Smaller soapstone/cast stoves?

Just started looking for a small woodburner for supplemental heat for our single story ranch. We already have an oil furnace and propane fireplace. Compact size and ease of operation are more important than total BTU's. Heck, we've kept the house in the low 60's in the middle of winter with just the propane fireplace (not meant for heating) on occasion when the electricity goes out and the oil furnace doesn't work.

We are leaning towards the slower heat of soapstone or maybe cast iron over steel plate. Any real life experience would be appreciated. Sorry, I'm sure this has been discussed many times over. FWIW, my local place carries the Hearthstone line of soapstones (looking at Tribute, Castleton) and Jotul for cast (looking at F100 Nordic QT, F3CB, F400 Castine).

 

My first thought would be a Woodstock keystone. But it has some large clearance requirements which might rule it out. You might look at the blaze king 20 or 30 lineups as well.

 

The Hearthstone Homestead has a nice fire show and is small.

 

I had the F-100, which is a nice little heater. It has a good sized window to throw heat out the front. It has limitations on split size and burn times. I later picked up an F-3 since I heard great things about it. It was an easy stove to run, threw great heat. Again, limits on burn times and split lengths. It has been my favorite stove so far.

I recently picked up a Castine this fall. I like the larger firebox as it can hold a few more larger splits than the F-3. It is a capable heater for us. But, as Well seasoned said, it likes a good draft. I have an insulated 25' flex liner in an interior chimney, and it can be balky to run. When you have a good hot fire, it runs great. Shoulder season and smaller fires have been a challenge with some smoke spillage. If the Castine was able to run like the F3, it would be great stove. I will say, I miss the F3 for the simplicity of the way it ran.

My neighbor has a Hearthstone Tribute, but I like my Jotuls better.

 

Woodstock will have a Franklin style soapstone steel stove out in the near future with hybrid capabilities.
Question is, can you wait for it?

 

Oh, I can definitely wait. As said, it would be our 3rd heating source and I only have about 1/2 cord of dry wood and 1/2 cord of fresh splits and I'm relatively cash poor after buying some more woodlot this Fall. Looking to set up for next Fall at the soonest, unless an amazing deal comes along sooner

 

I'm sure there are other stoves that would fit the bill and be available now but I will advocate for
Woodstock Soapstone every chance I get. If your willing to do a little research on the current model
in production, the Ideal Steel, you will see how well that hybrid performs even though it's relatively
new to the market. The Franklin Steel stove will be simular in performance but smaller than the IS (3.2 cu ft)
in size.

 

Thanks. Definitely in the phase of expanding my horizons right now.

 

And all this great talk and you have a PE Ray...time for a change??

 

Quick calculations, road trip to factory = 14 hours on the road and at least 50 gal of gas in my Silverado. Hmm... I think I would have to be sure I was going to buy one if I ever visited. Looks like they have some great products.

 

Keep me in the loop. I'm at zip code one seven zero seven eight. Near Hershey, Harrisburg, Lebanon.

 

Thanks.

 

If you have any questions for them just give them a call anyone you talk to will be very knowledgeable about their product and will stick with you on the phone for as long as is needed. I have spent lots of time on the phone with them when I was trying to decide on what stove to get and then when I did get one I spent a lot of time on the phone and email with them as I rebuilt my hearth in order to meet all of the clearances. They have the best customer service Ive ever seen.

 

The Franklin has a 2.6 cu ft firebox but otherwise has a similar hybrid system as the IS. I think its going to be a good intermediate size for a lot of wood burners. No word yet on when they'll be doing Beta testing. I think just getting the IS orders out the door was more than enough to handle this burning season.

 

I agree, Tom's letter was proof enough.