Another Progress Hybrid Install

[fire_man]

Make sure the screen's curve is tight enough. Mine was almost flat and would not slip into the groove in the rear mounting surface. The screen kept falling backwards towards the cat. The correct distance between the two edges of the screen (the tips of the "C" ) is 2 3/4". Mine was originally 3.0 inches. Now it locks in perfectly.

 

[HollowHill]

Talked to WS again about my ash pan, all seems to be good there. Learned something very interesting - I was talking to Lewis, who is also running a Progress at home and he said that he turns his draft control all the way to 0! Said Progress is different than their other stoves and is meant to be run at 0 for a low burn, if your set up will do it. I'm going to try it tomorrow, as I have not been getting very long burns. Thought I would pass this along...

 

[fire_man]

I also talked to WS. They told me the exact same thing!

Hollowhill, can you post the level of firebox activity you see after you close down to zero? First We need to know the stove top (lid) temp when you engage the cat, then about 5 minutes later how much flame is in the box?

 

[chipsoflyin]

have you guys been monitoring smoke coming out of the chimney during these low burns, what about a cat thermometer, is there provisions for one

 

[fire_man]

I engaged the cat for the first time, using a small fire - only four 16" splits, 4" wide each and some kindling (per Dennis instructions, break-in fire #3). My stovetop pegged at 360F and I got light white smoke from chimney. What amazed me was the stove top stayed pegged near 360F for well over an hour, and that wood is the same wood that was used to get the firebox hot enough to engage the cat from a stone cold stove. It brought the room temp up from 60 to 67 degrees (22 ft x 22 ft cathedral ceiling room) on a 39 degree day. 8 hours later the room was at 65F and the outside was 34F. This is in a 2300 sq ft colonial.

The area around the stove definitely had a warmer glow of heat around it compared with the Fireview. I always wondered if the air space between soapstone panels in the FV prevented all the usable firebox heat from reaching the room. The Progress has no such air space, its a steel firebox sandwiched between soapstone panels in direct contact with the steel.

There is definitely a learning curve with this stove, but so far I like what I see!

 

[Flatbedford]

Sounds good. Maybe it will get cold enough to really let it rip!

 

[binko]

I tried the 0 setting on the damper and found glass window turns black and I get a smokey smell in the house.
With the zero setting, there is virtually no air coming in to do the air-wash for the glass.

 

[fire_man]

Binko:

How far from zero setting do you go to prevent the smoke smell? I find the slightest tick away from zero gets more consistent secondaries - they don't start and stop very often, just keep going.

 

[Woody Stover]

Talked to WS again about my ash pan, all seems to be good there. Learned something very interesting - I was talking to Lewis, who is also running a Progress at home and he said that he turns his draft control all the way to 0! Said Progress is different than their other stoves and is meant to be run at 0 for a low burn, if your set up will do it. I'm going to try it tomorrow, as I have not been getting very long burns. Thought I would pass this along...

I can run the Keystone at zero and still get plenty of heat when it's not too cold outside. It's rear-vented to 17' of 6" insulated flex liner. I think there's a little air coming in at the left front corner or glass, though...
Great looking stove and setup, Waulie!

 

[binko]

I open the damper about 1/8" to get some airflow coming thru but then the secondaries take over and I get more fire and heat than I want or need. Still trying to find that sweet spot. I kind of miss the performance of my Keystone.
That was far more controllable and gave the heat output that I called for at the time. That lived up to the claim of a steady gentle uniform heat output thru the entire load of wood.

 

[HotCoals]

I open the damper about 1/8" to get some airflow coming thru but then the secondaries take over and I get more fire and heat than I want or need. Still trying to find that sweet spot. I kind of miss the performance of my Keystone.
That was far more controllable and gave the heat output that I called for at the time. That lived up to the claim of a steady gentle uniform heat output thru the entire load of wood.

The Keystone being a cat will do that..really nice looking stove.

 

[fire_man]

I open the damper about 1/8" to get some airflow coming thru but then the secondaries take over and I get more fire and heat than I want or need. Still trying to find that sweet spot. I kind of miss the performance of my Keystone.
That was far more controllable and gave the heat output that I called for at the time. That lived up to the claim of a steady gentle uniform heat output thru the entire load of wood.

I hear you, the Fireview was also very controllable. The problem was it just did not crank enough heat for my house when it got below 30F. I think we have to be patient and work with this stove for a while. I remember being very frustrated with the FV for the first two years, after that I learned the stove perfectly and understood how to operate it for every season.

I think if the Progress throws too much heat you have the option of loading 1/2 full and burning on low. That's the beauty of the cat, you can still build a small fire and burn efficiently. I loaded only 4 splits from a cold start and it heated perfectly.

 

[raybonz]

I open the damper about 1/8" to get some airflow coming thru but then the secondaries take over and I get more fire and heat than I want or need. Still trying to find that sweet spot. I kind of miss the performance of my Keystone.
That was far more controllable and gave the heat output that I called for at the time. That lived up to the claim of a steady gentle uniform heat output thru the entire load of wood.

I hear you, the Fireview was also very controllable. The problem was it just did not crank enough heat for my house when it got below 30F. I think we have to be patient and work with this stove for a while. I remember being very frustrated with the FV for the first two years, after that I learned the stove perfectly and understood how to operate it for every season.

I think if the Progress throws too much heat you have the option of loading 1/2 full and burning on low. That's the beauty of the cat, you can still build a small fire and burn efficiently. I loaded only 4 splits from a cold start and it heated perfectly.

Hi Tony,
I agree with you and think that's part of the reason Woodstock sold the PH for only $2400.00.. That's quite a bargain for what you get in that stove but being new technology it's bound to need some tweaks once it gets into the real world.. In the long run I am sure they will work out all the little bugs and redesign the stove to eliminate those problems.. As for burning clean with 4 splits I think most stoves will do this and I get this burning 2 splits at a time on a secondary burn stove as well.. It could take one perhaps even two seasons before Woodstock irons out all the kinks for the final design of the PH.. The upside is you got that stove for a song at $2400.00 in my opinion.. The thing that I noticed and remarked on while at Woodstock was they were using a blower to pull the exhaust out of the factory and I wondered how the PH would run with an unassisted variable draft.. This appears to be the reason that some of these problems have surfaced.. Have faith Woodstock will get this figured out and work with all who bought the PH.. I bet a thermostatic damper would make a noticeable difference.. I bet TJ is enjoying this whole process with you! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Ray

 

[Todd]

Still waiting to see a picture of Tony's new stove or it didn't happen! :lol:

 

[Woody Stover]

Love the hearth tile and the blue castings.

If it's the same metallic blue as the Keystone, it will burn in and look medium gray with a tinge of blue. It's my favorite color of the stock offerings.

 

[Waulie]

Just finished my third break in fire. I had almost identical results to Tony. I started the fire with kindling and 4 small splits at 8:00 am. The stove peaked at 365 and stayed there for a hour and a half. It has been over 5 hours. Stove top is still at 260 and I could easily rekindle, which I'm very tempted to do. But, we're leaving for the night so I will let it go cold for probably the last time until April.

Very pleased so far!

Hey Binko, what is your chimney situation? I'm sure you've posted it but I can't remember. Maybe you just have some intense draft?

 

[binko]

My chimney is very dynamic, meaning that I have a pretty poor draft normally. I installed an Exhausto fan on top of it with a rheostat to control the draft. I can create as much or as little draft as I wish.

 

[fire_man]

Here is my proud Progress install. I extended the hearth in anticipation of needing more front clearance, it turned out my old clearance would have been fine - oh well. It passed inspection, too!

I will soon post my comments, I've burned a bunch of fires now.

 

[begreen]

That looks beautiful fire_man, thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to your review.

 

[HollowHill]

Here is my proud Progress install. I extended the hearth in anticipation of needing more front clearance, it turned out my old clearance would have been fine - oh well. It passed inspection, too!

I will soon post my comments, I've burned a bunch of fires now.

Tony, is that an ashlip I spy??!?! It looks awesome Are they in yet?

 

[fire_man]

Hollow Hill:

Good Catch, I got the first ashlip, its a prototype. Turns out I was directly responsible for it's design due to earlier conversation of mine with WS to reduce hearth clearance reqirements. It even has my initials stamped in it! I call it "the Tony lip".

 

[fire_man]

The fires have burned great so far. It heats the house much better than my FV - I'm still learning how to operate it properly.

 

[mattjmcl]

Wow, looks great! I got the call yesterday that my unit was in transit.

 

[tnwoodburner]

It does look great. Mine should be here next Thursday.

 

[fire_man]

I can't wait to get more Progress users on-line and share burn-times and all!