Woodstock posted EPA testing news and announced the product name Absolute Steel Hybrid on their Facebook page. See link below. Woodstock Soapstone Co. Blog: Cordwood
Absolute Steel Hybrid! Sounds pretty good to me. Product shipments this Spring. Wow, that sounds aggressive, but they have been field testing and much of the technology is a 3rd gen of what they developed with the PH and then the IS so maybe they're getting pretty damm good at it.
Steve, I wish you could have been at the factory just before the Open House. They didn't have a stove ready for the Open House even the afternoon before. But they quickly put one together and it was ready for the next morning. Yes, they know what they are doing and with the experience of the IS, they should be able to get it to the market in good time which will help for those who want it for next fall and winter.
I'm going to take a road trip up there soon, just to say hi and see what they're up to. I was hoping to be a field tester for one of these, but it looks like they are pretty much going to market this Spring. I haven't seen any field testers posting here, so maybe they are just using internal folks. Anyway, this leads me down the path of considering a Keystone or other alternative for my family room stove. The crazy Resolute I have is still kicking when I ask it to, so I'm not in a big hurry, and it strikes me that a Keystone or Palladian would work pretty well for my needs too, especially if I could get one as a refurb.
I thought BrianK had one? @Dennis, what's the poop on the betas?? I can tell you, the Keystone is a sweet rig. But this AS has got to be more versatile. You're gonna be able to burn at high air settings cleanly, unlike a straight cat, where the smoke blows through before it has time to burn. And you're gonna get big heat quick if your burn the secondaries.
This spring! Woah. Aggressive. We are building a house this year and I was hoping I would have a while longer to decide between an Ashford 30 and the new hybrid. Our heating demand is going to be very low, so low output is crucial. I guess if I want introductory pricing I am gonna have to make this decision sooner.
I am seeing ~12,000btu/hr for Ashford and ~10,000btu/hr for the Absolute. HOWEVER, I have noticed that with the IS that the stove likes to run away. It is difficult to get it to lock into a low/slow burn without getting too hot. This does not seem to be the case with the Ashford, hence the longer burn times. I am also expecting the Absolute to be ~1/2 the cost of the Ashford with introductory pricing.
