Progress Hybrid damper questions

[tsh2002]

Hello. We are new owners of the Progress Hybrid and have had it only about a week, brand new from Woodstock, with the ashpan. I've already had a BK Ashford 30 for about 2 years and love it, and very used to it so the PH is somewhat new to me. I've been reading here for quite some time on the PH, but had a few questions for PH owners, that I haven't been able to find answers on (yet), even after reading here and looking through the manual, too.

1) The stove appears to "breathe" quite a bit, meaning that even when the damper is on its lowest setting, there's still a fair amount of air flow. I try to reload when the stovetop temp drops to around 300 (to keep the cat active), then put the damper about halfway open, allow it to get going for about 10 minutes then close the damper entirely. Doing this, the stovetop temp usually tops off to around 400 to 450 and the secondaries stay on for a few hours. To me, this is more flame and hotter than I'd like, but if that's the lowest that this stove will go. I do like the heat output. Does this sound normal for this stove?

2) Reloading as I mentioned above with a full load (about as much as I can fit in the firebox), with the damper on the lowest setting like this, I'm only able to get around a 7 hour burn time (burning cherry that's mostly solid with some soft / airy areas so far, will have to try other hardwoods later). I've seen others mention up to 12 hour burn times with this stove, so I'm wondering how that is accomplished or is that stretching it for this stove?

3) What is your reloading procedure (while the stove is hot/active)? Should I keep the damper open halfway until the fire gets going, or keep it closed a little further? The manual talks about setting the damper at halfway until the fire gets going but then set to 1/4 (quarter) open but that seems too much based on what I'm seeing. I'm used to the BK by opening it all the way for about 20-30 minutes before I dial it back down, but the PH seems to have quite a bit more airflow so I'm curious what others do.

Thanks for all of the help!

 

[bsw]

1 - In my opinion, you're reloading too frequently if you're reloading at 300 stove top. Who cares about keeping the catalyst going? Let that sucker burn down and radiate heat until you feel like the room/house is getting too cold, then load it with an appropriate amount of wood for the temperature you're trying to achieve. I think your experience is pretty common though, my Progress pretty much always burns with secondary flames. On the rare occasion the catalyst is active without flames it will go up to around 500 and then the secondary's light off and lower the stove top to that 400-450 range.

2 - I think everyone's opinion of a "burn" is different. Does it mean active flames, moderate heat output, glowing coals? I'm not sure what the prevailing opinion is, but I consider a burn to be the time from loading it up to having a pretty decent bed of red coals left. With that definition, I can pretty easily get 12 hours with most types of wood. If you consider a burn to be active flames, then I don't really see that going much past 7 or 8 hours with the best species.

3 - As stated, I generally reload on coals, sometimes very few. My reload procedure is about the same as a cold start up procedure: Open bypass, open air, fill it up, wait for flue temp of 250-300, close bypass and air to zero over the next 5-10 minutes depending on what I'm seeing in the firebox. I like the secondaries burning because I occasionally get a pretty aggressive back puff if they are inactive with the catalyst engaged.

Everyone's situation is unique, so your experiences and needs might be different.

 

[begreen]

tsh2002. What is the overall flue system height?

 

[tsh2002]

1 - In my opinion, you're reloading too frequently if you're reloading at 300 stove top. Who cares about keeping the catalyst going? Let that sucker burn down and radiate heat until you feel like the room/house is getting too cold, then load it with an appropriate amount of wood for the temperature you're trying to achieve. I think your experience is pretty common though, my Progress pretty much always burns with secondary flames. On the rare occasion the catalyst is active without flames it will go up to around 500 and then the secondary's light off and lower the stove top to that 400-450 range.

2 - I think everyone's opinion of a "burn" is different. Does it mean active flames, moderate heat output, glowing coals? I'm not sure what the prevailing opinion is, but I consider a burn to be the time from loading it up to having a pretty decent bed of red coals left. With that definition, I can pretty easily get 12 hours with most types of wood. If you consider a burn to be active flames, then I don't really see that going much past 7 or 8 hours with the best species.

3 - As stated, I generally reload on coals, sometimes very few. My reload procedure is about the same as a cold start up procedure: Open bypass, open air, fill it up, wait for flue temp of 250-300, close bypass and air to zero over the next 5-10 minutes depending on what I'm seeing in the firebox. I like the secondaries burning because I occasionally get a pretty aggressive back puff if they are inactive with the catalyst engaged.

Everyone's situation is unique, so your experiences and needs might be different.

Thanks for these thoughts. I have always been of the mindset that reloading while the catalyst is still "active", but at its low range, that once the new load takes off that it will keep burning off the smoke to keep the flue as clean as possible. Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but that's what I've always done with our BK.

True on the burn times and I think of it as from the time I get a good fire going, to the time I have to reload for the next one. Thanks for the feedback on this, and I agree with you that I'm probably not allowing it to sit long enough between reloads as the soapstone really does hold the heat longer than what I'm used to, and it does seem to take off pretty good for the next load since it has a good amount of air flow.

And thanks for the feedback on the reloading procedure. That's pretty much what I've been trying now on the PH, too. I've noticed the secondaries start and stop at various times, but I have witnessed the aggressive back puff when the secondaries go out, then come back on. Not sure if there's a good way to avoid this (guessing maybe leaving the damper open just a touch more?), but I suppose it's harmless.

Thanks again!!

 

[tsh2002]

tsh2002. What is the overall flue system height?

It's about 2.5 ft from the stove to the thimble, and 24.5 feet from the thimble, to the top.

 

[begreen]

Draft may be on the strong side, particularly with the current low outside temperature.

 

[DBoon]

It's about 2.5 ft from the stove to the thimble, and 24.5 feet from the thimble, to the top.

I'm not a Progress Hybrid owner, but a Woodstock Soapstone Keystone owner. I have a 2' horizontal run to a 27' vertical double-wall chimney pipe. While the cat will slow down the exhaust gas quite a bit, really cold weather (for my install, 10 degrees F or so and below) requires me to engage my pipe damper about 30 degrees rotation or else it just drafts too fast and burns to quickly while outgassing. When the peak burn ends and the stove top has dropped below 500 degrees, I'll change the pipe damper back to fully open. I'll still have good coals for reload 12 hours after initial load (using hickory and maple).

I've noticed the secondaries start and stop at various times, but I have witnessed the aggressive back puff when the secondaries go out, then come back on. Not sure if there's a good way to avoid this (guessing maybe leaving the damper open just a touch more?), but I suppose it's harmless.

I'll get the back puff as you described on cold startups, and maybe some other times as well. The only time it causes any kind of a problem is when it's a cold start and the seams on the stove aren't yet super tight. In that case, the back puff will cause a little smoke to exit a seam or two in the wood stove. Once the soapstone is up to temperature, no issues.

 

[tsh2002]

Just to add that I did a little more experimenting and I've been able to eliminate the back puff (so far) by reloading similar to below:

1) Set the damper to full open, open the bypass, rake the coals, and get the new load going
2) Leave the damper on full open for 5-10 minutes for the fire to get well established
3) Set the damper on half and let the fire settle a little, then close the bypass (around this time, temp should be within the cat's active zone)
4) Leave at this setting for about 10 minutes.
5) Set the damper to a quarter open and leave for about 10 more minutes. Usually I can see the secondaries kick on around this time.
6) Set the damper on the lowest setting, the secondaries keep going instead of going out, and I don't seem to get the back puff.

 

[DBoon]

I never get backpuffing in my Woodstock cat stove on startups unless it's a cold start. For reloads, I load, keep the door open a crack for about 5 minutes until I get good flame, then close the door, wait about 5 minutes for flame to steady, engage the cat, let it steady, then close air from 4 (full open) to 2.5 to 1 to 0.5 to 0 (I have a tall chimney). I would engage the pipe damper on cold days. Each setup is different, but making the adjustments little by little helps (my experience).

 

[tsh2002]

After using the PH for a few weeks, I've noticed it's taking me quite a while to get it up to full temp when I have barely enough coals to get it going from the previous burn, to the point where the secondaries kick in (sometimes over an hour). The secondaries on this stove are one of the features I really like; it outputs a ton of heat when they kick in. I usually close the damper to about half when the fire is going really good and the temp gauge is within the "active" zone (around 300-350 -- my temp gauge is on the top of the stove, next to the stack) and close the bypass at that point. This is loosely following the steps mentioned in the manual on page 17. I noticed when I close the bypass, it does restrict the fire for a bit and the temp takes a long time to keep going up from that point, so I'm wondering if I should leave the damper open full for a little longer, when I close the bypass, to get the temp up a little higher. Can this shorten the life of the cat or any downsides?

 

[Todd]

It’s normal to have a bit of a lag when you engage the cat. Airflow is somewhat restricted going through it. Just keep an eye on your temps in case it stalls and the cat doesn’t light off.

 

[bsw]

If you're vented with single wall out the top, I would recommend getting another thermometer and placing it 12ish inches above the stove top. You can definitely manage the stove where you have it now, but the readings are much more delayed than on the pipe. I have both, but if I could only have one it would definitely be on the pipe.

An hour does seem a little long to get your secondaries going with decent, dry firewood. After you close the bypass, manage the damper so the firebox is doing what you want it to (visibly). Sometimes that means opening it up a little more for a little longer, sometimes you can shut it down quickly and it's good the rest of the day. I'm not sure how it compares to BK models, but my stove definitely wants fairly dry wood and is pretty easy to operate as long as that's what I'm putting in.

 

[tsh2002]

If you're vented with single wall out the top, I would recommend getting another thermometer and placing it 12ish inches above the stove top. You can definitely manage the stove where you have it now, but the readings are much more delayed than on the pipe. I have both, but if I could only have one it would definitely be on the pipe.

An hour does seem a little long to get your secondaries going with decent, dry firewood. After you close the bypass, manage the damper so the firebox is doing what you want it to (visibly). Sometimes that means opening it up a little more for a little longer, sometimes you can shut it down quickly and it's good the rest of the day. I'm not sure how it compares to BK models, but my stove definitely wants fairly dry wood and is pretty easy to operate as long as that's what I'm putting in.

Got a dual wall stack so I'm stuck with using the stove top for temps.

I'll play around with the damper and timings a little more to see. I know there are lots of factors and everybody's setup is different. I mainly wanted to confirm I'm not shortening the life of the cat by pushing it too much.

On the BK I've been leaving the damper open full for longer (with the bypass closed), until the temp gets well within the "active" zone and then I set it to its final spot and set and forget for many hours, as it too can take a while to get up to full temp from a really low start otherwise. The damper on the BK is definitely more sensitive than the PH. I hope I'm not shortening the life of the cat on that one either by running it open for longer. I'm only in year 3 with it and so far no problems.

 

[barnaclebob]

1) Your experience sounds similar to mine. You can't really turn the stove down to get a long super low burn. It wants to heat and it will heat.

2) I consider a full burn to be to the point where I can load more wood and it will light from leftover coals. From a cold stove burning mostly doug fir or hemlock, this is maybe 6-8 hours depending on the size of the wood I load. It burns a decent amount of wood getting the stove up to temp. For a hot reload with a good bed of coals it will usually go 10ish because I can turn it down earlier. I've occasionally gotten a 12 hour burn when I get lucky with my wood. But normally in my mild climate I have one fire a day when I get home from work and the house will still be comfortable in the morning. On weekends I'll load the stove up right before bed while its still half full so the house is really warm until the following afternoon.

3) I usually open the damper to full throttle to get the wood going and then shut it down. For stubborn fires I may need to modulate it more.

The stove has a couple different behavior modes depending on how hot you get it before shutdown. If you shutdown too soon it may languish right around the cat/no cat burn line and maybe even go out. A little bit hotter and it will come up to temp very slowly, possibly with no cat activity for awhile, and you'll eventually get some backpuffs followed by secondaries. If you shut it down at the optimal range (IMO) it will go into alien mode full cat burn for a good while. Then as it gets hotter, some backpuffs followed by secondaries. If you let it get real good and hot before shutdown then it will have secondaries until the wood gets depleted to coals.

There are a lot of variables that affect exactly how the stove acts. If I build a fire where the logs are really tight and the flames mostly flow around and up to one side then it takes awhile to get up to temp. a bunch of small logs with good airflow through them middle and its ready for shutdown pretty quickly, maybe in half an hour.

 

[stoveliker]

Got a dual wall stack so I'm stuck with using the stove top for temps.

You can use a probe thermometer.

 

[begreen]

Got a dual wall stack so I'm stuck with using the stove top for temps.

I'll play around with the damper and timings a little more to see. I know there are lots of factors and everybody's setup is different. I mainly wanted to confirm I'm not shortening the life of the cat by pushing it too much.

On the BK I've been leaving the damper open full for longer (with the bypass closed), until the temp gets well within the "active" zone and then I set it to its final spot and set and forget for many hours, as it too can take a while to get up to full temp from a really low start otherwise. The damper on the BK is definitely more sensitive than the PH. I hope I'm not shortening the life of the cat on that one either by running it open for longer. I'm only in year 3 with it and so far no problems.

If the flue is staying reasonably clean, you may be doing fine. If more information is desired, add one of these to the stove pipe about 18-24" above the stove top. This will require drilling a 1/8" hole for the probe into the stove pipe.

Condar stovepipe probe thermometers

stovepipe probe thermometers

www.condar.com

 

[DBoon]

After using the PH for a few weeks, I've noticed it's taking me quite a while to get it up to full temp when I have barely enough coals to get it going from the previous burn, to the point where the secondaries kick in (sometimes over an hour).

For my Woodstock Keystone, from a low coal bed (200 degrees) it would take me more than an hour. From a medium coal bed (250 degrees) maybe a little more than an hour. From a large coal bed (300 degrees) maybe a little less than an hour. I think this is just the nature of the soapstone. You get the same benefit as the load burns down (temperature of the soapstone takes a while to drop.

Ideally, I like to lengthen the time it takes to get my cat stove (my Woodstock Keystone) up to full temperature (500 degrees F, and then higher, as I define it). That requires dry wood and getting the cat lit off early. Then, I'll start turning the stove air down as quickly as possible while keeping the cat lit off and the temperature on the stove top (near the front of the stove) increasing slowly. If it's a cold day, I'll be closing the pipe damper at 300 degrees F and if it is really cold (10 degrees or less) I'll cover the air hole in the ash pan about that time also.
At some point, the stove is going to start the flame show whether I want it to or not, typically around 450 degrees. But by shutting it down early (all the way to 0) I can extend the flame show - the flames are just slower and more rolling instead of fast and furious (I have a very tall chimney which can draft excessively when the stove is hot). Then, as the flames begin to slow down a little more I'll dial up some more air (to 0.5, then 1.0) and uncover the hole in the ash pan.

Your stove will differ, but it may have some of the same operating elements to it.

I think for the longest, cleanest high-temperature burn, you ideally want to maximize use of the cat to generate heat. Plus, by keeping the stovebox temperature a little lower overall (by reducing air earlier and more) it probably also maximizes cat life. But I would guess we are only talking about a little bit of difference - maybe 10% more cat life? Just a guess.

 

[Todd]

I have no problem getting my Fireview up to 500 in less than an hour. Lately with this cold snap I just burn it hotter at #1 or a tad over. With a good coal bed and a stove top of about 250 I’ll engage in as little as 10 minutes once my flue temp hits 500. After engaging I adjust the air to about #1.5 and let her ride for 15-20 minutes then adjust the air down to where needed. I’d say in a matter of 40 minutes total the stove top is at 500 and climbing. With all that flame in the firebox she can really throw the heat!

For a low and slow burn or 12 hour reload schedule I’ll do the same process but I’ll turn the air down sooner as far as #.5 and then the stove top does take longer to come up over 500.

Yes the most efficient burn is with those lazy floating flames and a hot cat with a lower air setting but don’t be afraid to let her rip if you need the heat. When I burn hotter around #1 my flue temps are in the 500-600 range which I think is still pretty efficient. Smaller more frequent hot loads are sometimes more effective in cold weather as well.

 

[DBoon]

Hi Todd, I'm not afraid to let it rip but with a 27' tall stack I find that if I let it get away too quickly I get a really inefficient burn with smoke blowing past the cat unburnt when temperatures are less than 10 degrees F or so. Thus, I try to control it early and slow it down.

With these cold temperatures, I basically load with four big, squared off splits. Maybe I have a little room to jam some back or small kindling pieces in. With just a few splits and not a lot of airflow between splits it takes a little bit of time to get going, but it is also easier to control.

When I get into the 20s I can load with a bunch of smaller splits and get a fast startup and nice controlled burn using the pipe damper and covering the hole in the ash pan.

Believe me, nothing is worse than waiting 1-1/2 hours to get usable heat from the stove when it is -5 degrees outside in the morning.

 

[lojo16]

I could be wrong, but I don't believe your stovetop gauge should be read so close to the stack. It could pickup false reading from hotter flue temps. Maybe you should place it in center of stovetop for truer cat temps.

 

[tsh2002]

I could be wrong, but I don't believe your stovetop gauge should be read so close to the stack. It could pickup false reading from hotter flue temps. Maybe you should place it in center of stovetop for truer cat temps.

I wasn't entirely sure at first either but thought maybe the soapstone on top would give false readings? That's why I put it on the cast iron surface. On page 18 of the manual it says:

"We recommend placing the thermometer 8”-10”above the flue collar on single wall stove pipe if the stove is vented out the top. If the stove is rear vented, the surface thermometer should be placed on the cast iron cover plate toward the back of the stove."

 

[John Lehet]

I’m about two weeks ahead of you on Progress Hybrid experience, OP. I just saw this thread now. I got mine on 12/26/25

I find my experience with the stove is almost exactly as you describe. My chimney might be a little taller and thus stronger than yours. I got a manometer off of EBay (which I now will sell), which showed my draft is on the strong side but probably within reasonable range.

The main thing I can add is that with more experience I’ve gotten a whole lot more comfortable with just letting the stone soak up any heat and then radiate it. There seems to be so much more leeway, more buffer than I would have imagined, and less precision required. It took me a while to appreciate that. It seems the timing and size and control of the fires is far less important than I thought it was when I started out with this stove. I still try to control the stove, but more and more I’m thinking it’s not such a big deal. It burns efficiently just about no matter what, and that heat goes into the stone to be released over time. Still, I have a preference, whether well founded or not, that an ideal burn is shut pretty far down but with secondaries going. I try for that.

The other night at a bedtime load up I was having trouble getting secondaries going with the stove anywhere near mostly shut down, and that was frustrating. I went to bed anyway. When I woke up, there was a deep bed of coals and the room was 72, just like always. It didn’t matter that for whatever reason the stove wouldn’t give me the perfect burn I was after.

One thing I started doing a bit before I got the Progress was weighing wood. I have a sling bag and a dairy scale. So I think really the only thing that matters at the end of the day is how much energy you put into the stove — how many pounds of wood. And I’m also finding I don’t need to put as much through the stove as I was at first. At first it was pretty hot in here. I’m making smaller and/or less frequent fires than I was at first. Or big and less frequent fires. The stove seems to like a big fire a bit better, seems to be designed for that. But a fire with 12 pounds of wood is also fine and will heat for a long time.

 

[tsh2002]

I’m about two weeks ahead of you on Progress Hybrid experience, OP. I just saw this thread now. I got mine on 12/26/25

I find my experience with the stove is almost exactly as you describe. My chimney might be a little taller and thus stronger than yours. I got a manometer off of EBay (which I now will sell), which showed my draft is on the strong side but probably within reasonable range.

The main thing I can add is that with more experience I’ve gotten a whole lot more comfortable with just letting the stone soak up any heat and then radiate it. There seems to be so much more leeway, more buffer than I would have imagined, and less precision required. It took me a while to appreciate that. It seems the timing and size and control of the fires is far less important than I thought it was when I started out with this stove. I still try to control the stove, but more and more I’m thinking it’s not such a big deal. It burns efficiently just about no matter what, and that heat goes into the stone to be released over time. Still, I have a preference, whether well founded or not, that an ideal burn is shut pretty far down but with secondaries going. I try for that.

The other night at a bedtime load up I was having trouble getting secondaries going with the stove anywhere near mostly shut down, and that was frustrating. I went to bed anyway. When I woke up, there was a deep bed of coals and the room was 72, just like always. It didn’t matter that for whatever reason the stove wouldn’t give me the perfect burn I was after.

One thing I started doing a bit before I got the Progress was weighing wood. I have a sling bag and a dairy scale. So I think really the only thing that matters at the end of the day is how much energy you put into the stove — how many pounds of wood. And I’m also finding I don’t need to put as much through the stove as I was at first. At first it was pretty hot in here. I’m making smaller and/or less frequent fires than I was at first. Or big and less frequent fires. The stove seems to like a big fire a bit better, seems to be designed for that. But a fire with 12 pounds of wood is also fine and will heat for a long time.

Exactly what I've found as well, the stone really does hold the heat and radiates long after the fire dies down. I have been using loads that range 60-75% full of hardwoods and trying to reload every 12 hours or so in these cold temps. I too don't load it completely full, but give some room between the wood and the air inlets at the top so when the secondaries come on there's a fair amount of flame and heat generated. When it dies down really far with only a few coals left, it just takes a little longer to get it started back up again. But usually I'm not in any hurry as the stone keeps radiating even while the next load is starting up.

I've also noticed the same thing about the secondaries. Sometimes they go out, and don't come on for a while. I can usually open up the damper for a couple of minutes and they light again, and close the damper and they'll stay lit for a while after that. I really haven't found a definite pattern to this, but I try to run it the exact same way by having the damper closed all the way while having the secondaries running, to get the most heat out of it as it does make a difference. Usually the secondaries will kick in when the stovetop temp reaches 350-400 or so, and will stay on for a few hours. After that like you said it's more of a deep bed of coals but at least the combustor is still lit for a few hours past that point. The temp usually gets down to 200-250 after 12 hours and that's about the time I reload.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Todd]

I’m thinking those secondaries are pretty much controlled by the firebox temps. Once it reaches over 1100 they will fire. When cooler the cat does the work. I suppose it will go back and forth depending on the size of the load and air setting.

Is there a way to shut off the secondary air in this stove? I would much prefer a true cat stove control unless I really needed a ton of heat.

 

[tsh2002]

I’m thinking those secondaries are pretty much controlled by the firebox temps. Once it reaches over 1100 they will fire. When cooler the cat does the work. I suppose it will go back and forth depending on the size of the load and air setting.

Is there a way to shut off the secondary air in this stove? I would much prefer a true cat stove control unless I really needed a ton of heat.

I don't think there's a way to shut off secondary air without modification to the damper.