Harman 300i vs Regency i3100 vs Quad 5100i

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ERN

New Member
Oct 2, 2013
2
Help,

I am down to these three wood inserts and would love to have opinions on them from people who have used them. I have read so much at this point that I am on overload. I will be using for supplemental heat in a two story colonial (2200 sq. ft) in CT. I am putting a six inch stainless liner in the chimney.

Thanks in advance,

Eric
 
I can't speak to the others, but I burned a 3100L for a number of years, & my home was NEVER warmer. I put anywhere from 5 - 7 cords of mixed hardwoods thru it, & loved it. The ONLY reason I pulled it, was beacuse it was in my walk out basement & I tore the roof off & built up 37'. We now have a nice A-Frame on a lake & where that chimney is located, at the extreme end & at the bottom of the 24/12 pitch, I would've had to put about 40' of chimney up there. It would've looked like an unexploded SCUD missile hit the place.
 
I'm pretty sure the 300i, which I have is the smallest of the three. It does a pretty good job in our 2000 ft2 colonial with open downstairs. Upstairs is cool, but we use electric heaters. Bigger could be better for you. We couldn't fit in anything bigger.

I thought you had a Hampton?
 
ID prefer the harman ,but then again im bias towards harman. They got the looks as well as the tech.
 
Well, The first fire from the Quadrafire 5100 is dying down and the smell of paint is diminishing. I just made a fire from some kindling size wood to heat it up a bit and let it cycle. I was going to check it all out and fire it up again a little hotter. How do you gauge how soon to put a really hot fire to it? Any suggestions on breaking it in?

Thanks,
 
I considered and looked at all three this past March when I decided to get a larger insert. What steered me against the Harman were a few things. The firebox, I really wanted to be able to load NS, which is not really possible with the Harman, though it does have andirons which makes EW loading less of a problem -- less risk of wood falling against the glass. But the firebox on the Harman is really the same as on their freestanding stove, which is a top loader, which would be ideal if the insert had that capability. As it is, loading the insert full looked like it would be a problem since there was a lot of capacity above where the door opening stopped, that area of course could be easily filled if it were a top loader.

The Harman was the one I really wanted. As their literature indicates and Seasoned Oak will attest, when you get it running right, the output is phenomenal -- very uniform and even heat level, but besides S Oak here, there don't seem to be a lot of boosters of the Harman and there have been a few who have had problems getting it running right. If you're someone who is very technical and methodical I would think you'd be one of the ones who'd get it working right.

Another negative was the cost of replacing the fragile refractory chamber, somewhere around $300 if that breaks or wears out and needs replacing.

I liked the Quadrafire until I realized those side bay windows do not have airwash and will blacken and need cleaning, if it bothers you when the windows get dirty. Some are not bothered by that, I would have been.

So it ended up between the Regency, the Osburn and the Summit. I preferred the blowers on the sides than under the ash lip, liked the look of a bayfront insert, and I really was not crazy about burn tubes and vermiculite baffles, which had been an issue for me with the Century. The Summit was the only one which had the features I preferred, and I like the look of it the best of those three, with the Regency coming in a close second. In fact, I almost bought a Regency floor model, until the dealer told me he he'd charge me a delivery fee, because he'd have to pay a bridge toll to cross from NJ into PA, so it turned out not to be such a good deal, and I got turned off by that dealer's attitude.

So of your three, I'd pick the Regency.

Edit: Oops, guess I didn't read carefully. You just got the Regency. I think it's a good one, well-made, and am sure you'll be happy with it.
 
Well, The first fire from the Quadrafire 5100 is dying down and the smell of paint is diminishing. I just made a fire from some kindling size wood to heat it up a bit and let it cycle. I was going to check it all out and fire it up again a little hotter. How do you gauge how soon to put a really hot fire to it? Any suggestions on breaking it in?

Thanks,

Hi there and thanks for posting about your experience with the quad 5100. I had a 4100 in my last house and loved it. Want to put a stove in our new house and am also deciding between the harman 300i and the 5100. Wondering if you are still happy with the 5100 now that a couple of months have passed? We are also in a 2 story colonial. Have heard the 5100 side windows are prone to creosote build up. The fan on our 4100 was a little loud- guess the same is true of the 5100? Thanks!!
 
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