Quick tour of our Beta version of the Ideal Steel Woodstock Stove

Cool, thanks for posting. I'm interested in your results as I think this stove would fit in my fireplace and save me a lot of demolition work compared to my current plan

 

A possible contender. Low burn capabilities would be a factor.

Like BBAR, I want to see it in plain black, metallic preferably.

 

I agree a single color (black) or at least less color would make it look better... I for one don't like the look of this stove at all, very mechanical looking, almost "Steampunk" looking. I know many folks are into that sort of thing, but not my cup of tea. Will be great to see how she burns though, that's a big ole box.

 

Did someone call me?

 

This is definitely not aimed at being the center of attention in a elegant living space, but it is targeted at price conscious consumer that needs a big long burn time stove. But the doo-dads, allow some nice design even with a rather boxy stove. The "gray-bar" color is not helping it. But as others have pointed out a nice metallic black, blue or even dark green or burgandy might be nice.

 

Three years ago, when I decided to install wood heat, my wife and daughter wanted a fireplace because they are more attractive in their opinion. They specifically detested the idea of having a "big black box" in the living room and wouldn't hear of it. I refused to consider installing a fireplace in a house that never had one due to cost and inefficiency.

After researching I learned about the soapstone stoves and found the metallic blue Fireview for a good price in good shape locally on CL. When they saw it in person they dropped their opposition to wood stoves because this one was aesthetically pleasing to them. It's been a great stove but just didn't put out enough BTUs for our drafty old house.

With one son in college and a daughter starting soon a Progress Hybrid was just too much money for us right now.

The Beta Ideal Steel is a wonderful opportunity for us to try a new higher BTU stove but everyone in our household liked the looks, style and size of our Fireview far more than this Beta unit, even with the extensive customization.

Hopefully the utility of this stove in use will overcome the general consensus that its looks just don't compare to our prior stove.

 

Well, it won the contest, so I'm guessing the "utility" of it is going to be key!

Get burning and report results!!

 

Just got home from the office and found a package on the porch from NH.

With 8" to 6" reducer in hand I'm going to try to hook up the Supervent DSP double wall stove pipe after a bite to eat, and if all goes well we will have our first fire in the new stove tonight.

 

Well problem número uno rears its ugly head. My Supervent DSP double wall stove pipe kit's adjustable pipe is way too tall for this very tall stove with top vent option. I think if I drop the adjustable legs to their lowest height I might be able to squeeze this in.

 

We used to have a beautiful cast iron stove that didn't get the job done (and had a bad habit of going nuclear). The general consensus on the big black steel box that is twice the size and gets it done is universally positive. There are a lot of reasons to buy a stove but utility is by far on top in this house.

 

Woodstock has always done a beautiful job of blending 'form & function'. In my house 'form' could not take a back seat to 'function' because the stove serves as a focal point in the decor. I consider it to be a piece of fine furniture to be enjoyed 12 months of the year, in addition to heating the house. Now with this new stove, Woodstock appears to have changed their 'form vs function' formula to a greater emphasis on function. But this function strong piece of heating equipment does come with great design flexibility. I guess it's the old saying - to each his own.........Having said all this, I can't wait to read Brian's test results !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Question; why are you running a 90 instead of two 45s?

 

Dave, I was looking at your avatar. Does the heat from the stove being right below the buck cause it any damage from it being so dry?

 

Funny you should ask. I worried about that too, but it hasn't been a problem so far. The mount does not get very hot, and the humidity in the house is around 40%.. However, this is the first year I am using this stove in this house, and I hope I am not doing any long term damage to the deer head. Also, there are ceiling fans nearby that keep the heat from building up too much in any one area. If you enlarge the attached picture you can see one of the fans.

 

That's what came with the Supervent DSP double wall stove pipe kit from Lowes:

 

Well, I'm stumped. I can drop the adjustable legs to their lowest height but it still won't fit with the stove adapter in place, way too tall overall. The top section of the long adjustable length vertical DSP pipe might work without the stove adaper but its not very tight/secure on the 8" to 6" collar adapter. A crimper might fix that and I can borrow one as needed. I could cut down the long adjustable length vertical DSP pipe and still use the stove adapter but I'd rather not cut it.

However I'm still too far to the right of my class A flue thimble to mate up with the DSP pipe. So ... I just sent off an SOS to Woodstock:

Hi Tom and Lorin,
Again congrats on the victory in DC! Hope you all got home safely. It was a pleasure to meet everyone there.

I have a question about clearances and I'm not sure where to direct it. Hopefully the attached photos will help explain my question. Our Fireview was a very simple corner install at minimum permitted clearances with a rear heat shield. With the rear vent and stove facing straight out from the corner our thimble for our class A flue was set pretty deep into the corner too.

With the top vent and increased height of the new stove I'm running into trouble making the double wall stove pipe coming off the new stove top vent meet up with the outside flue on the right rear wall...

Tom in DC you said the clearances to combustibles with the new stove were far less than my Fireview. If I can safely move the stove another 3 inches further back into the corner I can get my double wall pipe to mate up with the thimble. Plus it will give me better coverage in front of the stove with my hearth pad for ember protection. I can pick up an IR thermometer to monitor temps at combustibles.

If I need to increase the clearances I will probably need to switch to two 45 degree elbows to achieve some lateral offset to mate up my double wall stove pipe with my class A flue at the thimble.

Any advice? I received the 8" to 6" reducer in the mail today and we are itching to fire this thing up ASAP.

Thanks!
Brian

​

 

I had a similar issue installing my telescoping pipe, itwas too long by about 4". Simply take it apart (pull the two peices apart), and cut one side the required amount. Cut it about 2 or 3 inches shorter than required so you have some adjustment room. Then put backtogether and re-install.

 

Here's a rendition of the new stove in basic black that Lorin just forwarded for anyone interested. Sides and andirons and other details can be changed as requested: