Absolute Steel hybrid wood stove
rockies63
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
After much consideration I think I’ve found my wood stove. I saw a National Geographic program on the Wood Stove Decathlon 2013 where this stoves larger cousin (the Ideal Steel Hybrid Wood Stove) won the grand prize.
I need a smaller stove so the Absolute model seems perfect to me. I also like the fact that the EPA emissions are listed as being only 0.5 grams/hour and it has an efficiency of 77%. Has anyone used one of these stoves already?
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77% efficiency is on the low end for EPA rated wood stoves, and catalytic combustor types rely on the catalyst to keep both the efficiency and low emissions characteristics working. The catalytic combustors don't last nearly as long as the rest of the stove, and as they age, emissions go up while efficiency falls off. It's hard(impossible?) to get the emissions under 1 gph without catalytic combustion, but know that emissions that low do not last forever.
The steel 56,000 BTU/hr Pacific Energy Vista has comparable (75.5%) efficiency, 2.9gph, and is non-catalytic.
There are several non-catalytic EPA rated in the ~50,000 BTU/hr range that test above 80% efficiency, with emissions under 3 grams per hour, eg.
The Hearthstone Heritage 8022, 81% efficiency, 2.8 gph, 55,000 BTU/hr max. Being soapstone it's undoubtedly quite a bit more expensive than the Absolute, but there are others at different price points.
The Absolute's 50,000 BTU/hr number is still more than the whole house heat load of my house. How small can you go?
The steel (no soapstone) 30,000 BTU/hr Hearthstone Tula 8190 tests at a remarkably high 88% efficiency, 2.6 gph emissions.
Given the "hybrid" design of the "absolute" stove, it might continue to have low emissions even as the catalyst degrades. The choice might depend in part on how often you use it--if it's only a supplemental heat source, the degradation is less of a concern. And in the hybrid design, the catalyst might not need to work as hard as it does in a regular catalytic design. This assumes that the hybrid design works as advertised and is not just hype.
It'll be better than a stove without the secondary air, but unless they test it without the catalytic combustor there's no telling what it actually is.
Catalytic combustors on wood stoves typically need to be replaced after 10,000-15,000 of burn time, which is 2-3 years in a northern New England climate if the stove is being used as a primary source of heat.
The main focus in the replies seems to be on the lifespan of the catalytic converter. Wouldn't it be worth replacing the converter every 2 years (after daily use) in order to have the emissions near 0.5 grams/hour? Even if the effectiveness of the converter decreased by half over 2 years you'd still have emissions at 1 gram/hour.
When the Govt regulations on emissions come into effect in 2020 won't a lot of the wood stoves currently on the market have to be either improved or discontinued? Even if you buy before 2020 I'd still rather get the lowest emissions possible now.
I certainly see nothing wrong with planning to replace the catalyst regularly, if you are willing to do that. And I think it's likely you'd get more than 2 years of daily use out of it.
I am not very confident that EPA regulations planned for several years from now will be implemented according to the original schedule, but I'm glad that there are people like you wanting to do better than the regulations require. I wish more of my neighbors would upgrade their stoves.
If you get one, I'd be interested in hearing how you like it. I hope to get a small high-performance stove sometime in the next year or so, and that might be a good one for me to. In my case it would be only supplemental/occasional/backup heat, so catalyst life is not a big concern.
I have used their product. I bought and installed the ideal steel hybrid when they won the decathlon.
I am heating a 2000+ square foot ranch and I couldn't be happier. I've had it for 3 years now and have not replaced the converter. It does require regular cleaning maintenance, which I do with an air compressor at about 100psi.
I made some videos, but GBA won't allow the links to be added in my reply. You can search for my channel, just search YouTube for "solardrew ideal". I have 3 videos, one is the installation, another just admiring the stove, and the last shows the secondaries.
I highly recommend Woodstock. You won't be disappointed.
Thank you. I will look for the videos. Do you have any idea how much the converter costs to replace? I was reading through a list of EPA certified wood stoves and the Absolute Steel Hybrid had the lowest emissions of any non-pellet stove at 0.5 gr/hr. I was surprised to see how many of the stoves certified on the list will be rendered unacceptable after the 2020 guidelines come into effect It's too bad more companies don't institute trade-in programs to allow people to get more efficient and less polluting stoves now rather than waiting until later..