New house stove suggestions?

Do you have a pic and dimensions of the fireplace? Is it at an interior or exterior wall? How cold does it get in your area and how good is the insulation of the house? You will need to figure out if a ~2.4 cu ft stove will be enough or you need to go larger.

As for the regency 5100: The few reports I have read here so far seem to indicate it is not a BlazeKing stove. Don't expect putting in an XL-stove and getting the burn times of a BK King.

Auzzie Gumtree said:

The fire has to have a good burn time it has to be able to restart after work about 10 hours.

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That should be easy to do with a 3 cu ft stove. Honestly, my 2 cu ft insert still has enough coals after 10 hrs for an easy restart usually.

Large fireplace, exterior wall and no blower noise preferred: I would go with a (convective) stove. Have you looked at the Jotul F55?

Auzzie Gumtree said:

The fireplace is pretty big and I don't want to lose a lot of heat up the chimney.

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When you put a block-off plate in that won't make a difference between stove and insert.

Is your existing fireplace a brick and mortar or is it a pre-fabricated fireplace built into a chase? If it's a pre-fab, you may not legally or safely install an insert.

I had a prefab in my house that I removed and installed a BIZ Ultima into the space. Reference my profile photo. You do not need to run a fan with this unit but I have one with a fan speed controller. You can't hear it on the lower settings. There is also a duct system with this design and small in line booster fan I run to my main house heating duct. That gets the heat to the back bedrooms of my ranch style home.

The BIZ Ultima heats my house exceptionally well in the freezing and occasional below zero temperatures we experience in the U.S. Midwest. It's a non-catalytic double wall steel design that in my opinion does a better job of exchanging cold air to warm air in a single story house versus a cast iron catalytic that is more radiant heat for the rooms immediately adjacent to and above it.

Three to four oak, ash, or cherry logs will heat strongly for 3-4 hours. I add the last logs of the night between 9-10 pm and it generates house warming heat until 4-5 am when the gas furnace takes over. When I get home around 6 pm, there are still hot coals under the ashes that gets new logs fired up. Over the average six months we run the burner, we consume 5-6 face cords or two cords of mixed hard woods. It's the perfect burner for our needs and the T shaped footprint of our house.

If you have a brick and mortar fireplace, I don't believe this unit would work for you...it's a huge cabinet. An insert may be your best bet. I'd look at non-catalytic types for a ranch. I've owned Osburn and SCAN burners in the past that also worked well.

Auzzie Gumtree said:

I don't think we can get that one here in australia...

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It's a newer model; may still be in testing for the Australian market. If you like the look I would inquire at a Jotul dealer or Jotul itself. The reviews here have been very positive so far.

I did like the heat output of the neo 2.5 any feedback on that one?

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Not quite sure what you mean with heat output. The max BTU numbers are usually not that informative as the stove will rarely be run that way. How much BTU a stove can put out is mostly determined by its firebox size and in that regard the Neo will be similar to any other 2.5 cu ft stove. However, as a flush insert in an exterior wall fireplace you will need to run the blower most of the time. PE blowers are usually not that loud on low although I have not experienced the one of the Neo 2.5 yet. It is also a newer model with only a few reviews so far. I suggest a forum search.

I have an insert with a fan but only use the fan when it gets below 40* f. I also like the look of a free standing stove in or in front of a fireplace. Look in the photo gallery of the site, plenty of good setups.