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Introduction of the PROGRESS, our New Hybrid Woodstove!
Please join us for our annual gathering. Last year we celebrated by burning our mortgage – the last little bit of debt on our books. Click here to view a video of our 2010 Open House. This year we celebrate the introduction of our new woodstove,
Internal parts for the new stove are here, and they fit together perfectly - just like a big jig saw puzzle. Some photos follow for those who are mechanically inclined.
The optional ash pan kit for the new stove has the biggest ash pan that we know of - 18”L x 11.5W x 3.65”D - not that a big ash pan is worthy of a lot of bragging rights, but the idea is that it won’t have to be emptied very often. This ash pan would be big enough to roast a Thanksgiving turkey!
This “cut-away” shows the top of the stove, where the secondary combustion system and combustor are housed. We bring secondary air in through a stainless steel fireback, rather than “tubes”, because we think it’s a better use of space, and a more durable design. All of these parts have to be carefully sealed to make burn times, efficiency, and emissions predictable. Below are a few details that might answer some questions:
Below are basic dimensions and specifications for the new stove. Please note that rear flue exit height could change, but minimally. If you are building a chimney and planning a straight back connection between stove and chimney thimble, please confirm thimble height with our customer service department.
We expect these stoves to begin shipping in the fourth quarter,
Woodstock is often asked why we use the catalytic combustor technology in our soapstone woodstoves. The article in the February, 2011 issue of "Hearth & Home" magazine provides a relevant look at the long term benefits and evolution of the catalytic combustor. Please read below or click here for the link, Catalytic Comeback.
The article confirms much of what we have been saying for years (catalytic stoves are cleaner and more efficient than non-cats), but it also mentions some additional benefits: First, catalytic stoves perform much better at low burn rates, and second, they are likely better with cold starts because the catalyst ignites more quickly than secondary combustion ignites in a non-catalytic stove.
To give everyone a better sense of scale, we have a side by side rough comparison of our current Fireview stove and the Designer's Stove Model of the New Stove (both front and side view).
This is not a perfect comparison. As you may notice, the body of the new stove is currently resting on the base of a Keystone/Palladian stove to give it the correct approximate height. The stone effect is simply drawn in with the green/blue colorations and the real legs of the stove will be more substantial than what's shown.
Thanks to feedback on our first few posts, we have incorporated an arched viewing window (see below).
While we will not be using the figure head as an emblem on the stove, this will give you some idea of what we can do with new carving software (and it can be cast!).
So, we got a little carried away and ended up with a stove ten times bigger than we planned. Just kidding... but this slide show is the first glimpse of our new stealth project, a soapstone masonry heater, which we just built in concert with our soapstone supplier.
We're working on re-designing the doors (loading door, bake-oven door, and ash door), to make them a little more contemporary. (Excuse the doors in the photos!)
Masonry heaters work on the same principle as our other stoves, which use the thermal mass of the stone to absorb and radiate heat slowly. A masonry heater has serpentine flame and exhaust paths throughout the large stove body, so eventually the whole stone structure is warmed. A morning and evening fire can heat an entire home.
We built our masonry heater on a welded steel pallet so we have the ability to move it in and out of our test booth, and we can't wait to get this monster going. We expect to start selling and installing masonry heaters this spring along with the other new stove we've been promising, which is also coming along quite nicely!
