I'm leaning towards the Woodstock Steel for the Kitchen to replace the Encore. The burn cycles I have seen indicate to me that it is controllable with 12-25 hours of usable heat, which is what I need.
Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid
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I thought that location was tight for clearances. Will a totally radiant stove work for you? There is no blower option on the IS (or any Woodstock wood stove).
Same here. Load once a day in shoulder season or warmer weather, twice a day during polar vortexes.
I could deal without a blower. The blower on my 30 only turns on when I've screwed up and have nuclear secondaries and an 850F stove. I would prefer a blower though, just because its nice to have when needed.
And here I thought this was @Flamestead 's thread on how the beta testing is going..... 
I am planing on redoing the base of the fireplace which will give me 6-8" of additional room and block off the back of the chimney so less heat is trapped back there.
I am hoping Woodstock offers a blower with this steel stove, but if not, I will make do.
BCC_Burner
Feeling the Heat
I want Woodstock to build an 8 inch flue, 4.25 cubic foot version of the Progress Hybrid. The Ideal Steel is neat looking and I'm sure will be a great stove, but I'm wishing for a giant PH a lot more.
Not going to happen. 4+ cu ft stoves have a very small market. Additionally, a 4.25 cu ft version of the Progress would probably weight around 1,100 lbs.
With the new EPA standards being discussed, there may not be any new 4.25 cu stoves with 8" flues. Just my speculation but a company is not going to want to spend a lot on R&D on something that has limited appeal plus may be obsolete (by law) in the near future. The other factor is that with new efficiencies, they are squeezing a lot more BTUs out of smaller stoves.
I'm not saying I don't agree with you. I'd love a much bigger stove for these rare super cold spells. What good is a wood stove if you need to have the furnace on to keep the house habitable? In the news, there are a lot of people who suddenly found their furnace to be unable to keep up either. Our old VC was at it's limit.
To keep on thread, I'd really appreciate an update on how well the steel hybrid has performed in the last week with all the super cold weather and wind.
BCC_Burner
Feeling the Heat
That's exactly the point. I want a stove that I can build a house around, currently, there is nothing on the market that is worthy of that status to me. I want a centerpiece, not a cute little stove. I certainly don't need any more heat output in my current home, but I don't think a day goes by when I don't wish my NC-30 was larger.
![[Hearth.com] Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stovemaster.com%2Fimages%2Fimg%2Fwhy_masonry_heaters.jpg&hash=a3a31682d1891791adae1c9b89cdea95 "[Hearth.com] Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid")
Let's stop derailing the thread folks. Start a new one for you personal dream installs.
teutonicking
Feeling the Heat
The steel hybrid is a nice stove. I saw it at the stove competition in DC in November. According to WS staff, it puts out slightly fewer BTUs than the Progress Hybrid, but it burns longer. I was also told it will be sold for somewhere between $1500 and $2000.
I showed the wife both stoves and she was eager in picking the BKK, there was no hesitation or positives about the appearance of the real steel. I will not be taking my wife stove shopping I will only show her the pictures of the stoves I like so she can't get any of her own ideas.
$3500 for a Princess with no door? For that amount of money, I'd be expecting a weekend alone with Scarlett Johannson. As for the Woodstock Ideal, I'm interested as all heck.
We were apprehensive about the online appearance of several Ideal Steels before we got this one, but my wife did a great job on the color scheme, and to date we have had all positive comments from people that have seen it in person. Woodstock said people were drawn to its looks while it was being finished off, before they brought it down. Everyone loves the big, clean glass - quite a bit cleaner for us on the same wood and burning style as we had with the PH. Ash/dust show on the exterior (top and sides) of this stove a bit sooner than with the soapstone exterior of the PH.
How has the performance been through the cold snap regarding stove temp, burn times, house temps, etc.?
Here is a photo of tonight's fire, and of the new, shorter andirons they asked us to test. The andirons are several inches shorter than the originals. We find we are not tipping them out for loading, since we can load right over the top of them. It is +1 F outside right now, 425 F flue probe, 500 F stovetop, on the way down from a partial load burned hotter (and faster) than we usually do.
![[Hearth.com] Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/123/123361-abde3ac3320a91a0e61bca018fe5be21.jpg?hash=1956TSFCeS "[Hearth.com] Beta testing Woodstock's Ideal Steel Hybrid")
The load pictured above was started by my wife about 2 hours ago, onto a bunch of coals. I got home right after she closed the bypass, and I was considering opening it back up to fill the other half of the firebox, but decided to burn it off hot instead so I could go into the night with a full load.
In this weather it has been quite similar to the PH in terms of burn times. We tend to burn in shorter cycles than I read of others here doing, and we probably need (waste) more heat than they do. In this cold we are not able to keep the house warm with just the wood, but when it warmed up to 20 F the other day the furnace stayed off and we were quite comfortable. This is very much an indicator of our leaks and poor insulation (there is a big gap under the front door, and the stone foundation has many leaks). We tore out a pantry beside the chimney and a bookshelf from the other side to try a different airflow into the living room. I think so far the most I've noticed is more cold draft at my feet here in the kitchen near the stove, but I suspect once the temperature moderates again we will be ahead.
So far nearly one cord through this stove. There was a door latch issue with the handle loosening that they re-engineered and appears to be completely fixed. I replaced the door gasket over the weekend to try a different style, and didn't do a great job at it, so when we have a warm spell I'll bring the door to them to get that fixed. Zero structural issues - it is a big, solid steel box, big door hinges, very simple damper.
Thanks for the update. The fire looks beautiful and I agree, your wife did a nice job with the color selection. It's more understated and tasteful. The only two others I have seen are Brian Ks and the one in DC. I didn't like either of those schemes at all.
http://blog.woodstove.com/2013/12/early-news-from-beta-testers.html
The first video is of interest to me with the intermittent secondary flame. Have you had that type of pattern on your test Flamestead? If so at what air setting?
I have enjoyed reading your posts keeps up the good work!
The first video is of interest to me with the intermittent secondary flame. Have you had that type of pattern on your test Flamestead? If so at what air setting?
I have enjoyed reading your posts keeps up the good work!
Yes, I've had identical burns - a lot of fun. One way to get there is to get a big load hot, early in the burn, and then cut the air way back. It is fun to watch the smoke lift slowly up off the wood, like a rising fog. I also like when each secondaries flame is its own hollow cone of fire.
I think I've had a few burns that started out as a black box, and then eventually started intermittent secondaries before settling into the low, steady roll. Not many low burns lately - sitting at +2F outside, again, although 40's and rain on tap for the weekend.
I'll clean the glass and see if I can shoot some video worth posting this weekend.
Dairyman
Minister of Fire
About half an hour if starting bigger splits on a low coal bed (its primaries fan the coals much less than the PH's do), ten to fifteen minutes if medium splits onto a hot coal bed. Also somewhat a matter of how fast you want to reach cruising temp versus simply getting the cat lit and then setting the air to where you think it will level off at the temp you want (given draft conditions, load size, etc). Also east/west versus north/south plays a role, but we are almost always east/west since I cut all this wood for the PH.
My daughter is home from college for break, and is running the stove while we are at work - she says she loves how responsive it is to changes in the damper (feels like she has a lot of control).
Thanks for the update, I am watching on the fence right now.
Any issues with back puffing when dialed in low? On occasional instances when I have a burn, identical to what was posted in the video, it will be enough to push some smoke out of the air inlet.
Any issues with back puffing when dialed in low? On occasional instances when I have a burn, identical to what was posted in the video, it will be enough to push some smoke out of the air inlet.
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