Newby Regency I2400 Question

[cpmart]

Hi
This fall we purchased a Regency I2400 wood stove insert for our fireplace. I am in love with this thing! I have a fire going nearly everyday (along with a new humidifier), and love the process from start to finish. I feel it has helped make our house a home.

My question is kind of a nuts and bolts question about the stove, we couldn't get a great answer from our installer (or maybe we just didn't get it) and it doesn't seemed to be adequately diagrammed in the Regency manual.

Here's my newby take: I think I understand the stove is constructed as basically a 2 layer (or jacketed) box. The chimney pipe goes through both layers into the burning chamber, the combustion air is pulled in from the vents along the bottom and sides into the burning chamber, and the heated air is pushed out (mostly with the fan, but some convection) through a vent slot along the top. This heated air comes from the air warmed around the "outer box" of the stove, not the burning chamber.

If this is correct, here are my questions. Where are the openings inside the burning chamber that allow the combustion air to enter? I'm assuming I want to keep those free of ash buildup. My husband and I have looked around and felt around a bit inside around the firebricks, but can't feel and obvious slot. So we just keep the ash back a bit from the door.

Secondly, when we had our fireplace, it burned poorly, and we had a small vent to outside air knocked in the back of the fireplace. It has a little metal louver cover on it, with a sliding door and allowed another source of outside air. Our insert installer said that we could leave that vent open and that it would add to the combustion air of our insert. But there isn't a pipe or anything leading from that vent into the burn chamber, so it seems to me that the outside air is just circulating around the outside jacket taking away some warm air that could be going into my house. Is there a way or a hole that allows that air into the burn chamber, or should we shut that vent?

This is a great forum, and I lurked here for a bit when we were thinking wood stove vs pellet stove. We are so happy with our decision, and thank you for that. Sorry my first post is so long and wordy, I'm sure there is an easier way to ask my questions, but I'm still learning.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed...

 

[velvetfoot]

On my similar stove, there is a little "doghouse", as they say, with a hole in the front and bottom of the firebox. I think that is for startup air when the rod is fully pulled out. Air also comes through the air wash holes on top and front as well as the secondary tubes. I don't think there is a way to directly connect an outside air duct to the stove. If I need to reverse a downdraft when the stove gets totally cold I crack open a nearby window and light some newspapers before lighting up a fire starter square. I coveed up my zero clearance fireplaces' outside air since the hearth got real cold.

 

[DAKSY]

The combustion air enters the insert thru the "Doghouse" which is located at the bottom center of the firebox chamber, directly below the load door. There are a series of holes under the lip where the air enters.
If you rake your coals to the front center of the firebox, you will notice they glow more brightly as the incoming air pases over them.
If you block off that fresh air vent, your combustion air will have to come from somewhere else. Through leaky doors & windows or theu you outlet & switchplates or through the basement. Somewhere. I doubt that the small amout of fresh air being drawn in willtake away ANY warm air as long as your installer put a block off in the damper over your insert & around your liner...

 

[velvetfoot]

The manual has this to say, in two different places:

As well as a primary and glass wash air system,
the unit has a full secondary draft system that
allows air to the induction ports at the top of the
firebox, just below the flue baffle.

During constant use, ashes should be removed
every few days. Please take care to prevent the
build-up of ash around the start-up air housing
located inside the firebox, under the loading
door lip.

I just looked it up because I wasn't sure, since I let the ash build up around that doghouse and have no problem controlling the stove.
I'm still not sure.

 

[cpmart]

Thank you for your speedy replied. I do see the doghouse centered on the bottom lip of the door frame. We were looking for something lower to the floor.

I did read that part in the manual about the secondary draft system, but didn't understand it at the time. Perhaps the bulb is glowing dimly now. The primary (and controllable) air intake is through the doghouse, but there is a secondary (probably "controlled" by convection?) draft that comes through the tubes with holes in them arrayed along the roof of the firebox. I thought those only exhausted the smoke to the chimney.

Where does the air come from to feed through those tubes...from the vents on the front of the stove (ie they feed both the doghouse and tubes), or is there another way for air to get into the firebox?

I guess I am still not clear on how cold, outside air circulating around the back of the unit (coming from our old fireplace vent) gets pulled into the firebox.

I think I am being more curious than necessary, I don't have any concerns with how it is working, just interested.
Thanks again

 

[TTigano]

There is no way to control the secondary air. Only the primary air lever on the left of the stove. You speak of these vents on the front of the stove. I believe you are referring to the fan that is mounted below the ash lip. Those openings are what draws the air when the fan is on and circulates are around the back of the stove and then over the top giving you some nice heat. What type of wood are you burning? Also, what general area are you guys out of.?

 

[cpmart]

There are 3 vents that I thought were air intake vents into the firebox and were controlled by the damper rod: a long one under the door going across the front, and two smaller vertical ones, one on each side of the unit. I assumed that all 3 of these led to the same place and fed the doghouse (and were controlled by the damper rod), but perhaps some feed the tubes as well...maybe the side ones?

Then there is the vent that goes along the top of the unit, above the door just under the overhang that pushes out warmed air (controlled by the fan buttons), that has been warmed by circulating around the outside of the unit (I don't think this air has been in contact with the firebox air).

We are in coastal RI.
We are burning a combination of seasoned hardwood left over from our fireplace days (about 1 cord, split and stacked with a tarp covering the top and about 1.5 foot down the front and back of the pile, been like that for 3 years or so). Mostly white oak with a little birch here and there. We also ordered 1/2 cord kiln dried hardwood to try out this year to supplement our fireplace supply. Last weekend, we just got some free split oak from a neighbor moving and not taking their woodpile (about 1/2 cord). These chunks are larger than the kiln dried, and our fireplace stuff, and seem to take longer to burn and spend longer at the charcoal stage. The kiln dried stuff and our fireplace stuff burns to powdery ash more quickly. Lately as we experiment, we start the fire with the kiln dried and throw on a larger, slower burning chunk once it has a nice bed of coals. If we do this before bed, we will have warm coals left in the morning.

We decided this year was a learning year for us, finding out how much we used the stove, how much wood we burned, how different the kiln dried was vs the seasoned stuff, how well the stove heats the rest of the house, not just the room it is in (we don't have the best floor plan for a stove, but it is doing surprisingly well). And of course, how much less oil we burn

 

[velvetfoot]

DAKSY, you're right, even though the manual does mention the doghouse in conjunction with startup air, it seems to do primary air as well, since the are no separate startup air holes (like there were on my old Quad insert).