Brand reliability

We are remote and the only dealer that sells and services wood stoves in our area sells Pacific Energy, Jotul and Hearthstone.

Are all these manufacturers equal in their quality of product and the support they provide? In today's market, does one of these brands rise to the top? If one of these is better, how much better? I will be looking at features that matter to me but if one of these brands is far better than others that changes things.

 

wildwest Unfortunately there is no BK dealer near me.

So All, narrowing it down to Jøtul vs. Hearthstone:

I have not heard much about Hearthstone good or bad. They seem to have good looking stoves with nice features. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with them?

I have heard of Jøtul and thought that they were the leader in their field, but I think I read somewhere that they were having quality issues since moving North American manufacturing to Maine. Is this true or are they still excellent?

 

My parents put a natural gas jotul allagash ( I think that's the model) into their cabin a few years ago. While it's a lot more complicated than a regular wood stove, with it's remote, blower, and lights, it's been really easy to use. There's been no issues.

 

Are you installing the stove yourself? If not, can you pay the dealer to install another brand for you? Only asking, because you have limited your field so much that you are missing out on some really great stove choices. Most (all?) stove manufacturers will ship, generally for a pretty reasonable cost.

I have nothing to add regarding the specific choices you have presented.

 

All three are well established brands that have made good stoves. The new 2020 regs mean lots of brand new technology gambles.

Of the three, I would prefer the products from Pacific Energy. Their stoves didn’t need to change much if at all to meet the new regulations so no gamble.

 

Thanks Greg.
I was ignoring other, maybe better, brands on purpose here because I wanted to ask a question about how important a local dealer is. I figured that it was a big enough question that it would be simpler if I asked it as a separate question. I just posted it HERE.

 

I have two Hearthstones.One big the other the bigger.I've had a Pacific Energy stove that didn't work for me.Jotul I have no knowledge of.My Hearthstone One is made to deal with subzero temperatures and it does.They don't make the One anymore however they make the Equinox which is it's replacement.Now there is a gentleman who refurbishes the One in Vermont.He refurbished mine for $1200.00 and it is beautiful plus shipping.This stove weighs close to 800 lbs.On the other hand The Equinox weighs about the same and cost about $ 4000.00 plus shipping.My stove gives me 14 hours of usable heat. Ok that's my two cents .

 

We have had Jotuls in our family starting with my dad in 1976.

I had the F 100 Nordic, F 3 and now F 400 Castine. All were/are blue/black enamel and the finishes have held up very well. I have had really no issues, only rebuilding the Castine as it had some refractory joints crack and pop a little from moving the stove around. It was an easy re-build. I'll stick with Jotul due to parts availability, and their castings are very good. The are solid units.

Like highbeam mentioned, there are the new stoves modified to 2020 regs that we will see how they work. There may be some new old stock stoves out there at dealers if one would want the pre-2020 units.

I did look into the P.E. Alderlea line, and really liked them. I was also thinking of getting a Jotul f 45 or f 50. We are in a different house now and we will see how the Castine does if the install happens in the next month or so.

 

We have a PE Alderlea T 5 for ~5 yr now. Great stove. Burns super clean. Zero problems. FWIW, the cast iron on these is 98% cosmetic. If you you want the same firebox for less $, look at the Vista, Super, Summit line. Same firebox in steel shell.

 

We went with PE. The thing that did it for us was the easy operation, easy maintenance, and the sturdy look. All though it was a spendy install, we find it to be worth the money. We went with a dealer that was 20 miles further away, because the first dealer was just a counter person, that didn't even burn wood !!

 

Thanks coreboy83
What burn times are you getting from your T5? What is the longest burn that you felt safe with? With a non-cat stove do you worry about creosote and long burns?

 

We get ZERO creosote from our T5. We burn dry hardwood and I'm fastidious about my burn cycles. With the T5, in the middle of winter, we run 3 (rarely 4) loads / day. T6/Summitt has a larger firebox and so-called" Extended Burn Technology". If you can fit that in your house, that would be an awesome heater.

 

I still haven't packed "full" of splits, we get 6-8 hours with our mix of Red,White oak and Ash, loaded N S, easy to stoke from coals in the morning. I have no reason to worry about creosote

 

def burns better with a little space at the top.

 

Pacific Energy Alderea T5 & T6 users:

Do you find that the swing-out grates on top are something that you actually use?

 

Beats popping grease all over your stove top if you want/need to cook on it. Gets closer to the heat as well.