We have a Hearthstone Castleton soapstone stove. We love it!! This is our second full year with it and we're using it more and more on a continual basis. Which brings me to my question; Is there any data on the life expectancy of a soapstone stove based on usage?
The stone itself could last forever if it's not abused. Woodstock has one burning in there showroom that's 100+ (I think) years old. The seams will have to be resealed occasionally. Some internal cast iron, and other, parts will have to be replaced as the years go by.
As long as you don't beat them up and perform a dry out break in burn annually it should last forever. 6 years of my only heat source and the stones show no signs of deterioration. I've broken the ceramic baffle, in haste after a chimney sweep. I have new parts for the handle/latch mechanism which is probably the main weak point. If you haven't done it yet put some Loctite on the handle setscrew, it can work out over time and strip the threads on the latch and handle
I just replaced my Hearthstone Harvest this May after 25 years. It needed to be rebuilt, but there was no one who could do it locally and many of the parts were no longer available. The stone was great, but the mortar and some of the cast pieces needed replacing.
We had a Soap Stone II from Hearthstone and my dad bought in the late 70's. We ran it until the end of the heating season 2o13/2014. The stone itself was in great shape, and I wanted to get it repacked. After talking to the same dealer my dad bought the stove from originally, they informed me that they could reseal it for about $500. However; he went on to tell me that if anything broke along the way, they'd need to have the piece fabricated as they don't have new parts to replace the broken one with. His best guess would be $1500+. I was talked out of another soap stone stove, and we purchased the Lennox. Don't get me wrong, it's a good stove, but the heat is much different. The soap stone produced a nice even soft heat. The Lennox produces a strong over power heat.
One more comment Dave. As the interior of the soapstone stoves are cast iron, you have to watch out that you do not over fire the wood stove.
