Today I finally get time to sit down and share some pics of our Progress. Our quest for our first ever wood stove has taken over a year. I am so very relieved that it has been more than worth the wait. The worsening world economy and two successive rounds of epic ice storms (no power for two weeks with each) brought us to rip out the useless ventless gas fireplace and huge mantle that came with our home. I studied and shopped and traveled many miles looking at every possible wood stove that we could install. Internet searches led me to this good forum and others--and also to Woodstock Soapstone. I am not an easy sell, and tend to view happy, peppy, bursting with love product endorsements with a skeptic's eye.....
so here I am with a very happy endorsement all my own.
Others with much more experience have written excellent reviews of this stove. All I can offer is the the wood burning newbie's point of view. This stove installed quick and easy for us. The original owner's manual was missing the crucial break-in fire directions--and I am so very very grateful to Dennis for posting his own on this forum. Nothing like installing over the holiday weekend with no experience for a confidence builder. Break in went smoothly with those good directions. Fires start dang quick and have been easy for me to fine tune from day one. The damper does run nearly fully closed for us, but over burn has not yet been a problem, even though we are sited a thousand feet above a valley on a West bluff face and have raging winds to contend with. I have not yet run a fully packed load, but tend to go all day or all night with a 3/4 load and stove top temps running consistently around 400. Our home has a 22' ceiling in the central room, and both floors have stayed toasty. We are installing vents above the doors in rooms we will keep closed to pet traffic and that should work well. I'm not used to staying so warm in winter, and this has been a real change for me. My Hubby is ecstatic. So are all the other critters ;-) I may have to throw myself out the front door to make snow angels in my skivvies...if we would just get some snow.... nothing like a hot flash and a Progress Hybrid combo to keep me loving winter.
My experience with Woodstock mirrors other folks on this forum. Service has been very prompt and it is so nice to deal with good people. Design and execution on this new stove is excellent IMO.
so here I am with a very happy endorsement all my own.
Others with much more experience have written excellent reviews of this stove. All I can offer is the the wood burning newbie's point of view. This stove installed quick and easy for us. The original owner's manual was missing the crucial break-in fire directions--and I am so very very grateful to Dennis for posting his own on this forum. Nothing like installing over the holiday weekend with no experience for a confidence builder. Break in went smoothly with those good directions. Fires start dang quick and have been easy for me to fine tune from day one. The damper does run nearly fully closed for us, but over burn has not yet been a problem, even though we are sited a thousand feet above a valley on a West bluff face and have raging winds to contend with. I have not yet run a fully packed load, but tend to go all day or all night with a 3/4 load and stove top temps running consistently around 400. Our home has a 22' ceiling in the central room, and both floors have stayed toasty. We are installing vents above the doors in rooms we will keep closed to pet traffic and that should work well. I'm not used to staying so warm in winter, and this has been a real change for me. My Hubby is ecstatic. So are all the other critters ;-) I may have to throw myself out the front door to make snow angels in my skivvies...if we would just get some snow.... nothing like a hot flash and a Progress Hybrid combo to keep me loving winter.
My experience with Woodstock mirrors other folks on this forum. Service has been very prompt and it is so nice to deal with good people. Design and execution on this new stove is excellent IMO.