Hello all,
I've been a lurker here for years. Back in 2005 purchased a 1,370 sq. ft. home with a masonry chimney with an '80s insert and stainless steel liner. Got rid of it and purchased a Regency F1100 because that is what a local family business carries and they suggested. I don't heat very often with wood, just days off. I want a wood stove mostly for emergency situations, supplemental heat comes second, but burning a warming wood fire also is fun for me...a stress reliever to some extent.
Over the years the Regency has done well, but not great. I almost always burn with the air intake wide open, maybe closing it a bit. I was always worried about over firing it, but the install guy said it being cast steel, with such a small firebox, over firing risk was minimal, just to keep an eye on it if I load it up. He said he had the freestanding model and his air intake was set low after start-up and he loaded up the box. I continued to burn it full on for the most part, never really packed the box, but it always got hot enough to not have a creosote issue and never had smoke coming out the chimney (the secondary burn tubes work well). The worst part of this set-up was that the limestone fireplace would block/soak up the radiant heat from the unit with the exception of that emitting from the front. Thankfully the backside of the chimney was on the garage side, which limited cold air from cooling the stone. I also burned a lot of wood, I would usually reload a really large piece or two medium pieces every few hours. I finally learned (still learning) that if I placed a small piece of wood on top of two other medium pieces, the top piece would almost become like a massive block of hot coals. This would really get the stove hot and put out the heat. Another issue was that the firebox is just small and a front to back burn is hard unless wood is cut shorter. Overall though, the stove is easy to use, burns great.
Hopefully my wife and I will soon be in the process of buying a lot and building a home. This is off a county road, likely minimal covenants (there are only six lots being sold, old farm crop fields, not a traditional neighborhood). One requirement they have disclosed is that minimum sq. ft. for a one story to be at least 2,000 sq. ft.. This is perfectly fine with us as we need more room. We will likely have a partial or full unfinished basement as well. We would like an all brick home, but if the difference is tens of thousands vs. a brick front and some sort of non-vinyl maintenance free siding, we might just get the front bricked. If we get the lot we want, three car garage could be located on the west side, which should act as a wind block to some extent. The builders we might use have been building for decades, so I'm going to assume they would use typical insulation. I want a free standing unit, and really don't even want a masonry chimney/fireplace as part of the home.
So now I'm deciding on what stove to get. Regency makes a medium unit similar like the one I have, the F2400. I'm also down to two Jotul models, the F 50 TL Rangeley and the F 45 Greenville. The preparedness part of me really likes the cook top on the Rangeley, as well as their grill insert. The Rangeley is said to heat 2,500 sq. ft., and not sure if it will be too much. The Greenville only is said to heat 1,600 sq. ft., which might mean rooms on the outskirts of the home might be cool. The F2400 heats about between these two at 2,200 sq. ft. and has a larger firebox than my current F1100. Reviews for all are for the most part sound excellent, both on the review page and forums. I really like the simple operation of my F1100 and think it would do better as a freestanding unit, thus the F2400 I would assume would do well. Also, Regency is said to be cast steel, but I'm not sure about the Jotul units. I heard the Rangeley could have cast iron sides or steel sides, and am not sure what is better to have: Steel or iron. Will still want a blower unit regardless of which unit we purchase.
Just looking for suggestions and opinions. Thanks!
I've been a lurker here for years. Back in 2005 purchased a 1,370 sq. ft. home with a masonry chimney with an '80s insert and stainless steel liner. Got rid of it and purchased a Regency F1100 because that is what a local family business carries and they suggested. I don't heat very often with wood, just days off. I want a wood stove mostly for emergency situations, supplemental heat comes second, but burning a warming wood fire also is fun for me...a stress reliever to some extent.
Over the years the Regency has done well, but not great. I almost always burn with the air intake wide open, maybe closing it a bit. I was always worried about over firing it, but the install guy said it being cast steel, with such a small firebox, over firing risk was minimal, just to keep an eye on it if I load it up. He said he had the freestanding model and his air intake was set low after start-up and he loaded up the box. I continued to burn it full on for the most part, never really packed the box, but it always got hot enough to not have a creosote issue and never had smoke coming out the chimney (the secondary burn tubes work well). The worst part of this set-up was that the limestone fireplace would block/soak up the radiant heat from the unit with the exception of that emitting from the front. Thankfully the backside of the chimney was on the garage side, which limited cold air from cooling the stone. I also burned a lot of wood, I would usually reload a really large piece or two medium pieces every few hours. I finally learned (still learning) that if I placed a small piece of wood on top of two other medium pieces, the top piece would almost become like a massive block of hot coals. This would really get the stove hot and put out the heat. Another issue was that the firebox is just small and a front to back burn is hard unless wood is cut shorter. Overall though, the stove is easy to use, burns great.
Hopefully my wife and I will soon be in the process of buying a lot and building a home. This is off a county road, likely minimal covenants (there are only six lots being sold, old farm crop fields, not a traditional neighborhood). One requirement they have disclosed is that minimum sq. ft. for a one story to be at least 2,000 sq. ft.. This is perfectly fine with us as we need more room. We will likely have a partial or full unfinished basement as well. We would like an all brick home, but if the difference is tens of thousands vs. a brick front and some sort of non-vinyl maintenance free siding, we might just get the front bricked. If we get the lot we want, three car garage could be located on the west side, which should act as a wind block to some extent. The builders we might use have been building for decades, so I'm going to assume they would use typical insulation. I want a free standing unit, and really don't even want a masonry chimney/fireplace as part of the home.
So now I'm deciding on what stove to get. Regency makes a medium unit similar like the one I have, the F2400. I'm also down to two Jotul models, the F 50 TL Rangeley and the F 45 Greenville. The preparedness part of me really likes the cook top on the Rangeley, as well as their grill insert. The Rangeley is said to heat 2,500 sq. ft., and not sure if it will be too much. The Greenville only is said to heat 1,600 sq. ft., which might mean rooms on the outskirts of the home might be cool. The F2400 heats about between these two at 2,200 sq. ft. and has a larger firebox than my current F1100. Reviews for all are for the most part sound excellent, both on the review page and forums. I really like the simple operation of my F1100 and think it would do better as a freestanding unit, thus the F2400 I would assume would do well. Also, Regency is said to be cast steel, but I'm not sure about the Jotul units. I heard the Rangeley could have cast iron sides or steel sides, and am not sure what is better to have: Steel or iron. Will still want a blower unit regardless of which unit we purchase.
Just looking for suggestions and opinions. Thanks!
