I'm about to pull the trigger to order the Regency CI2600 because of the sleek, modern look and hybrid design. Our local stove company, whose advice comes highly recommended, advises against it, saying the catalytic converter is problematic and costly to replace every 3 to 5 yrs. I was quoted over $600 ( by a Regency dealer) for this particular unit's catalytic replacement. Our local stove company also claims that catalytic stoves/ inserts are on their way out. Also, from some of my research reading, Regency seems like a company that will not stand by you when the unit develops problems. Since the Regency CI2600 is so new to the market, I can hardly find any reviews over the internet. I feel like I am back to square one. I am thinking either I wait until next year so that some users can share their experience or just risk it and be the guinea pig and learn the hard lesson (this unit will run me over 5K, unit plus materials and installation). Any opinion is welcomed. Thank you so much for your time.
Okay, so I'm sure the original poster has already made the purchase or moved on, but for anyone still on the fence about the CI2600, I'm replying to the original post because this thread has gone into 20 different directions.
1) I had the unit installed yesterday, just before a cold front came through. In the DC area stove inserts cost about 800-1200 to install.
2) We purchased this stove, because my wife and I have been to Auschwitz, and frankly, neither one of us will ever forget what the ovens their looked like, i.e. arched top, (google it). Bottom line: zero chance we were going to buy a stove that in anyway reminded us of that place.
3) At 7:30 pm, outside temp 45 degrees, I placed a few handfuls of twigs on one piece of wadded up newspaper, once it got going, I then place four pieces of maple in and waited until they were really on fire, all the while the door is open. It took aprox 20 minutes to really ignite the maple.
4) I closed the door and left the damper open for another 10 Minutes, as per the instructions said to do.
5) Next, I fully closed both the damper and bypass, again, as instructed.
6) I checked the fire at 8:30, downstairs room was noticeably warmer, fan manually set to low, to avoid noise. Metal surround was warm to touch but not hot. outside temp was now 40 degrees.
7) I checked the fire at 9:30, downstairs room was very warm, maple looked to be about 15 percent burned up, but hard to tell of course. Metal was still only warm to touch. outside temp, was 37 degrees.
Now for my narrative. At this point, I'm pretty disappointed. I thought the room would go from cold to hot, not just warm. I wondered if I'm doing this correctly. Then I go upstairs to see if my heat pump is on. NOPE, this is the first time I have seen the outside temp under 40, and the heat pump not constantly running. (Note:I live in a old block house and I always set my thermostat to 70.)
8) check the stove at 11pm. Looks like the maple is aprox 60 percent burned up. great heat in basement room, but not hot. Metal surround still only warm to touch, Fan still on low. I know the heat pump had come one, because I heard it, but once again, when I go to the thermostat, it is currently not running and now it's 35 outside.
9) At 6 am, get up get dressed, on my way out the door, I turn off the fan, at this point, the room is still warm, the metal surround is still warm, however, there appears to be nothing but ash in the stove. Outside temp is 25, and heat pump is running.
Notes:
1)my fireplace was huge, even my stack was enormous, the installer said I could have fit an 8 inch liner in my stack. He put a special cap on to prevent back draft. Not sure how this affects performance, if at all?
2) as you can probably tell, my stove was installed in the basement of a two level, 2800sqft, brick rambler. Fireplace is almost in the middle of the room, almost in the middle of the house too. I was told this was and Ideal fireplace for a stove.
3) as I said, I used only maple, and only 4 pieces, they were long pieces and just fit in the box, as far as girth, they easily fit in a 5 gallon bucket, in fact I probably could have fit six of these pieces in a 5 gallon bucket. thus, I do not believe the box was even close to full, maybe 60 percent full, to start with. This was my first fire, in my first stove, so I really just wanted to test it out. I used maple because my yard is full of maple and that is what I plan to burn...mostly.
4) my guess is, that fire lasted aprox, 6 hours, and put decent heat out for 8, but I had to go to bed, so that really is a guess.
More narrative:
I am not sure if this stove could really heat 2500 sq ft, I also doubt this stove can burn for 14 hrs. I believe, using only maple, I can push this stove to 8 hours of burn time, and heat about 1000 sq ft, no problem. I plan to attempt this tonight by really filling up the box.
Tomorrow, I plan to buy some oak, to test it out as well. I will follow up with my next two test results.
Bottom line: I'm happy, I do not have a dangerous 500 degree hunk of metal protruding from my fireplace. I now have a place to efficiently dispose of 6 maple trees, while adding warmth to my house. If the power goes out I feel more comfortable that frozen pipes will not be an issue. The last two winters in DC have been brutal, now, I could care less about oil, or electricity prices. I don't think this will keep the house at 70 on a cold night, but, I'm pretty confident it will keep the house well above freezing.
!! Brand new HI400! Window's even bigger than I expected. Can't wait to get it installed.View attachment 155829
! I've only burned mine a couple times so far and I'm satisfied at this point. Like you, I don't put a ton of merit into advertised burn times. Too many variables
