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
![[Hearth.com] Regency 5100 - the first few months](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/148/148910-4faddc81d3cdb0233ca973e858c03dde.jpg?hash=3gXt_aGcVT "[Hearth.com] Regency 5100 - the first few months")
