Lurker getting into the game - Regency i2400

[Suprachica79]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking in the forums for the better part of 6 months, totally dissatisfied with my oil boiler and baseboard heat, keeping my house at 60 degrees. I've been researching the best economical options to have a nice, warm house during the winter, and finally decided burning wood was the best option. Stats of the house-

Central CT
Built in 1957 with decent insulation ( upgrading attic insulation this summer)
1600sq ft ranch over a closed crawl space
Oil boiler/baseboard heat
Fireplace in living room on far left wall of the house with a straight shot down the kitchen and hallway
Fireplace size 33" wide in front, 27" wide in back, 17" deep and 26.5" high

After looking at various different models to see what size fits and searching on Craigslist for months, stumbled upon a 7-year old Regency I2400 for $500 from a stove shop that had removed the insert from a customer's house who was replacing with a gas unit. Talking him down to $400 as it needs new fire bricks and the blower only works on high (will be asking questions on here on how to fix the auto function in the blower).

My flue appears to be an 8x13" terra cotta lined flue, with an interior measurement of 7x12". As I was talking to the owner about how hard it'd be to fit a 6" liner with 1/2" insulation wrap down that chimney, he mentioned he had an ovalized SS liner kit he bought for a customer who backed out of the job, said he'd sell me the entire 25' kit with liner, top plate, cap, and oval to round appliance adapter for $250 cash . Knowing how expensive those kits are, I jumped on that deal in a heartbeat.

The point of this post is to say a big thank you to this forum, for all of the information I have gathered on here, and the info I am sure to receive in the future, and hopefully I will know enough to offer my knowledge later on. I plan to do the install myself, so what's left to purchase is an insulation kit and the materials to make a block off plate.

I'm already on the hunt for wood, only have about a half cord of seasoned maple at the house, currently looking at buying a pick-up and a trailer to be able to really scrounge what I need. I know I'll need to buy at least a couple cords in the next month or so for this coming winter so at least if it isn't well seasoned yet, it should be after the summer and fall seasons. If anyone has any leads for good firewood suppliers around Wolcott or central CT, I'd be very appreciative.

Thanks again everyone, I'm really looking forward to being a part of this wood burning community!

 

[begreen]

Nice finds! Sounds like you are off to a good and frugal start.

 

[jetsam]

It's pretty nice going from 60 degrees inside with $500 oil bills to 75 inside with $25 oil bills. I enjoyed that transition, anyway.

 

[Suprachica79]

It's pretty nice going from 60 degrees inside with $500 oil bills to 75 inside with $25 oil bills. I enjoyed that transition, anyway.

I must admit, I only spent about $1000 on oil over the past year, and our hot water is off our oil as well, so the oil bill doesn't kill me, but I keep the house so cold to achieve that. My goal is to spend about the same amount this coming year, but have a house at 75 instead of 60. Fingers crossed!

 

[Woody Stover]

Enjoy the heat! If you can get a tree guy to drop off some soft Maple or Black Cherry, those will dry pretty well over the summer. Dense woods like Oak and Hickory will need at least two years split and stacked. It will be harder to get strong heat output until morning with the softer woods, but that's the trade-off you have to make to have dry wood the first couple of years.

 

[kennyp2339]

Seems like your getting off on the right foot, you will be amazed at the different feel of heat you'll get in the winter, radiant w/ convection warms the soul while keeping the ole wallet full of green when done properly. Just keep in mind that you may wish to spent a couple sheckles on a soot eater to clean the chimney rather than a traditional brush since your running an ovalized liner.

 

[Suprachica79]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I have been a part of many forum communities but this is by far the most encouraging one I've encountered. I do need to reach out to a few tree companies to see if anyone would be willing to do some drops at the house, I've heard people in CT are not having much luck with that, more companies keeping the wood and splitting and selling themselves.

My uncle is having a maple tree cut down in the coming days and he's keeping the wood for me, I just need to find a way to get it to my house, split and start the drying process.

In terms of the soot eater, I definitely will be looking into that as I'd like to do the cleaning myself rather than farming that out every year. I am going to have a final cleaning here soon by a company so everything can be inspected before I do the install.

I've been looking on Craigslist for firewood, trying to find any decent deals so I can get some legit seasoned wood that I can let have one more summer before I burn this winter and scrounge all summer long to get my wood going for 2018-2019.

Is it my understanding that oak will dry in 2-3 full years or 2-3 summers? I.e. If I can find some good hardwood and cut/split/stack in the next couple of months; would that wood possibly be ready by winter of 2018-2019? Just trying to figure out how far out I need to actually buy vs scrounge. Thanks again everyone!

 

[kennyp2339]

Is it my understanding that oak will dry in 2-3 full years or 2-3 summers? I.e. If I can find some good hardwood and cut/split/stack in the next couple of months; would that wood possibly be ready by winter of 2018-2019? Just trying to figure out how far out I need to actually buy vs scrounge. Thanks again everyone!

Your best bet is to stick with maple, cherry, ash and some cotton wood. The maple being the longest of 4 to dry but if you get it now and split / stack in a sunny windy area it should be ready to go by this winter. The key is stacking, crib stack and peak the top for top cover only so the rain rolls off but air can penetrate the main stack, only go 2 rows deep and make a longer row.

 

[Suprachica79]

Crib stack and peak the top? Not exactly sure what you mean? Lol sorry, newbie here. I do know that I should space the stacking rows to get air flow, I will be picking up several pallets to get everything off the ground, seems like I'll be stacking 8-12 cords at all times, but where to put it all?!

 

[Woody Stover]

My uncle is having a maple tree cut down in the coming days and he's keeping the wood for me, I just need to find a way to get it to my house, split and start the drying process.

If it's soft Maple (Red or Silver,) great. Hard Maple (Sugar) takes a bit longer. Sugar Maple has the leaf shape that you see on the Canadian flag. Don't split too big, but with a tube stove, I wouldn't split real small or the fire might be hard to control.
A truck and trailer isn't an absolute necessity...

I've been looking on Craigslist for firewood, trying to find any decent deals so I can get some legit seasoned wood that I can let have one more summer before I burn this winter and scrounge all summer long to get my wood going for 2018-2019. Is it my understanding that oak will dry in 2-3 full years or 2-3 summers? I.e. If I can find some good hardwood and cut/split/stack in the next couple of months; would that wood possibly be ready by winter of 2018-2019? Just trying to figure out how far out I need to actually buy vs scrounge.

I wouldn't bank on bought wood being much drier, and just figure on needing a couple years split and stacked in the wind for the wood to be getting decently dry, if it's not split too big.

 

[Suprachica79]

Haha, all we have are two Honda accords, so a truck of some sort is a must. I do a ton of home improvement on the house so I've wanted to get a truck for many reasons anyways, this just gives me the push to really do it. I have to get better at identifying trees as well, I'm pretty terrible at that at the moment.

 

[begreen]

Crib stack and peak the top? Not exactly sure what you mean? Lol sorry, newbie here. I do know that I should space the stacking rows to get air flow, I will be picking up several pallets to get everything off the ground, seems like I'll be stacking 8-12 cords at all times, but where to put it all?!

Drop into the Wood Shed forum on this site. Lots of wood lore and info there.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-wood-shed.17/

 

[Suprachica79]

Drop into the Wood Shed forum on this site. Lots of wood lore and info there.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-wood-shed.17/

I have done some reading in there, I just hadn't heard the term crib stack before, I had planned to stack the ends with three splits in one direction and three splits at a 90 degree angle back and forth to support the sides and then straight splits in the center.

 

[begreen]

I have done some reading in there, I just hadn't heard the term crib stack before, I had planned to stack the ends with three splits in one direction and three splits at a 90 degree angle back and forth to support the sides and then straight splits in the center.

That's how we do our outdoor stacks set on palettes. Our shed stacks are just straight stacked with the side walls providing support.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep, cross-stack (crib) and top-cover to get your wood dry as quickly as possible. I have been stacking my pallets on concrete blocks to make the pallets last longer than they would in contact with the ground.

I have to get better at identifying trees as well, I'm pretty terrible at that at the moment.

These leaf pics are very good, the bark can vary a lot from what you see in the pictures. But further back in the book, the written descriptions of leaves, bark, fruit, twigs, shape, range and habitat will make you pretty good, pretty quickly, once you read the beginning of the guide to get a handle on how it's organized.

 

[gregbesia]

Welcome to the forum Suprachica79. I'm couple towns over from you. I wish I was closer to this cl ad (broken link removed to https://newhaven.craigslist.org/zip/6085475612.html)

 

[bcrtops]

Oftentimes you will find some good info online from one of the local college/universities on plant/tree identification.
E.g. in the PNW, we have this: https://oregonstate.edu/trees/

 

[kennyp2339]

 

[Suprachica79]

Yep, cross-stack (crib) and top-cover to get your wood dry as quickly as possible. I have been stacking my pallets on concrete blocks to make the pallets last longer than they would in contact with the ground.
These leaf pics are very good, the bark can vary a lot from what you see in the pictures. But further back in the book, the written descriptions of leaves, bark, fruit, twigs, shape, range and habitat will make you pretty good, pretty quickly, once you read the beginning of the guide to get a handle on how it's organized.
View attachment 196941View attachment 196942

Thanks begreen, my mom is a wiz with trees from her dad teaching her but until now I just never had much interest in it. This book should come in mighty handy.

Welcome to the forum Suprachica79. I'm couple towns over from you. I wish I was closer to this cl ad (broken link removed to https://newhaven.craigslist.org/zip/6085475612.html)

Hot damn that'd be a nice haul! I'm not too far from route 8, but way too far north for that. As a fellow central CT'er, how do you get your wood? Any recommendations for finding seasoned for the upcoming winter? I know I need to pull the trigger in the next month or so.

Oftentimes you will find some good info online from one of the local college/universities on plant/tree identification.
E.g. in the PNW, we have this: https://oregonstate.edu/trees/

I've used local college info for my lawn care, so I imagine you're right about that as well.

View attachment 196945 View attachment 196946

That was what I had in mind but wasn't positive that's what you meant. Sounds like we were on the same page! My backyard can get pretty shaded so I'm hoping I can find enough areas that will get the sun and wind to dry the wood out without being in the middle of my backyard. It'll be a trial and error process for sure, just want to make sure with this EPA insert that I have enough dry wood to get me through the next winter. Luckily I live the next town over from the hot bricks manufacturer, so I'm going to see if I can find a deal on factory seconds or worst case scenario full price bricks. I've sent some messages out to local tree services to let them know I'd be happy to take logs if they do any jobs in the area, one response said they'd keep it in mind and the other said they can sell me firewood. So we will see!

 

[gregbesia]

I keep looking for free offers on CL. In my first winter with the insert I picked up a lot of free shipping pallets. They are nice and dry , however not easy to process. Pallet wood can really be your friend to get that fire nice and hot before you add not so dry firewood.

 

[brenndatomu]

Boy you got a heck of a deal on that stove and liner!
If you are willing to deal with it, tell the tree guys you'll even take some big ugly stuff...or maybe even "undesirables" like soft Maple, poplar and pine...it drys fast and will throw some heat. The big ugly stuff may have to be carved into manageable sized blocks with your chainsaw, and it may not make those traditional "pretty" splits...but it might get you some free wood delivered to your house for free (and your "foot in the door" with the tree guys)

 

[kennyp2339]

I've always had luck getting loads of wood delivered at a discount upon requesting the bigger stuff, I had a guy that wanted $450 a load of hard wood lengths, I asked about bigger stuff +24" and he said he would do the same size load for $100 to cover the fuel and truck time, the biggest pieces he gave me were like 36" round and it really wasn't that bad to deal with, I just did a little at a time

 

[Suprachica79]

Boy you got a heck of a deal on that stove and liner!
If you are willing to deal with it, tell the tree guys you'll even take some big ugly stuff...or maybe even "undesirables" like soft Maple, poplar and pine...it drys fast and will throw some heat. The big ugly stuff may have to be carved into manageable sized blocks with your chainsaw, and it may not make those traditional "pretty" splits...but it might get you some free wood delivered to your house for free (and your "foot in the door" with the tree guys)

Yea, I was pretty happy with the deal I was able to get, I knew how pricey that liner was. I've sent out some messages to people, I'll have to see if I get any other responses but so far not much reception from anyone. I did tell them I'd take pretty much any burnable wood, including pine since I know it dries quick and I need wood for this winter, but still only two responses so far. I guess I'll have to start making phone calls.

I've always had luck getting loads of wood delivered at a discount upon requesting the bigger stuff, I had a guy that wanted $450 a load of hard wood lengths, I asked about bigger stuff +24" and he said he would do the same size load for $100 to cover the fuel and truck time, the biggest pieces he gave me were like 36" round and it really wasn't that bad to deal with, I just did a little at a time

I also don't have a splitter or a good saw yet, it is on the list but not sure when I'll find one to jump on. I know they are essentials, it's just hard to keep dropping the money, just found out adding a truck to my insurance is going to cost a lot more than I had anticipated, and good ol CT charges nada average trade in for sales tax on vehicles, and the trade in value of the trucks on nada is about twice what id actually be paying for it. Add your yearly property tax to that and first year of the truck will cost about $1200 more than purchase price. Sometimes I hate this state. Rant over!