Showin off new Regency i2400 wood insert...

[pelican]

Hi all, thanks for all your advice with helping me choose an insert. I ended up going with the Regency i2400. It's been a few weeks since it's been installed and I thought I'd post a pic and ask a few questions while I'm at it.

First off, I really like this insert, looks great and heats up the room nicely (almost too hot most of the time). I wasn't able to get the heat upstairs liked I'd hoped in my raised ranch (insert is on the bottom floor) so now I think it's time for plan B which is to cut a couple of floor vents in to help distribute the heat upstairs. The good thing is the insert is able to maintain the temperature upstairs if I keep the thermostat lowered to 62 so I'm not using any oil during the day. I just wish I could get the temp up to 68 or so.

I was hoping you could help with a few questions I had. This unit has one air control and the manual didn't go into detail on how I should have it positioned while in use. It just said when it's pulled out it allows more air and pushed in less air (obvious, I know).

Once I get the insert going I'm thinking I should push it in to cut the air down to have it burn longer, is this the right thing to do? Sometimes when I close it I hear sort of a howling sound so I have to open it up till it goes away, is this normal?

Also, I don't think I'll be getting an IR gun but I do have a stove top magnetic thermometer. From what I've read/heard, the ideal stovetop temp should be 400-600 degrees. No matter how I fill it, have the air control set. etc. I can't seem to get it above 350 degrees on the stovetop thermometer.

I've checked my wood with a moisture meter and it seems pretty dry, around 20-25, some pieces lower. Not sure if I'm operating the insert correctly or if there are any tips you could help out with.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[KaptJaq]

Congratulations on the new insert, nice unit, nice fire in it.

Where does the hot air from the blowers come out ? On my insert the hot air comes out of slots just below the top front of the unit. Temperature readings from the top are useless, the blower air cools it down. Might be the same on yours...

Once the stove is burning hot, slowly close the air to control the fire. If you close it too much you will kill the fire and create a lot of smoke. It takes a little time but you will get use to the unit and the amount of air needed for a hot controlled fire or a long clean one.

KaptJaq

 

[Oldhippie]

Nice looking install!

When you check the wood moisture are you first splitting open a split and testing the internal moisture? This will be a different reading that testing the outside face of a split. I'm guessing you're wood is not as seasoned as you may like for ideal conditions. How many seasons old is it?

Also, the air settings and the temp on top of the stove are both so dependent to individual installations, draft, wood, outside temp etc that it would not be helpful to put out anything more than some very generic initial settings for any stove. You will gain experience with your particular stove and installation and come to have settings and temps you'll use as you go forward.

I have a stove in my living room, that is an older non-EPA stove with a soapstone top. I put my mechanical coil meter on top of that and use 300'F as my cruise setting, which is usually just about a 1/16th of an inch inlet opening of the two air inlets. You will for sure develop you're very own preferred settings for yours.

I do agree with your strategy to put in air registers to move air to your upstairs living area. Here are some really nice ones. I'm going to install some of these in my house for those days when I don't want to start the upstairs stove and just want to get some of the local hear from below coming from my family room (downstairs) stove.

 

[pelican]

Yeah, it does feel hotter than 300-350 degrees, the blower outputs are just below the top of the unit like yours, Kapt. I positioned the thermometer off center and the temp went up a bit so that makes sense. As far as the wood moisture goes, I did do a fresh split to get the reading. So of the wood is just seasoned one season and it looks like it may need two. I guess my cruise setting is 300 as well.

Thanks!

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

I would put the thermo close to the door and not on the top plate. My stove is like your and measuring the top plate and door area with a laser shows about a 150-200degree difference.

 

[raybonz]

Congrats Pelican your insert looks great!

 

[Woodreb]

We've got the i2400 and placed a magnetic thermometer in the top left corner of the front of the stove (just above the door handle). We use a mix of Envi blocks and hardwood (mostly cherry) because I know some of our wood is still wet (have trouble convincing my DH that it doesn't dry worth a darn as logs). With this mix we can usually get a reading of 400 or above on the thermometer. 400-450 seems like a good cruising setting for us reading off the front of the stove. If you're using the blower, Regency recommends not shutting down the air anymore than about 1/2" from the completely closed position (all the way in).I've found that with the blower on the stove top cools and the secondaries will go out and you end up with it smoldering because the temps are too low and there's not enough air from below to keep the fire going.

 

[Beer Belly]

Nice looking stove....just like my buddy's stove.......he also has a Raised Ranch. and what he did was take down the wall along side the stairs leading to the lower level (wall on one side of the stairs), and put up a cieling fan in the entry to help pull warm air up......I was thinking maybe a vent in the floor at the end of the hallway near the bedrooms (garage below), run a trunk line (unsure of terminology) to another vent leading to the stove room....even better if you run a blower inline to help move the cold air out of the upstairs hallway

 

[velvetfoot]

Nice looking install! I have the more "fancy" model of that stove, I think, which partly entails a "fancy" door. I like yours a lot because it opens all the way and you don't get your forehead burned when poking around inside, not that it's ever happened to me. Also, it looks like the door comes off for future maintenance in a very intuitive manner, unlike mine, and the latch looks more foolproof.

I wouldn't try getting that shelf too hot. It's pretty far removed from the stove top. People with similar models have put a magnetic thermometer on the stove top where the heated air slot is under the shelf. They say it's hard to read. I think getting a feel for temps with your IR gun is good, plus you can see what's going on! Only once so far I've seen the stove top glow a little (through the slot), which is a big no-no. It was when I was starting the fire from scratch and things on the bottom of the stove have to get heated up pretty good before the fan kicks on; now, when I'm starting a cold stove, I just turn on the fan manually before the fire gets too hot.

One thing I wouldn't mind having is more than two speeds on the fan. The high one, which I've been using some lately with the colder temps to get the room warmed faster, is darn loud. Maybe there's some electrical advantage to having two set speeds vs. a variable speed control, but I'm not smart enough to know what that might be.

Happy Burning and Happy New Year!

edit: I've got a colonial layout, so not sure how that relates to yours, I've been trying to get by with electric heaters upstairs to warm up the a room when someone is in it. I'm of the impression it's better than running the oil boiler, but I've switched to an electric (resistance) water heater as well, so who knows.

 

[Dieselbreath]

Congratulations on the insert. I have the exact model as you and really enjoy it. First of all the air control lever should after a good fire is going be pushed in almost to closing. As far as the howling I assume you have a rather high chimney and therefore a strong draft. Which is a good thing, actually. What causes the howling (had it on mine, common on these models) is air rushing through a small EPA hole on the right side. Pull the blower asm off the front and down low and to the right you will see a hole. Most people put a magnet over it. Plug it with whatever.
As far as moving heat, try putting a blower on low blowing air toward the stove from the cool part of the house. Cold air moves easier than warm air.
I have my blower on a variable speed control.

 

[pen]

Good looking install.

I'm curious, why the criss cross wood? Are the splits too long to do an E-W (left to right) or N-S (front to back) burn?

pen

 

[mfglickman]

Looks great!

 

[mario veda]

Hi all, thanks for all your advice with helping me choose an insert. I ended up going with the Regency i2400. It's been a few weeks since it's been installed and I thought I'd post a pic and ask a few questions while I'm at it.

First off, I really like this insert, looks great and heats up the room nicely (almost too hot most of the time). I wasn't able to get the heat upstairs liked I'd hoped in my raised ranch (insert is on the bottom floor) so now I think it's time for plan B which is to cut a couple of floor vents in to help distribute the heat upstairs. The good thing is the insert is able to maintain the temperature upstairs if I keep the thermostat lowered to 62 so I'm not using any oil during the day. I just wish I could get the temp up to 68 or so.

I was hoping you could help with a few questions I had. This unit has one air control and the manual didn't go into detail on how I should have it positioned while in use. It just said when it's pulled out it allows more air and pushed in less air (obvious, I know).

Once I get the insert going I'm thinking I should push it in to cut the air down to have it burn longer, is this the right thing to do? Sometimes when I close it I hear sort of a howling sound so I have to open it up till it goes away, is this normal?

Also, I don't think I'll be getting an IR gun but I do have a stove top magnetic thermometer. From what I've read/heard, the ideal stovetop temp should be 400-600 degrees. No matter how I fill it, have the air control set. etc. I can't seem to get it above 350 degrees on the stovetop thermometer.

I've checked my wood with a moisture meter and it seems pretty dry, around 20-25, some pieces lower. Not sure if I'm operating the insert correctly or if there are any tips you could help out with.

Thanks again for all your help!View attachment 87285

I have a regency free standing 2400 F and what i did that helps with the air supply issue is that I made 5 marks on the air supply slide rod with a white paint marker pen starting with fully closed i marked 5 marks on slide ,,5 total spaced out evenly and it helps me kinda know where im at in the air supply .Works for me,BTW marking needs to be done yearly over because it will come off with use and heat...... mario in Va

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Nice looking unit!

 

[etiger2007]

Good looking install.

I'm curious, why the criss cross wood? Are the splits too long to do an E-W (left to right) or N-S (front to back) burn?

pen

I do that too often, to me it seems as if it burns better cleaner

 

[begreen]

Congratulations pelican. It looks really nice.

The thermometer needs to be on the front face. The top is cooled by the convection blower. Try the upper left corner as a couple have suggested. Definitely get used to turning down the air more. You will actually get more heat in the earlier (outgassing) stage of the fire. What sort of room temps are you seeing in the stove area?

 

[pelican]

Thx for the replies all. I've been playing around with different spots for the thermometer and it seems like the front left area just above the door is working best, thanks for the suggestion. My readings jumped up around 100 degrees to around 400 where I suspected them to be.

Since I've got the stove I've been using the blower on low but it seems to effect the amount I can close the air control. With the blowers not on i can close it more without the fire smoldering and the stove is getting to a higher temperature. So in everyone's opinion, am I going to give off more heat with the blower or with it off with radiant heat? The room it's in is approx 14 x 22 and the temps I get are on the average 75-80 degrees since using the blowers.

 

[pen]

am I going to give off more heat with the blower or with it off with radiant heat? The room it's in is approx 14 x 22 and the temps I get are on the average 75-80 degrees since using the blowers.

That's where experimentation comes into play. I heat my home fine w/out a blower on my 30. My buddy with a 30 can't heat his place for beans w/out using the blower. Lots of variables involved.

pen

 

[begreen]

Have you tried assisting heat convection to the upstairs by placing a table or box fan at the top of the stairway, placed on the floor, pointing downward, toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Stove room temps will drop and upstairs temps should rise.

 

[michaelryba]

Using the blower definitely results in more room heat. I run the blower (on low) 100% of the time during this time of year. I will turn off the blower in the shoulder seasons so I can reduce the room heat & choke down the fire more & still get a clean burn. I have and IR gun but rarely use it. In terms of closing the draft--usually it's about 30 min. from loading to choke down (still about 1" of shaft plus handle showing) If your wood isn't primo, then a little more. My rule of thumb on when to cut the draft to it's final position is that I should see some slight glowing of the perforated bars--at the top of the firebox--just after pushing the draft control in. If they didn't glow a little & the flames are quickly starting to settle, then give it some more air & try again 5 min later. Watch & learn from your experience. I had the same howling stove experience--follow the good advice about covering the pencil-sized hole.

 

[chazcarr]

Using the blower definitely results in more room heat. I run the blower (on low) 100% of the time during this time of year. I will turn off the blower in the shoulder seasons so I can reduce the room heat & choke down the fire more & still get a clean burn. I have and IR gun but rarely use it. In terms of closing the draft--usually it's about 30 min. from loading to choke down (still about 1" of shaft plus handle showing) If your wood isn't primo, then a little more. My rule of thumb on when to cut the draft to it's final position is that I should see some slight glowing of the perforated bars--at the top of the firebox--just after pushing the draft control in. If they didn't glow a little & the flames are quickly starting to settle, then give it some more air & try again 5 min later. Watch & learn from your experience. I had the same howling stove experience--follow the good advice about covering the pencil-sized hole.

Do you have a picture, or a drawing about the general location of that pencil sized hole? Been looking for it for months. Thanks.

 

[danham]

My i1200 is in an outside chimney and putting a good bunch of Roxul behind the insert made a big difference in how much heat comes out into the room (instead of warming my driveway). That in turn means the blower, while it helps, is not mandatory unless it's an especially cold, windy night.

-dan

 

[Mark McKenna]

I have the same stove, I tried putting my thermometer above the door handle, however i realized it's completely lost it's magnetic abilities. Time to find a new magnet of a new thermometer.

I'm new to this entire thing and I've been playing around trying to get the secondaries right, I've been scouring the forums for advice and there are so many great things I've learned already.

Any i2400 specific stuff I should be watching for?

 

[velvetfoot]

I've been using the fan on high on my HI300 the last couple of days when it's been real cold. Noisy as heck, but throws out more heat, in my opinion. It'd be nice if it was more than two speeds. I will only load N/S, if I can help it, so I've been moving the coals to one side. I took the ashes and, unavoidably, some real small coals out last weekend when it was warmer to make more space.

 

[burnt03]

I have the same stove, I tried putting my thermometer above the door handle, however i realized it's completely lost it's magnetic abilities. Time to find a new magnet of a new thermometer.

I'm new to this entire thing and I've been playing around trying to get the secondaries right, I've been scouring the forums for advice and there are so many great things I've learned already.

Any i2400 specific stuff I should be watching for?

On my F2400, I have to get it pretty warm to get secondaries going (Load N-S, bringing the stove up to at least 600 before I start closing down on the air. Usually peaks out at 700-750). After about an hour, get it closed down to 1/8 open and I'll have coals to re-light the next morning after about 9-10 hours. One other thing I've noticed with turning it down.... if I closed the air too quickly (say from 3/4 to 1/2) and it kills the flames, I can open it up all the way to get the flames roaring again, then close it down from full to 1/2 and it'll sometimes kick start the secondaries.