Best radiant heater and question about Regency catalytic

[bholler]

Looks like 15-18 hours max from people who actually own the big 5100. This from a hybrid stove with a huge 4.4 CF firebox and a lame 8" flue requirement.

Well I have 7 5100s out so far and most of those people are easily getting 20 hours or more when shut all the way down with hardwood. But even if we go with your 15-18 hour figure that is still a whole lot longer than overnight. And as far as the 8" goes the king has the same 8" as well as the buck 91. I only have installed 2 3500s and those where recent so i haven't had feedback on them yet. Yes Blaze Kings are great stoves but there are allot of other good stoves out there.

I totally agree about your statement of radiant versus convective though. I think that argument is overblown as well.

 

[Sprinter]

It's easy to turn a "radiant" stove into a "convection" stove. Just set up a small table fan to blow across it whenever you want heated air convection. I do that sometimes and it works fine. Especially when we have a rack of clothes drying on the other side...

 

[Highbeam]

Yes Blaze Kings are great stoves but there are allot of other good stoves out there.

Of course.

 

[bholler]

Of course.

Fair enough I think that may be the first time I have seen you admit that..... lol No offense meant by that just joking

 

[Highbeam]

Fair enough I think that may be the first time I have seen you admit that..... lol No offense meant by that just joking

I've been very impressed with the PEs and heck I even own an NC30. Different stoves for different applications. I remain convinced that burn time is very important for a stove used for 100% of a home's heat when the owners are away from the home for 12 hour stretches. I can even find a few faults with the BK if I want to be picky!

For the OP, not much choice. The woodstocks aren't there, nor the BK.

 

[goldencoults]

Heck, a couple candles could heat 450 square feet! I sure wouldn't be investing a ton of money in a high end stove and chimney system for such a small space.

Yeah - well it feels like a big space cause it is split over 2 levels with staggered raked ceilings on each side of the split, going up to windows that stretch the length of the room along the ceiling line. The highest point is about 5 metres.
Plus we have a lot of single glazed glass in this room (sliding doors one end and a couple more big windows at the other end) and 3 other doors coming off it.

This all makes it hard to heat so far since we have lived there and we don't have access to line gas.

Any heat just seems to gather up at the top of the raked part of the ceiling.

So I feel like I need something like a PE summit as opposed to a neo or super.

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong - I have never owned a wood heater before. Learning a lot from you folks though..

 

[goldencoults]

Just a mention here,

We have units being tested for both Australia and the ULEB in NZ. It may be months before approvals are obtained, but we are on the way.....

This would be very exciting if I wasn't just about to buy a wood heater..

 

[BrotherBart]

The old marketing trick. Announce what is coming to freeze current shoppers.

 

[goldencoults]

So 49 square meters is like 450 square feet. Pretty small really. Is this just one room of your home?

Just to be correct - 49 square metres is 527 square feet. Plus I have those high raked ceilings..

 

[webby3650]

The old marketing trick. Announce what is coming to freeze current shoppers.

Not much of a trick. I don't see how announcing a new stove that may or may not come to market would be helpful. The current customers are needed to fund the production of the new line. Stopping customers in their tracks and stopping the cash flow doesn't seem like good business "trick"

 

[Squisher]

Just to be correct - 49 square metres is 527 square feet. Plus I have those high raked ceilings..

You mentioned possibly sizing up to a summit. If you are only heating 527sqft imo that would be serious overkill and you'd have a hard time burning efficiently and not cooking yourself out. I heat about 2100sqft of two levels from a basement install with my summit.

 

[begreen]

@goldencoults is the 49 sq mtr space closed off from the rest of the house, or is it open to other areas or is that the total area to be heated? How high is the ceiling?

 

[Ashful]

The whole concept of radiant heaters vs. convective heaters is entirely overblown.

This may be true in modern insulated stick frame houses. However, if you're living in a masonry house, don't even think of trying a radiant heater. You cannot effectively heat thousands of square meters of externally-sunk masonry wall via direct radiation from a stove, period. Only hope is to heat the air within.

I have millions upon millions of BTUs spent in learning this, if anyone wants to debate it.

 

[Highbeam]

This may be true in modern insulated stick frame houses. However, if you're living in a masonry house, don't even think of trying a radiant heater. You cannot effectively heat thousands of square meters of externally-sunk masonry wall via direct radiation from a stove, period. Only hope is to heat the air within.

I have millions upon millions of BTUs spent in learning this, if anyone wants to debate it.

Sure and if my house had no roof, a convective heater would have a hard time too. Your house is not typical and applying the resulting experience as it relates to that uniqueness can be misleading.

 

[Ashful]

Sure and if my house had no roof, a convective heater would have a hard time too. Your house is not typical and applying the resulting experience as it relates to that uniqueness can be misleading.

Yep... just saying "if" you live in a masonry house. I actually mistakenly thought the OP was Euro, where solid masonry construction is more common than not. Now I see he's Aussie.

 

[bholler]

This may be true in modern insulated stick frame houses. However, if you're living in a masonry house, don't even think of trying a radiant heater. You cannot effectively heat thousands of square meters of externally-sunk masonry wall via direct radiation from a stove, period. Only hope is to heat the air within.

I have millions upon millions of BTUs spent in learning this, if anyone wants to debate it.

I agree with you that in our case a stove that gives off more convective heat will work a little better but honestly even a stove with no convective jacket at all will still create allot of convective heat just by the air rising over it and all of the objects in the house that it has heated. What highbeam said that i agree with is that the difference between convective and radiant stoves is greatly exaggerated. Both give off both types of heat. Yes ones with a convective jacket give off less radiant heat and vise versa but for most people the difference is not very great.

 

[goldencoults]

@goldencoults is the 49 sq mtr space closed off from the rest of the house, or is it open to other areas or is that the total area to be heated? How high is the ceiling?

Hey @begreen check out the description at the very top of this page. cheers

 

[goldencoults]

You mentioned possibly sizing up to a summit. If you are only heating 527sqft imo that would be serious overkill and you'd have a hard time burning efficiently and not cooking yourself out. I heat about 2100sqft of two levels from a basement install with my summit.

Hey @Squisher - well that's the kind of info I need. I think based on what you are all saying here a Super 27 might be just fine.
I don't get to be a member of the Summit club though..

 

[bholler]

Guys it may only be 49 squ meters but it is allot of cubic meters and that is what matters

 

[begreen]

Ceiling is about 16 feet, so the same cubic area as a house with conventional 8 ft ceiling and about 1000 sq ft.. The PE Super series or the Alderlea T5 is perfect for that sized space. It has excellent burn times for its capacity in part due to the regulated secondary air.

 

[Squisher]

I don't get out much and I've heard good things from a few people about the super 27.

Too large of a stove will have a tendency to either waste wood, or get burned to low and pollute. I know that everyone just says to build a smaller fire, to offset not wanting the big btu output of an oversized stove but the reality of that can mean not burning hot enough, so either smoking or not having hot enough exhaust gases to exit the chimney above dew point.

It's easier to run a properly sized stove within its output range and maintain best efficiency.

That said, we now know the size to be heated but myself I know little about Australia? How cold does it get where you are at? How well insulated is your home? Is this area the whole home, or could other living areas draw heat from it as well? With such a tall ceiling is there already a ceiling fan or plans for one? Or how is heat/air currently circulated?

 

[goldencoults]

That said, we now know the size to be heated but myself I know little about Australia? How cold does it get where you are at? How well insulated is your home? Is this area the whole home, or could other living areas draw heat from it as well? With such a tall ceiling is there already a ceiling fan or plans for one? Or how is heat/air currently circulated?

Hey @Squisher Australia is generally pretty moderate in most populated areas. In winter where we are (the Adelaide hills) it's a bit colder than most areas of our state. During a winter day it sits around 10 C (50 F) though at night it can get down to 1 C (33 F).

Our home would be poorly insulated by say European or Canadian standards - again because our temps are considered moderate. But I do plan do try and improve this.

The good news is we do have a ceiling fan in that space. So I would think that is a big bonus.

The single space I have been refering to houses our kitchen, dining and living space. There are 3 doors off this (and a glass sliding door that leads outside) that go into passage ways which lead to bedrooms.
I hope that some heat would make it's way down to these other rooms but I am not banking on it (can't get my head around how).
I have looked into the heat transfer duct type system which could work well for at least one part of our house (suck it from the highest part of our ceiling and blow it into the attached bedrooms / hallway). Will explore this more once I understand what the house will be like with a wood heater for a while..

Thanks for your help - I think I am going to go with the Super 27 - out of interest, how long a burn times do you get out of yours? I mean, how long until it just isn't emitting warmth anymore?

BTW - I intend to burn nice, dry, hard wood.

 

[Squisher]

There's lots of info on here about moving air around. Basically blow cold air towards the stove is your best bet. Hot air will move in to replace the cool air you move out of the bedrooms.

I have the summit so bigger firebox but get good consistent overnight burns out of it with little to no fuss. This is with doug fir softwood mainly, with a good hardwood I would see 12hr burns with ease, with maple I've been able to reload full size splits after 14hrs before. I'm pretty fanatical about burning technique and exhaust/stove temps and whatnot, like many on here. Lol. I'd say it sounds like my climate is quite similar to yours for temps. I'm in a very mild part of Canada. We might dip down a bit colder in a cold snap, say -25 to -30c. A lot of the winter though would be spent between freezing and say -10. I've only burned one winter with my summit and so far have been very impressed with its quality and efficiency. I have burned wood all my life(41years old).

 

[Sprinter]

I think I am going to go with the Super 27

Seeing what your climate is like, size and structure of the house, etc, I'll say the Super 27 is about right for you. It's as efficient as any non-cat is, forgiving of short flues for draft ("easy breather") easy to operate and control, and is about the right size at 2 cf.

Your question about burn time is a common one, but too many variables to answer helpfully. You will be as happy with the 27 as you could be with any other non-cat of it's size,

Squisher mentioned this, but you can help the bedroom issue by putting a small fan at the base of the bedroom doors, blowing outward. The idea is that the cold air blows out, and the warmer air above flows in. It works better than it sounds...

 

[goldencoults]

..you can help the bedroom issue by putting a small fan at the base of the bedroom doors, blowing outward. The idea is that the cold air blows out, and the warmer air above flows in. It works better than it sounds...

Crazy - I never would have tried that if I didn't read it here.
Thanks everyone. I'm going wth the Super 27. Now to look into a nice corner hearth..