Inserts: Regency I2400,I3100 / Hampton H1300 / Quadra-Fire 3100i, 4100i / Jotul Kennebec, Winterport

[CantAfford$5Oil]

Hi Everyone...I'm a first time poster and would like to thank you for everything I've learned here this past week by reading up for hours at a time!! I would be very grateful for advice on picking a wood burning insert for our fireplace because we just can't face the oilman this coming fall and would like to see as little of him as possible ;-P I don't think we can commit to burning 24/7, but will probably keep it going everyday as much as possible as well as overnight, and hopefully the oil burner will only kick on for showers, laundry, and if it gets really bitter cold.

We have a bi-level or raised ranch home in CT, 1250 sq feet upstairs, 450 downstairs, total 1700 sq ft, five new windows, original picture window in living room, probably not well insulated, original slider downstairs, newer Pella slider upstairs, no carpeting on the hardwood floors on main (upstairs) level. Uncarpeted bedrooms are overthe unheated garage below.

The masonry fireplace is downstairs in the rear far corner of the family room (which has 7 foot ceilings), caddy corner, and has the chimney running inside the house (if you look at the house, there is no external chimney until it breaks through the roof). It has an arched opening. Some arches are basically a rectangle with just the top slightly arched and you can measure like it was a rectangular opening for all intents and purposes, but not in our case. The side walls are straight up and down for only about 17 inches, and start to arch from there. The bottom opening along the fire box is 36.5 inches across in the front. The very top of the arch has an opening of 30 inches.

I will probably have to use a deflector (easier, but not the look I was hoping for) or replace the cheap wood mantle with something non-combustible to use most of the inserts we are looking at (more money - nothing is simple!) as well as the large size surround to hide the arch which tops out at 34 inches if I want to hide it. From the hearth floor to the mantle is 41.5 inches - short by up to six inches for some models. Oh, if only the mason 34 years ago had used just two more courses of brick Always hated the cheap mantle anyway! :coolsmile:

I pretty much have it narrowed down to Regency/Hampton, Quadra-Fire, and Jotul. Some I like more than others for looks though they may be too small. But if you had to choose among these, which would be my best bet in terms of heating capacity, quality of workmanship, features, value for the money, service and warranty / warranty claims? I just don't want to make a very costly mistake!!

Inserts: Regency I2400,I3100 - Hampton H1300 - Quadra-Fire 3100i, 4100i - Jotul Kennebec, Winterport


So here is what is on my mind:

How do these brands rate? (I had never heard of Regency before.)
I know Regency and Hampton are the same company - are the stove components equal quality?
Other than looks, is there any benefit to the cast iron fronts - are the fireboxes all steel inside on all the models anyway?
Are all of these big enough for my square footage using a few strategically placed fans upstairs?
Will any of them blast me out and make it impossible to be down in the family room to watch TV?

Hubby asks if any of these are better than the others at natural convection (in case of power outage or if the blower breaks)?
I am curious which has the quietest, least annoying blower (hard to check for ourselves - no stove shop has them burning in the 90 degree heat).
And will I get to see the secondary burn in all of these models or only some - so pretty in online videos!


We want one that can handle it, maybe have some extra capacity, but not one I have to burn too low and risk smoldering (see - a little knowledge is dangerous!)

Will any of these be capable of an overnight burn and still be hot enough to throw a log on in the morning and stoke itself up, or is that not a realistic expectation for these inserts? We have been told different things regarding their ability to heat the square footage by different dealers - so I'm not sure what to think at this point.

What do you like or not like about them?
Do any of them have features the others don't such as auto-on blowers??
And lastly, how many cords of wood might I burn from Oct - May in the house I described? (I know I needed it yesterday!)


Please let me know if you need more info, and THANK YOU for taking your time to guide a newbie VERY afraid of making an expensive mistake!!

 

[fossil]

If I'm reading it right (which, in my case, is always up for question), it sounds like what's called a "split foyer" house in some areas. I had one in Northern Virginia for twelve years. The masonry fireplace in the corner of the basement family room probably couldn't have been located in a worse position for woodstove heating if they'd thought about it. A woodstove is a space heater. You can get the family room downstairs toasty to the point you have to open a window in the dead of winter, and the upstairs will still be freezing. Moving that warm air from the source of the heat to where you want it to be is the challenge faced by most woodburners. You think, "But warm air rises, right?" Yes, it does, but you'll wait a looooong time for the house to become comfortable upstairs unless you introduce some forced convection (fans) into the overall design. If you're hell-bent on going ahead with this, then get a stove that's rated to heat the whole place, get a blower kit on it, and get one (or more) ceiling fans installed at strategic locations (top of staircase, end of hallway, wherever) to distribute the heat from the stove the best you can. I don't have an insert (two freestanding stoves), nor a stove of any of the brands you mentioned, so I can't really comment on that aspect of your question...but many here do, and I'm sure they'll weigh in with some more specific information for you. Welcome to the forum! Rick

 

[Hanko]

good luck. how about a simpler list of questions. Im tired now. goodnight

 

[begreen]

Welcome. These are all good brands. The Hampton is the Regency in a tuxedo, same parent company. Most important may be finding a good dealer that has a reputation for quality installations. Second most important is dry wood, get it on order tomorrow.

 

[IK_biker]

I went through similar study this winter and gathered lots of knowledge about wood-burning and inserts in particular.

The Jotul Winterport would be insufficient to heat the whole house.

Regency I2400 is same as Hampton HI300, although the Hampton has a cast iron front, and a different, quieter blower. All Regency/Hampton stoves on your list may be a bit oversized for your house, but there's nothing wrong with that.

The Quadrafire 3100i seems underpowered for your total square footage. The 4100i is perfect size, and the blower is standard item while on 3100i it is optional (you pay extra).

All of the above stick out about 8" from the fireplace's mouth, which is good for radiant heating.

Jotul C450 (Kennebec or Tamarac) is the right size, but don't expect too much radiant heat from it, unless you pull it out of the fireplace during installation. Normally it sticks out about 2.5", but allows for being installed 4" further out. This may or may not play a number on you regarding the exhaust (if using a chimney liner and the insert is pulled all 6.5" out, the liner may interfere with the innards of your fireplace, thus precluding this type of installation). That's what I bought for a 1400 square feet downstairs and 450 more upstairs.

I understand you have already discarded some inserts from your shopping list, but the Hearthstone Clydesdale is a worthy contestant if you don't mind the soapstone material.

Don't forget to read the reviews on this site, as some reviewers may have similar to your house layout.

And good luck!

 

[Hanko]

Hi Everyone...I'm a first time poster and would like to thank you for everything I've learned here this past week by reading up for hours at a time!! I would be very grateful for advice on picking a wood burning insert for our fireplace because we just can't face the oilman this coming fall and would like to see as little of him as possible ;-P I don't think we can commit to burning 24/7, but will probably keep it going everyday as much as possible as well as overnight, and hopefully the oil burner will only kick on for showers, laundry, and if it gets really bitter cold.

We have a bi-level or raised ranch home in CT, 1250 sq feet upstairs, 450 downstairs, total 1700 sq ft, five new windows, original picture window in living room, probably not well insulated, original slider downstairs, newer Pella slider upstairs, no carpeting on the hardwood floors on main (upstairs) level. Uncarpeted bedrooms are overthe unheated garage below.

The masonry fireplace is downstairs in the rear far corner of the family room (which has 7 foot ceilings), caddy corner, and has the chimney running inside the house (if you look at the house, there is no external chimney until it breaks through the roof). It has an arched opening. Some arches are basically a rectangle with just the top slightly arched and you can measure like it was a rectangular opening for all intents and purposes, but not in our case. The side walls are straight up and down for only about 17 inches, and start to arch from there. The bottom opening along the fire box is 36.5 inches across in the front. The very top of the arch has an opening of 30 inches.

I will probably have to use a deflector (easier, but not the look I was hoping for) or replace the cheap wood mantle with something non-combustible to use most of the inserts we are looking at (more money - nothing is simple!) as well as the large size surround to hide the arch which tops out at 34 inches if I want to hide it. From the hearth floor to the mantle is 41.5 inches - short by up to six inches for some models. Oh, if only the mason 34 years ago had used just two more courses of brick Always hated the cheap mantle anyway! :coolsmile:

I pretty much have it narrowed down to Regency/Hampton, Quadra-Fire, and Jotul. Some I like more than others for looks though they may be too small. But if you had to choose among these, which would be my best bet in terms of heating capacity, quality of workmanship, features, value for the money, service and warranty / warranty claims? I just don't want to make a very costly mistake!!

Inserts: Regency I2400,I3100 - Hampton H1300 - Quadra-Fire 3100i, 4100i - Jotul Kennebec, Winterport I have heard all these are very good units. you cant do much better than jotul, What are the prices of these stoves you have mentioned. ILL bet they are pretty close


So here is what is on my mind:

How do these brands rate? (I had never heard of Regency before.)
I know Regency and Hampton are the same company - are the stove components equal quality?
Other than looks, is there any benefit to the cast iron fronts - are the fireboxes all steel inside on all the models anyway?
Are all of these big enough for my square footage using a few strategically placed fans upstairs?
Will any of them blast me out and make it impossible to be down in the family room to watch TV?

Hubby asks if any of these are better than the others at natural convection (in case of power outage or if the blower breaks)?
I am curious which has the quietest, least annoying blower (hard to check for ourselves - no stove shop has them burning in the 90 degree heat).
And will I get to see the secondary burn in all of these models or only some - so pretty in online videos!


We want one that can handle it, maybe have some extra capacity, but not one I have to burn too low and risk smoldering (see - a little knowledge is dangerous!)

Will any of these be capable of an overnight burn and still be hot enough to throw a log on in the morning and stoke itself up, or is that not a realistic expectation for these inserts? We have been told different things regarding their ability to heat the square footage by different dealers - so I'm not sure what to think at this point.

What do you like or not like about them?
Do any of them have features the others don't such as auto-on blowers??
And lastly, how many cords of wood might I burn from Oct - May in the house I described? (I know I needed it yesterday!)


Please let me know if you need more info, and THANK YOU for taking your time to guide a newbie VERY afraid of making an expensive mistake!!

 

[Hanko]

sorry about that, I tried to reply to part of your post. I was saying that all these stoves you mentioned are good quality units. I also said that I bet they are close in price too. You cant do much better than jotul

 

[burntime]

I went thru the same stoves and landed on the hampton in brown. Regency 2400 and hi300 are the same stove, you just pay for the looks. The 3100 is a little bigger in regency...I still bought the hampton. Jotul is a great stove but smaller. When you look at the quad there are 2 controls vs 1. I dismissed the plain quad and was between the hampton and 4100i quad. Look at the different in hinges, no comparison! Next the wieght difference...the more mass the better heat storage(although minimal) and the more between you and a blazing fire (important to me). Get a good dealer and make sure they install the block off plate! You may come to a different conclusion but I am happy and heat my 1400 square foot 1957 ranch almost solely with wood! Good luck!

 

[burntime]

One last thing, go by firebox size and not stated btu's. Its the amount of wood you put in that gives btus, the stoves are pretty similiar output per cu ft of firebox. If they are not then one manufacturer is over zealous in thier advertising

 

[TMonter]

I own a 3100i Quad here, very satisfied with it. I heat about 1200-1300 square feet of a 2200 square foot house with no problems (split level). I don't use a blower and I know some people here are adamant you need one, I've found that you really don't with the 3100i.

Found out last year that Quad stands behind their warranty 100% as I had a small crack in a secondary manifold and rather than attempt repair they replaced the entire stove.

I get 8-10 hours of usable heat on full loads of red fir firewood that has been seasoned about a year.

I did need an offset box to install the stove in my ZC fireplace.

I can recommend the Quad with no hesitation.

 

[pwilcox]

We got the Regency I2400 in January and have been very happy with it. It heated about 2000 sq ft of our house and burned through the night. One really nice feature for you is the lower minimum clearance to the mantel. We couldn't get the Quadrafire, even with a deflector but the Regency meets code without one. I can't remember the exact numbers but you can download the installation manual and see for yourself.

 

[burntime]

I believe hampton and regency are 20 inchs from the top of the firebox, double check on line.

 

[CantAfford$5Oil]

Thank you everyone who had the patience to read through that long post! I am still considering which way to go - if we don't decide soon, we're going to be shut out, but we're trying not to get swept up in the panic like we almost did at the store - people we're literally throwing their credit cards at the owner and buying on their first time shopping trips without really asking any questions or caring which models they got as long as they got something. I'm glad we've taken a few days and thank all of you because we've learned so much like the difference between updraft and down draft stoves (who knew!?) and what a secondary burn is, etc.. We've avoided a few missteps we might have taken, so thanks for taking the time to respond to us specifically, and for posting in general to educate us from your experience!

Please keep the feedback coming. Also, does anyone have any concerns about Harmon honoring the warranties now that they've been sold?

Thanks!

 

[Jerry_NJ]

I purchased/installed a 4100-I last month. We started with the Quad 3100-I but when my wife saw the "bay window" of the 4100-I she liked the looks better. Either would have met our needs, but the 4100-I has a bigger firebox and that should allow for longer burn times...a plus. They're near the same heating capacity-wise, the 5100-I will give even more capacity, at a higher price and much heavier weight, if you ever have to move it, a lot of weight.

There are two Quad dealers within a 20+ mile radius of our home, that too added to our selection of Quadrafire.

I'm yet to experience the heating of the 4100-I, that'll come in October/November.

Best of luck.

 

[boostnut]

IK, sorry but I disagree. I dont think the winterport is enough for that house, especially if its a split level. I've got about 1400 sq. feet (ranch style) that I've heated with the kennebec for a few years now and wouldn't want anything smaller. A smaller stove might do the job but you'll be feeding the thing too often. Bigger fireboxes produce heat for a longer period of time. The kennebec is plenty capable of overnight burns BUT do you have your wood supply ready? In my opinion, if your wood hasn't already been split and stacked than forget it. Keep doing your research and invest some in windows and/or insulation for the upcoming year. Good luck!

 

[stanleyjohn]

Thank you everyone who had the patience to read through that long post! I am still considering which way to go - if we don't decide soon, we're going to be shut out, but we're trying not to get swept up in the panic like we almost did at the store - people we're literally throwing their credit cards at the owner and buying on their first time shopping trips without really asking any questions or caring which models they got as long as they got something. I'm glad we've taken a few days and thank all of you because we've learned so much like the difference between updraft and down draft stoves (who knew!?) and what a secondary burn is, etc.. We've avoided a few missteps we might have taken, so thanks for taking the time to respond to us specifically, and for posting in general to educate us from your experience!

Please keep the feedback coming. Also, does anyone have any concerns about Harmon honoring the warranties now that they've been sold?

Thanks!

Glad we all can help!Harman has a 6 yr warrenty!From what i have heard harman is in good hands when they were bought by Hearth & Home Tech!which also owns Quadra-fire,fireside,heat and glow and heatilator.