Ok got it!!!! Have you noticed an alarm type sound (metallic) when the stove is warming up, before engaging the cat? There are a thread or two on here about the IS. I am a loving owner.
We did. We contacted Woodstock Soapstone in October. They immediately mailed us a simple fix free of charge and we've had no problem since installing it.
We love it. This winter was one of the coldest on record in our region. We loaded the stove three times every 24 hours on the coldest days. During the shoulder seasons of last fall and this spring, so far one good load in the morning and a topper before going to sleep keeps us very comfortable. The ash pan is dumped maybe once a week and twice a week during bitter weather. Our previous stove was a Jotul Oslo. It was dear to my heart, I was initially sorry to see it go into storage, but it was a lot of work to maintain and did not keep us warm enough.
Welcome to the club, Kermit4. I dig the way you use an engine lifter to place the IS. Real nice looking hearth. Our Ideal Steel has serviced us well this winter.
We burned wood for eight years with a lovely midnight blue porcelain Jotul Oslo. It would not maintain a long-term decent temperature of 450 - 500 degrees, more or less, and required constant fiddling and fussing and our waiting for the bed of coals to die down sufficiently to make room for a re-load. So, the house temperature varied a lot. In the final years, we just grew weary of the attention Mr Oslo required. But, I was sorry to remove the Oslo last August. Quite a lot of patient convincing by my husband to replace it with a Woodstock Soapstone Ideal Steel was required. But, having survived this winter in more comfort than I can remember, I was wrong. The Ideal Steel is money very well spent.
Glad to have you with us. The Ideal Steel seems to be becoming a well-loved stove, like Woodstock's other stoves. Great to hear another happy owner.