Progress Hybrid too much stove for me

Highbeam said:

No such thing as an all cat fire in a PH, this is a hybrid stove. Always a combination of both which explains the low burntimes.

Your opinion, Waulie, of what is not correct is not correct.

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Dude, I and others have posted a bunch of times about the PH. Have you read the comments? Yes, with a lot of wood the stove gets hot enough to the point that the secondaries take over. The "low burn times" you speak of are 14+ hours with a full load. Have you read where I get 12 hour burns on half a load?

But, seeing as I actually own and use one, I can state as a definitive fact that with smaller loads you can absolutely run the stove with no secondaries whatsoever. Rideau has stated the same. Tony has stated the same. In fact, I had a shoulder season thread where I did just that with pictures, temps, etc. I have had probably 20 fires already this year and have seen secondaries once when I was heating the house up after being gone all weekend.

I really just wanted to help the OP out because I think the stove can do better for him. It takes a little practice to get it dialed in, but telling him it can't be done does not help since it is definitively untrue.

Again, dude, that 12 hour burntime is not a cat burn. You are being robbed of a low and slow burn because the PH is not a cat stove. If it was, you would be at 20 or 24 hours with something like 50% of the output. Oddly, that's what the OP is looking for. Less heat. You started pointing fingers and accusing other posts of being "not correct". You like throwing stones?

Highbeam said:

Again, dude, that 12 hour burntime is not a cat burn. You are being robbed of a low and slow burn because the PH is not a cat stove. If it was, you would be at 20 or 24 hours with something like 50% of the output. Oddly, that's what the OP is looking for. Less heat. You started pointing fingers and accusing other posts of being "not true". You like throwing stones?

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I do not like throwing stones, Highbeam. I just feel that you like to throw out incorrect information about the PH at every turn. How is 12 hours on a half load not a cat burn? Isn't that about exactly what the Keystone and Fireview do on about the same amount of wood? I think what you are really saying is the PH is not a BK. We get it, it's not. That does not mean you can't get a low cat burn with 3 splits of wood. Telling the OP to burn it like a non cat because he can't get a cat burn is incorrect. I'd go on, but in a few minutes I need to load 4 splits in my PH and have a nice low cat burn until morning.

Highbeam:

If you define "cat only mode" as "No secondary flame", then even the Fireview does not run in cat-only mode. There are times the Firebox heats up enough, and the secondaries cannot be extinguished.

Like Waulie said, you can run the PH in cat only mode, it's just not as easily controlled as with a pure cat stove. There are definitely times when the PH is definitely running in Cat only mode.

The Blazeking seems to be King of SNUFABILITY (I think I just invented a word), but I would not call the 14 hour PH burn times "low".

I wish I could do like Todd and try out a BK, but my goal is to figure out how to make the PH work best for me and help as many others do the same.

fire_man said:

Highbeam:

If you define "cat only mode" as "No secondary flame", then even the Fireview does not run in cat-only mode. There are times the Firebox heats up enough, and the secondaries cannot be extinguished.

Like Waulie said, you can run the PH in cat only mode, it's just not as easily controlled as with a pure cat stove. There are definitely times when the PH is definitely running in Cat only mode.

The Blazeking seems to be King of SNUFABILITY (I think I just invented a word), but I would not call the 14 hour PH burn times "low".

I wish I could do like Todd and try out a BK, but my goal is to figure out how to make the PH work best for me and help as many others do the same.

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Yeah, you're right, Tony. When I say "no secondary flames", I'm referring to secondary flames coming our of the baffle. Even in low mode, there are still the ghostly, dancing secondaries in the firebox. I assume that's what you get with the Fireview that has no secondary baffle?

Why didnt they design in more air control, if you have a cat you can burn pretty low. Are they trying to make the stove idiot proof.

Let me add they most likely want to keep the fire such to keep the window somewhat clean and to still have flames you can enjoy watching .

The Fireview gets rolling flames at the top of the Firebox when things get hot enough. Sometimes I got bummed when those flames started rolling, because once they appeared the Firebox temps took off and the stove went into a higher-temp mode, kind of like the Progress.

I think the Progess might run longer in cat-only mode if I had some Ginormous splits - like 8-10 inch diameter.

So on a forum you will see the same question asked over and over by different people. You don't have to like my answer and I don't have to like yours but please don't take it personally and start making arguments. We all get one opinion. You may explain yours well and I may then change my opinion to match but maybe not.

If I had a stove, any stove, that was heating me out of the house. Burning a smaller fire would be step number one. You can burn a fire with only kindling and not be overheated. As winter rolls on, the OP can increase fuel loads.

fire_man said:

The Fireview gets rolling flames at the top of the Firebox when things get hot enough. Sometimes I got bummed when those flames started rolling, because once they appeared the Firebox temps took off and the stove went into a higher-temp mode, kind of like the Progress.

I think the Progess might run longer in cat-only mode if I had some Ginormous splits - like 8-10 inch diameter.

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Big splits do help. But, I don't have any problems just using smaller loads this time of year. I've been loading half or less and haven't had any problems with long, low burns and no flames to speak of. I've really come to think of the PH as two stoves. For warmer weather, it's a smallish cat stove. For colder weather, it's a big ass heating machine.

Highbeam said:

So on a forum you will see the same question asked over and over by different people. You don't have to like my answer and I don't have to like yours but please don't take it personally and start making arguments. We all get one opinion. You may explain yours well and I may then change my opinion to match but maybe not.

If I had a stove, any stove, that was heating me out of the house. Burning a smaller fire would be step number one. You can burn a fire with only kindling and not be overheated. As winter rolls on, the OP can increase fuel loads.

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Absolutely. But, every stove is different and the PH is very different, because well, it's very different. It sounds like the OP was getting over heated by a small load of wood. My first thought is to crank that puppy down and let the cat take over for a good long while. The PH really can burn very long and low up to a certain load size once you get the hang of it.

Opinions are great, but when they are stated as fact and I know them to be incorrect, I will say as much. I hope you would too.

Don't you think the OP closed the air down when he was getting overheated?

Thing is, what you think you know as fact, is only your opinion and is only as valuable as anybody else's. Whining about other peoples' opinions and trying to make them change for you is not good form. Always leave room for being wrong because it happens to all of us. It's how you learn.

Highbeam said:

No such thing as an all cat fire in a PH, this is a hybrid stove. Always a combination of both which explains the low burntimes.

Your opinion, Waulie, of what is not correct is not correct.

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I have the PH and Monday I did my first burn with three or four splits and I achieved a long cat burn with out secondaries lighting off, after about eleven hours I opened the door and raked the coals and I had more than enough coals to start another fire but I did not need to. I do not understand Highbeam how you can make so many comments about the stove when you don't even own one....yes you can have your opinion everyone is entitled to have one but to state that something can not be done with the stove when others have done it makes what you say not true.
I am not looking to argue with anyone this site has taught me a lot and am happy I found it, I will just leave it at that.

ciccio said:

I have the PH and Monday I did my first burn with three or four splits and I achieved a long cat burn with out secondaries lighting off, after about eleven hours I opened the door and raked the coals and I had more than enough coals to start another fire but I did not need to. I do not understand Highbeam how you can make so many comments about the stove when you don't even own one....yes you can have your opinion everyone is entitled to have one but to state that something can not be done with the stove when others have done it makes what you say not true.

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Since you put my name in your post... That's not a cat burn, you just think it is. You were robbed of half your burn time by the non-cat secondary air feed and high minimum air setting among maybe other things. Seriously, I know the WS company makes a good stove and has strong ownership loyalty but sheesh. A spade is a spade. A hybrid is a hybrid. You don't need to own every stove to understand the technology, I decided against owning the PH for this very reason.

When you shut the primary air control off on the PH, is there not still some amount of air feeding the secondary manifold? Of course there is, if not, you could fill the thing to the roof and get a real, long, low burn without it going nuclear.

This thread has wandered into WS flag waving and I don't enjoy the way that usually ends up.

Your right Highbeam the stove cant get as low of a burn setting as the secondary air is always open. I never really thought of it that way. That is why the burn time is only 14-16 hours. I like my idea of putting foil tape over those secondary inlets

Still a good stove and a good company and 16 hours is a really good burn time for most peoples needs.

Foil tape.... maybe a 20-22 burn time

I'm still waiting to hear back from the op.

ive been getting 12 hour low and slow burns on small loads of wood for the past several weeks off and on as needed here in the Mtns of WV. I know that this is a fact, because ive been doing it. Ive always had a cat stove and I can easily run the Progress as a cat stove with very small loads of wood. This isnt an argument, its my reality and i have no intention of getting a different stove anytime soon.

Fellas, perhaps it is time to quit bashing one another and also the stoves and get this thing back on track of how it started else this thread needs to be closed. If you want to bash someone else's stove, then start a thread on that.

greenbrierwv said:

ive been getting 12 hour low and slow burns on small loads of wood for the past several weeks off and on as needed here in the Mtns of WV. I know that this is a fact, because ive been doing it. Ive always had a cat stove and I can easily run the Progress as a cat stove with very small loads of wood. This isnt an argument, its my reality and i have no intention of getting a different stove anytime soon.

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No you haven't. You just think you have.

I have the same issue as the op. I can easily overheat my space with the PH. I have found that using it as a masonry heater during the shoulder season work well. One small fire in the evening and that is all it takes. A good supply of supercedars makes the cold starts way to easy.

Waulie said:

Yeah, you're right, Tony. When I say "no secondary flames", I'm referring to secondary flames coming our of the baffle. Even in low mode, there are still the ghostly, dancing secondaries in the firebox. I assume that's what you get with the Fireview that has no secondary baffle?

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Yes, it is. Beautiful secondaries with both the Fireview and the PH when in cat mode only...more refined and restrained than the secondaries coming out of the secondary ducts in the PH. My PH has simply beautiful flitting ghostly flames when in cat mode, and the window always stays clear as a bell, so we have great viewing of the flames. Even when shut down completely, and the stove looks dark, the flames flit around.

If the PH is designed with clean glass in mind. Then I could probably get longer burns than 14 hours buy putting a butterfly valve in line when I install my OAK. But I don't want to look at a black window . Also IMO it does not matter where the cat gets its air from if there are no flames there is no secondary burn.Therefore its a cat burn. The PH is just burning fuel at a faster rate than the BK.

PS a butterfly valve might be a good Idea anyway to be used if your in fear of a over fire, be nice to be able to control the air supply