Decisions Decisions

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Tils23471

New Member
Jun 2, 2013
3
Michigan
So the Mrs & I have decided to purchase a new stove this year as our old one that was given to us had acquired a nice crack toward the end of the season. I have been looking at a few stoves and doing a little research but still up in the air. I was hoping to post the units I have been looking at and hoping for some feedback in regards to them and maybe some comparable products that I may be missing. I will list them in the order I am leaning. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Mike

1. Woodstock Progressive Hybrid
2. Hearthstone Phoenix
3. Vermont Casting Encode 2n1
 
There are lots of happy Progress owners on here, also take a look at the Lopi Cape Cod. It's also a Hybrid stove.
The Woodstock tribe will try their hardest to adopt you, but keep an open mind and weigh all the options. ;)

Steer clear of Vermont Castings, there has too many problems associated with them, in my opinion.
 
If you want some educated answers the people here need a little more information. How are you going to use the stove? Will it be your primary source of heat 24/7? How big of an area do you need to heat? Open floor plan? What climate? How tight is the house?

What stove did you have and were you happy with it before it cracked?

Vermont castings has gone through a few owners recently. At one point their quality dropped but recently they have been pretty good. I have A VC insert and am very happy with it. About a year and a half after install the bearing went on the fan. VC, through its dealer network, took care of the problem in a timely manner.

KaptJaq
 
Welcome to the forum Tils.

Of the 3, for sure I'd pick the Progress.
 
Thanks for the quick responses, I will try to respond as best as possible.
This will be our primary heating source. Our home is roughly 2100 sq/ft and not as open as I would like.
The main potion of our 140 year old home heats well but our kitchen is an addition off of the home and just a doorway to it, so I think whatever stove we go with I'll have to move some air.
I was told by a friend to look at the Blaze King Princess as well.
The stove we have I am not able to figure out the make or model, there are no distinguishable marks. I will attach a photo though. We liked it very much, we would like to have a glass front and a catalytic stove. And I would like to invest in a product that will last a lifetime, not just get me by for 10 years.
Mike
 
The Progress or the Princess either one will do a good job for you. Personally heating that space if I was looking at a Hearthstone I would step up to the Mansfield. But no cat with the Hearthstone stoves.

And with any of them like the designer of my Englander stove told me, "Your grandkids will be burning in that stove.".
 
Mike, that Progress should do just fine. On the movement of the air to get heat to the kitchen, the trick is to use a small desktop fan. Set that little thing in the side of the doorway, set it on the low speed and aim it so you are blowing the cool air out of the kitchen. Cool air is a bit denser than warm air so this will force warm air out of the stove room and into the kitchen. What you blow out has to be replaced and it will be replaced with warmer air.

The Progress for sure would be a lifetime stove.
 
Pic of current stove
 

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Don't know the stove but like the hearth.
 
That looks like an old Franklin stove of some sort. Maybe a Garrison?
Are you putting in a new chimney? Your current set-up is a rear exit.
 
Hey BB, don't forget the Ashford...due in September.

The Progress or the Princess either one will do a good job for you. Personally heating that space if I was looking at a Hearthstone I would step up to the Mansfield. But no cat with the Hearthstone stoves.

And with any of them like the designer of my Englander stove told me, "Your grandkids will be burning in that stove.".
 
Hey BB, don't forget the Ashford...due in September.

I can't wait. I was very impressed with it at the show! It just might be the only stove that would get me away from the Cape Cod. Maybe;)
 
Hey BB, don't forget the Ashford...due in September.

I am still forgetting the Progress until it gets a few burning seasons under its belt.

I was the first one here to go with a 30-NC. But I knew if it was a dud I could drive down to Monroe and stand on a chair and get my hands around Mike's neck. Well, part way around it.

Of course I remember him telling me that if I did that he would come out of the office with a piece of rebar in his hand. !!!
 
Don't forget that the Ashford has been around a few years, disguised as a Chinook. As long as it has taken to get to market from when we first heard about it, I'm pretty confident the cosmetic differences will work out OK.
 
Don't forget that the Ashford has been around a few years, disguised as a Chinook. As long as it has taken to get to market from when we first heard about it, I'm pretty confident the cosmetic differences will work out OK.

Absolutely..... you can bet it has been tested to death
 
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