



> But i would bet you are over drafting it and loosing allot of heat and shortening your burn times significantly.



Thats my working theory right now too.


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## bholler (Aug 5, 2014)

So it is a clay lined chimney not a class a?


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## jjd (Aug 5, 2014)

bholler said:


> So it is a clay lined chimney not a class a?


correct, I've updated my previous post.  Had too many things on my mind when typing the reply.


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## bholler (Aug 5, 2014)

ok i didnt see that sorry i was confused by it thats all.


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## PeterT (Aug 23, 2014)

G'day JJD and all,

I found this YouTube video on the Regency F5100 that might be of interest.  Unfortunately, the video poster does not give any details about performance other than when he last loaded it (i.e. 3pm the day before) and the time he is loading it as he speaks (i.e. 7am). Not sure where he is located but he mentions "cord wood" so I am guessing North America.  You might also notice that he is running with what appears to be an 8" flue, which is what is recommended in the US.  Regency Australia has advised that a 7" flue is also acceptable (using an 8" to 7" reducer) given the hardwoods we burn (i.e. a little more draft is not detrimental).  My thinking is that I would stick to 8" so as to reduce the rate of exhaust through the cat combustor to get more bang for my buck with hopefully much extended burn times than advertised using our Australian high density hardwoods.

Anyway, here's the link .... 

I hope this helps

PeterT


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## jjd (Dec 19, 2014)

So its time for some updates.

This year I've added/changed:
8" pipe from stove top to wall. Still reduces to 6" to through the wall, but that is now a < 12" run of clay tile. 
Added an airmate
added a 'pie plate' style draft damper in the 8" pipe about 18" above the top of the stove. Unless we are loading wood, or trying to get up to cat-active temps, we generally run the damper 80% or more closed

Whats changed:

My wood consumption is down 30%, or more.
Its now easy to get the stove into cat mode, and keep it there for 12-15 hours. 
The secondary air tube often shows combustion prior to entering the cat. 
After coming home from a 10 hour work day, there are LOTS of coals to get a new fire going 
House has a more even temp throughout all 3 levels
Whole house humidifier on the heat pump has no problem keeping up with the humidity needs (set to 40%)

So the theory of over-drafting seems proven out. Now that I can control the draft, I'm getting the burn times, heat output, overall house comfort etc... that I expected.

Thanks for the advice, and I'm now much happier with my stove.


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## PeterT (Dec 20, 2014)

G'day JJD,

Thanks for the update mate and glad to hear that things have improved significantly with what appears like minor improvements. As yet, I have still not decided upon whether to acquire this stove or not as the quoted acquisition/install price is still approximately $A5K. As a disabled military veteran every dollar counts I am afraid :-(.  If I do acquire the stove for a fairer installed price then I would definitely provide a follow up review here for the benefit of others ... perhaps a video review, which might help to better illustrate the environment and some of the other considerations in which the stove would be operating.

Anyway, thanks again mate.

Cheers

PeterT


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## jjd (Dec 21, 2014)

yes, all in all very low cost improvements that mad a big difference in how the stove it running. Had to say if this stove is a good value to you, and your needs. My initial go-in had been a blaze-king, but the wife vetoed it on looks. Not sure why as it was sitting in a unfinished basement where gusts never go, but alas she who must be obeyed was, and we looked for a different model. 

I would imagine unless you were in an area where you had a lot of heating cost, and access to low-cost wood, it would be hard to see the pay back on a $5k expenditure in a reasonable time frame.


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## PeterT (Dec 30, 2014)

jjd said:


> yes, all in all very low cost improvements that mad a big difference in how the stove it running. Had to say if this stove is a good value to you, and your needs. My initial go-in had been a blaze-king, but the wife vetoed it on looks. Not sure why as it was sitting in a unfinished basement where gusts never go, but alas she who must be obeyed was, and we looked for a different model.
> 
> I would imagine unless you were in an area where you had a lot of heating cost, and access to low-cost wood, it would be hard to see the pay back on a $5k expenditure in a reasonable time frame.



G'day JJD,

Sorry for my delayed response mate but thanks again for your follow up post above.

Unfortunately the Blaze King range of stoves is not available here in Oz and I confirmed with Chris (aka 'BKVP') that this situation is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. It pains me that it is against the law to install a stove that has not been fully tested and accepted to Australian and New Zealand compliance standards, which I feel only negates potentially legitimate overseas compliant models. Indeed, I tend to feel that there should be a more open acceptance of various international recognised compliance standards so as to facilitate the mutual recognition of higher threshold compliant stoves. If this happened,  then it would conceivably reduce unnecessary testing costs, thereby reducing downstream costs to end consumers, which in turn might improve the direct distribution and penetration of more efficient and lower emission stoves for all concerned. I feel current Australian & NZ standards ultimately preclude (due to cost and perhaps even vested interests also) access to potentially superior products such as some those offered by Blaze King and WoodStove Soapstone, just to name a few.

There is no doubt that the upfront cost of approx. $5K for the F5100 is an initial barrier to entry for me, but then the alternate operating costs for NG and/or electric heating here in Oz can be and are frightfully expensive also I'm afraid. By way of example, my first winter in this house, which is quite a bit larger and more open planned than my last house, the NG bill for the first 90 days was approx. $2,100 and the bill over the same period for electricity was approx. $1,200 (mainly attributable to in-slab electric floor heating). Suffice to say I saw the need to turn off the gas and in-slab heaters and ordered my family to don on their flak jackets and battle helmets to not only battle cost but the cold as well.    Regrettably,  we were then forced to arc up our old inefficient open fireplace (Jetmaster 700D) for that winter and subsequent winters also ....  (delays here were twofold in that changes to A&NZ standards had not been ratified and there was also a real chance that our state government here in the Australian Capital Territory (the state/territory where the city of Canberra is situated) signalled that they might go ahead ban wood heaters outright.  As a consequence,  I could ill afford to do anything until these situations had been completely resolved ... they have only now been resolved in the last few months to some level of confidence).

Whilst Canberra winters are generally colder than most other places in Oz, they are considered relatively mild by comparison to your winters in North America. We might get the odd -8 deg C (~17 deg F) temps here at night but temps of this nature are only once in a blue moon events and the days normally average around 5-15deg C (41-58 Deg F).

Whilst grid supplied NG / electricity costs are not easily overcome at the outset,  the flip side and the reason for my active investigation and entry into the wood heating arena is that I do have reasonable access to some low cost / no cost firewood. So the up front cost of the F5100, whilst expensive, would be somewhat amortised quickly over time I feel ... although the replacement cost of the catalyst is yet another unknown cost consideration here.  If I had to buy fire wood at approx. $300/tonne at an average and expected consumption rate of 3-6 tonne per year,  with possibly having to replace the cat every 5 years or so, and the labour involved also, then on balance it all might all prove to be of questionable valued (as you suggest) for sure.

Finally, I have also investigated and considered wood fired furnaces as another possible option as they (as a ducted heating system) are generally excluded from current A&NZ Standards. However, upon casual investigation I have generally found that their emission and efficiency rates don't seem to rate as well by comparison to some of the free standing wood stove models we have generally discussed here on the various Hearth.com forums.  As such,  I am particularly sensitive to achieving lower emission rates in the first instance as I remain conscious of possible regulatory enforcements and the health impacts to neighbours and my own family as well. But then all of this is for naught also because wood fired furnaces are not readily available in Oz and the outright cost to ship one here would be highly prohibitive I suspect.

Anyway, I hope your heating situation with the F5100 continues to progress well mate and that your winter this year is more one of pleasurable snow skiing and bob sledding than one of having to sit a top of your F5100 to try and stay warm .... 

Cheers

PeterT


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## rideau (Dec 30, 2014)

$1100 a month on natural gas and electricity in a climate that mild is stunning.  6000 to 12000 pounds a year of firewood comes to about 2 to 4 cords of hardwood, which here at an expensive cost of $350 per cord would run $700 to 1400 for the season....(most people in NA pay considerably less than $350 per cord, though)...less than your $900-$1800 cost.  Your projected $900 to $1800 for the season is still considerably less than the quoted $1100 per month for electric+ Natural gas.....What is your cost per KWh for electric?


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## PeterT (Dec 30, 2014)

rideau said:


> $1100 a month on natural gas and electricity in a climate that mild is stunning.  6000 to 12000 pounds a year of firewood comes to about 2 to 4 cords of hardwood, which here at an expensive cost of $350 per cord would run $700 to 1400 for the season....(most people in NA pay considerably less than $350 per cord, though)...less than your $900-$1800 cost.  Your projected $900 to $1800 for the season is still considerably less than the quoted $1100 per month for electric+ Natural gas.....What is your cost per KWh for electric?



G'day Rideau,

Thanks for the comments.

Depending upon where you are located within Australia well then the flat rate cost of electricity can vary anywhere up to 33cents per Kwh. Market rates may prove to be more favourable if you can shift consumption onto lower tariffs but as you will see below the average c/Kwh is still relatively high by comparison to say average US rates, which I believe are still pegging around 12-13c/Kwh (i.e. the last time I looked on EIA).  Anyway, here is a recent graph from an independent analysis that perhaps helps to illustrate the fact:





PeterT


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## Log (Mar 14, 2015)

Hey all,

So I am noticing a problem with this stove. It seems as if the air control has very little movement on it. Aka not 100% control.

It only slides a bit open/closed. Has anyone else noticed this? I got under the stove and noticed that when it is fully shut (all the way to the right) the shutter is not completely closed and air can still leak in. The stove is getting about an 8 to 10 hour burn time and I suspect this is the reason.

I am just looking for any solutions (if anyone has noticed this same problem) and also for anyone with the stove to let me know if they also notice that the air control lever only slides a bit each way.

If you look @ the air control on say the CS2400 or even the F3500 you will notice it slides A LOT more - and completely cuts the air off.

Thank you for any replies beforehand


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## Grisu (Mar 14, 2015)

Log said:


> It only slides a bit open/closed. Has anyone else noticed this? I got under the stove and noticed that when it is fully shut (all the way to the right) the shutter is not completely closed and air can still leak in. The stove is getting about an 8 to 10 hour burn time and I suspect this is the reason.



I would call Regency and ask them if that is not part of the stove design. Could be that for complete combustion some primary air is still needed or the primary and secondary air are linked. (The CS2400, F3500 may have separate secondary air inlets, with the CS2400 being a completely different, non-hybrid design anyway.)


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## webby3650 (Mar 14, 2015)

Log said:


> Hey all,
> 
> So I am noticing a problem with this stove. It seems as if the air control has very little movement on it. Aka not 100% control.
> 
> ...


Wow, 8-10 hours? I get that with $600 dollar craigslist stoves. I hope you figure something out to improve burn times. That's pretty sorry considering the price tag!


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## Grisu (Mar 14, 2015)

webby3650 said:


> Wow, 8-10 hours? I get that with $600 dollar craigslist stoves. I hope you figure something out to improve burn times. That's pretty sorry considering the price tag!



Unfortunately, seems to be a "feature" of their hybrid-line: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-ci2600-fireplace-insert-risky-costly.132252/ 
I fully understand when people are disappointed.


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## webby3650 (Mar 14, 2015)

Grisu said:


> Unfortunately, seems to be a "feature" of their hybrid-line: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-ci2600-fireplace-insert-risky-costly.132252/
> I fully understand when people are disappointed.


Me too. I once had a hybrid...


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## Log (Mar 17, 2015)

webby3650 said:


> Wow, 8-10 hours? I get that with $600 dollar craigslist stoves. I hope you figure something out to improve burn times. That's pretty sorry considering the price tag!



Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. Because plenty of others have been getting 20+ hours.

The floor model at the store has the exact same air control problem (opened up the back of the pedestal, removed the plate and got a flashlight and got a good look at everything inside). Really befuddling. Waiting to hear what Regency says

Thanks for the response as well, Grisu


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## webby3650 (Mar 17, 2015)

I wouldn't put too much stock in the 20 hour burns personally. I've been hearing more poor burn times on this unit than good. Blaze Kings can pull off the 20 hour burns, but stoves with secondary burn tubes aren't able to with that much unregulated air. Some might have a few coals after 20 hours, but there ain't much left I assure you.


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## Auzzie Gumtree (Mar 22, 2015)

Here's a dealer in Australia who is running the unit 24/7. he is a salesman but has been in the business for a number of years. 

http://pivotstove.com.au/catalogue/wood/low-carbon-wood-heaters/regency-catalyic-wood-heaters


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