Hello all I'm new here but have read stuff from these forums numerous times. Very good information here.
Thought I would take some time to review my woodstove. I purchased a freestanding Hearthstone Homestead three years ago after deciding that having some sort of alternative heat would be wise. After much searching and looking at various stoves I absolutely fell in love with the Hearthstone line of stoves. I felt the Homestead would be the best fit for our 2100 sq. ft. split entry home as it wasn't too big and should, I felt, keep the basement (always cold) warm. Well I've now had some experience with this stove and while it's not perfect, it's darn good and when we leave this home it will go with us.
As I said I live in a split entry home built in 2001 and I placed my stove on a homebuilt hearth pad in the basement living room. After installation and acquiring my first load of Ash I assumed that the stove would just be able to provide supplemental heat and that I would still have to heat primarily with my NG furnace. My first winter, though mild, proved otherwise. When the stove is running I do not need the furnace at all and all rooms in the house are cozy both up and down. Obviously the basement living room is the warmest, but I can even out the temperature even more by running just the furnace fan and option I rarely do. There was some learning that had to occur on my part before I really started burning right. I grew up with old inefficient stoves so I was shocked that when the stove was burning correctly there was no visible smoke from the stove pipe. When I first noticed this I ran back inside quickly because I thought something had gone wrong. The second thing I learned is that this stove likes to get good and hot (that is hot for a soapstone) before you turn it down to low before bed. After a few blacked glass episodes I got wise to this, kind of embarrassing looking back. Also this stove will puff smoke when opening the door, it just does and I think it is because of the path the smoke has to take to go out of the stove. I learned to obviously burn only seasoned wood, properly kindle and only load the stove when the fire has burned down to bright red coals. Doing this has taken care of 90% of the puffing. The simple and reliable "reburn" system works as advertised and I prefer it over the catalytic models as I think simple is better and I don't want to buy replacements even if it is only every 10 years. The ash pan is, well, a joke. Anyone seriously heating with this stove as I am will simply ignore it and shovel ash once a week or so.
As stated this little stove easily heats our entire home even when it is well below zero out. This winter is hardly mild so I am burning more than I have in the past, still I believe I will be just shy of a 3 cord year. I'm quite happy with that consumption. All and all I would highly recommend Hearthstone for their beauty, efficiency and build quality. Soapstone really is something to behold. Additionally the Homestead is their cleanest burning 1.9 grams/hr and most efficient model 83.5%. I fully realize that these numbers aren't achieved every time you stoke a fire but it is reassuring that I am being as responsible with my fuel as possible. Having beautiful alternative heat that is independent from the grid and that we can cook on makes me very comfortable and it has become my families favorite spot to gather.
Thought I would take some time to review my woodstove. I purchased a freestanding Hearthstone Homestead three years ago after deciding that having some sort of alternative heat would be wise. After much searching and looking at various stoves I absolutely fell in love with the Hearthstone line of stoves. I felt the Homestead would be the best fit for our 2100 sq. ft. split entry home as it wasn't too big and should, I felt, keep the basement (always cold) warm. Well I've now had some experience with this stove and while it's not perfect, it's darn good and when we leave this home it will go with us.
As I said I live in a split entry home built in 2001 and I placed my stove on a homebuilt hearth pad in the basement living room. After installation and acquiring my first load of Ash I assumed that the stove would just be able to provide supplemental heat and that I would still have to heat primarily with my NG furnace. My first winter, though mild, proved otherwise. When the stove is running I do not need the furnace at all and all rooms in the house are cozy both up and down. Obviously the basement living room is the warmest, but I can even out the temperature even more by running just the furnace fan and option I rarely do. There was some learning that had to occur on my part before I really started burning right. I grew up with old inefficient stoves so I was shocked that when the stove was burning correctly there was no visible smoke from the stove pipe. When I first noticed this I ran back inside quickly because I thought something had gone wrong. The second thing I learned is that this stove likes to get good and hot (that is hot for a soapstone) before you turn it down to low before bed. After a few blacked glass episodes I got wise to this, kind of embarrassing looking back. Also this stove will puff smoke when opening the door, it just does and I think it is because of the path the smoke has to take to go out of the stove. I learned to obviously burn only seasoned wood, properly kindle and only load the stove when the fire has burned down to bright red coals. Doing this has taken care of 90% of the puffing. The simple and reliable "reburn" system works as advertised and I prefer it over the catalytic models as I think simple is better and I don't want to buy replacements even if it is only every 10 years. The ash pan is, well, a joke. Anyone seriously heating with this stove as I am will simply ignore it and shovel ash once a week or so.
As stated this little stove easily heats our entire home even when it is well below zero out. This winter is hardly mild so I am burning more than I have in the past, still I believe I will be just shy of a 3 cord year. I'm quite happy with that consumption. All and all I would highly recommend Hearthstone for their beauty, efficiency and build quality. Soapstone really is something to behold. Additionally the Homestead is their cleanest burning 1.9 grams/hr and most efficient model 83.5%. I fully realize that these numbers aren't achieved every time you stoke a fire but it is reassuring that I am being as responsible with my fuel as possible. Having beautiful alternative heat that is independent from the grid and that we can cook on makes me very comfortable and it has become my families favorite spot to gather.
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