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I have a woodstove in the living area, and I am not entirely sure what the opening on the back of the wood stove is. The woodstove has a name on the glass: Regency.

My fear is that this is where air flow in. If this is an issue, what can I do to it? I hope this is not an expensive fix. Image shown below:

enter image description here enter image description here

nobody
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sammy
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  • it looks like air vent – Ruskes Nov 06 '22 at 06:28
  • @Ruskes so I think the previous owner of the house used it without air duct. Can I use it the way it is right now? – sammy Nov 06 '22 at 06:33
  • you could, but watch out for the hot ash going out – Ruskes Nov 06 '22 at 06:34
  • why do you fear that it is an air intake? – jsotola Nov 06 '22 at 07:42
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    Would think that is an ash clean out and should be closed when the stove is in use. – crip659 Nov 06 '22 at 10:07
  • I'm with @Ruskes. the pic shows a hole of the same size on the bottom. I think it's so it can have an intake from the back or the bottom. – RMDman Nov 06 '22 at 13:47
  • @RMDman Seems to be too big for an air intake for a stove of that size. Most air intakes for stoves are much smaller, maybe 3 or 4 inches. – crip659 Nov 06 '22 at 14:22
  • @crip59 agreed, looks like it may be larger than 4" It's difficult to determine the size of the entire unit. The hole in the floor of the unit made me think "air intake options" – RMDman Nov 06 '22 at 14:30
  • @jsotola I fear because this is extra work; I may have to add air duct. – sammy Nov 07 '22 at 06:26

1 Answers1

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You'd have to look a bit more carefully, but that appears (based on what we can see so far and typical stove practices) to be an air-heating passage (heatilator) entry, with the air-heating output on the top front louvers, and would be entirely separate from the combustion chamber if so. Connecting a fan allows extracting more heat from the stove, if that's what it is. Connecting a duct allows getting air from somewhere cooler in the house to heat here, if desired.

Ash cleanout for a stove as shown is via the front door that opens (probably the low one with the little spring handle - we can see the back of its housing above this opening in the rear picture), so it's not that.

Without a fan added, air will flow through the heating passage by convection alone. This is not a problem. It doesn't need fixed, fear is not called for, if that's what this is.

I find am "OEM Blower Kit" (no endorsement of supplier or product implied) that claims to fit:

  • Regency F1000 Wood Stove
  • Regency F1100 Wood Stove
  • Regency F2100M Wood Stove
  • Regency F2400 Wood Stove
  • Regency F2400M Wood Stove
  • Regency F2450 Wood Stove
  • Regency F3100 Wood Stove
  • Regency H2100 Wood Stove
  • Regency 5100 Wood Stove
  • Regency S2400M Wood Stove

"And possibly other Regency models" which is a strong signal that this is probably what that opening is about. But still, look a lot more closely.

There should be a nameplate with the model number on the stove, from which you should be able to find the stove manuals so you can know for sure what is what and what recommended safe operating practices are for this stove.

Ecnerwal
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  • Thank you for explaining this. Unfortunately, I couldn't find model number or manufacturing label on the wood stove. I think it might be a good idea for me to add a small fan on the hole instead of using an air duct. – sammy Nov 08 '22 at 06:13