"Purchased this unit two years ago as temporary heat source for unoccupied 1,200 SF single family residence.
It's heavy. After uncrating to get it through a patio door, it crushed the extruded aluminum threshold I "thought" I had protected with some plywood.
But heavy turns out to be a positive, as heavy is a great heat sink/reservoir. In the middle of January, when pre-fire-up internal house temperatures are about 30 F, I can pack the enormous stove cavity about 2/3 and enjoy 65- 70 F in about 40 minutes. This will last me the entire winter "work" day.
The key for me is to use fast burning (no moisture) wood at the beginning of the cycle and then throw in the less-than-dry logs once 400 F is reached inside the chamber. I use a digital laser heat thermometer. This pretty much eliminates the smoke, though there is always nominal smoke until the unit reaches temperature.
As for maintaining clean glass... No longer a problem. After much experimentation (cleaning after each cycle), I learned that once the stove gets really hot (600+ F) it burns off the residue. Moreover, the $1K Drolet air curtain works a heck of a lot better than that of my $3K Regency insert.
Frankly, the reason I'm back on the Northern Tool/Drolet website is to see if Drolet makes a 90K+ insert model to replace my Regency. Looks like I'm out of luck on that one.
As for the fan and the ash tray: Agreed. fan is too noisy and weak; ash tray could easily be enlarged as there is plenty void space in the base."
What is your level of technical expertise? Professional
