I agree, my ideal steel manual gave the R value required for the hearth, at 0.41 if I remember correctly. I built mine out of 3/4" plywood, with 2 layers of 5/8" Duroc and a bed of mortar and 1/2" slate tile. Over the R value for sure and its held up pretty well so far. No R value listed in that manual so I agree, ember protection only.
RGrant yup I'm north and got great Southern exposure. House is well insulated but now well air sealed. My house is weird. Hard to compare it to regular home.. I have IS, because it runs low & slow so well it works well for me.
Then you would love this place. It's got as much character as the FHC I called the style contemporary / rustic. Post and beam balloon framed, think of a colonial in the back 20 x 40 and a raised Ranch in the front. 20 x 20 Half the floors have 17 foot ceilings on one side and 5-foot on the other.. Every room has south facing windows.. 5 different levels, 1032 sq ft taxable, 2300 sq ft livable. With 7 exterior doors on house.. It like me is different and a Lil
Quick update #2 for this- Last night I had the stove going- started it around 3 pm or so and it began to die down around 9:30. I had the cat engaged and around 9:30 the thermometer showed the temp at the lower range of where the catalyst should be run. Since the house was so warm- mid 70's and it wasn't supposed to get all that cold, I decided to take it off the catalyst and not reload it. I went to be shortly there after. This morning it was 69 in the house and the stove top temp was a little over 100F. I opened the door and it was noticeably warm in the chamber- I moved the ashed around and had enough coals I believe to start a fire. That fire only used up 4 splits and 3 compressed wood bricks. I didn't restart the fire since it was so warm in the house. I'll update a third time when I do try and get another fire going.
Sounds like mine one time. I guess I put some oak or locust in a couple times and woke up to what I would call a lull, not cold in the house but not cold outside. Maybe low 50’s. It was calm and odd. But not a catalyst stove. Just interesting morning but the stove was still warm with some coals.
SORRY, I SEE THIS HAS BEEN ANSWERED BY RGgrant ALREADY. This is at the bottom of the specs I found on the WS Website. I think it's stating that there needs to be a "hearthpad", but that maybe doesn't answer your question. If not, a call to WS will give you an answer. Survival Hybrid Wood Stove Clearances Back Clearance (w/ Heat Shield Kit).........9" Side Clearance (w/ Heat Shield Kit).........9" Corner Clearance (w/ Heat Shield Kit).........9" *Side & Back Heat Shields Included Hearth Pad Requirements Minimum Hearth Size......... 30"W x 48"D Hearth Front Clearance......... 16" Side Hearth Clearance......... 6" Back Hearth Clearance.......... 4"
I really like your retaining wall woodpile. Some black plastic on the top to keep the rain and snow off would be helpful to keep the wood dry. HD sells a nice rugged plastic in spools that I've used to cut to length for my stacks. It's been fun reading this thread, brings me back to my younger days and learning curve to burning. Nice to see young guy who isn't afraid of a little of that 4 letter word that starts with W. Rock on!! Here's a pic of my retaining wall but the ole' Lady thinks flowers are a better use of the space. (Dammit!)
You and I might be the only ones who like the look of my retaining wall! lol Last year was the first year that I stacked any wood there, and I've gotten my fair share of.... lets call them voicings of disapproval hahaha. But it is a fairly convenient location for the moment. I will eventually have to get some sort of a cover for the wood out front b/c I have solar panels and when it snows, the snow comes off in one giant whoosh covering everything in its path. Thanks for the kind words! And to be honest, your front steps look way better than mine-
I had to have the old stone wall ones fall down about 3 times before I gave up and got the job done right. I could own a very nice automobile for the cost of that stone. But, oh well, the wife made me put the flowers there. I think I'll show her your pic and see her head explode!
Yes, Canadian border VT your home is very unique. I like it though, it's got character. "And here's a door, to another room. Look up from the deck, and, you'll see another door". Lol
The problem with throwing "hearth pad" out there is that there are two types: Type A that is ember protection only and TypeB that affords up to around R2 of thermal protection as well as the ember protection. Usually, a stove with an ash pan only requires Type A, but that is an assumption and I too often get forked when I start assuming things. Yeah, Woodstock has a phone. This stove is still on the top of the list of replacement stoves for our old beast that is falling apart. The boss doesn't like the tiny window on the front. That our old stove had none is irrelevant.
If you're ever going through CT on 84 on your way to New York give me a holler and I'll have you over to check out the stove if you'd like. Seeing it in person, and in action, might give you a better idea of if its for you or not. I'll keep the updates and review going on here, but nothing replaces firsthand knowledge.
Your pics are actually pretty good. On a hearth for reference beats a concrete warehouse floor. I used to know 95S like the back of my hand but lately I've been doing Amtrak.
Hey friends- funny how this forum has really transformed itself from an impersonal website to a space where I go to hear from people I like and admire in just a few months! First- just to get this off my chest, thanks to everyone for the kind words about my dog King. Losing him was absolutely brutal. I'm not a tough guy by any stretch of the means, I was devastated over the weekend. Coming to terms with it, but still doing better- so thanks everyone. Back to the stove.... This week we've had temps hitting the 30s at night and barely getting out of the 50's during the day with some good cloud cover. This is perfect wood stove weather. So here's what I'm finding with the Survival- I can get it going and up to cruising temp in 30-40 minutes. The catalyst is stated as being able to kick off at 500 internal / 250 stove top temp, but I find it works much better if I let the stove top get up to 400 before I kick it over. I don't have enough info to decide what I think the reason would be, but it's probably an issue of the wood supply just not being dry enough. Certainly working on that.. But once it's going, the stove is good to go- so no concerns there. If its cold in the house when I get home and I want to get the heat pumping that's certainly possible with this one. I have not yet really needed to get this thing roaring for a long period, but when the temps dip into the single digits or into the negatives, i'll see where I'm at. For now here's what we've got going on: When I burn through the afternoon or for the whole day on a saturday / sunday when we're home I can pack the stove at night before bed and when I wake up in the morning I'll have coals inside. Last night I must have used some good hardwood because this morning when I got up to go and vote, the stove was about half full of large coals with plenty of life left to them. This was great- I opened the air supply fully and when I cracked the door open the stove glowed inside. I put a smallish split into the middle and within a matter of seconds it had its edges darken, started smoking and before my coffee was made it was aflame. This was about 6 am. I got home from work today around 3:30, went up the street to visit with my brother/sister in law and their kids and when I got home I opened the stove door, put my hand in and could feel the tell tale signs of strong heat in the ashes. I loaded the stove, put in a few bits of paper and dry bark I use as a fire starter and there was a passing of maybe 30 minutes, but i didn't mess with it and the stove eventually started taking off. In my opinion this was awesome. So to recap- the stove can not apparently hold a fire through the night but can put me in a position to relight the fire without much difficulty in the morning, and after a long day can be brought back to life even if its not immediate. I'm keeping in mind that its still not COLD out, but this is such a difference from my last stove that I couldn't wait to get on and brag to you guys.
Great to see you having a positive experience. You definitely got some wood burning genes in you as you are picking up on this quickly. Also, you'll definitely get more heat from dryer wood as your wood hoarding moves along into next year. You're doing great, keep us posted. Also, if you do decide you need to go bigger, you always have Woodstock's return policy for 6 months, where you can return and get a full refund against a larger stove. Continue to perfect your burn routine. Ideally you can get a 24X7 burn routine going without doing any or many coldstarts. If you can get that routine down, and still feel you're getting the warmth you need then you're golden. But, in the long run if you do find you need more heat/burn times, remember it's like hot rods. "There's no replacement for displacement!"
