There's a pic of the Woodstock Cat thermometer in this post. Looks like a surface reader, not probe. If so, a standard Condar stove top thermometer will work.
Hearthstone vs Progress, bee in bonnet
- Thread starter John Lehet
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Yeah, that’s the stovetop one that goes on the metal by the pipe. The cat one would be different.
That's all I see mentioned in the manual.
The catalytic combustor will start to burn the gases and particles in the smoke when the temperature of the smoke reaches approximately 500ºF, or after about 10-15 minutes of establishing a strong fire. Each stove comes with a surface thermometer. Use the surface thermometer to monitor your stove temperatures. The temperature on top of the stove is approximately 1/2 the temperature inside the stove, so when the thermometer on the stove top reads 250ºF, it is 500ºF inside.
You will find that after the combustor is engaged, surface temperatures will often rise considerably - evidence that the combustor is producing lots of heat!
The catalytic combustor will start to burn the gases and particles in the smoke when the temperature of the smoke reaches approximately 500ºF, or after about 10-15 minutes of establishing a strong fire. Each stove comes with a surface thermometer. Use the surface thermometer to monitor your stove temperatures. The temperature on top of the stove is approximately 1/2 the temperature inside the stove, so when the thermometer on the stove top reads 250ºF, it is 500ºF inside.
You will find that after the combustor is engaged, surface temperatures will often rise considerably - evidence that the combustor is producing lots of heat!
That's what the sweep said, that they stopped including the probe thermometer. They updated the digital manual, but my printed manual says, "Each stove comes with a surface and probe thermometer."
He said it was too much, supporting people confused by the probe thermometer and high temps, I guess a lot of calls, "Help, my stove is 2000 degrees!"
I found the spot where it screws in. the manual says it's 1" downstream from the cat, so, yeah, there's a bolt plugging that hole.
On the second small fire break in fire, got it just barely hot enough for the cat to fire. It took a long time for the chimney to be smoke free when I engaged the cat at stove-top 250F. The stove top thermometer they gave me seems super accurate, tracks with my IR.
I sure wish I didn't have to go look at the chimney to see if it's fired.
Overall the stove was smokier at the chimney up until the cat fired than if I started a fire in the cold Jotul 3 CB, but then the Jotul is designed to burn clean without a cat in the mix.
He said it was too much, supporting people confused by the probe thermometer and high temps, I guess a lot of calls, "Help, my stove is 2000 degrees!"
I found the spot where it screws in. the manual says it's 1" downstream from the cat, so, yeah, there's a bolt plugging that hole.
On the second small fire break in fire, got it just barely hot enough for the cat to fire. It took a long time for the chimney to be smoke free when I engaged the cat at stove-top 250F. The stove top thermometer they gave me seems super accurate, tracks with my IR.
I sure wish I didn't have to go look at the chimney to see if it's fired.
Overall the stove was smokier at the chimney up until the cat fired than if I started a fire in the cold Jotul 3 CB, but then the Jotul is designed to burn clean without a cat in the mix.
You might find the engagement temperature for light off increase a bit as the Combustor ages. It starts out hyperactive and settles down. I put a new one in at the beginning of this burning season and it still lights off with 250F stovetop measured on the stone plate just in front of the top flue cap.
WS tried hard to make the combustor visible thru the window when they designed the stove but it just wasn't feasible on the Progress.
WS tried hard to make the combustor visible thru the window when they designed the stove but it just wasn't feasible on the Progress.
My copy of the manual is from 2019. I just checked Woodstock's site for the PH and see the probe section that you mention has been added. Thanks for the tip. I'll update my docs. It would be nice if they indicated the probe depth.
I can see how some folks are confused by the cat temps. BK and others have gone to showing just cat activity ranges now with no temperature demarcations.
On the second break in burn I proved that at least with a new cat it’s possible to have a low and slow burn. Beyond kindling it was just two quite small spits and a bigger small split. After the cat lit it was just the bigger small split on top of a small bed of coals, and the cat stayed burning for a bit after the last small flame went out, keeping the stove top temp at just over 250F. Stove is definitely putting out heat we can feel nicely, but not keeping up with the weather with this small fire. It’s 8F outside. I just turned off the mini splits and am letting the oil carry the load. I’ll make a bigger fire at bedtime after this cools down.
I wouldn’t go down the cat temp rabbit hole. Just use flue temps as your guide to run the stove.
I mostly would want to know when/if the cat crashes if I’ve shut down too much or too soon, or if it really has lit. The rest of the time I’m not going to worry about the cat temp. I think for the next period I’ll mostly be burning with a pretty steady fire, but probably shutting down some for the overnight. I’m going to try using the stove instead of the mini split for the overnight for the real cold.
I haven’t burned a cat stove since about 1999-2002, and that was a VC Intrepid, the worst stove experience I’ve ever had. I could never get the hang of that stove. In ‘98 I had a Dutchwest cat stove, and that worked OK, just kept it hot all winter and the cat did its thing as needed.
I have to re-learn everything about running a stove now after 17 years with the Jotul 3 CB, which is as different a stove as can be..
I haven’t burned a cat stove since about 1999-2002, and that was a VC Intrepid, the worst stove experience I’ve ever had. I could never get the hang of that stove. In ‘98 I had a Dutchwest cat stove, and that worked OK, just kept it hot all winter and the cat did its thing as needed.
I have to re-learn everything about running a stove now after 17 years with the Jotul 3 CB, which is as different a stove as can be..
The Intrepid we had I don’t think was an everburn, but functionally it was a neverburn. I just really didn’t want to use it, and when I tried I wished I hadn’t. That house had floor heat powered by oil. I wanted to burn some wood to cut some of the oil use and bill, had a nice stack of dry wood under a big eave, facing south. But I never wanted to light the stove after a bit.
The Dutchwest I guess has been maligned a lot, but this one was fine for that little bit. I burned slab wood in it. I also had two friends with them, and they liked them OK too. But I never got another one.
One of those friends who burned a Dutchwest replaced it with a Woodstock Ideal Steel. He thinks it’s the best upgrade ever. He is off grid and 100% wood heat.
The Dutchwest I guess has been maligned a lot, but this one was fine for that little bit. I burned slab wood in it. I also had two friends with them, and they liked them OK too. But I never got another one.
One of those friends who burned a Dutchwest replaced it with a Woodstock Ideal Steel. He thinks it’s the best upgrade ever. He is off grid and 100% wood heat.
I'm off grid with heating oil thanks to two Woodstock stoves, wish I could say the same with electric.
We pay horrible electric prices in MA and I didn't want to spring for solar.
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