Thought I should update everyone on my work... I decided to purchase the Travis Industries Large Flush Hybrid. I had some reservations, which were the following (in no particular order of importance)
1. The Hybrid is not a true "cat-stove".
2. I have a big farm house: 3,500+ sq. ft living space, plus a basement, 5 bedrooms / 5 baths, with some vaulted ceilings that are in excess of 20'. We wouldn't need to heat the basement in the winter, but we wanted to use the stove as a primary heat source. Would it heat the house?
3. Read about warping issues in the baffle area and lack of heat protection for the cat combuster.
4. Could I find wood that was adequately dry?
5. Was it going to be too complicated to operate for my wife and kids (no disrespect intended, but these aren't the stoves used by our ancestors. Lol.
6. I have an outside chimney that's 24'.
The alternative would have been a Kuma Sequoia insert. But my concern with the Kuma was the combustible clearances, which would have required additional mantle and hearth clearances. Not only would this add cost to the project, but it would have changed our look and design. We also didn't want a stove that would burn us out of the living room and our daily space. It needed to be comfortable so that we could enjoy the space. I know... we could just open a window, but we wanted to be efficient.
We installed the stove at the beginning of November 2016, so here's my feedback, thus far...
I am surprised that it does indeed heat the house adequately. We just came out of some historically cold temperatures for our region (for us that low teens). The stove performed well -- especially considering the size of our house. When weather was in the teens, we could keep the main floor above 65 and the upstairs around 70+. On days in the mid-20's or 30's+, we are just throwing on a log or two and the downstairs is 70 with the upstairs being 75 or greater. Heat travels up. I did find dry wood with moisture less than 20% and have been using a mix of Doug Fir, Alder, and Oak. It burns pretty efficiently. We use it as our ONLY heating source. Short of a vacation, we haven't turned the furnaces on since install (I have two systems for the house). Our power bills went from $500-$800/month to $140-$190. I have used about 1.5 cords since the beginning of November. We started running the stove in November and haven't really stopped since, short of the vacation. We feed the fire here and there throughout the day and put on the last load between 9:00 and 10:00PM; there are enough coals at 6:00am to light things back up with some kindling. I have NEVER been able to get 12 hours of burn time. Coals? Maybe.
The cat, when the stove was new, burned Orange. Amazing. It now lights up, but not like it used to. It's the newer stove so it came with a temp gauge. I highly recommend one. It is difficult to know when to engage the cat without a temp gauge. I know common sense can prevail, but how do you become an "expert" at viewing the fire and determining the temperature without having a gauge to provide a reading. We don't engage the cat until the temp probe is at least 550. It doesn't take long to get it there. The stove cruises between 800-930. I'm not sure I've ever seen the temp gauge above 1350. We clean the ash out of fire box about every 2.5 weeks or so. The glass is amazing, overall. It stays VERY clean and is mesmerizing to watch. It does get dark following an overnight burn, but it clears right up with a good fire. We purchased the stove, in part, because of the glass size and the air wash system. It certainly meets my expectations. We've had many people come over and they can't believe it's actually a real wood stove because of how clean it stays.
The cat does seem to get a bit clogged up on the edges. I brush it down almost daily (in the morning before stoking it back up), but sometimes I have to poke at the individual honey combs to get the ash out (primarily on the left and right ends of the cat). I'm told that just because it doesn't glow like it used to, doesn't mean it's not working properly. In the morning, with little coals, it's still above 300 degrees+ and the blower is on. We always have the blower on. Sometimes on high, sometimes on low -- depending on who's sitting on the hearth -- my kids like to sit there in the morning. It's not noisy, but with 4 kids running around, I'm a bad example of measuring "noise". But they love the fire insert.
I don't see any warping of the baffle area and although it looks like there may be some gaps between the tubes and the steel plate above, I can't imagine how this kind of thick steel can warp - or warp to the point where it would affect the stove's performance.
I'm told that the cat has to work properly and is covered under warranty for a time (?), in order for Travis to meet energy efficiency standards. My state (thanks to my tax dollars) provided me with a tax credit of more than a $1,000 by installing this stove. The credit did impact my decision, to a degree. The installers, because I had a clay-lined chimney, were emphatic that I did NOT need an insulated liner. So I installed a standard one. They did install a block-off plate of sorts, but no Roxul or other insulation above the stove or in the chimney. Because our heatalator still works, we occasionally turn it on and there is a large amount of heat that comes out -- I assume this heat should be coming out into my living room space! I would like to see if insulation in this area, or some other solution, could help direct this heat out of the stove instead of my chimney area.
A word regarding Kuma...
Jason (at Kuma) and their staff were top-notch in responding to my questions, etc. They likely provide some of the best customer service in the industry. If their stove would have fit my requirements, I'm confident I would have been pleased with Kuma's service and their product. On a related note, the Travis Hybrid comes with a wood moisture meter. It lasted about 30 minutes before it went bad. It's a "freebie", right, so most probably wouldn't care. But I just spent several thousand dollars on a stove! I could have went back to my dealer, which was probably the right thing to do, but I thought I would take the opportunity to contact Travis Industries directly. To this day, I have not received a response. A new moisture meter was purchased on Amazon and has worked flawlessly, but that's not the point. I'm sure my dealer would have resolved, but there's something that makes me feel a bit uneasy about not being able to speak with the mfg'r directly. In my case, I have a good wood stove shop with a great reputation that has been around -- and will be there in the years to come. Without a good shop, to represent me and the Travis stove, I would have probably been much more reluctant to purchase. With Kuma, you can rest assured that you will get great customer service from the mfg'r.
Let's use this thread for current users who can share feedback on performance, etc. I'm sure we could gain a lot of pointers, tips, and tricks from each other.
Thanks to everyone on this forum for their help in my decision. I know these kinds of forums can get a lot of 'lurkers' -- you utilize the search engine or join to help in your stove decision and then you move onto your next project, etc. I encourage you to periodically post feedback on your stove. Take the time to do it. It's the very reason why you found hearth.com in the first place -- because people like you took the time to share candid, non-biased feedback about their stove. It's helpful for the consumer and the manufacturers. In the end, everybody improves.
1. The Hybrid is not a true "cat-stove".
2. I have a big farm house: 3,500+ sq. ft living space, plus a basement, 5 bedrooms / 5 baths, with some vaulted ceilings that are in excess of 20'. We wouldn't need to heat the basement in the winter, but we wanted to use the stove as a primary heat source. Would it heat the house?
3. Read about warping issues in the baffle area and lack of heat protection for the cat combuster.
4. Could I find wood that was adequately dry?
5. Was it going to be too complicated to operate for my wife and kids (no disrespect intended, but these aren't the stoves used by our ancestors. Lol.
6. I have an outside chimney that's 24'.
The alternative would have been a Kuma Sequoia insert. But my concern with the Kuma was the combustible clearances, which would have required additional mantle and hearth clearances. Not only would this add cost to the project, but it would have changed our look and design. We also didn't want a stove that would burn us out of the living room and our daily space. It needed to be comfortable so that we could enjoy the space. I know... we could just open a window, but we wanted to be efficient.
We installed the stove at the beginning of November 2016, so here's my feedback, thus far...
I am surprised that it does indeed heat the house adequately. We just came out of some historically cold temperatures for our region (for us that low teens). The stove performed well -- especially considering the size of our house. When weather was in the teens, we could keep the main floor above 65 and the upstairs around 70+. On days in the mid-20's or 30's+, we are just throwing on a log or two and the downstairs is 70 with the upstairs being 75 or greater. Heat travels up. I did find dry wood with moisture less than 20% and have been using a mix of Doug Fir, Alder, and Oak. It burns pretty efficiently. We use it as our ONLY heating source. Short of a vacation, we haven't turned the furnaces on since install (I have two systems for the house). Our power bills went from $500-$800/month to $140-$190. I have used about 1.5 cords since the beginning of November. We started running the stove in November and haven't really stopped since, short of the vacation. We feed the fire here and there throughout the day and put on the last load between 9:00 and 10:00PM; there are enough coals at 6:00am to light things back up with some kindling. I have NEVER been able to get 12 hours of burn time. Coals? Maybe.
The cat, when the stove was new, burned Orange. Amazing. It now lights up, but not like it used to. It's the newer stove so it came with a temp gauge. I highly recommend one. It is difficult to know when to engage the cat without a temp gauge. I know common sense can prevail, but how do you become an "expert" at viewing the fire and determining the temperature without having a gauge to provide a reading. We don't engage the cat until the temp probe is at least 550. It doesn't take long to get it there. The stove cruises between 800-930. I'm not sure I've ever seen the temp gauge above 1350. We clean the ash out of fire box about every 2.5 weeks or so. The glass is amazing, overall. It stays VERY clean and is mesmerizing to watch. It does get dark following an overnight burn, but it clears right up with a good fire. We purchased the stove, in part, because of the glass size and the air wash system. It certainly meets my expectations. We've had many people come over and they can't believe it's actually a real wood stove because of how clean it stays.
The cat does seem to get a bit clogged up on the edges. I brush it down almost daily (in the morning before stoking it back up), but sometimes I have to poke at the individual honey combs to get the ash out (primarily on the left and right ends of the cat). I'm told that just because it doesn't glow like it used to, doesn't mean it's not working properly. In the morning, with little coals, it's still above 300 degrees+ and the blower is on. We always have the blower on. Sometimes on high, sometimes on low -- depending on who's sitting on the hearth -- my kids like to sit there in the morning. It's not noisy, but with 4 kids running around, I'm a bad example of measuring "noise". But they love the fire insert.
I don't see any warping of the baffle area and although it looks like there may be some gaps between the tubes and the steel plate above, I can't imagine how this kind of thick steel can warp - or warp to the point where it would affect the stove's performance.
I'm told that the cat has to work properly and is covered under warranty for a time (?), in order for Travis to meet energy efficiency standards. My state (thanks to my tax dollars) provided me with a tax credit of more than a $1,000 by installing this stove. The credit did impact my decision, to a degree. The installers, because I had a clay-lined chimney, were emphatic that I did NOT need an insulated liner. So I installed a standard one. They did install a block-off plate of sorts, but no Roxul or other insulation above the stove or in the chimney. Because our heatalator still works, we occasionally turn it on and there is a large amount of heat that comes out -- I assume this heat should be coming out into my living room space! I would like to see if insulation in this area, or some other solution, could help direct this heat out of the stove instead of my chimney area.
A word regarding Kuma...
Jason (at Kuma) and their staff were top-notch in responding to my questions, etc. They likely provide some of the best customer service in the industry. If their stove would have fit my requirements, I'm confident I would have been pleased with Kuma's service and their product. On a related note, the Travis Hybrid comes with a wood moisture meter. It lasted about 30 minutes before it went bad. It's a "freebie", right, so most probably wouldn't care. But I just spent several thousand dollars on a stove! I could have went back to my dealer, which was probably the right thing to do, but I thought I would take the opportunity to contact Travis Industries directly. To this day, I have not received a response. A new moisture meter was purchased on Amazon and has worked flawlessly, but that's not the point. I'm sure my dealer would have resolved, but there's something that makes me feel a bit uneasy about not being able to speak with the mfg'r directly. In my case, I have a good wood stove shop with a great reputation that has been around -- and will be there in the years to come. Without a good shop, to represent me and the Travis stove, I would have probably been much more reluctant to purchase. With Kuma, you can rest assured that you will get great customer service from the mfg'r.
Let's use this thread for current users who can share feedback on performance, etc. I'm sure we could gain a lot of pointers, tips, and tricks from each other.
Thanks to everyone on this forum for their help in my decision. I know these kinds of forums can get a lot of 'lurkers' -- you utilize the search engine or join to help in your stove decision and then you move onto your next project, etc. I encourage you to periodically post feedback on your stove. Take the time to do it. It's the very reason why you found hearth.com in the first place -- because people like you took the time to share candid, non-biased feedback about their stove. It's helpful for the consumer and the manufacturers. In the end, everybody improves.
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