Due to our excessive draft we are replacing our Clydesdale with one of these stoves. Firebox sizes are very close to one another 2.3 for Heritage, 2.5 for Oslo and 2.4 for Clydesdale. Not sure if the soapstone will heat better/longer than cast. Clyde does a decent job of heating our 2000 sq/ft. and glass stays pretty clean. PH will fit but I would need to extend hearth and raise mantel. Wife does not want me to do it if I do not have to. So we will give one of these a go first as both will fit with no modifications. Looking for a recommendation. I am really torn about which stove to get. Dealer will work with me on the Heritage (due to clyde problems). By the numbers Oslo wins looking at EPA chart Heritage wins. My head honestly hurts trying to figure out which stove to buy. Any help would be appreciated!
This is my second year with the heritage...while its a great stove..works as advertised very easy to control..but jus barely cabable of overnite burns..thats with a big split or round of locust and packed to the gills with another good hardwood..being a tube stove it goes thru the wood..mine usually tops out at around 500-550 @ peak and bout 7-8 hrs later 180-200...honestly i like the stove just not getting the performance out of it that i want, that being said if you dont want to extend the hearth i would go with the woodstock fireview..
My experience with soapstone is that it takes a great deal longer to get the wood stove up to temperature. Once there, it's not hard to maintain. Just depends on the length of time you go between loads. One thing that is nice about soapstone is that even after the fire is out, you still get some residual heat from the stone itself. Personally I'd go up to the Mansfield myself. As Splitoak says, it's a bit of a stretch to get the overnight burns. The Heritage he has is about the same size as the Soapstone II I had.
I would not get the Heritage as I think you would have a thought time with overnight burns. Did you look at the Mansfield as those would be much easier to burn over night with. Personally I would lean towards the Oslo but thats just me.
2000 SF in CT? I would not be jacking around with such tiny stoves. Go 3CF or bigger. Is the Jotul a welded steel firebox with a cast iron cladding or is it old school cast iron with gaskets? They sure look nice.
I need rear vent so the Mansfield is out. Jotul is old school cast. I would load around 5-5:30 in the AM and again around 4:30 PM with the night load around 10 PM and repeat. Both me and the wife work so no one is around to feed it during the day. I only know of three stoves that will fit. Jotul, Hearthstone and Woodstock. We use the stove to heat the main floor mostly and to enjoy the higher temps but the furnace usually comes on during the night when we get into this type of weather. Shoulder season we would be 24/7. Looking to cut back on the amount of dino fuel we use. Wife is worried about the pipes freezing if we heat exclusively with the stove in the new normal winters we have been having these past couple of years.
I would recommend the Oslo. We have had great success with ours. We consistently get 8-9 hour burn times burning a mix of ash, oak, maple. It does a great job heating the main floor of our ranch home with a basement. The main floor is 1900 sq ft.
I had an Oslo new in 2008, for the first 5 years it was an ok heater. I got 7-8 hrs out of a load and it heated the 1800 sq ft that I have fairly well. The negatives came along soon after. Knowing there were heaters out there that could give me 10+ hr burns for the same money caught my attention and the lst 2 yrs I had the Oslo I had burning problems with getting a 6 hr load. I replaced all the gaskets, replaced the sliding air damper and could never find the problem. The last issue was not getting enough coals in the morning to start the morning reload, I was starting a cold fire most mornings. That also got old fast. Long story short, I sold the Oslo last summer and bought a new Woodstock IS.
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the PH is out. Did a mock size and it is just too big where it would be. Worked out a trade with the dealer on the heritage but am waiting for him to get back to me. Tried to contact him a few times and have not heard back from him. It is looking more like the Oslo. Anyone know of other stoves that rear vent and can fit under a 27" lintel? Edit: Going colorblind Heritage does not burn hotter but more efficient according to the EPA chart.
