Can any give me some detail about these stoves
Are they the best type of stove and will last the longest
Are they the best type of stove and will last the longest
soapstone stove
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Best for what? They last as well as they are treated and get cared for, but don't last particularly longer than other stoves. If you like the look of them and want a stove with good mass they can be a nice choice.
webbie
Seasoned Moderator
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Just my impression, but it seems like the main attractions for soapstone are looks and thermal mass. Looks speaks for itself. Those stoves are very pretty. Soapstone is very dense and has a large heat capacity and holds a lot of heat. So when those stone slabs are added to the stove, they tend to warm up slowly and continue to radiate heat longer, and the radiant heat feels "softer" compared with the more intense heat of an all-steel stove.
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It is easy to get into arguments about which type of stove is best.
There are many excellent stoves made in the USA and Canada, soapstone, iron and steel.
They are all slightly different in their esthetics and manner of heating.
That said, if you get a high quality soapstone stove, you are getting an excellent stove. My personal experience is with Woodstock's product.
Woodstock's stoves will last your lifetime. They require little maintenance, and that which they do require is easy, as well as inexpensive. The company has excellent customer service. Six days a week, an experienced employee is a phone call away. If you ever have a question the person you are speaking with cannot answer, they go to the owner or the engineers for answers. The stoves are lovely, are easy to run, miserly in wood consumption, and produce a very soft heat that feels like the sun shining on you. They have long burn times, and the burns are easy to control. The stovetops can all be used as cooking surfaces. Their largest stove, the PH, has a built in cooktop with three elements, all different temperatures. The stoves are fairly small, but crank out a lot of heat. The mass of the soapstone absorbs a lot of heat, and slowly releases it over a long time, evening out the heat produced by the stove. The glass windows stay clear, and they also (as do all glass windows) let a lot of heat come out of the stove to heat the room while the stone is warming. The fires are beautiful to watch.
For quality of construction, ease of use and maintenance, heat production for firebox size, efficiency, customer service, and comfortable heat, these stoves are superb. You are unlikely to be dissatisfied with a Woodstock stove.
However, if for ANY reason you are, or need to return the stove, the company will take the stove back anytime up to six months after the sale, and refund you the entire purchase price of the stove.
I don't think there are better stoves than Woodstocks, nor do I think there are stoves that will last longer.
That is not to say there are not other excellent stoves, that will last a lifetime as well. Different stoves have different strong points. A Woodstock stove will easily keep putting significant heat out all night long. It will give you clear glass with a beautiful fire view. It will look nice in your home. Because it transfers heat more slowly than cast iron or steel, it will take longer for the body of the stove to heat, but it will also radiate heat longer. It will not burn for 30 to 40 hours at an extreme low rate, as a Blaze King will, so if you live in an area that has primarily mild burning days, and/or you are out of the home over 24 hours at a time frequently, you may want a Blaze King. However, it will burn at a rate producing slightly over 10,000 BTUs an hour on a low burn, and during mild weather one such a low burn with a small amount of wood per day will usually heat your home sufficiently.
Most of the surface of Woodstock stoves is soapstone. Because it radiates heat so slowly, you are very unlikely to get a burn on the stove. You can put your hand briefly on very hot soapstone and not get a burn. The stoves are also great for drying hats, mitts, scarves, boots, and even all your wash if draped overnight on a clothes horse in front of the stove. They have no blowers so their heating is not impaired by power outages. Extra slabs of soapstone on top of the stoves can be used as handwarmer when you are out (they can keep a spare pair of gloves/mitts toasty warm in your pocket for exchange on a very cold day), as bootwarmers for your boots before you go out, as bedwarmers for your beds: they stay warm all night in the bed. Nothing cosier than a warm bed in a pleasantly cool bedroom..
Woodstock stoves are constructed of two layers of soapstone. They are heavy. Their Progress Hybrid is a hybrid steel/soapstone cat/secondary stove.
The catalytic converters are very easy to clean...usually only needed once a season...and last many years. They end up costing about 25 dollars a year, I think, but cat stoves save way more than that much wood each year, which converts to less work and less loading, longer burns and wider range of burn times, and a wider range of burn temperatures (wider range if heat output).
There are many excellent stoves made in the USA and Canada, soapstone, iron and steel.
They are all slightly different in their esthetics and manner of heating.
That said, if you get a high quality soapstone stove, you are getting an excellent stove. My personal experience is with Woodstock's product.
Woodstock's stoves will last your lifetime. They require little maintenance, and that which they do require is easy, as well as inexpensive. The company has excellent customer service. Six days a week, an experienced employee is a phone call away. If you ever have a question the person you are speaking with cannot answer, they go to the owner or the engineers for answers. The stoves are lovely, are easy to run, miserly in wood consumption, and produce a very soft heat that feels like the sun shining on you. They have long burn times, and the burns are easy to control. The stovetops can all be used as cooking surfaces. Their largest stove, the PH, has a built in cooktop with three elements, all different temperatures. The stoves are fairly small, but crank out a lot of heat. The mass of the soapstone absorbs a lot of heat, and slowly releases it over a long time, evening out the heat produced by the stove. The glass windows stay clear, and they also (as do all glass windows) let a lot of heat come out of the stove to heat the room while the stone is warming. The fires are beautiful to watch.
For quality of construction, ease of use and maintenance, heat production for firebox size, efficiency, customer service, and comfortable heat, these stoves are superb. You are unlikely to be dissatisfied with a Woodstock stove.
However, if for ANY reason you are, or need to return the stove, the company will take the stove back anytime up to six months after the sale, and refund you the entire purchase price of the stove.
I don't think there are better stoves than Woodstocks, nor do I think there are stoves that will last longer.
That is not to say there are not other excellent stoves, that will last a lifetime as well. Different stoves have different strong points. A Woodstock stove will easily keep putting significant heat out all night long. It will give you clear glass with a beautiful fire view. It will look nice in your home. Because it transfers heat more slowly than cast iron or steel, it will take longer for the body of the stove to heat, but it will also radiate heat longer. It will not burn for 30 to 40 hours at an extreme low rate, as a Blaze King will, so if you live in an area that has primarily mild burning days, and/or you are out of the home over 24 hours at a time frequently, you may want a Blaze King. However, it will burn at a rate producing slightly over 10,000 BTUs an hour on a low burn, and during mild weather one such a low burn with a small amount of wood per day will usually heat your home sufficiently.
Most of the surface of Woodstock stoves is soapstone. Because it radiates heat so slowly, you are very unlikely to get a burn on the stove. You can put your hand briefly on very hot soapstone and not get a burn. The stoves are also great for drying hats, mitts, scarves, boots, and even all your wash if draped overnight on a clothes horse in front of the stove. They have no blowers so their heating is not impaired by power outages. Extra slabs of soapstone on top of the stoves can be used as handwarmer when you are out (they can keep a spare pair of gloves/mitts toasty warm in your pocket for exchange on a very cold day), as bootwarmers for your boots before you go out, as bedwarmers for your beds: they stay warm all night in the bed. Nothing cosier than a warm bed in a pleasantly cool bedroom..
Woodstock stoves are constructed of two layers of soapstone. They are heavy. Their Progress Hybrid is a hybrid steel/soapstone cat/secondary stove.
The catalytic converters are very easy to clean...usually only needed once a season...and last many years. They end up costing about 25 dollars a year, I think, but cat stoves save way more than that much wood each year, which converts to less work and less loading, longer burns and wider range of burn times, and a wider range of burn temperatures (wider range if heat output).
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
The two main companies with soapstone are Hearthstone and Woodstock. Before buying we looked hard at each one and on a couple different sizes of stoves. Long story short is that we bought from Woodstock and have been very happy since.
When we were in the market the last time for a stove, we had also heard some horror stories about cat stoves so right away had a bit of fear about them. However, the Woodstock reputation and the six month guarantee were two of the big factors in our choosing them. In addition, we talked to some Woodstock owners and were convinced.
We are sort of lucky in that we have owned several stoves and we can compare our old stove to the present Woodstock Fireview. The big benefits are at least a 50% reduction in wood needed plus keeping our house much, much warmer. We also have not had any chimney problems and have cleaned our chimney with a brush only one time and that was after using the stove the first 2 winters. That was 4 years ago. We did remove the cap from the tee this summer and got between a pint and a quart of ash that had fell. No need for a brush yet.
Incidently, we heat 100% with our Fireview and all winter long we keep the house temperature at 80 degrees or more. We burn about 3 cord of wood per year.
To see the Woodstock line, go to: www.woodstove.com or call 800-866-4344
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
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