2800 sq ft: Regency F3100 vs. Jotul F55 Carrabassett

[DirtyLittleSecret]

Greetings everyone! First post, and am feeling guilty starting off with a request for advice...
Buying a piece of property with an Aerospan design home (kinda like an arched A frame design) that is ~2800 sq ft. Has an older beast Schrader fireplace on the second (main) of 3 floors its not EPA compliant and am shopping for a replacement that can be supplemental but will probably see heavy use since I already have 12 full cord of seasoned wood available. Oh yes, it's in Oregon in mountain country at around 1,200 ft elevation.

Am deciding between the Regency F3100 (with about $500 off) or the Jotul F55 Carrabassett (no discount). Any insights as to which may be better for the long term? I'm skeptical of "efficiency" ratings on these things, but am open to any assistance you might provide.

Thanks again!

 

[aansorge]

Not bad choices. So you say the place is 2800 sq. ft. but you're putting the stove on the 2nd (main) floor. Will the 1st foor not be heated? How many sq. ft. if you exlude the lowest floor (basement?).

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

second fireplace was on the second floor hence the decision of a replacement. Besides the basement, it's about 2000 sq ft.

 

[stoveguy13]

Both are good choices , you may want to take a look at the quad 5700 or the osburn 2400 as well both big stove with long burn times

 

[Swedishchef]

Welcome to the forums! And don't worry, the forums exist to answer questions.

Either stoves will work. And as stoveguy mentioned there are lots of choices on the market.

Are you certain your wood is seasoned? Did you use a moisture meter? Lots of people new to burning (including myself) think they know what seasoned wood is. And before you know it we all complained the stoves didnt perform as we expected. Well, the source of the problem is the wood more often than not... Just some small advice.

Andrew

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

Thanks for the alternative recommendations StoveGuy. Will look at those as well!
Swedishchef- split/stacked the 12 cord of fir/pine about 5 years ago and have had it covered since. Been at 3500 ft the whole time. Haven't used a moisture meter but is dry as a bone. New property also has about 4 cord with 3 seasons on pallets. Should keep fueled for awhile.
Non EPA stoves are required to be removed and destroyed by federal law in sale or transfer of property- hence the reason for the replacement.

 

[Swedishchef]

ISn't there a Biotax rebate in the US right now for a situation like this?

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

SC- yes :$300
Leaning towards the Regency 3100 at this point $300 tax credit, $200 discount, an additional $100 rebate, and free blower promo seems like a good deal.
Anything I should be thinking about feature wise that I should be aware of? Does the airmate feature really work? I'm not interested in an ash drawer as in the past I've had nothing but issues with them.

 

[jzinckgra]

We've got an A-frame style house, all open concept (think skiing lodge) with 26' cathedral ceilings. ~1400 sqft on main floor and 750sq in the loft. We just put in the F55 and so far I'm loving it. So easy and predictable to control, although I've only burned a few fires so far. We have a large (6' span) ceiling fan and that pushes the air around from above. I scored a great deal on the F55 on CL (brand new for $1600), so you might want to take a look there. Looking forward to the winter heating season.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

Figured I'd report back. After talking to the Jotul dealer (that was a trip), I decided to go with the Regency 3100. Felt like I was getting a really good deal this time of year and am picking it up next week. Looking forward to finishing our move, setting a few "starter burns" and kicking back to enjoy family this holiday season.

 

[begreen]

I think you are going to like that stove a lot. It's a solid heater that's going to burn a whole lot cleaner than the old smoke dragon. It's going to burn quite differently than the Schrader and will like fully seasoned wood. Run it right and you will get good heat and a delightful fire view.

 

[Hogwildz]

For that size area, I would have gone larger. As large as you could find actually. I don't see either of those heating that large a space unless your in a warmer climate.

 

[begreen]

It's on the 2nd floor of 3 in Oregon. I was guessing he is heating about 1800 sq ft, but could be wrong. Def. milder climate.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

begreen is spot on. Will be heating about 1800-2000 sq ft. of the 2800 (the other 800 is basement). We are at the foot hills of Mt. Hood, but only ~ 1,200 ft.
There were only a handful of larger stoves out there that I looked at (BK, Regency 5100, etc.), but all were at a significant additional cost, had little more heat output, and/or used catalytics which Im not too fond of. Besides, I wanted a budget to add a log splitter to my holiday "wish list".

 

[begreen]

The main trick on seeing the best heat out of this stove is going to be burning well seasoned wood. That means a year or two of seasoning usually. It will burn less seasoned doug fir because of the oil content, but the heat will be less and the creosote deposits may be high.

 

[woodjack]

I've been using my Regency F3100 for about six years and love it. I don't know if other stoves are better, but I'm real happy with mine.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

The main trick on seeing the best heat out of this stove is going to be burning well seasoned wood. That means a year or two of seasoning usually. It will burn less seasoned doug fir because of the oil content, but the heat will be less and the creosote deposits may be high.

Fortunate for me, my ~12 cord has seasoned for about 5 years. Got another 3 cord pre-rounded. Just gotta go load it up and move to the new property! Am now thinking about making one of my first additions will be a large wood storage shed/carport.

WJ- Good to hear about your satisfaction. Hope to have it fired up within the week.