Progress operation??????

kayakkeith said:

So been using my new Progress and trying to figure out all the quirks etc.....
One thing I have noticed is that it doesn't take me long to get the fire blazed up and damping it down to completely closed air damper
Then it gets that nice slow burn with the secondaries exploding once in awhile...
Puts out enough heat and I haven't even engaged the cat yet..... So it's seems to perform awesome with just that and no cat engaged yet....
When I do engage cat it gets the temp climbing and and again settles down with gas exploding once and awhile...


So my question is how many just burn with never engaging the cat? What's the thought on that....

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The cat makes more heat by burning the stuff that would otherwise escape up the flue. I like more heat.

Burn with your cat engaged, use smaller loads or lower btu wood (pine, tulip poplar ext.)

Low and slow with no cat engaged = fouled flu. Just ask your grandpa.

begreen said:

That's my thought too. Question is how much more heat does the PH create in cat mode and for how long?

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Since it is a hybrid if the fire gets going good then the secondaries get going. I am still getting use to the stove but so far I just toss in the wood and shut it down, if I already have it up to temp.

so far this year i have been getting 10-12 hours on about a half load. I classify my burn time as the stove top is above 250F. With the one full load so far this year i managed to get 18 hours. This is mild weather right now with a few cold days here and there.

Last winter(first one with the PH), i got about 12hrs max, but my wood was sub par.

It does seem to burn quite well with the bypass open, though i always engage the cat. It definitely makes a difference in regards to heat output, burn times, and keeping the flue cleaner IMO. I would assume that with the bypass open that max burn time would be reduced by at least 25% or so.

quotejso said:

Since it is a hybrid if the fire gets going good then the secondaries get going. I am still getting use to the stove but so far I just toss in the wood and shut it down, if I already have it up to temp.

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Careful, if you have a ceramic cat. The thermal shock of steam coming off a fresh load can easily fracture a ceramic cat that's sitting at 1000F. If you have a SteelCat, then carry on...

Ashful said:

Careful, if you have a ceramic cat. The thermal shock of steam coming off a fresh load can easily fracture a ceramic cat that's sitting at 1000F. If you have a SteelCat, then carry on...

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It looks like metal it is new this year.

I think if the cat failed I would still use the stove, but with the cat engaged and a black box you are definitely saving wood. My ideal steel seems to burn lower then the Progress though. I can go an entire burn without seeing a flame with the control closed. Cat temp stays up around 1400 degrees and slowly comes down.

Humming right along...

Low and slow

Here's the advice I got from the sales person from Woodstock when I picked up the Progress. Get a fire established, close it down a little bit and add wood as needed, when the surface temp reaches around 300 engage the cat, shut it down all the way then open it up just a little. I have found that this works for me, opening it up just a little as the fire seems to dance and the temp goes up. If I close the damper all of the way, the dancing stops with no visual activity in the firebox yet over night the wood will completely burn.

I as well just got a PH. Here are a few questions I've had. I am loading about 3/4 full when I go t bed around 10pm. I get it going, engage the cat, and shut it down all the way. When I wake up there is a bed of coals. I am burning chestnut and various other woods like oak and some birch. I cannot seem to get these longer burns that others talk about. Also, in the manual they say that when you engage the cat you should see dramatic temp rises, which I don't believe I am seeing. My stove seems to hover around 300-350 (I have the thermometer on top of the upper flue plate, i am using the rear exit for the flue). I have never used a cat stove before, so I really don't know what to expect. Will it hurt the stove to shut it completely down for an all night burn?

DeepSpringFarm said:

I as well just got a PH. Here are a few questions I've had. I am loading about 3/4 full when I go t bed around 10pm. I get it going, engage the cat, and shut it down all the way. When I wake up there is a bed of coals. I am burning chestnut and various other woods like oak and some birch. I cannot seem to get these longer burns that others talk about. Also, in the manual they say that when you engage the cat you should see dramatic temp rises, which I don't believe I am seeing. My stove seems to hover around 300-350 (I have the thermometer on top of the upper flue plate, i am using the rear exit for the flue). I have never used a cat stove before, so I really don't know what to expect. Will it hurt the stove to shut it completely down for an all night burn?

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I am seeing very similar results. I did get it up to 600 once I think with much smaller splits.

One thing to note is since this is a Soapstone the stove will be putting off heat for sometime after it burns down as the soapstone stores heat and keep the stove warm for a while.

Huntindog1 said:

One thing to note is since this is a Soapstone the stove will be putting off heat for sometime after it burns down as the soapstone stores heat and keep the stove warm for a while.

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The laws of physics disagree with your emotional assessment of your stove. Yes, soapstone has a fairly high heat capacity, but mass is not on your side. How much energy do your really believe you're storing at a given stove top temperature, when comparing the 500 lb. mass of soapstone in your stove to perhaps 750,000 lb. of stone in the walls of an average stone house? Answer: immeasurably little.

It may feel warm a few hours after the fire goes out, but substatially heating your house, it is not.

Ashful said:

The laws of physics disagree with your emotional assessment of your stove. Yes, soapstone has a fairly high heat capacity, but mass is not on your side. How much energy do your really believe you're storing at a given stove top temperature, when comparing the 500 lb. mass of soapstone in your stove to perhaps 750,000 lb. of stone in the walls of an average stone house? Answer: immeasurably little.

It may feel warm a few hours after the fire goes out, but substatially heating your house, it is not.

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I don't think he has a soapstone stove at least its not listed in his signature. It will store more heat then a metal stove but yes really won't do much to warm the house.

I was sitting by the stove and it made a load noise thought a log had settled down, then it did it again I guess it was back puffing it is only 50 degrees out so I opened the air and got it going nice.

DeepSpringFarm said:

I as well just got a PH. Here are a few questions I've had. I am loading about 3/4 full when I go t bed around 10pm. I get it going, engage the cat, and shut it down all the way. When I wake up there is a bed of coals. I am burning chestnut and various other woods like oak and some birch. I cannot seem to get these longer burns that others talk about. Also, in the manual they say that when you engage the cat you should see dramatic temp rises, which I don't believe I am seeing. My stove seems to hover around 300-350 (I have the thermometer on top of the upper flue plate, i am using the rear exit for the flue). I have never used a cat stove before, so I really don't know what to expect. Will it hurt the stove to shut it completely down for an all night burn?

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At what stove top temp are you engaging the cat? I suspect your cat is stalling.

The same thing was happening to me at first. Here is what i started doing.
1) load stove and leave air full open until it is burning very well. 5ish mins
2) shut air about a 1/4 and wait until everything is burning and the stovetop is at least 275. 5ish minutes
3) close bypass
4) let fire get burnig robustly again and let the secondaries start up 2-5 mins
5) close air about another 1/4
6) wait until stovetop is above 315 or so and then shut air completely. 2-5 mins

Whole process takes about 15 mins give or take 5 depending on how robust of a coal bed you are loading on to. Allow a good extra 20 mins if starting from cold.

I went from having a cruise around 350, to having it cruise around 550. If your wood is a little sub par this can have a big impact too.

After i close my bypass and give the fire 5-10 mins of burning , and shut the air fully. I always come back about 10-15 mins later and check the flue temp and stove top temp. If the stovetop hasnt climbed past 350 and the flue temp isnt above 220ish(measured with ir on a liner) then i know my cat has stalled. So i then open the air back up about a 1/4 to 1/2 and let it get going good again for a fewminutes and then shut the air fully and i am usually good from there.

It took my about a year but i finally have it down. Havnt had a cat stall in awhile now. Learned to be patient and let the fire burn good once the bypass is closed for a few minutes.

Edit: oh, once i close the air fully the firebox goes completely black for several hours during which the stovetop temp rises to around 600. Then i will occasionally get a burst of secondaries as it slowly drops from there. I am averagee around 14-16 hour burn times my last few fires. Burn time to me is stovetop above 250

DeepSpringFarm said:

I am burning chestnut and various other woods like oak and some birch. I cannot seem to get these longer burns that others talk about. Also, in the manual they say that when you engage the cat you should see dramatic temp rises, which I don't believe I am seeing. My stove seems to hover around 300-350....Will it hurt the stove to shut it completely down for an all night burn?

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Chestnut (thought they were gone except little ones?) and Birch are medium-output woods, not renowned for long burns. I remember from some of the PH threads that the stove top temp doesn't go too high as a general rule, but I thought they were running somewhere in the 400s with dry wood. How long has your wood been split and stacked in the wind? No, it won't hurt the stove to run low and slow in cat mode; These stoves love to run like that, and you should get longer burn times.

Despite comparibg the PH to a stone house...
My stove room stays hot for quite some time after the fire goes out. For like 4-5 hours or much longer. I loaded my stove last night at 6pm. Stove top is still 150 at 322pm today.

It might not be alot, but its not all hype. 150F 700lbs rock still keeps my main floor fairly comfortable, especially in the stove room. That NEVER happened with my old stove.

I often use the stove top to keep my coffee warm about 6-8 hours after the fire has gone out. Thats justs a bonus!

I'm not saying you're wrong, just debating how much of it is due to the mass of the stove itself, versus the total mass of all heated objects in the room that's staying warm.

Is the PH 700 lbs.? That's heavier than I had guessed, originally thinking it was 550'ish.