Hearthstone vs Progress, bee in bonnet

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It makes sense. The saleswoman there wasn't about to tell me that. She explicitly told me they would be about the same at the low end. I've heard so much good about the Woodstock people I can't muster the cynicism to think she lied to sell me a stove. She also showed me a printout of a table with the stoves and their outputs, and it was pretty crazy, all over the place. She said, Yeah, tested at different times, different tests. I can't remember specifics of that table (a lot in it), but she said basically don't put any stock in the tests, because they are not the same test. She said she's never heard of anyone who got cooked out by the Progress being too much stove. I've also never seen anyone in a forum anywhere saying they had that problem with a Progress. (Of course it could be I'm the only one stupid enough to install one in a smaller space.) IDK maybe if I had gotten a different sales person I would have gotten a different view?

I also measured the fireboxes the long way. The Fireview they say it takes 16 inch logs, but it's at least 18 inches long. My Jotul 3 FCB is the exact opposite. They say it will burn 18 inch logs, but they better mostly be shorter than that. You can just barely fit an 18 inch log into it if there's nothing else going on in the stove, no coals or other logs.

The size difference of the fireboxes between the Fireview and the Progress is dramatic if you can see them both in the same room. The Progress has a crazy huge firebox.

Also talked to the stove installer (I think I mentioned that?). He installs for Woodstock around here (they give out his name) and he actually owns two of their stoves himself. I went through all of our situation and the stoves I was wondering about, and he basically came down to, "The Progress is one really good stove."

Hybrid + firebox makes sense though, as you say and bigger stove.

I'm not too worried about our use though. As I've said, basically we only light the stove when the 15k mini split is struggling. In other words, we need probably 12 or 13k of heat if not more to even think of making a fire. And that's in the warmest weather of stove use. Our burn season is shorter than many wood burners because of the mini splits I guess. I suppose we might want to avoid firing the stove on a chilly morning when it's going to warm up a lot during the day. Or we will make a fire with a small load and treat it like a little masonry stove. I will surely be wary of loading the firebox all the way full on a milder day, so we can let it coast down if need be. We'll see! Hope I'm not making a mistake.

Also in spite of the warnings in this thread, I haven't found a forum thread anywhere with anyone cooking themselves out with a Progress.

Also, my wife doesn't like the look of the Fireview. I kind of like it, I think of it as "trippy-funky," and I think it would be appropriate in our old schoolhouse. But we both agree we like the Progress better.

Hope I don't regret it, but I'm more excited than apprehensive.
 
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If it doesn’t work out they have a 6 month return policy so might as well give it a try. I’ll be interested to see how it works out.

You’re right about the different testing over the years. The EPA keeps changing the methods to their madness. None of them are real world tests because there are so many variables in wood burning.