Lifting the Curtain for a Look at Wood Stove Politics

The proposed new EPA regulations have prompted some attacks on catalytic stoves and hybrid wood stoves.  And even more eye opening, there have been some unfounded and unjustifiable comments about the owners of these stoves.

Woodstock Soapstone Company values its owners.  For 36 years we have made every effort to assist our owners, and we consider them to be our friends as well as our valued customers.  We think criticisms of catalytic/hybrid stove owners for failing to maintain or operate their stoves correctly, at least as it might be directed at our owners, is completely baseless and false.  

The attacks have been widespread and orchestrated by noncatalytic stove manufacturers and their retail dealers. Noncatalytic stove manufacturers hope to get higher emission limits by discrediting catalysts.  Our purpose in this article is to inform our owners and friends about what has been going on in our industry and to educate them about some of the important differences between the technologies involved.  It will help to explain why we have a petition in support of EPA, and more specifically why we petition in support of (a) a single standard for all woodburning devices, and (b) full and complete public disclosure of test results relating to (1) tested efficiency, (2) particulate emissions, (3) carbon monoxide emissions, and (4) cordwood results.

We feel it is important to respond, particularly when the attacks are based on misinformation and disinformation.  This post is long.  Click this link to read the full pdf  (9 pages)

Customer Letter: Stove Feedback

Greetings Folks, 

My wife and I bought a Progress Hybrid from Woodstock last fall and as we close in on the end of our first full season using this stove, I wanted to contact you with some feedback.

The benefits of high efficiency: MORE HEAT!

The IDEAL STEEL Hybrid is 30% more efficient than the average noncatalytic stove.** This means that 30% more heat stays in your house, rather than going up the stack.  Another way of looking at it is that with an IDEAL STEEL Hybrid (82% Efficiency) 18% of the heat produced goes up the stack, but with the average noncatalytic stove 37% of the heat produced goes up the stack.  That’s a huge difference in performance.

Most serious woodburners operate their stoves at around 1.00-1.5 kgs/hr.  You’ll get up to 131,000 extra BTU’s per day with higher efficiency.  Independent lab testing has confirmed these high efficiencies with cordwood, so you can be sure that you’ll get more heat, or burn less wood, or both!

Click Image to Enlarge

** For the mathematically challenged, the increase in efficiency from 63% to 82% is a 30% improvement (82/63=1.302).  This is a huge increase.

Our Favorite Beta Tester Comment EVER!

4/7/14

"Loaded the stove 75% full as we were headed out the door for the hospital.  Sydney was born that morning.  We came home 3 days later and still had enough coals in the IS to start a fire, easily.  56 hours later!!!"

Doug K. 

Newbury, VT

First Cuts: Our Next Steel Hybrid

Firebox with Franklin front wings and ash lip.
Available as box stove or Franklin. Left or right door.

When designing a new stove, we typically start out with just a box (i.e. the “firebox”), and see if we are in the ballpark with emissions and efficiency.  This time we decided to cut the skirt, wings, and some legs so that we can experiment with a steel Franklin style stove from the beginning.  The guys in the shop like it, even though it is really only the “first cuts”.

Glass retainer goes over the front.
We can modify the wings, glass retainer and
surface detail to create period detail
-Modern, Arts & Crafts, Federal, etc.

Right now, this steel hybrid stove has a 2.6 cu ft. firebox (at least in current drawings), and would be available either as a plain box or as a Franklin.
Left or right door.

Don’t read too much into the appearance - it’s early.  Names anyone?  FranklinSteel Hybrid? Louise W. (aka Rideau) - can you help us?

Playing with legs.  Cut and folded steel.
There’s a lot we can do with cutting and folding.

v1 of the Franklin Steel Hybrid running in our test lab.