Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid
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Yeah, I saw a nut underneath that could easily have been mistaken for some of my welding! But the overall feel is of a very solid box. It has the ashpan option, and unlike the PH, the pan is welded on (fewer gaskets, fewer chances for leaks). I just checked with a flashlight, and that long weld was definitely not one of mine.
I think I read somewhere that they have a summer date in mind. I have the luxury of being close to the factory, so when we bought the PH we drove up to see it and bit the bullet before they had delivered any. And then sat here and suffered for months as other here started receiving their stoves and telling us about it.
Thanks for sharing, it will be interesting to see how it compares to the PH. I like the looks except for that big square door.
The basic stove has a clean, contemporary look. I don't need the decoration, but to each their own. Are the gears a stylized version of a functional trivet? Maybe it just keeps the top from being marred by teapots and pans?
Thank goodness they didn't bring out the version with the horizontal lady!
Thanks for posting this and taking such great pictures to document it. Your old farmhouse looks beautiful.
Thank goodness they didn't bring out the version with the horizontal lady!
Thanks for posting this and taking such great pictures to document it. Your old farmhouse looks beautiful.
AppalachianStan
Minister of Fire
So this stove can run on a 8" chimney?
If the price is around $1500 this will be my next stove.
I don't know about the 8" possibilities. They said the taper was to let it breath a little easier in the top-vent position.
Yes, the gears are for cooking on. My wife is voting for them to go away (looks-wise), and it is simple to do, but we have been running the tea pot on one of them.
My wife did a nice job with the pictures, and they tell the story much better than I do. The house is 1797 vintage, and is on the National Historic Register - a bit rough on the inside because we've been spending a lot on siding, windows, roof repair, etc. They originally heated it with a fireplace in every room, and had a summer kitchen fireplace in the cellar.
Todd, our damper plate was a little off-kilter, but a call to Woodstock got us back in order, and we are just starting to get a sense of the degree of control. I've felt the first half of movement of the PH damper control (from wide-open down to mid-range) has little to no effect.The Ideal Steel feels more balanced in that regard. Right now we are burning a fairly full load, 520 stovetop and 500 degree Condar probe (about 16" of flue from the stove) - initial feel is same heat and more fine-level control than the PH.
With the warmer weather we've been able to play with the stove (rather than just stuffing wood in it and burning as hot as we can). We did a couple of loads running N/S - most of the wood is cut for the PH at 20", but I have some shorter pieces that we've been saving aside for N/S loading. Very happy with these loads (seems to catch easier, with flames at the front fanning across the ends of the splits).
The air control on the low end is much more fine-tuned as compared to the PH. No back-puffing with the Ideal Steel. Able to take it down to any degree of secondaries I wish to. I want this for my PH!!
The air control on the low end is much more fine-tuned as compared to the PH. No back-puffing with the Ideal Steel. Able to take it down to any degree of secondaries I wish to. I want this for my PH!!
I think it is pretty similar to the PH on the top end. It is slower to start a load in the Ideal Steel, and it takes longer to burn down a deep bed of coals (there is a stronger primary draft at wide-open with the PH). I think the PH gives us a more balanced heat at the top end. Practice with the new stove will likely cut down on the differences we get, but they are different.
We really need two stoves and more insulation (translation: we burned some oil when it was below zero with a wind).
Most stoves simply can't. I can testify to this.....even in my last (1955 built) house with fairly modern updates, heating became very difficult when the chill factor was below about 10.
I like to think "all bets are off" when it gets that cold.
Flamestead, the question has been answered on the width and depth of the firebox, but I'm curious about the height.
Looks fairly tall in there.
Looks fairly tall in there.
jack_90125
Member
all I can add is not the right stove as I am in Iowa where 10 degrees or lower is quite common. even with the old stove it is all we use for heat.even the new stove the isle royale has no problems so far even double digit below 0 with wind has not been a problem.and we are quite comfy in 2500 sq ft.
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We have burned wood for many, many moons now and during that time we've heated our house when it has been as low as -50 F. That certainly is not typical and we say that only once. More typical is that we will see from zero to -10 most winters and some winters we won't see any below zero. So far this year we've had only 2 nights below zero. However, this is still December. January and February to go through. We have had some problems heating with a couple stoves we've had but certainly not with the Woodstock Fireview.
We had seriously considered a Progress but cancelled that order. Now I was informed just last night that my wife really likes this new stove so who knows what the future will bring?
We had seriously considered a Progress but cancelled that order. Now I was informed just last night that my wife really likes this new stove so who knows what the future will bring?
I've noticed with the Progress that if I want fine control of the secondaries, there is a critical maximum amount of wood I can load. It's somewhere around half full - but this is with very small 16" splits. If I fully load the stove, it's nearly impossible to control the secondaries.
Good to know the Ideal Steel solved this problem! Now the problem is my wife says no to the new stove
. She already put up with changing from VC Resolute to Fireview to Progress.
There is nothing magical about zero degrees outside temperature. If the heat source is making more heat than the house is losing then you will be warm. The trick is having a stove that can make that heat when needed but also be throttled down to not overheat you the rest of the year.
Great job on cat placement WS. I always liked that about the fireview, an easy to access cat right on top.
Not sold on all of the extra fancy schmancy decorative steel jive. It is as though WS thought that going from stone to steel meant that they had to compensate for lack of beauty. The beauty is the simplicity of the big honkin steel stove.
Great job on cat placement WS. I always liked that about the fireview, an easy to access cat right on top.
Not sold on all of the extra fancy schmancy decorative steel jive. It is as though WS thought that going from stone to steel meant that they had to compensate for lack of beauty. The beauty is the simplicity of the big honkin steel stove.
Our house is old (1797). The house sits on a dry-laid stone foundation with an uninsulated front walk-out basement wall of brick - it is airy and exposed on the bottom. The walls are pre-2x4 vintage, the wall cavity is 3" at best. I would be hesitant to compare stoves using my heat loss and square footage as the basis without a generous old-house allowance.
No, I'm not sure. Certainly lighter than the PH. It does have a stone-lined firebox, but only decorative stone on the sides, and none on the top.
Not an accurate measurement because it is hot, but 15" from the bottom of the door frame to the top of the glass. Looks like probably a little more than that inside the firebox. There is a swinging smoke baffle at the top of the door, but we've had our locked in the up (retracted) position, with zero smoke issues. The secondaries baffle slope down toward the back, so less room as you go deeper into the box.
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