Hampton HI300 Owner's: New larger surround coming out!

[pulldownclaw]

Hello,

We're looking at possibly getting a Hampton HI300 and our fireplace was a touch too large for it. (previous thread:https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6955/)

We heard from our chimney repair guy (who also looks like is going to be getting the stove for us), that he just spoke to the Regency/Hampton rep and he said that they are coming out with a new optional larger surround for the HI300. Sound like it'll be about $150, and will be coming out in 8 weeks or so. Just thought I'd pass that out in case anyone is running into the same problem we're having with our fireplace opening size.

The only thing that scares me about the Hampton is the size of the firebox. We used to have an old smoke dragon "Hawk" stove at our old house, and we could put some big logs in there.

We just got a dead red oak cut down, which I am in the process of splitting, and I keep looking at all of the pieces that are borderline lengthwise and thinking to myself what a pain it's going to be to have to shave them all down. Lots of extra labor. The tree guy was pretty good, we told him to cut it in 18" lengths, but you know how that goes.....

Keep up the good work on the forum!

 

[burntime]

I have the same stove. Its a different animal all together. It will take a few months to figure it out but once you do it will heat much better than an older stove on 1/3 to 1/2 the wood. With the smaller chimney opening you loose a lot less up the stack. Oh, and with the large window you can actually see whats going on! Buy and burn it, you will love it. I have been running mine since october after having a large old insert for 8 years in my home...one of the best purchases I have made!

 

[sgcsalsero]

I don't think you'll be that disappointed with the firebox, I've seen much smaller. From Oct thru Mar probably had to take only
two pieces back outside to saw down . .

Good luck, interested to see new shroud

 

[burntime]

One last thing, others may disagree but It almost seems easier to load front to back to really stuff it full at night. Again, only my humble opinion, mileage may vary.

 

[pulldownclaw]

I was checking out the brochure last night, and saw that it said you can load front to back, that's good to know. I will probably be doing most of the scrounging myself, so I'll be able to keep everything 18" or less. Oh yeah, is it really 18", or less? I'm splitting wood now, so it would be good to know if it really can't fit 18" logs. Thanks.

 

[heydan]

My Regency I2400 has a firebox that's about 18" wide and about 18" deep but I can fit longer pieces of wood if I place them diagonally. For even longer pieces, I can place them diagonally in three dimensions -- place one end at the back left bottom corner of the stove and the other at the top right front corner. Of course, once you have to start placing wood diagonally in two or three dimensions it limits the total amount of wood you can fit in but it can be done if you have just a few oversize pieces to get rid of.

 

[burntime]

The hampton HI300 is the exact same as the regency I2400 but with the pretty face. If the fire ever goes out I will measure but I think there is like 19 1/2 inchs so 18 inch wood fits well??? Could ge wrong. I know that I had to cut down some of the seasoned wood because it was sized for the old beast.