All things Woodstock Soapstone Absolute Steel

After the discussion in the Woodstock Stove Owners Poll, I thought I'd start a similar thread to the Ideal Steel thread regarding the Absolute Steel stove. I know there are 3 or 4 regulars here who have them and a couple of us participated in last years field test of them. I also believe that there may be a number of new Absolute Steel owners out here who aren't "regulars" here but might have questions about the AS, or people who are considering the AS and might be on the fence regarding purchase of an AS or perhaps going with another stove.

I purchased my Absolute Steel primarily to heat my downstairs family/laundry/work-out room, as a replacement for an old Vermont Castings Resolute. Prior to that I had a CDW mid sized stove there since 1983ish. This Absolute Steel was a major step up from both of those catalytic stoves, in both size and technology. This is a 2.45cu ft firebox. My primary stove, upstairs in the main living area, is a Woodstock Fireview and it is 2.18cu ft box. Although that doesn't seem like a big difference in size, the square cube shape of the firebox in the AS makes it seem MUCH larger than the FV and I can definitely fit much more wood into the space. It's just more efficient space I guess. 14 hour burns are my normal. Load at 10PM in the evening before bed, and reload at lunch time the next day. Or, if it's not real cold out, I just let the coals smolder and burn down and wait till dinner to throw in another load.

Now that I've had this stove going for a couple of shoulder seasons, and also this last month of December with the quite cold stretch here and there, down to -4F a couple nights, I've become familiar with how this stove likes to run. When it's really cold, it loves to just get turned down to below 1 on the draft control. I'll reload, char the wood for 15 minutes then engage the cat and wait another 10 minutes at full or half open depending on the stove top temp, then once the STT settles in at about 400'F (next to the flue pipe exit using my top exit flue) I drop that control down to about 3/4 below the 1 setting on the dial.. and just let her cruise for hours. I've come down in the middle of the night thinking I'll just check to see if I need to open her up a bit in the coaling stage only to find I'm looking in the window to a nice hot stove with the secondary's glowing nicely, and ghost flames erupting around the stack. I've learned from the Fv when I have that cat glowing and those ghost flames coming and going, that the stove is right where it wants to be draft wise.

It's worth a mention to talk about the ash-pan and the controls. The ash-pan is the bees knees! It's large, so it needs to be tended to infrequently. It's just ash, no coals as those are all up in the box creating heat. It's an easy access slide out box just under the side door with a nice solid control. The other controls are also solid and all business. The Cat engagement lever in just above the loading door, and when engaged it prevents the door from opening more than 1/2 and inch. The Cat lever is also on a cam arrangement so it's either fully open, or fully engaged. Similarly the loading door handle is this nice big lever than swings out away from the stove and the hot box, so you won't burn yourself, it is a nice solid locking mechanism. The draft lever is nicely granular and you don't need reading glasses to know where you are. It's the next best thing to driving a Hurst 4 speed on a 68 GTO!

The Hybrid burn technology is the same technology we have been seeing and ooohing and aahing about in the Progress and the Ideal Steel. Heat, Heat, and more Heat! One of the things that I found pretty awesome was the secondary burners kick in even when I've not got the CAT engaged, like on startup. So once you've got a new fire started, but even before you're ready to close the CAT (unlike my Fireview) those secondaries are kicking in and sending high heat out through the front of the glass and into your living area.

What would I like to see improved? Awesomeness would be a built in temp gauge on the top center right above and slightly in front of the Cat "hoodscoop" which is a hoodscoop looking thing, (think hot rod cars hoodscoop) that captures the CAT heat and directs it forward toward the front of the stove and the people in the living area. Right now there is really no sweet spot for a temp guage. I keep one a foot up the flue pipe, and a second one just the the side of the flue exit flange on my top exiting flue. (you get your choice of flue exit, either top or rear with just a simple bolt on flange arrangement depending on what you need.

So, okay, chip in and start talking about the new WS Absolute Steel. I know I'd like to learn from other burners how to get the most out of my stove, and I'm happy to share whatever I might contribute to the party.

Merry Christmas and a Warm New Year to all my FHC buddies.

 

Nice. Just a nice write-up.
You can continue with more details any time you want. Won't bore me at all, and I doubt others would be either.
I'm just curious (as I always am) about what the temps of the stove are, long term. Say you've got the stove burning where you want it, what temp is it, and how long will it stay there....in hours.
It always bothers me when someone says that it lasts "a long time" or "several hours". That's a bit vague for me.
I'm finding that my 30 will provide max temp for maybe 3 hours, before the load has offgassed most of the way, then begins the long gradual temp decline. After 8-9 hours, STT is anywhere from 250-300 if I'm lucky. Some days, that's enough, but not in the dead of winter.
I'm constantly rethinking my next stove, to be either a Woodstock hybrid of some sort, or a BK, so this is all very interesting to me.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year right back atcha!

 

One of the things I note with this stove is it doesn't run up real high STT, for me. With my Fv , which I can't help compare it to since it's sits right in my living room and I feed it too, the Fv temps get up to 600'F and sit there for maybe 2 hours, and then do a very gradual decline of about 3 hours of 500->350 and then another 6 hours or so of 350->250. It's usually at this 250 point after an all night burn, I rake the coals forward and then reload.

With the AS, the stove will get to 450'F STT where I place the magnetic gauge next to the flue exit. However I've come to believe that it's actually hotter just above and in front of the forward leaning CAT with the hoodscoop. (I'll take a picture of this next time I let the stove go out., as I can know it is hard to picture.) The problem is that point on the stove is covered with some of that thin metal decorative bling, and putting the thermometer there doesn't work well. Either the bling absorbs some of the heat or it prevents the needle form moving accurately, and I've chosen not to put a thermometer there. That's why I suggested it would be great to have a built in CAT probe there, in my last post.

BUT, the other thing I notice with this stove is that even when that meter sits at ~300'F , where I have it now, at the right of the flue flange, it is still nice and warm in the room and I'm not feeling like I need to start opening the draft, or stuffing more wood in the box. I expected that the steel stove wouldn't be so good with holding and then emitting the warmth, but surprisingly it feels very much like the "soft" warm heat the Fv provides.

I'll take some pics when I can and also try to actually make notes of times a typical burn cycle.

 

Sounds great O.H. and we like pics (hint hint lol). Maybe next year we can combine all the WS threads into one, much like how on the other forum over on hearth they have one thread for BK stoves. That way it could be a more inclusive conversation without going to separate threads.

As I said in the poll thread I debated getting out of pellets and going for the AS for my second stove. But this year I'm experimenting running wood as primary and cutting my use of pellets down, have fans rigged up, and just use those rooms less on that side of the house. I run the pellet stove on low when it is below freezing, turning it up to medium when we hit single digits. So far I just went through the 1/2 ton left overs from last year, so I think I'm on track to maybe burn around 3 tons this year, that is around $700 in pellets with tax for me. I think the pay back would be too long, considering I'd have to install a new chimney too and my small chimney limits liner options and makes that a bit harder. Plus it helps on my long shifts at work to have steady heat through the whole burn when it's below freezing out and I'm walking back in after 15 or 16 hours! And I might have problems scrounging enough wood. In fact I'm down from about 3 years ahead to maybe 1 year now, I got to score some kind of deal fast or I'll be back to paying for wood again just to keep one stove burning. Can't wait till I have my own woods! I might buy the property in the next couple years even though I likely won't be able to move for many more years, but It'll be too remote to haul wood back (out of state).

Anyhow I always enjoy hearing about the new and efficient stoves. At first I didn't like the wing design but it has grown on me now there are more (better) pictures of it, with the different options and colors. And nice they offer the regular square design without wings, I really like the wingless Simple Prairie and even the Great Plain with no detail at all. My pellet stove is just a big black square box, honestly the Great Plain would look much nicer than my pellet burner lol. And the new high leg one reminds me of something I can't quite figure out, like an old piece of furniture, cabinet or basin of some sort. It's nice they offer it though, should make loading much easier plus nicer view of the fire especially if you like to burn with secondaries.

 

I was just browsing over Woodstocks site and looking at the current prices the Absoulte is more expensive than the Ideal? Has it always been? Seems rather odd since it's a smaller stove and there isn't exactly any major upgrade on it compared to the Ideal...
Current web prices show:
IS base price $1,724 up to $2,148
AS base price $1,932 up to $2,076

I guess with all the options the IS is still slightly more, but I thought the difference used to be more, especially on the basic once or I may just be remembering incorrectly.

 

I'm not sure what price list you are looking at? Are you looking at the Black/Friday sale price list? There seems to be more that one way on the web to look at pricing and I'm wondering if it is consistent. Seems like there is always some kind of sale going on. But in any event, on the Black Friday price list, one thing that pops out to me is that with the AS the only options are the bling style and the two without wings or the High Style. In any event, all of the As models are all optioned the same (I think) with included ash pans and bling. Where the IS there are numerous choices for all of the bling/ash pans/customization etc.

But, it still it seems that the AS is only about a $100 cheaper than the IS with fully equipped models. The price doesn't go down with the smaller stove that much. Probably because a big part of the cost is in labor/production costs. What surprised me more that the cost difference was I expected early on that the AS might be even smaller, to accommodate smaller homes, but it's really still a pretty big stove too. Seems like there might be a market for a hybrid steel stove down in the size range of a Keystone or Palladian, where cost might be lower as well. I am guessing Woodstock product management thinks long and hard over the decisions regarding price points and sizing and such. So many variables to worry about, front loading/side loading/ top exhaust/rear exhaust, bling, ash pans etc etc..

I know I decided on the IS based on my cubic ft heating needs and the IS was just too much stove for my home size. But I will say, the AS is a pretty big box as well and will probably fit that niche well of small/medium homes up to 1800sq ft. Where the IS and Progress are clearly targeted at those larger homes of which I see so many be built these days.

 

Oldhippie can you please give some details about the difference between the stove sounds made by your Fireview and the AS. I have only burned soapstone stoves the last 27 years so I am a bit curious if the WS steel stoves are much different than the Fireview. I remember reading a post somewhere about the PH being noisy because of all the metal expansion noises. My Fireview only has a brief time of metal expansion noise when coming up to temp and I have found this can be reduced greatly by slowly bringing it up to temp (top down fire start at 1.25 air setting in my case).

Thanks.

 

In my expirience, it's the cast iron that creaks and cracks when it warms up. Never bothered me anyway, but once I took out the alarm clock the IS has been very quiet. You hear it warming up slightly if you are nearby, especially when the cat takes off. The progress and the fire view have cast frames, right?

 

My experience with the Fv is that it really doesn't make any noticeable noises at all. Now I'll need to listen again this coming week, as it is currently being used as a living room Christmas decoration. But on the other hand, the AS does make noises. Similar to my Harley when it heats up fairly rapidly compared to Soapstone, and when it cools down, there are common expansion and contraction "pings" during these changes in temperature. No sounds once stabilized. I'm guessing the noises come from both the steel box of the AS as well as some of the inner components of the secondary plates.
But in all cases, it's not any kind of defect or down side, it's just the normal thing steel does.

My Harley makes the same noises, and sometimes much prettier noises.

 

Yes, they do.

 

Well the $1,932 I mentioned was the Great Plain (no bling) but yeah not a big difference between them.
Your right it is still labelled Black Friday Price List... but it's the only price list I see. Either from clicking the sale link on the top of their site or from within the stoves descriptions goes to that list. I suppose your right though, same basic components in them both, only difference is a bit of steel which isn't a whole lot.

 

There is also a "build me" section, where you can chose a stove and option it the way you want it. It seems consistent with the Black Friday pricing but I haven't checked it closely. But clearly the pricing between the stoves is not based on size of stove.

I'll say this, the more I use mine the more I like it. It seems to like me even more when I turn that big stick shift WAY down into the counter intuitive setting of .5 where I get crazy high heat with absolutely bare minimum smouldering wood in the box. I guess the CAT just loves to slowly sip the unburned gases and go all orange on me, whiloe at the same time the flue temp is crazy low, like just below 200'F a foot up from the exhaust flange on my single wall pipe.

Happy New Year!

 

Good wood is so important with great burns like this.

 

I am really intrigued by the AS, as I was with the IS. Didn't buy an IS because I was afraid it was just too big for my space. The AS seems to be the ideal size for me, but I would have tear out my existing fireplace and build a new hearth, which would lead to a complete remodel of the living room since there is no ceiling above the fireplace. I might be willing to do all that except for the fact I would end up with a corner install and I just not sure about stuffing a side loader into a corner. Anyone got an AS installed into a corner?

 

It's a nice big square door on the AS. If you could get it even 2/3rds open that would be plenty to feet the stove and I would think if you have the right clearances (18" for door side/13" for other side) You would be fine.

You can't just do a slam into the fireplace you have there? Or extend the hearth out a foot or two?

 

Just thought I'd post the Woodstock Absolute Steel specs here, as I am continually referring back to them.

cut/pasted right off the WS site, hope they are okay with that.

 

The AS is way too big to fit into the opening on my fireplace and the flue exit is much higher than the exit on the current stove so to sit it where the current stove sits would require both a hearth extension and a re-fabricated fireplace cover. I would much prefer to remove the existing fireplace, it's only fake brick board over plywood, and build a hearth into the corner, as it would make the room look bigger rather than smaller than it already is. Maybe using the rear flue exit, instead of the top exit, on the AS, would allow it to set out from the corner a little more and give me better access to the door. It's an awfully expensive proposition, especially if it doesn't work out.

 

There have been some really nice corner installations that were posted here, just not of the AS. I seem to remember someone from western Mass posting one with a BK, one of the new fancy looking ones. Front loader I think that was. But I actually think a side loader would work fine for you anyways if you met the 18inch spec. Post a thread requesting pics of corner installs and I'm sure you'll get a lot of ideas.

PS How many sq ft are you looking to heat and where are you located?

 

The house is about 1500 sf, a ranch, kinda hard to move the heat throughout the house as my installation is at one end and the house is not well insulated. The stove I have now does an adequate job down to about 25 degrees, below that and I have to really push it hard. It's only about a 1.75 cf stove, would be nice to have something a little bigger and more efficient so I didn't eat through as much wood. I'm in South Central Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. I already know what I'd build if I ever did it, see below.

 

Yes, a ranch is going to be more difficult to heat and especially if the install is all the way to one side. But, your thinking is right on all counts, go bigger and you will be very glad you did. Not only for added burn times and more heat, but also less maintenance dealing with the ash. That AS and it's ash pan (same as Progress and Ideal Steel) is the bees knees when it comes to size and "no muss no fuss" ash disposal.

Sooner or later you will want to get rid of that smoke dragon and go high tech and bigger. I'm pretty centralized with a cape style New England chalet, but I do have 2 back rooms where there is a 15 fit hallway and underneath is a unheated garage, with an insulated ceiling, but it's still colder there. I use a small floor fan to push cold air up the hallway into the stove room and "pull" warm air back. It works! It works slowly but it does work and keeps the whole house relatively warm, even those 2 back rooms. Ranches usually have a hallway like that too, give one of those floor fans a try if you haven't already. I got mine on Amazon for less than $15.