So here is the story....
We bought our house four years ago and I decided to heat it with wood. There was an awesome fireplace in the family room downstairs, and we decided the best way to go is put an insert in that fireplace. We had the chimney lined with an insulated 6" liner, 25 feet long. I installed a rather large wood burning insert from the 70's (Virginian Model 102). Fireplace dimensions are 31" H x 40" W x 22" deep, so it will handle a LARGE insert. Chimney runs up the center of the house and draws well.
We have a split foyer layout: You walk in the front door and there are 7 step upstairs or 7 steps down. At the bottom of those stairs is our family room. The woodstove is located in that room and the heat drafts up through the foyer really well. The old monster heats the house well as long as the night time lows stay above 30. Below that, and the furnace will run at night. We insulated the attic the first year we were here to R40, and have sealed a fair amount, but it is still a house with single pane windows that was built in '62.
After 4 years of burning with that insert, I am interested in going high tech. I want a more efficient, larger stove. The house is 3600 square feet with an open floor plan for the most part. Because of reading on here, I have already started splitting my wood different and bought a moisture meter.
The problem I have run into, is that I cannot find an insert that is enough of an upgrade for me to justify the astronomical costs (thought of things like the quadrafire 5100i, osburn 2400, etc). The two problems I have are obviously the lack of heat if we lose power, and if I am going to spend 3 grand on an insert, it would need to be large enough that I feel I am getting a very significant upgrade in heat output and burn times.
I looked at things like the Buck 91/94, but they take an 8" flue.
So I really got to looking hard at highly efficient stoves that used a 6" flue collar. For a few months all I have done is read about inserts (reviews, stories, etc) from multiple forums. I was totally against free standing stoves because I would completely have to redo my 55 year old hearth (try matching that brick), and I was totally against CATS. I just read too many stories of folks dropping 200+ dollars every 2 - 3 years on a new CAT. My wood heat doesn't save me enough in this temperate climate to justify that.
But then I read about how the long burns are great for my temperate climate, and how the BK people would never buy another non-cat stove again. Then I talked to the local dealer (who sells Jotul) and they were pushing the F55. But the dealer even said, to have a clean burn and reduce wood consumption, you have to burn the stove hot (400 -550) all the time to realize the clean and efficient burn. He couldn't tell me what this translated to in burn times though. This got me thinking about cats again......
Then I see many pictures of how people have made a hearth redo look awesome, and this got me thinking that I could do something to make a free standing stove work. It helps that many who used to have inserts on here and said that they would NEVER have another insert after going freestanding.
Then I discover the EPA burn data (which for most manufacturers is WAY lower then what they advertise). On that site, I discover the highest efficiency and BTU data (using a standardized test wood) was from woodstock progress hybrid.
I have been reading about the woodstock stoves, emailed the company a few times, etc. The wife saw it and thought WOW, what a beauty. She liked the looks enough that she started throwing out ideas for how to redo the hearth (which let me tell you is amazing considering she wasn't at all interested in the discussion of a new woodstove until then).
They have a BTU calculator on their site, and it put my house as needing 60,000 BTU. They had an EPA stove sizing guide, and it puts me in zone 5, again needing close to 60,000 BTU. I assume both of these are maximums.
I have two heat pumps (one upstairs and one downstairs). These were both professionally installed and sized with multiple measure and computer programs (not just some yahoo that says 1 ton per 700 sqft). He took insulations measurements, counted the number of windows, etc. These systems were sized by a real professional that I trust. That said, their combined strip heat is 23kW. So if my heat pumps both ran in strip heat mode for 60 minutes, I would consume 23kWh. This translates to 78,000 Btu. Now obviously if they shouldn't have 100% duty cycle, so lets say they run 50% of the time. This translates to 38,000 Btu, and is my target number.
Since I rely on several wood sources, and a third of my wood supply is loblolly pine (soft wood), I cannot count on that absolute maximum number that some retailers throw out. I also cannot accept a stove that will burn up in 3 hours to reach that target Btu. For some stoves the EPA test (with softwood) produces less than 40k Btu. This is too low for me.
So here is my concern. We can read all we want, and check square footage and BTU ratings from different sources, etc. But you really don't know what a stove can heat until you use it.
Many of the wonderful reviews of the woodstock progress hybrid are from folks who have 1800 - 2400 square foot homes.
What I am asking of any member that reads this and has a woodstock progress hybrid: Please tell me your climate, square footage, temperature in the stove room and at the coldest room in the house, how often you reload, how often you clean your CAT, how long you can burn, what type of wood you burn, etc.
Woodstocks EPA data lists their Btu's from something like 12,000 - 72,000, so my target is roughly a medium burn. If you run your stove on medium, how long is your burn time? How much space does it heat?
I want actual data from actual users. It is one thing to say it heats great, but if your stove room is 70 and your furthest room is 62, that is too cold for me.
This stove would be a HUGE investment for me, in both time and money. Before I drop that kind of change, I really, really, really need to know that it is something that I want.
My preference is only for those who have first hand experience with the progress hybrid (or perhaps another woodstock product).
If you have another stove that you think could also meet my requirements, I would be willing to listen.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end, and please let me know anything that you can.......
We bought our house four years ago and I decided to heat it with wood. There was an awesome fireplace in the family room downstairs, and we decided the best way to go is put an insert in that fireplace. We had the chimney lined with an insulated 6" liner, 25 feet long. I installed a rather large wood burning insert from the 70's (Virginian Model 102). Fireplace dimensions are 31" H x 40" W x 22" deep, so it will handle a LARGE insert. Chimney runs up the center of the house and draws well.
We have a split foyer layout: You walk in the front door and there are 7 step upstairs or 7 steps down. At the bottom of those stairs is our family room. The woodstove is located in that room and the heat drafts up through the foyer really well. The old monster heats the house well as long as the night time lows stay above 30. Below that, and the furnace will run at night. We insulated the attic the first year we were here to R40, and have sealed a fair amount, but it is still a house with single pane windows that was built in '62.
After 4 years of burning with that insert, I am interested in going high tech. I want a more efficient, larger stove. The house is 3600 square feet with an open floor plan for the most part. Because of reading on here, I have already started splitting my wood different and bought a moisture meter.
The problem I have run into, is that I cannot find an insert that is enough of an upgrade for me to justify the astronomical costs (thought of things like the quadrafire 5100i, osburn 2400, etc). The two problems I have are obviously the lack of heat if we lose power, and if I am going to spend 3 grand on an insert, it would need to be large enough that I feel I am getting a very significant upgrade in heat output and burn times.
I looked at things like the Buck 91/94, but they take an 8" flue.
So I really got to looking hard at highly efficient stoves that used a 6" flue collar. For a few months all I have done is read about inserts (reviews, stories, etc) from multiple forums. I was totally against free standing stoves because I would completely have to redo my 55 year old hearth (try matching that brick), and I was totally against CATS. I just read too many stories of folks dropping 200+ dollars every 2 - 3 years on a new CAT. My wood heat doesn't save me enough in this temperate climate to justify that.
But then I read about how the long burns are great for my temperate climate, and how the BK people would never buy another non-cat stove again. Then I talked to the local dealer (who sells Jotul) and they were pushing the F55. But the dealer even said, to have a clean burn and reduce wood consumption, you have to burn the stove hot (400 -550) all the time to realize the clean and efficient burn. He couldn't tell me what this translated to in burn times though. This got me thinking about cats again......
Then I see many pictures of how people have made a hearth redo look awesome, and this got me thinking that I could do something to make a free standing stove work. It helps that many who used to have inserts on here and said that they would NEVER have another insert after going freestanding.
Then I discover the EPA burn data (which for most manufacturers is WAY lower then what they advertise). On that site, I discover the highest efficiency and BTU data (using a standardized test wood) was from woodstock progress hybrid.
I have been reading about the woodstock stoves, emailed the company a few times, etc. The wife saw it and thought WOW, what a beauty. She liked the looks enough that she started throwing out ideas for how to redo the hearth (which let me tell you is amazing considering she wasn't at all interested in the discussion of a new woodstove until then).
They have a BTU calculator on their site, and it put my house as needing 60,000 BTU. They had an EPA stove sizing guide, and it puts me in zone 5, again needing close to 60,000 BTU. I assume both of these are maximums.
I have two heat pumps (one upstairs and one downstairs). These were both professionally installed and sized with multiple measure and computer programs (not just some yahoo that says 1 ton per 700 sqft). He took insulations measurements, counted the number of windows, etc. These systems were sized by a real professional that I trust. That said, their combined strip heat is 23kW. So if my heat pumps both ran in strip heat mode for 60 minutes, I would consume 23kWh. This translates to 78,000 Btu. Now obviously if they shouldn't have 100% duty cycle, so lets say they run 50% of the time. This translates to 38,000 Btu, and is my target number.
Since I rely on several wood sources, and a third of my wood supply is loblolly pine (soft wood), I cannot count on that absolute maximum number that some retailers throw out. I also cannot accept a stove that will burn up in 3 hours to reach that target Btu. For some stoves the EPA test (with softwood) produces less than 40k Btu. This is too low for me.
So here is my concern. We can read all we want, and check square footage and BTU ratings from different sources, etc. But you really don't know what a stove can heat until you use it.
Many of the wonderful reviews of the woodstock progress hybrid are from folks who have 1800 - 2400 square foot homes.
What I am asking of any member that reads this and has a woodstock progress hybrid: Please tell me your climate, square footage, temperature in the stove room and at the coldest room in the house, how often you reload, how often you clean your CAT, how long you can burn, what type of wood you burn, etc.
Woodstocks EPA data lists their Btu's from something like 12,000 - 72,000, so my target is roughly a medium burn. If you run your stove on medium, how long is your burn time? How much space does it heat?
I want actual data from actual users. It is one thing to say it heats great, but if your stove room is 70 and your furthest room is 62, that is too cold for me.
This stove would be a HUGE investment for me, in both time and money. Before I drop that kind of change, I really, really, really need to know that it is something that I want.
My preference is only for those who have first hand experience with the progress hybrid (or perhaps another woodstock product).
If you have another stove that you think could also meet my requirements, I would be willing to listen.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end, and please let me know anything that you can.......
And I know. I live in the split foyer capital of the world. With a interior chimney up through the middle of it? Can't picture that one.
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