Hearth stone brand stoves?

Just wondering, does anyone here own a hearthstone stove. They seem nice and high quality and I love the soapstone

 

I have a Hearthstone Shelburne, though it has no soapstone if that is what your after. Not using it anymore though, after just a season of use I could tell it couldn't cut the mustard so its shelved right now, almost brand spanking new.

 

Was it not making enough heat for your sq. footage? How did it do on wood consumption?

 

Good friend, has hearth stone heritage.. compared them to the Woodstock before my purchase. She has 1400 sq. foot ranch above average insulation. burns 4 cord year. uses oil in shoulder season as wood gets it to hot. Is pretty which model are you looking at?

 

Yeah it was a bit undersized. Plus burn time wasn't quite as good as I hoped. Some of that was probably influenced by a less than ideal draft with the chimney I was using. There were some other reasons too but I opted to try out a pellet stove in place of the Shelburne. Great looking stove and great quality from what I can tell. But completely different from there soapstone models.

 

I'm using a Heritage. 2.3 cubic foot in 1550 sq feet. On the coldest days, I wish I had a Mansfield for a little extra btu. Soapstone and castings are nicer looking than Woodstock as I own a Woodstock gas too. I'm happy with mine, but I have no other wood fired stove to compare it to.

 

Keweenaw, the Shelburne is a 2 cubic foot stove and new is $2200.. the heritage is 3.2 cubic feet and is about $3500.. Having used both She had it installed professionally and year 1 came back to do a chimney clean in straight up install and broke tube on top of stove. I guess I prefer the cat to tubes.. But that could just be me

I live in Vermont, Hearthstone, Harmon (pellet) and VT Castings are all made here. Kind of explains why 1 in 5 Vermonters heat with wood.. I won't put it down... but my experience is hearthstone stated time of burn I would say is best case scenario. where Woodstock is easily achievable.

 

I just replaced my Hearthstone Harvest (25 years of use) with a Woodstock Fireview. Both stoves have about the same firebox size (2.2 cf). My old Hearthstone was a cat stove, but some time ago Hearthstone stopped offering a cat stove. I too love soapstone but also like the clean burn offered by a cat stove at lower burn rates. Also wanted to be able to hold a fire overnight and the Hearthstone just could not do this. Getting 25 years out of anything is pretty good. I did look at Hearthstone when I was doing my stove search, but after reading so many high reviews for the Fireview and with burn times no greater than 8 hours (for the Hearthstones), it was pretty clear for me which direction to go.

If you don't want a cat stove, I think Hearthstone is your only soapstone option as Woodstock does not offer a secondary combustion only stove.

 

I didn't buy my stove new. They are around used. Ideal Steel had a good sale going prior to now. Not sure if it's still $2295.

I still would look for used

 

I was looking at the heritage, I've also been looking at the Woodstock fireview. I'm struggling with if I want to go with a cat stove or not. The long burn times and lower wood consumption are appealing on the fv but I've read some posts here that make them seem high maintenance. I really don't want to worry about the stove operating properly, even if it means I burn an extra cord a year and have to wake up to feed it.

 

What temp are " the coldest days" and how is your house laid out? I've got 1000 sq. ft on two floors

 

I would suggest that you get what appeals to you regardless of what others suggest. It will be your stove and you will be running it. If 100 people say Fireview and only 1 (you) says Heritage, the answer is Heritage. I have always found it odd that so many people want others to buy the stove they own. I think it is most important you get the stove you want for the reasons you want.

I really liked my Hearthstone even though I could not hold an overnight fire for the last 20 years (stove really needed a rebuild but there was nobody in MI to do it). It heated our house all but the very coldest days, it looked good and I had an attachment to it. It did not matter that it had some flaws (smoke spillage, I was constantly patching it, a few dings, etc.), it served me well and I was fine with it. In my case, one of the key parts failed and a replacement was not available, so it was time for a change. Now that I have the Fireview, I wish I had upgraded earlier, but hey, that is water under the bridge and my time machine is out of order.

 

The cat and screen need dusted occasionally (couple/few times per season). Very simple on the FV. Hinge the top open and pick up the cat. Dust it and the screen. Set the cat back in and close the top. 2 min job.
Cat maintenance ease varies by design. Mine probably takes 10 min.
Also, maybe spray the cat off with vinegar and water every 2-3 years.

 

If that's all that is required then I don't see any reason not to go with the fv. How long does the cat last and how much would it cost to replace?

 

Well, I have only had mine since this May, so I may not be as qualified as others here. But, I'm not sure where the high maintenance idea comes from. Cleaning my old stove's cat was a cursing experience; with the Fireview it is simply lift the lid, lift out he cat and brush it with a paint brush. I use my vacuum to clean out any fly ash from the scoop below the cat and the screen that allows the smoke into the cat. I do reach through the load door to use my paint brush to brush off the exterior of the same screen. Check the gaskets using dollar bill test and that is it. Others with more years of service can better answer; perhaps they will post once they have seen the thread.