Hearthstone vs Progress, bee in bonnet
- Thread starter John Lehet
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Did not mean to sound like I was coming down on you about wanting a new stove- we all love new stoves and if you can find one you like better, more power to you. I too did not like the 3CB's short wood requirement and I brought it up to my Jotul rep, he smiled and said it will fit 18" wood, yep maybe one smaller piece... About the RHS though, I thought if it was removed, there was a piece for the secondary burn system held in place with the rear shield?? Not a good idea to run that stove without the RHS in place. I do agree with you about the woodstocks, the Progress and Fireview are very nice looking stoves. I'd think heat wise, the Fireview would be a great choice, but if the wife likes the Progress's looks, that sounds like your new stove. Stay warm.
>But many people start out buying too small of a stove, based on price or fear of overheating the space.
For me the small stove wasn't so much either price or fear of overheating, but more like fear of smoldering. In the old days when "airtight" stoves were a thing, late 70s, early 80s, we would put big chunks of maple into our old-style big Vermont Casting stoves and shut them way down, not knowing any better. I think they had some kind of thermostat to keep them at a nice smoky smolder? Then open it up when it gets really cold -- but a lot of smoldering most of the time. So much smoke and creosote and wasted wood. Burned 6 cords of wood but probably got 2 cords worth of heat according to how I burn now. So I didn't want to have a too big stove for shoulder season. I don't know, but it seems like shoulder season is expanding quite a lot here.
The F 3 CB is in fact too small for this space in the coldest weather, but just a bit. It's not that we get cold, it's just that the stove gets very hot. We never say (with the stove burning well) "The stoves going but we're cold." We do say, "Yikes, look at that (stovetop) thermometer!" I guess sometimes we do rather crowd around it and the cats would go inside it if they could get in. But mostly it is warm enough in here.
With the mini split, these days, by the time we are thinking of lighting the wood stove at all, we are ready for some serious heat. So my old way of thinking, that the stove would mostly be just right through all the shoulder season and then sometimes struggling in January -- that idea is now obsolete. The stove has a different job altogether. It's to carry the heavy load in real winter, no thought of shoulder season.
I'm assuming with the Progress that the mini split is going to be pushed aside in the real winter. Instead of dove-tailing with the woodstove, I'm guessing in the cold part of winter the mini split will be mostly not running or not running hard.
For me the small stove wasn't so much either price or fear of overheating, but more like fear of smoldering. In the old days when "airtight" stoves were a thing, late 70s, early 80s, we would put big chunks of maple into our old-style big Vermont Casting stoves and shut them way down, not knowing any better. I think they had some kind of thermostat to keep them at a nice smoky smolder? Then open it up when it gets really cold -- but a lot of smoldering most of the time. So much smoke and creosote and wasted wood. Burned 6 cords of wood but probably got 2 cords worth of heat according to how I burn now. So I didn't want to have a too big stove for shoulder season. I don't know, but it seems like shoulder season is expanding quite a lot here.
The F 3 CB is in fact too small for this space in the coldest weather, but just a bit. It's not that we get cold, it's just that the stove gets very hot. We never say (with the stove burning well) "The stoves going but we're cold." We do say, "Yikes, look at that (stovetop) thermometer!" I guess sometimes we do rather crowd around it and the cats would go inside it if they could get in. But mostly it is warm enough in here.
With the mini split, these days, by the time we are thinking of lighting the wood stove at all, we are ready for some serious heat. So my old way of thinking, that the stove would mostly be just right through all the shoulder season and then sometimes struggling in January -- that idea is now obsolete. The stove has a different job altogether. It's to carry the heavy load in real winter, no thought of shoulder season.
I'm assuming with the Progress that the mini split is going to be pushed aside in the real winter. Instead of dove-tailing with the woodstove, I'm guessing in the cold part of winter the mini split will be mostly not running or not running hard.
Ah interesting that the RHS is important for function! I know where it is. Maybe I'll bolt it on. I always figured it was just a plenum of very hot air rising over the stove with the RHS on -- and there sure is already enough hot air rising up to the high altitudes. I'm not sure the ceiling height -- 8 or 9 feet? -- but if I go up on a ladder or step stool for some reason, oh man, that's where all the heat is.
I personally like the big slab of hot soapstone behind the stove as a sort of radiant heat shield, but my wife would prefer it not to be there. She prefers the look of the big granite slab. Maybe she gets her way (she often gets her way, I'm nice that way), but maybe she gets her way with the RHS and granite until we get the progress.
I personally like the big slab of hot soapstone behind the stove as a sort of radiant heat shield, but my wife would prefer it not to be there. She prefers the look of the big granite slab. Maybe she gets her way (she often gets her way, I'm nice that way), but maybe she gets her way with the RHS and granite until we get the progress.
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