Smoke spilling on reload of a new stove.

  • 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.
Well the dealer came out and had the same issues that I was reporting. Just a roll of smoke coming out of the stove when re loading. He didn’t have any definite answers and was going to call regency. He said he has installed these stoves into mobile homes with very short flues and poor draft but only prior to the 2020 epa change and the addition of that smoke deflector above the baffle. So he said when it cools down, pull the deflector out and give it a try and he’ll see what regency says.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keithrstapleton
Well the dealer came out and had the same issues that I was reporting. Just a roll of smoke coming out of the stove when re loading. He didn’t have any definite answers and was going to call regency. He said he has installed these stoves into mobile homes with very short flues and poor draft but only prior to the 2020 epa change and the addition of that smoke deflector above the baffle. So he said when it cools down, pull the deflector out and give it a try and he’ll see what regency says.

Very nice that it reproduces with the dealer present! Useful to have the dealer draw his/her own conclusions based on the same evidence. Hoping for the best!
 
Did you pull the deflector?
 
Yep. I got around to pulling it out yesterday. I’d say it has made a marked improvement. Very limited smoke issues and seems to be manageable. I can open the door now with a hot fire burning and not have the flames pouring out of the stove into the room.
Before it was pulled out, was it in the up or down position?
 
Before it was pulled out, was it in the up or down position?
It was in the Up position. The gap between the deflector and the top of the baffle was only about 1/8” though. You can’t really get eyes on it when in place but I reached up with some different wood shims to gauge the gap and it was basically the thickness of a popsicle stick. Maybe that works for some people’s setup but I wasn’t enjoying it with mine. I might try to adjust the angle in the deflector and retry it but for now I’m happy.
 
Last edited:
Wow thanks for posting the update. I'de hate to say cut it shorter, but maybe that or get a narrower piece if steel plate and try that if you find burning with out it is problematic down the road. Modifying a brand new stove doesn't seem right but your results seem to point you in that direction.
 
It was in the Up position. The gap between the deflector and the top of the baffle was only about 1/8” though. You can’t really get eyes on it when in place but I reached up with some different wood shims to gauge the gap and it was basically the thickness of a popsicle stick. Maybe that works for some people’s setup but I wasn’t enjoying it with mine. I might try to adjust the angle in the deflector and retry it but for now I’m happy.
Good information, thanks for letting us know. The deflector was my suspicion all along. It may be quite helpful in strong draft situations, but obviously not in yours. 1/8" is a really skinny gap. I would try bending it to increase the gap to about 1/2" and try it out.

Let the dealer know your results. Hopefully, he will feed this info back to Regency and it should help the next customers.

How wide is the deflector? Does the deflector span the full width of the baffle or just partially?
 
  • Like
Reactions: keithrstapleton
Maybe manufacturer can send a “modified” replacement deflector. Can’t imagine they want to be selling lemon stoves, and dealing with the blow back from smoked out owners.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keithrstapleton
Maybe manufacturer can send a “modified” replacement deflector. Can’t imagine they want to be selling lemon stoves, and dealing with the blow back from smoked out owners.
Regency has been pretty good with making adjustments based on user feedback. Hopefully there will be a remedy soon. Seems easy if this is just having the deflector bent more to increase the gap above the baffle.
 
Good information, thanks for letting us know. The deflector was my suspicion all along. It may be quite helpful in strong draft situations, but obviously not in yours. 1/8" is a really skinny gap. I would try bending it to increase the gap to about 1/2" and try it out.

Let the dealer know your results. Hopefully, he will feed this info back to Regency and it should help the next customers.

How wide is the deflector? Does the deflector span the full width of the baffle or just partially?
It very nearly covers the width of the baffle. Just about 5/8” of space at each end of the deflector above the baffle.

Stove seems to be working okay without it. Although I don’t have a way of gauging efficiency or pollution. I got a 10 hour burn last night. Loaded it up with good dry maple at 11pm. Secondaries were still burning nicely at around 230am (when our dog decided it wanted outside) and the stove top was still around 600. Re started a fire from hot coals at 9am.
 
Just got a new insert in Oct.2022, and started to use it in Nov. Soon noticed the smoke on reloading problem. I'm new to this, so would love to get any advice. Still waiting to hear from dealer on this matter. So strange that manufacturers promote low emissions, but they say nothing about reloading emissions! Thanks, Keith. St. John's, NL
 
The EPA emissions are an average over a prescribed cycle. I believe that includes the start up phase.

Btw, this is one of the reasons to recommend loading it full, and burn it all down (controllably) and the reload it full. Rather than adding a piece each hour.

That said, this might need its own new thread. (@begreen?)

First questions are:

What insert?
How tall is your chimney?
Do you have a cap?

How dry is your wood? (Type and how long has it been split, stacked off the ground, covered if no moisture meter is yet present .)