Great video. I had been waiting for you to put out a new one about your woodstove experience. I’ve got the Regency 2450 and found your previous videos about that unit to be very helpful. Thanks for posting
Thank you for the informative video. I have never had a wood stove. I want to put one in a house I plan to start building in a couple of months. I am wondering how often one needs to clean all of the ashes out o a large wood stove that burns consistently through the winter months? I am also wondering if one has to let the fire go out in order to clean out the wood stove?
My large wood stove has a grated ash system with an ash pan. I rake ash through the grate every time I load the stove. I empty the ash pan every other day. The stove has live coals in it when I empty the ash pan. I never clean all the ashes out of the firebox during the burn season as some ash helps insulate the coals so they last longer. Without the ash pan I’d have to shovel it out, and I would do that less frequently. For that you can rake all the live coals to one side of the firebox, or just keep wood burning on one side of the firebox and let the other side go to ash and then shovel out that side. If uncomfortable with that, let the whole stove go out. Don’t skimp on the hearth! The US only requires 16” of hearth in front of a stove. Canada requires 18”. Have more than 16”, especially if your door swings open in an arc greater than 16” from the face of the stove! If you haven’t already, check out my other video on 10 things to consider before buying a stove.
@@ProductiveRecreation Thank you SO much for the valuable info. OK, now I know that I know much less than I thought I did, LOL. I just subscribed to your channel and will watch your other videos. Thanks again.
Good info. I have a big, powerful wood stove that was probably the right size for the house when it had single pane windows, but it is now a bit too big to run in the shoulder seasons after we replaced all the windows with high-efficiency ones. It is fine as long as the temp is 32 or below, but it can't easily keep the house comfortable when it is 45 degrees outside. However, for a source of heat that doesn't require power, I like the fact that it can keep the house perfectly comfortable when it is -20F outside. That is a long way of saying that you probably want a wood stove with enough zip to be your primary heat source in any weather you are likely to experience. And any stove you have to feed at 3am is going to make you very, very unhappy if it is going to be your primary heat source. We once had some old over-seasoned wood to use up, and it burned so quickly you had to feed the stove every 3-4 hours. That definitely got old fast.
If it’s 45-50F and sunny during the day my Woodstock Ideal Steel is too much, and I usually do 24 hour burn cycles on it. In the very early/late shoulder season I can just light up the little Regency insert at night and feed it until bed time to take the edge off. It’s nice having the split between two units. The Woodstock takes forever to heat up with the soapstone firebox liner, the little Regency is hot fast. With both units together and getting up in the night, I was able to keep the house from going below 64F when the wind chill was -40F.
Good info! I miss my little Woodstock Keystone I had in my previous home. That little 1.4 cu ft firebox could do 12 hour hot reloads consistently and heated my 2000 sq ft pretty well. I wish they would come down in price I’d buy another.
Regarding your old 2450 what size room did you guys have? I would put mine in a 18x13 room with 8ft ceiling. The fireplace would be on the long side with the opening of 48” wide opposite side of the long side that enters to the main house or living and dining room. The room in question tends to be colder as it’s an extension off the main colonial with sliders on one side and garage door on other side. Wanted to be able to hear space and maybe a few rooms on lower floors without overpowering the room it’s in.
@@daviddelahanty5088 The living room was about those same dimensions. The stairwell was right next to the chimney in the living room and a lot of heat went right upstairs so the room was never too hot. That size room should be fine, especially if you have some air circulation. I would steer clear of a “small” unit no matter what unless you have to get one based on clearances, or have a very small space with limited air circulation. I have a small i1500 in a 15x15 room with only two 30” doors on opposite sides. It can make that room very toasty with the blower on. However, I only use it to take the edge off on really cold days and nights. If you want burn time you need at least a medium size unit. You can always make a smaller fire in a bigger stove, but not the other way around.
@@ProductiveRecreation thanks. That regency 2450 is the size I was looking for. I think 2.3/2.4 cu. It’s nice you had the stairs next to that room. My stairs are on other side of house but I wasn’t expecting to heat upstairs. I just want to warm up a few rooms downstairs and make it more comfy without constantly running the oil burner. Thanks for insights.
So,.....you would recommend to rather oversize the stove to get overnight burn? I got an old small mobile which is very drafty with single pane windows and I got only softwood. (Westciast)
@@lostmoose9994 As the data shows, if you want overnight burn (8 hours) you really need a medium size stove. If you want it to be able to be a 24/7 heater, I wouldn’t get something smaller than a medium unit if it’s non-cat or hybrid. There may be some pure catalytic stoves that can get the burn time out of a smaller firebox. A small unit is fine for space heating, if you don’t mind shorter burn times.
Thank you so much, too bad youre so far away, I would love to hear your opinion about softwood and catalytic stoves. Some people say, all the zap in pine, fir and douglas ruin the catalist?. Not a single dealer out here has just 5 % of your knowledge, they just sell you just about everything and have no clue of nothing.
@@lostmoose9994 I tend to favor the simplicity of non catalytic stoves, at the cost of some efficiency. My understanding is softwood is fine in wood stoves, as long as it is seasoned (dried) cordwood to moisture content of about 20% or less. Obviously it isn’t as dense and won’t burn as long as hardwood, but there is a lot of variability among hardwoods and some softwoods are denser than some hardwoods… No one is honest if they say a catalyst will last forever… with good maintenance they go for somewhere around 14,000 hours of burn time. That’s like 4-5 years with 24/7 burning for my heating season. I have a backup catalyst on hand now for my Woodstock Soapstone Ideal Steel, which has 3 seasons on it now. That’s a maintenance item that isn’t a factor with a non-catalytic stove.
The wood gets bonedry during the summer, but humidity here at the "Wetcoast" is so high once the rain kicks in in October that I doubt that the wood remains as low as 20 %. Final question: if I d go for a hybrid stove, can I use it without activating the catalist if the wood isnt optimal ? I am talking about the Regency with that slide-in catalyst. Can I install an external damper in the stovepipe of woukd that damage the catalyst in the deactivatet position? I appologize for asking that much. I chose you as Americas stove expert 😂👍
@@lostmoose9994 Most likely the manufacturer would recommend against a pipe damper and/or it would void warranty. Regency has a good warranty but you need a good dealer to back you up for it so that Regency knows things were installed properly, etc. I wouldn’t get a Regency Cascades series with the slide catalyst. Having one, I don’t like that hybrid design (or performance) compared to my Woodstock hybrid. I have a video about that (hybrids aren’t created equal). Note that the catalyst is still exposed to the flue gas and the firebox even if it isn’t engaged such that all the smoke goes through it. You can burn in bypass, but not as cleanly and definitely not as slowly. The stove draft (air) controls are designed to meter the air properly with the catalyst engaged - the catalyst actually acts a bit like a pipe damper by restricting airflow. With it open, there will be more airflow through the stove and a faster burn. This is noticeable on both of my hybrid stoves at the same air control setting.
Great video. I had been waiting for you to put out a new one about your woodstove experience. I’ve got the Regency 2450 and found your previous videos about that unit to be very helpful. Thanks for posting
Thank you for the informative video. I have never had a wood stove. I want to put one in a house I plan to start building in a couple of months. I am wondering how often one needs to clean all of the ashes out o a large wood stove that burns consistently through the winter months? I am also wondering if one has to let the fire go out in order to clean out the wood stove?
My large wood stove has a grated ash system with an ash pan. I rake ash through the grate every time I load the stove. I empty the ash pan every other day. The stove has live coals in it when I empty the ash pan. I never clean all the ashes out of the firebox during the burn season as some ash helps insulate the coals so they last longer. Without the ash pan I’d have to shovel it out, and I would do that less frequently. For that you can rake all the live coals to one side of the firebox, or just keep wood burning on one side of the firebox and let the other side go to ash and then shovel out that side. If uncomfortable with that, let the whole stove go out. Don’t skimp on the hearth! The US only requires 16” of hearth in front of a stove. Canada requires 18”. Have more than 16”, especially if your door swings open in an arc greater than 16” from the face of the stove! If you haven’t already, check out my other video on 10 things to consider before buying a stove.
@@ProductiveRecreation Thank you SO much for the valuable info. OK, now I know that I know much less than I thought I did, LOL. I just subscribed to your channel and will watch your other videos. Thanks again.
@@dogood63 You’re welcome! Happy to help. You can always ask more questions; sometimes it helps me get ideas for new content 🙂.
Good info. I have a big, powerful wood stove that was probably the right size for the house when it had single pane windows, but it is now a bit too big to run in the shoulder seasons after we replaced all the windows with high-efficiency ones. It is fine as long as the temp is 32 or below, but it can't easily keep the house comfortable when it is 45 degrees outside. However, for a source of heat that doesn't require power, I like the fact that it can keep the house perfectly comfortable when it is -20F outside. That is a long way of saying that you probably want a wood stove with enough zip to be your primary heat source in any weather you are likely to experience. And any stove you have to feed at 3am is going to make you very, very unhappy if it is going to be your primary heat source. We once had some old over-seasoned wood to use up, and it burned so quickly you had to feed the stove every 3-4 hours. That definitely got old fast.
If it’s 45-50F and sunny during the day my Woodstock Ideal Steel is too much, and I usually do 24 hour burn cycles on it. In the very early/late shoulder season I can just light up the little Regency insert at night and feed it until bed time to take the edge off. It’s nice having the split between two units. The Woodstock takes forever to heat up with the soapstone firebox liner, the little Regency is hot fast. With both units together and getting up in the night, I was able to keep the house from going below 64F when the wind chill was -40F.
Good info! I miss my little Woodstock Keystone I had in my previous home. That little 1.4 cu ft firebox could do 12 hour hot reloads consistently and heated my 2000 sq ft pretty well. I wish they would come down in price I’d buy another.
Regarding your old 2450 what size room did you guys have? I would put mine in a 18x13 room with 8ft ceiling. The fireplace would be on the long side with the opening of 48” wide opposite side of the long side that enters to the main house or living and dining room. The room in question tends to be colder as it’s an extension off the main colonial with sliders on one side and garage door on other side. Wanted to be able to hear space and maybe a few rooms on lower floors without overpowering the room it’s in.
@@daviddelahanty5088 The living room was about those same dimensions. The stairwell was right next to the chimney in the living room and a lot of heat went right upstairs so the room was never too hot. That size room should be fine, especially if you have some air circulation. I would steer clear of a “small” unit no matter what unless you have to get one based on clearances, or have a very small space with limited air circulation. I have a small i1500 in a 15x15 room with only two 30” doors on opposite sides. It can make that room very toasty with the blower on. However, I only use it to take the edge off on really cold days and nights. If you want burn time you need at least a medium size unit. You can always make a smaller fire in a bigger stove, but not the other way around.
@@ProductiveRecreation thanks. That regency 2450 is the size I was looking for. I think 2.3/2.4 cu. It’s nice you had the stairs next to that room. My stairs are on other side of house but I wasn’t expecting to heat upstairs. I just want to warm up a few rooms downstairs and make it more comfy without constantly running the oil burner. Thanks for insights.
So,.....you would recommend to rather oversize the stove to get overnight burn?
I got an old small mobile which is very drafty with single pane windows and I got only softwood. (Westciast)
@@lostmoose9994 As the data shows, if you want overnight burn (8 hours) you really need a medium size stove. If you want it to be able to be a 24/7 heater, I wouldn’t get something smaller than a medium unit if it’s non-cat or hybrid. There may be some pure catalytic stoves that can get the burn time out of a smaller firebox. A small unit is fine for space heating, if you don’t mind shorter burn times.
Thank you so much, too bad youre so far away, I would love to hear your opinion about softwood and catalytic stoves. Some people say, all the zap in pine, fir and douglas ruin the catalist?. Not a single dealer out here has just 5 % of your knowledge, they just sell you just about everything and have no clue of nothing.
@@lostmoose9994 I tend to favor the simplicity of non catalytic stoves, at the cost of some efficiency. My understanding is softwood is fine in wood stoves, as long as it is seasoned (dried) cordwood to moisture content of about 20% or less. Obviously it isn’t as dense and won’t burn as long as hardwood, but there is a lot of variability among hardwoods and some softwoods are denser than some hardwoods… No one is honest if they say a catalyst will last forever… with good maintenance they go for somewhere around 14,000 hours of burn time. That’s like 4-5 years with 24/7 burning for my heating season. I have a backup catalyst on hand now for my Woodstock Soapstone Ideal Steel, which has 3 seasons on it now. That’s a maintenance item that isn’t a factor with a non-catalytic stove.
The wood gets bonedry during the summer, but humidity here at the "Wetcoast" is so high once the rain kicks in in October that I doubt that the wood remains as low as 20 %. Final question: if I d go for a hybrid stove, can I use it without activating the catalist if the wood isnt optimal ? I am talking about the Regency with that slide-in catalyst. Can I install an external damper in the stovepipe of woukd that damage the catalyst in the deactivatet position?
I appologize for asking that much. I chose you as Americas stove expert 😂👍
@@lostmoose9994 Most likely the manufacturer would recommend against a pipe damper and/or it would void warranty. Regency has a good warranty but you need a good dealer to back you up for it so that Regency knows things were installed properly, etc. I wouldn’t get a Regency Cascades series with the slide catalyst. Having one, I don’t like that hybrid design (or performance) compared to my Woodstock hybrid. I have a video about that (hybrids aren’t created equal). Note that the catalyst is still exposed to the flue gas and the firebox even if it isn’t engaged such that all the smoke goes through it. You can burn in bypass, but not as cleanly and definitely not as slowly. The stove draft (air) controls are designed to meter the air properly with the catalyst engaged - the catalyst actually acts a bit like a pipe damper by restricting airflow. With it open, there will be more airflow through the stove and a faster burn. This is noticeable on both of my hybrid stoves at the same air control setting.