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

[Jonny006]

I am on day 3 of fairly consisting burning since Tuesday. I have also had a couple overnight burns that I have had to 'reset' in the middle of the night to get a good burn again on a bed of hot coals. On the very bright side, this stove kicks out some serious heat and I am now in an internal battle to keep my oil furnace from coming on and so far I am winning with near zero oil burn in the past few days. Temps have hovered in the thirties overnight so living where I do, I have not seen any real cold as of yet. I think a lot of this may boil down to the subjective definition of "burn time" I packed the stove mostly full the past 2 burns and seeing 6-8 hours of reasonable heat with the remnants being hot coals allowing me to fire up another load pretty easily. I also have a catalyst monitor on my stove which I have been monitoring to be sure to engage the cat at around 600 degrees Fahrenheit. At full burn, my catalyst monitor runs anywhere from 1100 -1400 degrees so far and my understanding is the optimum operating temperatures for this cat are 600 - 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. The last few burns I have been sure to stack the wood as tight together as I can which is important. That being said, I don't see a 14+ hour burn time happening unless I am still breaking her in which I guess is fully possible. Regency recommends not using bricks but I have used the larger, condensed bricks in the past and stacking them together seems to extend burn times in previous stoves so I may try that as simple test. I'll keep posting my experiences.

What are these bricks of which you speak?
I contacted my dealer and described the issues I have been having. He was going to put in a call to the manufacturer and get back to me. Have not heard back as of yet.
Agree on the heat output. The stove does kick out good heat. It's the lackluster burn times which irk me.

 

[Seachaser]

There are a couple different options out there but here is an example: http://www.ecobrick.net

Because they are symmetrical, you can stack them flush, but make sure you experiment with the versions as they can burn hot too depending on type and stacking.

I still prefer cordwood, but I found these to be an option in my last stove for overnight predictability.

 

[caputcastellae]

I am the ultimate firewood Newbie but we purchase a new home and we want to heat it up with wood. We do have a very open floor (ranch-stlye, 1,900 sqf) with an open fire place in the middle. We are ready to purchase an insert. -- going to visit a local dealer tomorrow--.
Before reading this thread I wanted to buy a ci2600 but now I do not know if it as good idea or if I should get a i3100 instead. I really like the flush modern look of the c2600 butseems that if you relay on wood you want to have an insert that produces heat for at least 8-9h (i.e. overnight) Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Grisu]

I am the ultimate firewood Newbie but we purchase a new home and we want to heat it up with wood. We do have a very open floor (ranch-stlye, 1,900 sqf) with an open fire place in the middle. We are ready to purchase an insert. -- going to visit a local dealer tomorrow--.
Before reading this thread I wanted to buy a ci2600 but now I do not know if it as good idea or if I should get a i3100 instead. I really like the flush modern look of the c2600 butseems that if you relay on wood you want to have an insert that produces heat for at least 8-9h (i.e. overnight) Any thoughts/suggestions?

Welcome to the forum!

I suggest you open your own thread in order to get help with recommendations. Could you please include there the dimensions of your fireplace and a pic would also be great. In addition, what is the goal of the stove: primary or supplemental heat?

 

[Jonny006]

I'm not going to go out and buy bricks when I have free wood. I bought the stove to reduce my heating costs. Not add to it.
I sincerely wish I had purchased a freestanding stove. This stove is a babysitting pita. I have to add wood about every 4hrs on average to keep consistent heat.
No word back from stove place either. This stove may be on Craigslist soon. Chalk it up to not buying a tried and true product.

 

[Grisu]

I would like to see some flue temp readings in that insert. Somewhere the heat has to go and I am wondering how well it delivers it to the room versus the outside. Churning through 2.5 cu ft of wood in a few hours should pretty much melt the insert.

 

[Jonny006]

I would like to see some flue temp readings in that insert. Somewhere the heat has to go and I am wondering how well it delivers it to the room versus the outside. Churning through 2.5 cu ft of wood in a few hours should pretty much melt the insert.

Not sure how I can measure the flue temps. This stove literally incinerates wood at an incredible rate. When's its full and operating it cooks us out of the room. It then dies out to coals and produces little or no heat.
I don't really know what my options are. The stove does not perform as advertised. I am really not happy about the amount of money and time spent on this.

 

[Johnray]

I'm just joining. Considering the Regency Ci 2600 also for our home in our main fireplace. I have a Morso insert in our kitchen area that is very nice, but small and requires a lot of babysitting. So anything around 6-8 hours is great. Would appreciate all the user experience. Has anyone used the Wittus H530? Beautiful big glass but probably no burn time.

 

[Jonny006]

I put in an inquiry to FPI and received a response that they are on vacation until 11/15.
Lovely.
I need to point out that the stove as a heater is great. It really kicks out amazing heat. My house is 68 on the main level and 71 upstairs. But it requires me to fill it on average every 4hrs. Clearly there is something wrong with this. For a claimed 14hr burn time to only get a max of 8, and that's a stretch, tells me something ain't right. I'm really at the point of seeing if I can swap this stove out for a decent free stander and make the clearances happen.
For the money spent I could have just paid for oil to heat the house for a year and a half and not have the hassle and headache. I have wasted too much time and effort thus far and as I have said, I am very disappointed.

 

[Johnray]

I put in an inquiry to FPI and received a response that they are on vacation until 11/15.
Lovely.
I need to point out that the stove as a heater is great. It really kicks out amazing heat. My house is 68 on the main level and 71 upstairs. But it requires me to fill it on average every 4hrs. Clearly there is something wrong with this. For a claimed 14hr burn time to only get a max of 8, and that's a stretch, tells me something ain't right. I'm really at the point of seeing if I can swap this stove out for a decent free stander and make the clearances happen.
For the money spent I could have just paid for oil to heat the house for a year and a half and not have the hassle and headache. I have wasted too much time and effort thus far and as I have said, I am very disappointed.

That is disappointing...my dealer says the Regency has a 12-14 hour burn and he's been a reliable guy. However, I've been experimenting with my basic Morso 5660 and am finding that the better I finesse the operating, the better the stove performs. This is only my second year so I'm still on a learning curve. I started a burn at 4 pm today, and only adding a few logs from time to time, it's been heating for over 6 hours. I have excellent dry hardwood and damped down about 2/3-3/4. Not a raging furnace, but giving lovely heat. My big room is at 70, it's currently 38 outside. I'm very interested to see how it goes with you if you keep it going for a while. Good luck!

 

[marty22877]

So i've had my CI2600 for about 48 hours now and i'm finding that the burn time isnt going to last 14 hours, but the heating time will. For instance last night at 11:15 i loaded the wood stove up but didnt stuff it like crazy, kept the cat and damper wide open for 15 min and then engaged the cat and damper. Then went to bed. Came down at 7:45 this morning and the flames were out but the fan was still pushing out good heat so i decided to leave it and see what happens. It's now 10:15 and i went to go check on it and it's still pushing out head from the fan, so i'm thinking the 14+ is heat not fire.

 

[Johnray]

So i've had my CI2600 for about 48 hours now and i'm finding that the burn time isnt going to last 14 hours, but the heating time will. For instance last night at 11:15 i loaded the wood stove up but didnt stuff it like crazy, kept the cat and damper wide open for 15 min and then engaged the cat and damper. Then went to bed. Came down at 7:45 this morning and the flames were out but the fan was still pushing out good heat so i decided to leave it and see what happens. It's now 10:15 and i went to go check on it and it's still pushing out head from the fan, so i'm thinking the 14+ is heat not fire.

That's great!

 

[woodstove guy]

That's great!

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.

 

[woodstove guy]

I put in an inquiry to FPI and received a response that they are on vacation until 11/15.
Lovely.
I need to point out that the stove as a heater is great. It really kicks out amazing heat. My house is 68 on the main level and 71 upstairs. But it requires me to fill it on average every 4hrs. Clearly there is something wrong with this. For a claimed 14hr burn time to only get a max of 8, and that's a stretch, tells me something ain't right. I'm really at the point of seeing if I can swap this stove out for a decent free stander and make the clearances happen.
For the money spent I could have just paid for oil to heat the house for a year and a half and not have the hassle and headache. I have wasted too much time and effort thus far and as I have said, I am very disappointed.

with them on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th.. Where did you call?

 

[woodstove guy]

I am the ultimate firewood Newbie but we purchase a new home and we want to heat it up with wood. We do have a very open floor (ranch-stlye, 1,900 sqf) with an open fire place in the middle. We are ready to purchase an insert. -- going to visit a local dealer tomorrow--.
Before reading this thread I wanted to buy a ci2600 but now I do not know if it as good idea or if I should get a i3100 instead. I really like the flush modern look of the c2600 butseems that if you relay on wood you want to have an insert that produces heat for at least 8-9h (i.e. overnight) Any thoughts/suggestions?

If you are prepared to learn how to use it, I would go for the CI2600 every time. Once I mastered the catalytic part I have seen huge improvements.

 

[J RD]

If you are prepared to learn how to use it, I would go for the CI2600 every time. Once I mastered the catalytic part I have seen huge improvements.

I'm very familiar with operating catalytic stoves and there is no way I'm getting more than 7-8 hours of usual heat from this thing. It's down to coals in longer than 6 hours.

I'm curious as to what you were doing before you mastered it.

 

[marty22877]

@woodstove guy what did you do to get it to go to 12 hours?

 

[Johnray]

Keep the info flowing....good stuff. Thanks. Anyone tried the Osburn Matrix as compared to the CI2600? Apples and oranges?

 

[caputcastellae]

If you are prepared to learn how to use it, I would go for the CI2600 every time. Once I mastered the catalytic part I have seen huge improvements.

Learning is fun! Do you mind sharing with us the details on how to get those lovely +10 hours of heat? I've never used wood stove before and I am really amazed that you can go from 6 to 12 hours by just optimizing your burning technique. Next Wed I have an appointment with my local dealer to make a final decision. Now I am considering a Clydesdale. Sooo complicated ! I hope Ido not make a big mistake

 

[Seachaser]

@woodstove guy, inquiring minds want to know your magic. I've had my stove for near two weeks now and although the heat output is strong, the burn time continues to disappoint. When you say mastered the catalytic part, can you clarify which of the 4 settings you are using differently than the rest of us?

 

[Jonny006]

On thursday morning my dealer and a rep from Regency were at my house. Seems they were curious as to why my burn times were so short. The tech removed the rear knockouts for the outside air kit and inspected the install. There were no issues with my install or quality of wood. He checked out my woodpile as well.
He stated that it's getting too much air. We started a fire and it's clear when it's going that there is way too much air going in. It sounds like a jet as its burning.
He adjusted the door and told me to monitor it.
I'm still not getting more than 6-8hrs of heat. Not fire. Heat.
I'm now waiting for a reducer plate from the company to slow down the secondary air which I'm told will fix the problem. I hope so because this current setup is eating up my wood supply fast.
I'll let you know the results.

 

[marty22877]

Please do, because it was 30 out last night and I didn't even get 7 hours of heat

 

[jophysx]

The experience many seem to be having of plenty of heat, but short burn times sounds like a classic case of too much air getting in. I addition the fact that the primary air control has no visible effect on the fire indicates something is wrong with the air control. Is the door sealing well (dollar bill test)?

If you think you are getting good heat now, once you get the air problem fixed you will be amazed. You are losing a huge fraction of the total available heat right up the stack. Take that heat and put it in the room and you will be cooked right out, which will cause you to adjust to get much lower fuel consumption rates (by turning down the air), and spread that same heat out over a much longer time. I hope you can get it to work. Either there's something wrong with the air control, or the design has seriously erred on the side of providing too much air through the auxiliary (EPA) air holes.

 

[jophysx]

On a related note, I pulled my HI-300 out this year to put in a block off plate and I took the opportunity to block off the auxiliary air holes. I am very pleased with the results. The fire is much more controllable now. I have a very strong draft, and the stove was always flirting with running away. It liked to cruise around 650-750, which produced good heat, but made me nervous. With the block off, and the air holes plugged, it likes to cruise in the 550-650 range, and still puts out great heat with longer, steadier burn times, much longer-lasting secondaries too.

 

[Jonny006]

On a related note, I pulled my HI-300 out this year to put in a block off plate and I took the opportunity to block off the auxiliary air holes. I am very pleased with the results. The fire is much more controllable now. I have a very strong draft, and the stove was always flirting with running away. It liked to cruise around 650-750, which produced good heat, but made me nervous. With the block off, and the air holes plugged, it likes to cruise in the 550-650 range, and still puts out great heat with longer, steadier burn times, much longer-lasting secondaries too.

650-750 makes you nervous? Then my stove would cause you fits! Last night with the cat going and damper fully closed it was reading 1000F!
I'm really hoping that this reducer plate comes soon and can fix my problem. I put on 3 big splits last night and within an hour they were reduced to coals. This thing burns so hot that I could probably cut down a tree today and burn it by nightfall with no creosote!