First fire in the Beta Ideal Steel Woodstock stove

Brian, have you tried to just heat with your coal bed for a few hours since you have all that soapstone holding the heat inside the firebox?

 

Honestly Charlie, I don't think this stove holds the heat to the same degree or as long as the Progress and Fireview do. At 650lbs you'd think it would but I think this stove performs more like a big steel stove than like a soapstone stove. It heats up incredibly fast compared to our Fireview. With a big bed of hot coals it's still giving off heat but I think it sheds that heat a lot faster earlier in the burn cycle.

Except for Saturday I haven't had the chance to be present through a long burn cycle yet. I need a chance to observe it throughout a couple days here at home to get a better idea on this.

 

Gotcha Brian.. I was just wonder how much thermal mass there was to retain the heat with the stove weighing 650lbs... I'm sure your still in the getting to know your stove stage as well... I know I still am with the PH...

 

Steel only has only half the teat retention as soapstone, but at at 650 lbs of both thats a lot of BTUs. The STT may not show all the heat stored in the stone lined walls. It may be more of the steel shedding the heat rather than the coal bed, compared to the FV.

 

I think you're right because even with a STT of 180 there is still a lot of heat coming out the front of the stove and the door glass when there is a big bed of coals left.

Interestingly the single hottest surface point on this stove is on the steel right above the door in the middle of the stove just below the lift off top. This area is closest to the cat without the several layers of steel that the lift off top has between the top and the cat.

 

Brian, the big question. How do you like the stove so far? Do you think you'll stay with that stove or go to a PH? I know you just got the stove, just wondering your thoughts.... Seems like it's really doing the job for you so far.. I don't believe you even had to run the stove very hard to keep you guys warm..

 

Hi charlie,
Honestly, we are really enjoying this stove.

My youngest son is our "stove engineer." We homeschool so he is the one running the stove 90% of the time. He is really happy with this new stove. He says it took a year to get good at running the Fireview but its only taken a couple days to figure this one out. Load it on high air, let it warm up ten minutes, engage the cat, let it warm up ten more minutes, then shut the air down to 10 to 30% depending on how cool the house is and how cold and windy it is outside. If its really cold, leave the air at half way and its pumping out serious BTUs.

We haven't used any firestarters or kindling since the first fire on Saturday. This thing always has enough hot cools to start up splits without any effort so far, even after twelve hours of burning only cherry, maple and a little birch. Throw wood in, close door. I can't wait to try some big loads of oak. I have some set aside to experiment with when it gets colder and I have time to observe the cycle.

My daughter Marie has surprised me the most. I thought she would hate this stove because she liked the looks of the Fireview so much. But she is happy with the way the design and colors on this stove turned out. Interestingly, there is one thing she doesn't like. We are campers and we love the smell of the campfire. With the Fireview and its more frequent loading, there was always a whiff of smoke scent in the house. Some people hate that in their home. Our family likes it, in minor doses, especially Marie. With the twice daily loading of this stove, on a non-smoking bed of hot coals, and the smoke shield deployed, we're just not getting much of that vague scent in our home.

I do like how fast this thing throws heat. Very much - I'm impatient. If there is a chill in the air, I want heat now. With this stove, its throwing out gobs of heat within a short period of time. The Fireview took a while, and we were always cautious not too heat it up too fast and avoid overfires.

I very much like the burners on this stove. We haven't had a chance to use them yet for cooking, but its good to know they are there should the need arise.

The stove is predictable. Not even a hint of running away or overfire. If I let the air on 100% for long though, the potential exists!

As far as looks go, its growing on me. If money were not an object, we would not be having this conversation as I'd already be burning a Progress Hybrid. But like many Americans right now, for us money is an issue.

Finally, there's a factor that I can't really name that must be weighed into evaluating this stove. In addition to being a foot surgeon, I'm also a conservative Catholic writer and a homeschooler. My oldest son is going to be a priest. We chose the Fleur de lis design because of its strong Catholic associations. It has been used through the ages as a symbol of virtue and the French use it as a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So I've sent pictures of this stove to friends and family saying, "How do you like our Catholic wood stove?"

Don't underestimate this factor, the ability to really customize and personalize this stove to a degree that has never even been considered, let alone brought to market, in this industry. Our stoves are often a center-point in our homes, and as the women in my life don't fail to point out, they don't want a big black ugly metal box in their living room. They don't see this stove as an ugly metal box in their living room, so in that regard Woodstock can consider this unit a smashing success.

 

Sounds like things are working out nicely Brian.. Glad to hear it... That's great to hear you home schooled your children... Seems more and more people are doing that... We met a couple about 2 months ago who are doing the same thing... keep them away from the crap!

 

Brian, you're doing a great job keeping us informed. But don't let all the requests for information overwhelm you. Please report what you can, when you can. We appreciate your sharing, but know you have a life to live. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

 

I find I get the MOST heat from my PH when it is in the coaling stages. Only at the very end of the coaling when it's dwindling down to just enough for a reload (very little coals left) is when the heat starts dimminishing. However, I think the main heat you get from the PH is always about 1 hour behind the flames/burn. In other words, I think it takes up to 1 hour for the heat to get thru all the mass and into the room. So when the fire is raging, you don't feel that heat from the raging fire right away, it takes some time to get out. So maybe the peak heat which is delivered at the coaling stage, actually came from right before the coaling...? But then again, it can stay in the coaling stage for 3 or 4 hours and I get peak heat during most of that time.

Anyway, the main point is, I get a LOT of heat from the coals.

My thoughts on this: Pretty much EVERYTHING I have ever got from Harbor Freight was absolute chineese junk, so I would not trust that one. But having said that, I have a cheap Home crapo IR gun, a Woodstock thermo, and a PTC surface thermo (with the high and low markers on it), and all three are dead on when placed in the same spot. I love the Woodstock because of the color change (black tio grey) at 260, which is when you flip the bypass. So no need for glasses, can see it from across the room. I also love the PTC unit with the markers, in the morning it tells me the hottest the pipe got, and the lowest it went. pretty cool.

 

Brian, here is my PTC gauge compared to the Woodstock gauge... They seem dead nuts on...

 

Yep, I get same results. Incidently Charlie, I bought that PTC thermo on your recomendation last year. I bought the one with the high (red) and low (blue) dials on it. Really nice.

 

A box was just dropped off on my front porch with a Bacharach probe thermometer

Heading out of town right now, I'll have to wait till later to install it.

 

I like the PTC thermometers, thought they were priced right and seem to be accurate... They will even send you certified ones for an additional fee if you need that... I have one for my Esse as well.

 

Glad to hear they gave you fast service like I experienced... You'll love the gauge being easy to read... Plus it's accurate and can be calibrated as well.. You hold the hex on the stem right behind the face with a small wrench, I used a cresent wrench, the you just turn the rubber part which turns the whole face to zero the needle to 212 when your boiling water... Easy to do... It's priced right from that place too..

 

We're visiting my parents today and tomorrow. My dad is a retired mechanical contractor. I just showed him the Bacharach. He said, "Yep, they're the best. That's what we used on our Buderus wood boiler when you were a teenager."

 

My pleasure to have past on the info.... that's what this site is all about...