Woodstock Soapstone Progress Hybrid Stove

[rideau]

I find the air and bypass levers very easy. Horizontal - closed. Vertical - open. My bypass handle rotates slightly more than vertical - about 30 degrees beyond, for a total of about 120 degrees.
My handle made a really wierd noise last week. Woodstock told me to loosen the allen head screws in either end of the handle, open the top of the stove, make sure the bypass was closed, and then tighten the screws.
They are designing a new method of fastening the bypass handle....
The smoke baffle is not an issue for me...I seldom load the stove that full. Get a huge amount of heat with the stove 3/4 full. Wish the door was about an inch wider. I load the back, then the front, then the middle,
Inconal screen has been redesigned, so not an issue on a new stove.
Have not had to adjust the handle. Fireview was easy to adjust.
Have an interior double wall ICC chimney, and have excellent draft, extremely easy starts, no problem with smoke. If you have an issue with smoke, you could try opening air all the way for a minute, opening bypass, then after a minuite closing draft before opening door. Should have a good strong draft going, an is you shut the primary air after establishing a good draft, it may pull air in through the door and keep a good draft going that way. If you do this: (a) open door AS SOON AS you close draft./ (b) remember to open draft AS SOON AS you close door.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THE STOVE:
No one wants to go to bed, including house guests. Everyone wants to sit in front of the fire, then sleep downstairs in front of the fire. If anyone in your household likes to sunbathe, I guarantee they'll sleep in front of this stove.
It doesn't have an oven
HEAT: I have a severely handicapped brother who used to get dangerously close to the Fireview, because it was toasty warm, but my house was not always, because the FIreview wasn't big enough for my large home. With the Progress HYbrid, the home is so comfortably and uniformly heated that he ignores the stove.
When people come in from a cold day, theny stand in front of the window to get warm. That usually lasts about a minutes...then they back away from the hearth and either lie down on the sheepskin rug, about three feet from the stove or sit on the chairs or sofa.....semicirclular placement about 9-12 feet from the stove. One is warm, but not boiling hot.
Love the stove.
Addendum: One can sit quite close to the stove as long as not directly in front of the window. We have a chair placed to the side, just past the side clearance recommendation. Very comfortable.

 

[Waulie]

fireman, you may want to check operation of the bypass lever with the top off. I have one of the early ones too and the lever rotates past horizontal to 30 degrees.

Yeah, check it out Tony. I have an early stove too that rotates passed horizontal. This is how I tell if it's open or closed at a glance. Neat discussion, BTW. Interesting the things people notice and don't notice.

 

[Machria]

Good stuff, thanks rideau!

I'm about to order one of these.... just doing some math/drawings on where it will end up in the corner with the clearence, my exising tile...

 

[Machria]

FYI: I did a drawing of my "proposed install using MS Visio. I'm doing a corner install basically. Well, after drawing up per clearances listed, I found my diagram did not match up with what the Progress install manual was saying for the distance between the corner and the front of the hearth. After contacting Woodstock, they concluded there was a small error in the install manual. They measured wrong, I think because of the "cut off corners" on the stove. They measured the 12" rear corner clearances as if the stove was a rectagle. But the corners cut off about 2" on each side, which lets you get the stove a bit closer to eash side wall when doing a corner install. This ended up making about a 6" difference in the distance from the corner of wall to the front of the hearth pad. The manual states the distance from the corner to the front of the hearth pad is 69.25", but in fact it is 63.25". And if you add the ash lip, it drops by 4 more inches to just 59.25". That's 10 inches less than the install manual states it requires. They said they will put out a revision to manual....

Anyway, I ordered one today. Done deal!

 

[fire_man]

Yeah, check it out Tony. I have an early stove too that rotates passed horizontal. This is how I tell if it's open or closed at a glance. Neat discussion, BTW. Interesting the things people notice and don't notice.

Mine rotates past level when the bypass door is open but it's really just linkage slop. I never considered it a lever "setting". The bypass door is fully opened whether the lever is level or rotated slightly. It's just a minor annoyance after being used to the fully up or fully down FV lever.

 

[Todd 2]

FYI: I did a drawing of my "proposed install using MS Visio. I'm doing a corner install basically. Well, after drawing up per clearances listed, I found my diagram did not match up with what the Progress install manual was saying for the distance between the corner and the front of the hearth. After contacting Woodstock, they concluded there was a small error in the install manual. They measured wrong, I think because of the "cut off corners" on the stove. They measured the 12" rear corner clearances as if the stove was a rectagle. But the corners cut off about 2" on each side, which lets you get the stove a bit closer to eash side wall when doing a corner install. This ended up making about a 6" different to the distance from the corner to the front of the hearth pad. The manual states the distance from the corner to the front of the hearth pad is 69.25", but in fact it is 63.25". And if you add the ash lip, it drops by 4 more inches to just 59.25". That's 10 inches less than the install manual states it requires. They said they will put out a revision to manual....

Anyway, I ordered one today. Done deal!

Been following this thread all along, these guys sure do help with picking a stove, glad to see you have made your choice Machria, I would have liked to give a little input too on the PH but mine wont be here till next week. (almost a 2 month wait) Im sure ready for it, new insulated liner an all.
Mark another one up for the hybrid stone stove guys
That was my only choice over the BK because I like to view the flame, plus 6 month trial is hard to beat.
Good Luck & nice choice, How long to get one now ? Todd 2

 

[Highbeam]

Anyway, I ordered one today. Done deal!

Congratulations. Now you can start thinking about the chimney and hearth construction.

 

[Machria]

Good Luck & nice choice, How long to get one now ? Todd 2

Thanks. You waited 2 months? WOW!! I ordered this morning, and they shipped it this afternoon, will be here tomorrow!

.

.

Just kidding!! Gave me a rough date of 3rd week in Dec. Not too bad,5 weeks away. I can't rip out the current fireplace till after Turkey day (having folks over...). Then I have time to get the new chimney installed, and stone installed (putting stone on hearth and walls...).

 

[mliiiwit]

Can any of you with the PH estimate how much radiant heat is thrown off the front of the unit. If your sitting 5 feet in front of it, would you be baked? Same if you are 10 feet, too hot? I know it's a very subjective question, but guestimate it, what's your feeling.

Also, what do you NOT like about your PH? There has to be things you don't like, what are they?

Buy one now and try it for the remainder of the heating season (I suspect if you order now, your delivery date will be near or after the end of the year, but this is based on my 6 week delivery time a year ago and not on any current information). If you don't like it, return it for a full refund. How can you beat that for a guarantee? Yes, you will incur some expense and / or effort on the install, but what a great protection on a major investment.

BTW, responding to your post got me curious about other's experience with the Woodstock return & refund process. I wasn't able to find a relevant thread, so created one. You might want to watch it.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/woodstock-stove-returned-for-refund.94537/

 

[Machria]

Buy one now and try it for the remainder of the heating season

Read my post just before yours. Already ordered one.

 

[Waulie]

Mine rotates past level when the bypass door is open but it's really just linkage slop. I never considered it a lever "setting". The bypass door is fully opened whether the lever is level or rotated slightly. It's just a minor annoyance after being used to the fully up or fully down FV lever.

Yes, the bypass is open either way. But, if you just turn it all the way passed open when you open it, then you will know at a glance if it's open or closed. Not sure if they did that on purpose or it was a lucky linkage slop.

 

[Cessna]

Been following this thread all along, these guys sure do help with picking a stove, glad to see you have made your choice Machria, I would have liked to give a little input too on the PH but mine wont be here till next week. (almost a 2 month wait) Im sure ready for it, new insulated liner an all.
Mark another one up for the hybrid stone stove guys
That was my only choice over the BK because I like to view the flame, plus 6 month trial is hard to beat.
Good Luck & nice choice, How long to get one now ? Todd 2

DITTO Todd 2!! Rideau and Dennis (back woods savage) have been very helpful. Waulie's posts too!. Appreciate every PH owner's feedback! Can't wait to build this spring and buy the PH next fall.

 

[Machria]

Would it be possible (enough space, safe....) to try this on a Progress under the cooktop..? I'd love to be able to bake potatoes on/in it! Has anyone ever tried it....?

This one something I liked on the Jotul Rangley...

(broken image removed)

 

[Waulie]

Would it be possible (enough space, safe....) to try this on a Progress under the cooktop..? I'd love to be able to bake potatoes on/in it! Has anyone ever tried it....?

This one something I liked on the Jotul Rangley...

No, there isn't much room in there. You could probably shove a potato or two in there, but the cat would likely torch them! Baking on top should work great though (Dutch Oven style), though I haven't experimented with that myself yet.

 

[rideau]

Last year, before there was a cooktop associated with the PH, I was already doing all my cooking on the stove. I cooked potatoes by wrapping them in foil and building a little oven around them with pieces of soapstone I acquired from Woodstock...just leaned pieces on each other. They roasted well, and were the tastiest potatoes I ever ate...almost tasted candied. You can still roast on the soapstone if the stove is hot enough, or can cook in cookware on the cast iron. I have the feeling that the soapstone top is not quite as hot at the same stove temp as the top was prior to the cat iron cooktop. Don't know if there has been any testing of this.
If I want more immediate heat and less extended radiation, I frequently leave the soapstone top up and just let the cast iron top radiate heat into the room.

I've been cooking alot of soups recently. make the recipes as I go, but think I remember most of them. They have all turned out well. Will try to get the time to write them down and start a recipe thread soon...hopefully this weekend.

 

[Waulie]

I have the feeling that the soapstone top is not quite as hot at the same stove temp as the top was prior to the cat iron cooktop.

I believe you are correct, Rideau. I'm seeing about 50 degrees cooler on top with the cooktop.

 

[ddddddden]

Another approach is to use a clay pot inside the firebox during the coaling stage (tail end) of the fire.
My mother used to put foil-wrapped potatoes inside broken terra cotta plant pots. Yum!

Some members have done pizza on a pizza stone inside the firebox during the coaling stage. . .

 

[Slow1]

Some members have done pizza on a pizza stone inside the firebox during the coaling stage. . .

I suppose those would have to be smaller "personal size" pizzas to fit through my door

 

[Waulie]

I suppose those would have to be smaller "personal size" pizzas to fit through my door

You could just do a long, rectangle pizza. Now you've got me wondering if a cookie sheet would fit through there on a diagnal.

 

[ddddddden]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pizza-in-the-woodstove-update.67172/

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/got-wood-for-stove-n-some-for-pizza.70885/

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/first-attempt-home-made-pizza.74295/

 

[rideau]

Waulie, How are you going to keep the food from falling off when you pt the sheet in on a diagonal? And, if you put the sheet in first, then the food on the sheet, how are you going to get the stuff out? Sounds like way too much trouble and not a great idea. I have considered putting a cast iron fry pan in, for steak, bur figure I'd get grease splatter all over inside the stove and possibly on the glass, and it just isn't worth the possible mess to me. Corn or potatoes etc in foil or similar clay I could see. One wants to be really careful with burn safety if cooking within the stove. Be sure you have good arm protection, and good tools to get the foods in and out of the stove. Cast iron is going to be really hot if it is in the stove. For the most part I am going to stick to stove top. And try to get an oven made for the top of the stove. Should be able to bake anything on te top if we can get soapstone open boxes made, which we can reverse on top of the cooktop to make an oen. I do have ceramic and clay that I could use to try to m ake an oven. I have used large roasting pans for this purpose....successfully.

 

[Waulie]

Yeah I know, Rideau. It was more of a thought experiment than anything. I was envisioning putting a pizza made on a cookie sheet through the door on a diagnal over just some coals. Don't know if I'll ever actually try it though.

I agree an oven top would be pretty easy. A soapstone box with a hinged cast door in front that sits on the cooktop sounds like a winner to me.

 

[fire_man]

I think we need a permanent thread titled "Cooking recipes for the Woodstock Progress Hybrid" and the star chefs will be Waulie and rideau!

 

[Machria]

Can you guys post some pics of your PH stoves!! I'm looking for ideas on what color / type stone to install... I would love to see some pics of installs, as well as some pics of the PH stove loaded with wood, and burning.

POST PICS!


Lastly, what size rooms are your PH's installed in??

 

[fire_man]

Mine is in there somewhere!

(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/owner-photos)