OSBURN and REGENCY Wood Stove Reviews ??? asap

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jimmyb7

New Member
Jan 21, 2012
57
NS Canada
Hey all...
Well, after a terrible experience with Vermont Casting (4-5 hour max burn ! and crazy temps), our store is being good and looks like we will switch to either an OSBURN or REGENCY Stove ---- NOT INSERT (I saw some insert reviews but not stoves).

I m trying to get first-hand opinions of these brands -- MAIN CONSIDERATION is BURN-TIME and how clean. The VC was supposed to be 13 hours and really clean..... yeah right.

A Dual or Secondary Combustion is important, as it is supposed to greatly increase burn time and reduce waste in the air.

Can anyone help out ?

I was looking at the REGENCY Classic F3100 or S2400 , and OSBURN 2400 or 2300

ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

Jim
 
We have the Regency I3100 Insert which is basically the same firebox as the F3100. The box is big and can take lots of wood (NS works best for us) to give nice long overnight burns. We usually wake up to a nice bed of coals ready for a hot re-load. Keeps our 1800 sqft bungalow heated well. The secondary burn works well. I'm pretty sure the F3100 would probably put out a little more heat than the insert. Quality seems good. Operation is easy. Blower works well. Let me know if you have any more Q's.
 
Thanks KB..... I'm assuming NS is non-split?
I recalculated our home... about 1500 sqft to heat, with living and bedrooms all in the front - open concept.
The VC heated Everything, but only for 4 hours, and the heat couldn't be regulated well.

So yeah, looking at the numbers the Regency and Osburns look nice, but again, finding practical use burn-times is a craps shoot. They show less efficiency but I'm reading longer practical burn times from what I can find.

Thanks
 
Hey Jeff... I don't want to litter my own thread too much (grin)... I have a separate thread on the VC Encore 2in1.... but giving up on that model.
Everything is set up perfect. 16 foot chimney, 6" stainless double wall interior, proper outside - through the wall with 2 45 angles instead of 90. 18 inch or so wood, all hardwood, not green, some moisture still in some. Left out to dry all summer, then stacked inside. -- been burning wood since I was a kid.

Just a bad stove, many bad reviews can now be found - including the 4 hour and erratic temps.
 
The Osburn inserts sure seem to be popular here. SBI makes good stuff. Fyrebug/bert is a company rep on the boards here.
 
NS = North South - that's when you load the stove with the split lined up fron to back. Gives us a longer burn time.
 
Ah, front to back, not side to side. Got it.
Vermont is so narrow, it only allows for side to side. Even my old cheapie Kent stove let me stack either way. I used to do it like building blocks, s2s then f2b ontop that.
 
Both are good companies with nice products. It looks like the Regency 3100 series firebox is only 2 firebricks deep. If so, I don't see how this would be a good N/S loader. Comments? FWIW, I like the Regency 2400 because I like a more square firebox and I like the firebrick baffle. But if you want long burn times, and heat, I'd go big with the Osburn 2400 with the deeper firebox.

PS: Kudos to your dealer for working well with you.
 
Thanks !
I find out the choices Friday.
The Regency F3100 has a 2.9 firebox and outside depth is 25", the F2400 has a 2.3 firebox but an outside depth of 27" -- so maybe the less power 2400 has a deeper box?
The S2400 is also 2.3 box and 27" outside depth.
I dont know the actual box dimensions.
This WOULD be good to know.
 
jimmyb7 said:
Thanks KB..... I'm assuming NS is non-split?
I recalculated our home... about 1500 sqft to heat, with living and bedrooms all in the front - open concept.
The VC heated Everything, but only for 4 hours, and the heat couldn't be regulated well.

So yeah, looking at the numbers the Regency and Osburns look nice, but again, finding practical use burn-times is a craps shoot. They show less efficiency but I'm reading longer practical burn times from what I can find.

Thanks
We have the Regency F2400, which seems to be pretty much the same as the S2400. Our house is 1500 sq ft and we have no problem heating it (with pine). Realistic over night burns are are about 6 hours of actual fire and another 4 hours of enough hot coals to start another fire without using a match. The box is square, so you can load either way, N/S or E/W.
Been heating our house pretty much exclusively with the Regency for 4 winters now. Only run the heat pump to cycle it once in a while.
Don't know anything about your other choice, so I can't compare.
 
jimmyb7 said:
Thanks !
I find out the choices Friday.
The Regency F3100 has a 2.9 firebox and outside depth is 25", the F2400 has a 2.3 firebox but an outside depth of 27" -- so maybe the less power 2400 has a deeper box?
The S2400 is also 2.3 box and 27" outside depth.
I dont know the actual box dimensions.
This WOULD be good to know.

Download their manuals and compare the firebrick layouts. The Osburn is 30.625" outside depth. Inside there is a big, deep stove.
 
Have a regency f2100m in the basement and it's a great burner. No problem getting all day or overnight burns. Burns clean and hot. I do wish I'd gone with the 3100 but, with the Opel 3 now providing our main heat, this will be doing backup duty now. Would definitely buy one again!
 
THANKS !!!

Seems no one is commenting on the Osburn to my BIG surprise.

I thought Osburn was a big name too.... maybe we'll just look at the Regency models tomorrow.

Thanks guys !!
 
Well I know you siad no inserts, but I have the Osburn 2400i. The firebox is advertised 3.2 cf. It's 21 3/4" NS to the glass and 23 EW (they advertise smaller firebox dimensions, but this is the true measurement of my insert). I am very happy with the heat output and the quality of the stove. I can only assume that the stand alone version is the same stove on legs. I have been burning in this unit for just over a year. I had a smaller Napoleon insert before this and man what a difference. I am very happy with this unit. It weighs 550 lbs so the mass really puts out the heat even with the blower off (but I usually have it on). Being able to burn longer log lengths has saved me a lot of work. Another thing I like about it is inside the firebox there is a ledge that keeps the coals from falling out. I regularly go 14 hours between burns and have coals for a relight. Now I'm not getting any real heat off of the unit at that time, but the coals are there waiting for me to feed the beast. Hope that helps. Good luck with your decision.
 
Hey mate-- thanks !
Can I ask, approx what size home/floorspace are you heating? And how much flame/burn time would you estimate? I mean before the heat drops below being useful ?

Would you believe I'm dealing with 4 hours right now in my VC..........
 
I'm heating 1700sf very drafty house. I'm burning oak, locust and sugar maple and getting 7-8 hours of good heat (stove temp at 300 by the end of the burn). Sometimes less if it's really cold out. But with a good coal bed it will stay at 300 for hours. So if my house wasn't so drafty I wouldn't have to reload as often. Actual flame I don't know... It varies I guess. The stove top regularly gets above 700 so it really cranks the heat when it's cruising like that.
 
Jimmyb7;

I hope all is well in NS.

I have a 2300 and love it. It is a very deep firebox. That's why it has a bypass handle to prevent smoke rollout while reloading. The bypass also helps heat the chimney MUCH faster than non-bypass stoves.

When fully loaded with maple, I can get flames for about 6 hours and coals for another 4-5. I can easily load my stove at 9-10 PM and get up at 0630 and have plenty of coals going, stove top still sitting around 200-300. Rake em forward and let er rip. One con with my setup: I can't close my primary air completely. Some stoves you can and on my 2300, with my chimney setup, I can't. Perhaps my draft isn't good enough, perhaps it is. I close my damper down 85-90% for a good secondary light show with the primary slowly helping the wood burn. If I turn the primary down all the way, my fire goes out after 10 minutes or so. Open it 10% and it cruises...

My stove is installed in my basement. I have a 1325 square foot bungalow (2.5 years old). My basement is very well insulated (1.5 inches of sprayfoam with R14 roxul on stop) so my stove heat the ENTIRE HOUSE (basement and upstairs) very well. Once my basement reaches 21-23 degrees, the heat starts going up my staircase and the rest is history.

I love my stove. It has the largest glass door on the market (which is made out of cast iron) and there is a TON of radian heat that goes through it. My cofee table which is about 5-6 feet away gets warm from the radiant heat straight through the glass.

As for how clean it burns, that depends on your wood source and how dry it is. I only clean my chimney once a year and MAY get 1/2 a gallon or so of dry flakey dust (I burn a total of 2-2.5 cords of hardwood and softwood). My flue temps hover (while there are flames) between 400-500 degrees. Roughly 20 minutes after a reload there is no visible smoke coming out of my stack.

As DaFattKidd's insert, my stove often hits 600-650 degrees and is putting out the heat like a dragon's breath. I have a digital wall thermostat about 11 feet away from the stove and when it's cranking out the heat the thermostat will often inside 31-33 degrees. lol. However, the precise temperature is only 26 degrees or so.

I don't think you'll regret an Osburn stove. There are a ton of great stove companies on the market and I think Osburn is certainly one of them

Cheers

Andrew
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with your vc,my first few burns were short
also with my defiant but i found the problem was a lose fitting ash door,after I
tightened the handle I've had no problems and much longer burns.
My regency is a good stove but i find the firebox to be a bit small for my house
so I replaced it,your house is smaller and insulated so you would run on lower
settings then I've had to,so should be a good choice.
If you could find the drolet stoves, they are made by the same company as osburn
with a very good warranty and cheaper too!
 
Another Osburn 2400 insert here, 1250 square foot + finished basement, insert is in the basement, with the use of the cold air return modified to pull air from the basement, it readily heats to whole house. I get 8 hour-good heat output-burns no problem, and that's with wood that's marginal at best. In the mornings I have plenty of coals ready to go, throw some splits in and in about 10 minutes I'm getting secondary burns again. Next year will be a better indicator of its performance, but thus far I am extremely happy with it.
 
Osburn 2400 stove here. First winter burning with it (if you can call it a winter). Good stove seems well built. only issue i have is the east-west loading, not a big fan of that so I usually load north- south. Big firebox but very squat opening and firebox, can mean more frequent cleaning/removal of ashes. I'm about every 3 days or so. Trying to heat about 4400 sq ft. (basement install). My 2 cents.
 
Hoffa welcome to the forum. Im surprised to hear you say you have a problem burning EW and how often you shovel the ash. I go a week or two without bothering with the ashes. I am heating way less of a spec than you are though. EW burning is great in this stove. The trick for me is to carve out a valley in the ash and coals that allows for air to get under the fuel. That being said I usually load NS.

What kind of wood are you 2400 owners burning? Jimmy what kind of wood are you burning?
 
I have an Osburn 2400i (insert) and have been very happy with it. The freestanding version is the same firebox. If I really pack it full of wood I can get usable heat for about 11 hours. Normally I pack it enough to get 8-9 hours. What I mean about usable heat is 250° stove top at the end. I burn only pine so I know my burn times are less than if I had good hardwood. I usually put smaller splits on the bottom and the huge 8x8 splits on top as it burns cleaner this way. I usually burn between 600° and 450° stove top.
 
I have the Regency I3100. I can load 16" splits NS and up to 20" (I think) EW. I usually put a row of splits NS and fill the rest of the box with 18" EW splits on top. It just seems to burn better that way.

As for burn time, I started a burn last night with coals from the fire the night before, I suppose that could be considered a 21 hour burn if you consider several golf ball size coals in the back of the firebox to be a burn :). Just raked them forward to the air, put a piece of bark on them and filled the box. That is with a mixed red maple/ash load. I was pretty happy with that.
 
Is there a reason you don't want an Englander NC30? If I was going to buy a stand alone I'd be really considering the 30. Raving reviews and unbeatable prices. Just asking. Good luck with your search.
 
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