Regency R16 insert burn time and baffle questions

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

ben_moniz

Member
Oct 13, 2010
6
Boston, MA
Hello all, A while back I purchased a Regency R16 for $100 from a woman on craigslist. I went ahead and sanded the unit down to bare metal, Painted it with Stove Brite black mettalic paint, Installed new rope gasket and also installed new fire bricks and got her looking just like new.

I had the insert installed and also ran a 23' SS liner with rain cap etc. I also created and installed a block off plate.

The stove was missing the steel baffle and insulation blanket which sits above the steel baffle. I went ahead and had a local steeel guy cut me some thick plate steel for the baffle. While the temps in the stove and heat output were greatly improved upon my installing the baffle I am getting horrible burn times. Below are the details on my burning process. I will load the stove with a bunch of wood and burn for 30-40 minutes with draft wide open. Upon getting the stove to this temp I closed the draft down to 1/2" and am getting great secondary burn. I am able to achieve 500-550 degrees front stove temp (above door handle) but it seems as if the burn time are far less that the 8-10 hours which Regency states. I will get 3.5 - 4 hours before it's all coal and I need to add more wood to sustain 500-550 degrees. My house is a colonial and is only 1400 sq ft, i can get the downstairs (1st floor where the stove is installed) to 70 degrees and upstairs to 66-67ish but thought I would be able to get the house a lot warmer. I have a whole house fan which I have insulated both up in attic and in the hallway upstairs, I have also insulated the attic door but am getting a major draft from upstairs. I know this coud be the problem with maintaing temps higher than 70 but the burn times are what concern me.

Anyone have a R16 that is having the same problem??????

Any help/assistance is greatly appreciated.
 
A few comments:

the burn time Regency states is the time from loading the stove fully to...who knows? It might be the time until all coals are gone, but that might be different from the time when you want to reload. Burn time is a poorly defined term.

You load the stove with a bunch of wood, but how much wood, how tightly packed in the wood, and what type of wood and size of wood pieces? The longest burn time will be when the firebox is almost full of a dense hardwood like oak, hickory, hard maple, locust, etc. It takes some practice to figure out how much wood to load and how to load it to achieve the longest burn times.

You might get longer burn times if you start to shut the air down before you have a roaring fire and before the stove top is up to the desired maximun temperature. Shutting down the air will make the fire start up a little more slowly but will extend the burn time. I start to shut down the air when I start to see decent secodary flames. This will be after maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most, and will mean the stove top is at around 300 or 350 when I start to reduce the primary air. It might be a while before stove top reaches 500 or 600, so I won't get the maximum heat from my stove at first. Also, at the end of a burn I will be burning coals and not getting maximum heat. Over the course of a burn the stove is at peak temperature only part of the time. If you are trying to maintain constant peak temperatures you're going to reload more often and therefore have shorter burn times (if burn time is defined as time between reloads).
 
Hello
I have the r14 med insert. I load it up before 10pm with 3 or 4 large splits and a good hot bed of coals. Next morn about 6am theres enough coals to get it started again. During the evening i load it about every 2 to 3 hours with 1 to 2 large splits and run it hot w/draft 1/2 open. Before bed I shut draft down to about 1/5 open. temps in the evening is 75deg, in the am house goes down to about 68deg. out door temp around mid 20s to mid 30s.
 
Thanks for the responses guys!

I wonder if it has something to do with my not having a vermiculiteceramic baffle and only having the steel plate. I know the R16's had the ceramic blanket that went above the steel baffle. Mine did not come with the blanket. Maybe im losing a lot of heat up the chimney therefore not allowing my stove to get to it's peak perormance. I was going to order the i3100 vermiculite baffle to see if it made a difference.

What do you guys think? Would it make a difference?
 
call this place http://www.infraredheaters.com/insulati.html they shold have a small piece laying around to insulate your plate that they should sell you. Place is run by husband and his wife, nice people to talk to. I used this stuf and its held in place with a couple small pieces of steel plate just laying on top of the ceramic wool. That plate you had made, is it about 1/4" thk?
 
Yeah it's about 1/4" thick. I actually have left over Kaowool at my house I was thinking about using. I used Kaowool on the top of my block off plate. but wonder if the ceramic board they use on the newer regency stoves would refract the heat back into the firebox better. Makes one wonder why regency would use the boards now instead of the steel baffles if the performance wasn't better. Especially when I hear they replace them for free under warranty.

I may try using the Kaowool above the existing baffle and hold it down with 2 small pieces of rebar. Then see if I can notice a difference. But have a feeling I may also end up ordering the replacement (ceramic or vermiculite whatever they are) baffles for the i3100.

I am burning seasoned red oak and putting 6-7 splits of decent sized wood in it before going to bed (11 -12:00)and the auto blower will shut off 3.5 - 4 hours later.
 
hello,

I too picked up a r16 from criegslist. Paid a little more than you though, ya got a heck of a deal! I ordered new ceramic wool from ebay for 30$$ 1'' thick. Works good. If you get a 3100 baffle in there and it works please post!
 
I have a i2400 regency insert and the best overnight burns I can get are about 4 hrs. And I have a non-metal (ceramic?) baffle. I just let it burn out, let the house cool down and start it again in the A.M. Forget the advertised burn times, they're marketing hype.
 
OK, so here's what I found. I was having a problem getting a decent burntime while burning seasoned oak in my Regency R16. I was only able to achieve 3.5 - 4 hour burn when the blower would stay on. About 2 months ago I noticed my rear secondary burn pipe was disconnected. Before reconnecting the pipe I decided to install the Kaowool blanket above the baffle while I had easy access to it with the burnpipe off...I had been wanting to do this for a bit but kept putting it off. WOW am I happy I installed the kaowool above the steel baffle that I already had in place. I am now getting great burn times and it seems the stove is a lot easier to get up to temp and retain that temp. If I stoke the fire at 11:00 pm before bed I am usually able to wake up at 5:30-6:00 and 7 out of 10 times it's still running. Granted it's not giving off much heat but I am very happy to see hot coals in the box now. This stove is GREAT I absolutely love it!

-Ben
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

E
HELP! Ongoing chemical smell in room above wood burning insert
Replies
8
Views
826
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
begreen
begreen
S
Advice on replacement wood insert
Replies
25
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
SJFam
S
Dajolu
Will I be able to have a fire in the open hearth while the stove is burning wood?
Replies
1
Views
297
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
begreen
begreen
circle_burner
Ke40 cat baffle
Replies
6
Views
572
Blaze King
circle_burner
circle_burner
D
Purchasing a woodstove and just met with the installer. I have questions!
Replies
4
Views
635
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
bholler
B
Top Bottom
Back