Progress owners, give me a hand here!

Hand deliver!

I might even throw in liquor. Yeah, across state lines. Maybe tobacco while I'm at it. Just get me a low burn of a Progress.

 

BBAR have you called WS? You could probably speak to someone there who heats their own home with one. Plus they must test the crap out of them.

 

OK, I'm in. New here from the south shore of MA, just installed a PH a few months ago. I've been burning fir and pine (@ about 15% mc) for the last couple of months. I'm getting about 7-8 hours out of a pretty full load, that's 250*F to 250*F. The stove will linger for a few more hours under 250 but with a drafty house, requires a reload once below 250. My house was built in 1780 and is not very tight, about 2000 sq/ft. The PH replaced an NC13 that did a pretty good job of heating the house, burning 5-6 cords a year but required alot of attention. The problem I'm having is it is very hard to load the PH full. The door is far too small for the 2.8 firebox. The Nc had a 10" x 20" opening, while the PH has a 9" x 10" opening. I have very good draft with an interior chimney, a 6" insulated flex liner, and the top and bottom of the chimney insulated with Roxul. The stove sits outside the fireplace, vents out the back into a T, and straight up from there. My NC13 was constantly "running away", many times going over 900*. So far, I haven't had the PH over 500*, mainly running it about 400. When it gets going with full air it roars, with the stove actually shaking,the rear heat shield rattling, which you can hear at the other end of the house. I'll chop up some 2x4, 4x4, and 4x8,pine/fir/cedar blocks and do a "documented burn" later today.

 

Hopefully not necessary, but it would make for a good story.

 

Now you're talkin' Boy!! (I think we need some good booze runnin' banjo&fiddle music!)

 

Welcome! there are a number of us Mass guys here.

 

I have spoken with Woodstock. They do not like to talk specifics when it comes to burn times, which is completely understandable for a variaty of reasons. When I asked about the Steel stove and how it compares to the Progress they mentioned it "might burn a little longer."

Well, the damm thing just burned for 24+ hours with the possibillity for 30 hours, so what does that mean for the Progress?!

 

That would be awesome! I am also in an old home from the 1700s with insulation issues.

Do you have any hardwood available?
What is your weather currently like? Will it allow for a low burn or will it create a cold home? I am more than happy to wait until you have a more mild day.

 

This is all good, but realistically, you're never going to be burning the stove like Brian did with dimensional blocks, so what good will these long burns do when they are not going to happen on a day to day basis... Myself I doubt you'll never see any secondaries in the PH .. Once those secondaries take off and you have the stove packed full, you might have a heck of a fire on your hands... Even closed up, that stove still has a good draft... That's why you don't need to load PH stove full to have a lot of long heat.. I'm thinking with all that stone the PH stove was not designed to burn as long and slow as the Steel stove , maybe because there was not as much thermal mass to retain the heat in the Real Steel stove.. Plus with the air feed control on the cat, maybe that keeps the cat going on the Steel stove where's the PH without that will want to go into secondary mode.

 

I'd be interested to know how full they filled the PH box to determine their published burn time for the stove specs...

 

I know that Woodstock has trouble getting UNDER a twelve hour burn with the Progress. Really easy for them to get a twelve hour burn...routine. And they are not burning that stove in an ideal setting, at their factory.

The Progress Hybrid was specifically designed to heat large homes in the NE: homes larger than the other Woodstock stoves could handle. The goal was not to produce a 24 or 40 hour burn, but rather a great stove, tremendous heat, well built and easy to manage. They have done a superb job of that. One PH easily heats a very large home that is even decently insulated. Woodstock is very conservative in its statements, and rates the stove to easily heat 2200 feet in the NE as the sole heater. And the stove does that.

Don't understand what the big deal is with one stove loaded every twelve hours, versus three every 18, Browning Bar?

 

You will. In fact, Brian will get longer burns with large splits rather than the short dimensional blocks.

Most of October, some of November, a little of December, and most of March can be burned like this. Additionally, I NEED this. I feel they CAN come close to burning long and low. I understand that this is not how you burn. But it would be a HUGE help if some of the Progress owners attempted to burn this way so the rest of us can determine if this stove will work for them.

The Fireview can.

There are suppose to be difference between the two stoves, but how much of a difference is the issue. Woodstock said the Steel stove would burn "a little longer." 24-30 hours is a LOT longer than the reports we are getting on the Progress.

 

I have seen several owners getting 7-9 hour burns. And most talk about 12. I haven't seen one reports about the owners filling the firebox full. I continue to hear that you do not need to. Well, I need to, and many others do as well.

Yeah, well, I have two stoves that have the same heating capacity and a third stove just larger than the Fireview. Due to my layout and age of home I need large stoves and long burn times. I'm in the market to buy two Progress or two Steel or two Princess/King stoves. I would prefer the Progress since I like the look of that stove the most.

When you are loading multiple stoves, it becomes important. When you are away from your home, it is important. When you are dealing with draft from an old home this is important. When you want consistent heat through out the home during all types of temps it is important.

Fill the box up and burn the stove as low as possible and report!

 

I have to agree Sherwood,,, if you can't get your stove again in 10-12 hours, maybe one should think about an alternative heat source.

I don't even care about how much wood I can get into my PH,, like you said being a great heater that's not a concern for me. The PH is a great heater even on smaller loads of wood, so why load more then you need?

 

There isn't anything that my Fireview could do that my PH can't. The PH can burn putting out little heat. Don't know why people think it can't. It puts it out more quickly than the Fireview at the beginning because of the difference in window size between the two stoves. Once the Fireview is up to temp, they put out comparable heat on a very low burn if you adjust the wood load in the PH down somewhat compared to the Fireview. It is more efficient than the Fireview.

To attempt to keep in an all cat burn, for folks who have too much draft/set up that makes it hard to prevent secondaries once the stove gets going hot, Woodstock specifically suggests loading the stove on low coals, shutting the air and bypass immediately, and letting the stove gradually get up to temp and cat engaged. If you do that, it takes maybe half an hour to 45 minutes for the cat to engage. Result for me with a fairly well loaded stove (by no means full): in excess of 18 hours.

 

Because not everyone burns like you. If everyone felt that way, BK would be out of business. I am desperately trying to get Progress owners to report how the stove burns when loaded full and burned low. I do not know why I am having such a hard time with this. I can find a full load report on nearly every stove, but when I ask about the Progress I continue to get pushed back from owners saying they do not need a full load.

 

The fireview can burn long and low because it has no secondaries...

 

Great, so, let's fill it up and burn it low to find out how long it will burn.

Because no one has done it.

Let's talk about this.

What was your reloading temps?
What were your peak temps?
At what temp did you reload?
What wood were you using?
Where are you located?
How big is your home?
What is the age of your home?
What is your insulation like?

 

Didn't stop the Steel stove from burning low.

 

Well I do think I have a very strong draft with my PH...

I wouldn't want to close my stove down for 30-45 minutes waiting for the cat to take off... I think that will eventually plug the cat and I wouldn't want to see what my chimney towards the top would look like after a while... I think that could create a creosote problem down the road.. I've almost considered a pipe damper at one point, just to see what happens, but then you taking the ease of running the PH away..