I got a call from woodstock a couple of days ago,I ordered a progress with a left hand door in October.They called to give me a update on my stove,because it has a left hand door it is going to take about three more weeks.The casting for the left hand door was unfortunately delayed.I think they said it is coming from Belgium,we are really getting anxious.I am confident it will be worth the wait.The weather here in south eastern Pa. has been mild but is about to change.If anyone fired up their new progress please let me know what you think so far.This is my first experience with wood stock and so far I am very impressed,they helped me figure out the stove pipe and they will be shipping that as well.I posted the question cast iron or soapstone previously and got a lot of response.Thanks for all of the advice.
Progress Report
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logroad, I just got my Progress installed yesterday and have only completed 3 break in fires so far. And so far, I am one happy camper. She was very responsive to the draft control and is still radiating heat at 7 from the last fire which started at 2:15 and ended around 4. I wrote about the break in fires in another thread. I plan on running her much more tomorrow and will let you know how it goes.
mliiiwit
Member
Roundoak16:
You can probably see from the numerous posts that so far most Progress owners seem very happy. I for one am extremely pleased with this stove.
I am amazed how much heat this stove throws while using so little wood. The stove burns 12 hours easily as advertised. I am not sure if anybody has tried loading it with 22" splits to see what it can really do, but it's been pretty mild in most places. I have stuffed the stove with 16" splits and filled the rest of the empty space with 16" splits cut in half, and this stove just cranks.
When it's "only" 35 degrees out, all I have to do is line the bottom of the stove with some wimpy Cottonwood, and it burns nicely for 4-6 hours without overheating the house. I feel like I have not really tested the stove with this mild winter, I wish we would get 2-3 days of 10 degree days like last winter (I'm not sure if I really mean that!).
Keep us posted when your stove arrives.
You can probably see from the numerous posts that so far most Progress owners seem very happy. I for one am extremely pleased with this stove.
I am amazed how much heat this stove throws while using so little wood. The stove burns 12 hours easily as advertised. I am not sure if anybody has tried loading it with 22" splits to see what it can really do, but it's been pretty mild in most places. I have stuffed the stove with 16" splits and filled the rest of the empty space with 16" splits cut in half, and this stove just cranks.
When it's "only" 35 degrees out, all I have to do is line the bottom of the stove with some wimpy Cottonwood, and it burns nicely for 4-6 hours without overheating the house. I feel like I have not really tested the stove with this mild winter, I wish we would get 2-3 days of 10 degree days like last winter (I'm not sure if I really mean that!).
Keep us posted when your stove arrives.
Yeah, we need a good cold snap somewhere so we can really see what this new stove is capable of. Seems like the only place that's having Winter is Alaska, anyone up there have the new PH?
One might say that Woodstock is having some bad luck this year introducing the new stove and not much heat being needed.
Well,after much anticipation our stove is up and running.Sorry for not posting a report earlier,we also love this new stove.I recruited a couple of buddies and we got the stove on the hearth pretty easily,we used a flat cart with four pneumatic tires.The break in fires went well thanks to Backwoods Savage post,and it has been about three weeks running 24/7.Because I tend to be a little more cautious than I some times should be I let the stove go out the other day and inspected the inside of the stove and masonary exterior chimney.The stove We had previously was a 1970s Vermont castings defiant (smoke dragon) that made creosote sitting idle in the summer.I was very pleased at what I saw,even though it was only three weeks, that old defiant would have produced different results.The inside of the stove looked pretty good too.The one Inconel screen was out of place,probably from shipping, I did not notice it when we started initially.The screens and combustor had very little fly ash on them.I am amazed at how easy the stove starts and relights with little embers,the draft was a concern for me because of the exterior chimney with the 8 inch square flue.So far so good with the draft,my guess is it could only get better with a 6 inch the whole way.Any input on that would be appreciated.Some other observations I have made so far are, the stove seems to like small to medium splits as opposed to larger splits or medium rounds,especially on the bottom layer.We are burning well seasoned oak,ash and some walnut.The draft control is very sensitive in its different positions,but I think that is a good thing.My draft arm seems to drag a little bit when the stove heats up,I thought possibly from expansion when the stove gets hot.I asked Jamie at wood stock,and he told me that was partially true and that also there are special washers on the draft arm to keep it in place when making adjustments.It still seems a little tight though.We are also are getting about 9 hrs out of about 4 or 5 pieces,I am pleased with that so far.The heat retention with the soapstone is outstanding and the stove is absolutely beautiful,the heat does not drive us out of the room any more,but keeps our 2300 sq. ft. at about 73 degrees.Thanks, 
to everyone on this site for recommending soapstone and the Wood Stock company,we hope to post pictures soon.
to everyone on this site for recommending soapstone and the Wood Stock company,we hope to post pictures soon.
Logroad:
Glad to hear you are doing well with the new Progress.
Why do you say "the stove seems to like small to medium splits as opposed to larger splits or medium rounds,especially on the bottom layer"? Do the bigger splits just not light as fast? I ask because I have been using very small splits (3-4") that were meant for the Fireview, and they have been burning great, but I have been splitting newer wood bigger in anticipation the Progress would be ok with bigger splits.
Glad to hear you are doing well with the new Progress.
Why do you say "the stove seems to like small to medium splits as opposed to larger splits or medium rounds,especially on the bottom layer"? Do the bigger splits just not light as fast? I ask because I have been using very small splits (3-4") that were meant for the Fireview, and they have been burning great, but I have been splitting newer wood bigger in anticipation the Progress would be ok with bigger splits.
Fire_man,it seems like the splits that are around six inches or so do not catch as easily,some might even be eight inches.IN a conversation with Wood Stock they told me that other customers made the same observations,they suggested smaller splits,like five inches for the bottom layer.My wood was split for that old Defiant with that huge side load door that it had.Going forward I will make some smaller splits with the bottom layer in mind.As I said earlier, I have an eight inch flue, and I know that If I had the recommended six inch in the chimney I would get better draft.Maybe that is my problem with getting the larger pieces to catch and start burning through the bottom layer more easily.I do not think it is a big deal,as I am still learning the little quirks of a new stove.If any one else has noticed this please let the forum know.Sharing info. and little tips is what helps make this all easier for all of us.Thanks.
Good to know about the bigger splits before I get any further ahead on my supply. I don't understand why this stove would be so sensitive to huge splits, I see Blaze King guys put tree trunks in their stoves. I know the Progress is not a BK, but I would expect it to be able to ignite the big stuff.
fire_man said:
What I find works well on my T-5 is get a good coal bed established then add the wood and let that get going so it chars well.. The secondaries will start burning down into the wood and most of the burning goes top down for the most part.. Reduce your air gradually and it should cruise along.. You may see similar results with your PH Tony..
Ray
This is good to know about the size of the splits. It is one more thing I will experiment with when we get the stove. I have several ideas that I'd like to experiment with so now I'll add cutting some 22" ash and splitting to different sizes and check the differences in how the stove is burning it.
I use very large splits. With a good coal bed, I don't have any issues with them firing up. They make for longer burns and tame the secondaries a bit for the warmer weather. I use 6 to 10" splits all the time with great results! Of course, if the stove has really burned down, I'll throw a couple smaller splits on the bottom then add the big ones.
mliiiwit
Member
logroad
Thanks for the update. I suspected you were happy with the stove but had read that you were really uncertain which one to go with. My parent have had a Fireview for the past several years and love it. Between their input and everything I'd read on here I didn't hesitate to order the PH when I first learned about it (first of this year). In your post when you were asking for recommendations, there was some negativism about the PH in a few posts. So I was really interested in hearing your update. Kinda seems there are so die-hard "Ford" and "Chevy" fans here.
BYW, WS has a new video on the blog and on youtube on test burns with VERY green wood in the PH. Interesting results.
Enjoy your stove!
Thanks for the update. I suspected you were happy with the stove but had read that you were really uncertain which one to go with. My parent have had a Fireview for the past several years and love it. Between their input and everything I'd read on here I didn't hesitate to order the PH when I first learned about it (first of this year). In your post when you were asking for recommendations, there was some negativism about the PH in a few posts. So I was really interested in hearing your update. Kinda seems there are so die-hard "Ford" and "Chevy" fans here.
BYW, WS has a new video on the blog and on youtube on test burns with VERY green wood in the PH. Interesting results.
Enjoy your stove!
Waulie, I am glad to hear the bigger splits are working for you.I would rather use the bigger splits,like you said they generally burn longer plus it is less splitting.I still wonder about my chimney draft.What is your chimney setup,do you have 6 or 8 inch flue pipe in your chimney?Thanks..
ciccio
Member
Waulie said:
I agree with you on this waulie no problems with bigger splits, if stove burned down I do the same with the small splits..I have a 8 by 8 clay insert chimney for your info.
logroad said:
If you are talking class A stainless, my opinion is you would have more flow with an 8". The pressure difference driving the flue(draft) would be nearly the same for each. Resistance to flow would be less for the larger pipe. Heat loss through a modern insulated stainless system will not be significantly different. Lower velocity in the 8" means more contact time in the flue - in the modern insulated flue this should not be significant.
I am a novice stove burner, but the prevailing view that a better draft comes from a smaller modern insulated stainless flue intrigues me. The appliance itself must provide 80+% of the resistance to flow for the entire assembly. I guess I am tilting at windmills, but the general acceptance by the burning community must have basis.
In a HVAC air system, more flow comes from larger pipes. I am sure some chimney designer will set me straight, but....just thinkin.
Somebody educate me - is draft used to mean pressure or used to mean flow in wood stove talk?
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