Reginald 101 Stove Questions

[Cluttermagnet]

There's a Reginald 101 I'm interested in- it may come available if and when a friend's parent's house comes up for sale. I was able to learn a few things searching the internet. Irish made (but no longer manufactured)- there's apparently a bunch of them out there.

I'd appreciate hearing from others who have experience with this stove.

The one I was looking at has a rear exhaust port. It looks to have 'undersize' pipe. Maybe 5-1/2 inches dia or less? Maybe even 4 in dia or so? I assume this is an older pre-EPA design? Any opinions as to how efficient it might be? And most of all, is it a practical stove, with such a tiny firebox? If I got it, I'd put it downstairs on the (existing) elevated, extended hearth of a fireplace. It's a natural for that because it is so small it can be fitted halfway inside a fireplace opening.

Mine is not a 'big' house, BTW. A brick Rambler with under 1500 sf total, both floors.

 

[summit]

not a real efficient stove, does throw a lot of heat, and is easy to use... will only go about 4 hrs on a full load of wood... good for maybe 600 sqft... comparable to the jotul 602... these are pre-epa... the flue collar is something like a 120mm metric thing, but a 5" pipe will fit on it.

 

[madrone]

I grew up with one of these. It's definitely not EPA, and very small. We used it to heat a family room that was a converted garage, and not heated with the rest if the house. It runs hot and fast, because of the small firebox and lack of insulation. We used it mostly in the dead of winter, including a couple of longer outages. I'd say it's fine for occasional use, but I'd go for something bigger and more efficient if it's going to be used a lot. It's a charming little stove, perfect for a shop.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks for the great info, Summit and Madrone. Yes, 5 in sounds about like what I saw. I didn't know there was a 5 in size. Now it makes sense with the 120mm info. Pretty close to 5 in dia.

Well, anything is going to help downstairs, since I stopped running the oil boiler this past winter. It gets into the chilly low 50's down there. We pretty much decided to move upstairs during heating season and let the oil heat go (but keep it working as a backup). Having this second stove would change things a little.

It so happens the room it would go in is a fairly large family room. There's a lot of different ways to set all the doors downstairs, with an adjacent hallway on one side plus bedrooms down at its far end; also a closer bedroom that opens in turn into a small unfinished basement area, then finally back around and into that same hall. So there are a lot of different possibilities with door settings, placing fans, and such.

Anyone else have experience with the Reginald 101- or just comments on small stoves in general?

 

[madrone]

Hunh. I would have thought more people would have seen these. It's slow season, I suppose. Thanks for bringing back the memories, anyway.

 

[begreen]

Small horiz. box stoves can put out a lot of heat, but are frequent feeders. Good ones are the Jotul 602, Morso 2. Lange and Waterford also made some nice small stoves. Their modern equivalents are VC Aspen, Jotul 602CB, Morso 2B. As a family room chill chaser, this should work fine. Pay attention to clearances, add wall shielding if necessary. And burn clean, dry wood for an easy to run 2-3 hr burn time.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Great info! If I get it, I'd put it half inside an all brick fireplace with a big, wide, extended hearth. The whole chimney structure is about 9+ ft wide by about 3ft deep, and stays that size from the concrete pad, through the basement level, and also the first floor. It tapers down smaller within the attic prior to the roof penetration. At a minimum, I'd install a blockoff plate, likely an adapter and 6 in liner as well. I'd add a heat shield for the mantle above, that's the only combustibles that are within 36in.

 

[BrotherBart]

Hit us with a pic of that fireplace. I am real sure that you are not going to be happy with the output of that stove in a fireplace.

And I am the guy that just loves free standing stoves in fireplaces.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, BB- I'll get a photo up asap.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

You are right, BB. I had forgotten about that- a free standing stove back in a cavity is going to waste lots of BTU's heating the bricks. It's killing convection. Obviously, some kind of fans blowing cold air in at the bottom could improve the situation a little.

Here are 3 photos to try to show the situation.
Believe it or not, there is a fireplace in back of here:

Here's a low view, showing the existing hearth extension (22 in):

Here's a high view, showing the mantle clearance (12 in)
above the fireplace opening. Stove exhaust flange is
on rear, not top:

The fireplace dimensions are 22 in D x 34 in W x 25 in H.

This idea is looking less and less good to me. Would probably need even more hearth extension to be truly kosher, in any case. In front are carpet, padding, asphalt tiles, and concrete slab over earth.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

(Bump)

 

[madrone]

Is that 22" from back to edge of hearth? If so, it'll be too long, requiring extension. But on the plus side, more stove in the room. I'd guess the stove is almost that long, but with the pipe exiting rear, as you mentioned. You'll want the extra hearth, because the small box means fiddling with small splits when loading, and the little lip under the door only catches so much.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

It's 22 in twice- fireplace depth is 22 and so is hearth depth. 44 in total. Yeah, I hear you about frequent loading.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Stove is about 20 in deep. 30 in counting the rear exhaust pipe and elbow. And that could be reduced a bit with some judicious trimming of the straight pipe.

BB, where did you go? Any comments from viewing the pix?

BTW you weren't thinking I was planning on leaving all that computer stuff there, were you? ;-P

 

[BrotherBart]

Not much to add. Should fit but I just don't think you will get a lot of heat out of it. If the stove is free or cheap then you could give it a shot. Just make sure you put a six inch liner in so you could put a different stove in later if if doesn't get the job done.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks! I'd definitely set it up with an adapter and 6 in liner. For free, and assuming I do eventually get it, probably worth a try at least.