Advice / Review need: Regency CI2600 fireplace insert risky & costly?

[Wolves1]

Thanks for the replies!

This is a burn from a fire I started at 10pm last night, video was taken at 10:30:

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This is what I had in the stove this morning at 7:45, so about ten hours later. No fan on, no heat coming out, but coals hot enough to ignite kindling under the ash blanket.

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At this point, the stove always has about 4" of ash/coals in the bottom, up to the front lip. I just got the temp probe from Condar, will be installing that myself on Friday or Saturday.

Edge I've been take a scoop of ash out everyday and I feel the stove is performing better.

 

[Wolves1]

So the Regency rep and installer came to the house today. Here is what happened. First Regency says that the advertised 14 hour burn time does not mean 14 hours of fan blowing. I felt that Regency misled the dealers who are misleading their customers...shame on them. It just means that in 14 hours you should be able to stir up the ashes and still have burning coals so you can in theory add more logs and it should start back up. He would not tell me how long the blower should be on. The main reason I purchased this insert was because I was let to believe it would heat my house for 14 hours before needing to reload.

But we do have a few issues which they will correct and hopefully get a better burn time/heat output time. Because our chimney is so tall (over 25 feet), it is creating a strong draft. And he did agree that the wood is burning up too fast. So they are going to add the restrictor plate to help reduce the draft. Also they are going to remove the knockout plate. By removing the knockout plate the hot air will circulate around the outside of the insert and should keep the insert warmer and hopefully slow down the burn time as well. Also, because we removed the washers on the door latch as per the dollar test and their recommendation, it threw off the door so it's not level. It also caused the door gasket (the rope braid that goes around the door) to get squashed and flatten out too much, which may also be letting in air. So now they are going to replace the rope gasket and try to level out the door. Also our door latch/handle is not straight because of probably removing too many washers, so they will actually replace the entire handle. Also, the Regency rep thinks that the internal temperature reader is not sitting flush enough under the insert. If that happens it will affect how long it takes to turn the fan on. So that needs to be checked. That is part of the blower unit and during installation it could have been pushed down so it's not making direct contact with the insert.

So that is where we stand. Probably by next week the installer will be back to repair it. We'll see what happens. At this point I have lost confidence in this insert. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I feel I was sold something that is not doing what I was told it could do. Regency mislead the dealers whom are passing along bad info.

I would take the fan off auto it will still blow warm air.

 

[Cinders]

Love this forum guys, lots of good advice. I have had the CI2600 now since mid Nov. I have never had a wood burning insert before, just an open fireplace. I am still learning how to burn efficiently with this thing but i must say i love it. I am now getting a good 10hrs of heat. I have attached a "so called" burn diary. Its a typical burn for me. Any comments or advice "wood" be greatly appreciated. My opinon only to those who are having only 4 hour burn/heat times is to keep plugging away and experimenting, cause i too was just like you.

Did you make any modifications to your insert to increase burn time?

 

[marty22877]

Cinders - did they say anything about making a trench in the ashes so to speak from the front to the back so air can travel?

 

[Cinders]

Cinders - did they say anything about making a trench in the ashes so to speak from the front to the back so air can travel?

He didn't specifically say that, but he did say to keep the ashes away from the front center where the air comes in. But in the user manual it does say to make a north south trench in the center for the same reason. Hope that helps.

 

[DaMoose]

I thought the same thing about removing the knock-out plates, but according to him it will act as insulation around the insert by heating up the air and improve burn time.

Also, if you look at the Owner Instruction Manual on their website you can see exactly where the knock-out plate is. Here is the link...
(broken link removed to http://www.regency-fire.com/Files/Manuals/CI2600-919-300.aspx)
Go to page 39, and it's located on the outer shield part 5 & 7. I see it's on both the right and left side bottom.

Thanks for the info, checked out the manual and i now see where they are. I am going wait until our weather lightens up, (we are in a deep freeze right now) and let the firebox cool before i check and see if they are in fact in or not. I am also going to do a bit of research on this before i go knocking them out.
in regards to you other question. The only modification i have actually done to the insert is remove washers from door and i put some roxul insulation in and above the insert around the chimney liner. That was some advice i got from my chimney sweeper who is also a close friend. He also showed me how to properly load, both of which increased burn time and heat output.

 

[DaMoose]

Grisu I think you can help me. How important is it to keep the wood in the house before loading into the stove?[/
Wolves, i did some research on this before buying our insert and thereare alot of philosopys on this, basically it boils down to where you store your wood, garage or outside, and the climate you live in. I live in a cold and dry climate in the winter and a warm and damp/humid summer. (Canada) Therefore afetr a lot of reading i deduced that bringing a 3-5 days supply of wood to burn works for me. Hope this helps.

 

[DaMoose]

Grisu I think you can help me. How important is it to keep the wood in the house before loading into the stove?

Dont know what happened there, but my reply ended up in the blue bubble above. Lol

 

[Wolves1]

Dont know what happened there, but my reply ended up in the blue bubble above. Lol

Thank you. Is it because it's warmer it burns better or does it dry a little more?

 

[DaMoose]

Thank you. Is it because it's warmer it burns better or does it dry a little more?

The theory behind it is it is much like how you have to climatize hardwood flooring before you install it. As the wood adjusts to your humidity in your room it expands and contracts and climatizes itself, thus getting a little more dense shall we say creating more hotter and longer burning wood.

 

[marty22877]

also you're not throwing frozen logs into the fire which will bring the temp down quick.

 

[Cinders]

It seems some people are confusing two different things.
After speaking with my dealer I realized that the CI2600 is a hybrid insert which means it is not the same as a non-catalytic insert. I guess I should have listened to the right people to begin with! I have some egg on my face!
It is designed for long burning and getting the best from the wood you put into it. I was at first getting around 7 hours with mine. But once I understood better, I was able to increase this to more than eleven hours easily. I never quite grasped that it is all about the catalyst and making sure it is hot enough to do the job. I contacted Regency and got some great sound advice from them and now get a pretty consistent 10 - 12 hours. In the morning all I have to do is open the bypass damper and draft control again and rake the ashes and coals around, and add some kindling to the coals. No added paper or anything. The kindling flares up quickly and I can rebuild the fire again on my way to another ten to twelve hours.
Now that i know how to use this unit, I love it.

When you say you get 10-12 hours, is that fan and heat? I spoke with regency and they claim the burn time of 14 hours is just regarding the burning coals. But at 4-5 hours one stops producing heat and the fan shuts off. Is your insert insulated? Did you make any modifications to it like a restrict or plat or taking out the knock out plates. Thanks.

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

I think I would be less disappointed with this insert if they didn't have advertise the ridiculous "fourteen hour burn time" and then say "well what that really means is that you can go 14 hours and still have hot coals to start another fire".

That's BS. That's like saying that a car gets 75 miles per gallon....as long as you turn the engine off when you're going downhill.

 

[Wolves1]

With outside temps 40 degrees yesterday I filled the stove at 6am at 7pm with the fan on (not auto) it was still blowing warm air and still keeping the house above 70, the stove temp was reading cool but at 6pm it was reading 350. My feeling the stove will heat your house for 14 hours with temps in the 40 range but when you hit temps in the 20 range you need more BTUs to heat the house so after 8 to 9 hours you need to add wood to get the BTUs up.

 

[begreen]

I think I would be less disappointed with this insert if they didn't have advertise the ridiculous "fourteen hour burn time" and then say "well what that really means is that you can go 14 hours and still have hot coals to start another fire".

That's BS. That's like saying that a car gets 75 miles per gallon....as long as you turn the engine off when you're going downhill.

A car in the mountains is going to get different mileage than in Kansas. Different terrain. And both cars are going to get lower mileage in winter than in summer. Electric cars always list their summer mileage and never the winter mileage which can be 40% lower. It's the same with stoves. A stove in our state, or BC Canada is going to perform differently than it will in Ottawa. Marketing will normally boast the highest figure, though the more honest ones will at least say "up to 14 hrs.".

Bottom line is there is no official definition of "burn time". It's a marketing term.

 

[Nero]

I am glad to have found this post - we also share the same issue that others have: our burn time with the CI2600 is far less than 14 hrs. We get at best (and with a generous definition of "burn") 8 hrs of burn time using kiln dried hard wood. To monitor the performance of the unit better, I would love to get a thermometer to measure the temperature (of the flue or the cat?). Do you have any advice which to get and where to install it?

 

[Wolves1]

I am glad to have found this post - we also share the same issue that others have: our burn time with the CI2600 is far less than 14 hrs. We get at best (and with a generous definition of "burn") 8 hrs of burn time using kiln dried hard wood. To monitor the performance of the unit better, I would love to get a thermometer to measure the temperature (of the flue or the cat?). Do you have any advice which to get and where to install it?

The thermometer for the cat is important for this stove, there is a spot to install, its in the manual. You would need the digital cat thermometer.

 

[begreen]

http://www.condar.com/Digital_Thermometers.html

 

[Jonny006]

Today they took out the 2600 and replaced it with the older, (uglier) I3100. These guys were good. In and out in under an hour.
While I am not at all pleased with Regency at this point I am very happy with the local stove place. They have been excellent in dealing with this issue. Any and all problems stem from Regency.
The installer stated that I will be very happy with this replacement. We shall see.
Just started a small break in fire. The next few days will be getting it up top speed. I hope this is eons better than what I had.
Oddly enough when I quizzed him about this stove and if he had seen other people with similar issues he was a bit mum. He did relay what this forum has revealed, that some people have zero issue and others, like myself, Cinders etc. have had nothing but problems. It's a shame really. I think they rushed this stove out without real world testing. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will have worked out the bugs and it will be as great as they advertize. In the interim I am happy to not be one of their beta-testers.

 

[Wolves1]

Today they took out the 2600 and replaced it with the older, (uglier) I3100. These guys were good. In and out in under an hour.
While I am not at all pleased with Regency at this point I am very happy with the local stove place. They have been excellent in dealing with this issue. Any and all problems stem from Regency.
The installer stated that I will be very happy with this replacement. We shall see.
Just started a small break in fire. The next few days will be getting it up top speed. I hope this is eons better than what I had.
Oddly enough when I quizzed him about this stove and if he had seen other people with similar issues he was a bit mum. He did relay what this forum has revealed, that some people have zero issue and others, like myself, Cinders etc. have had nothing but problems. It's a shame really. I think they rushed this stove out without real world testing. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will have worked out the bugs and it will be as great as they advertize. In the interim I am happy to not be one of their beta-testers.

Would you mind posting how the i3100 burns in comparison to the ci2600?

 

[Cinders]

Today they took out the 2600 and replaced it with the older, (uglier) I3100. These guys were good. In and out in under an hour.
While I am not at all pleased with Regency at this point I am very happy with the local stove place. They have been excellent in dealing with this issue. Any and all problems stem from Regency.
The installer stated that I will be very happy with this replacement. We shall see.
Just started a small break in fire. The next few days will be getting it up top speed. I hope this is eons better than what I had.
Oddly enough when I quizzed him about this stove and if he had seen other people with similar issues he was a bit mum. He did relay what this forum has revealed, that some people have zero issue and others, like myself, Cinders etc. have had nothing but problems. It's a shame really. I think they rushed this stove out without real world testing. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will have worked out the bugs and it will be as great as they advertize. In the interim I am happy to not be one of their beta-testers.

I'm anxious to hear how the I3100 is in comparison. I asked the Regency rep about putting insulation in to help lengthen the burn time and he basically said insulation should not be used as Regency has not tested to confirm how it will affect the safety and performance of the unit. Has anyone else put in insulation? How has it helped and how long is your average burn time? What type of insulation did you use. And where or how did you install it?

 

[Jonny006]

Today was the first real day of use of the I3100. All I can say is wow! This thing kicks off amazing heat! Now that I have an established ash bed I loaded it up today and got over 7hrs of great heat. Could've gone longer still but wanted to get a load started early eve that I could add to before bed. Upstairs and down is @68F. That is excellent to me since my configuration is not great for flow. The living room has to be up in the 80+ range. Almost unbearable.
It's so easy to control too. A single lever that actually does something for a change. I have been keeping it a little pulled out from closed to keep a good dance of flames and she just motors along pumping out heat.
Lets see what happens tonight. I will top it off before bed and see what happens by morning.
And maybe its me but I feel like this stove is easier to load too. And now that I've been looking at it for 2 days I don't mind the look at all. It's certainly not as sleek as the 2600 but it heads and tails above it in terms of usefulness. The fan on high is loud though. Liveable, but loud.

 

[marty22877]

How many logs can you fit

 

[Cinders]

Today was the first real day of use of the I3100. All I can say is wow! This thing kicks off amazing heat! Now that I have an established ash bed I loaded it up today and got over 7hrs of great heat. Could've gone longer still but wanted to get a load started early eve that I could add to before bed. Upstairs and down is @68F. That is excellent to me since my configuration is not great for flow. The living room has to be up in the 80+ range. Almost unbearable.
It's so easy to control too. A single lever that actually does something for a change. I have been keeping it a little pulled out from closed to keep a good dance of flames and she just motors along pumping out heat.
Lets see what happens tonight. I will top it off before bed and see what happens by morning.
And maybe its me but I feel like this stove is easier to load too. And now that I've been looking at it for 2 days I don't mind the look at all. It's certainly not as sleek as the 2600 but it heads and tails above it in terms of usefulness. The fan on high is loud though. Liveable, but loud.

Wow...just wish the 2600 could produce that! Still waiting on the dealer to come back to make the changes and see if that helps. But if not its good to know they're not all lemons! Let me know how it burns overnight.

 

[Wolves1]

I thought I was getting good burn times after 9 hours stove temp would be about 400, till this morning. I filled the stove last night at 9pm came down 5:30am and temp was still 650.

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This is what it looked like. It is now 6:34 and still temp is 600.