Are you saying that you now have a Regency F3500, and it isn't putting out enough heat?In my house concrete wall 1100 foot square I have F3500 Regency,
For the Houses concrete wall and poor insulation From 1000 to 2200 foot square I need F5100 Regency.
I don't have a house with thick concrete walls, but a log cabin, no wall insulation and 1" thick inside wall board which is basically concrete. If I let house temp get too low, it takes a long time for my small stove to raise room temp, since it has to heat the air in the room, and the thermal mass of the "concrete" wall board. Once the wall board is heated, my stove can maintain room temp easily.
If you are at home most of the time to feed a smaller stove before room temp drops very far, concrete walls aren't a big problem. But if you are gone at work for a long time each day, and room temp drops a lot, a bigger stove will help warm the concrete and regain room temp faster. If you have someone at home during the day to feed the stove a few more splits of wood occasionally, that can work. Maybe a woman who may be aesthetically-minded, but also understands the mechanics of operating a wood stove.
Last year I got my sister-in-law a Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 (which is an aesthetically-pleasing American stove.) It is strictly a secondary-burn stove, not a hybrid (secondary burn plus catalytic combustor.) So one thing to consider is whether you want the additional maintenance and expense of a catalytic combustor, or the simplicity of a secondary-burn-only stove. Another thing I like about the PE stoves is that it's easy to remove the secondary-burn baffle when it's time to brush the chimney.
I don't know much about the Kuma stoves. I do know that Regency has had hybrid models in the market for several years, and they are a proven design, according to a chimney sweep on this forum who has seen them in some of the homes he has worked at.
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