Hearthstone Homestead or Woodstock Fireview??

Welcome

I chose the homestead. I love it!

You'll get a lot of replies from people who have had great experiences with both. You probably can't go wrong with either, assuming that they are sized correctly for your home.

When sizing the stove, assume that the square footage heating is for average house insulation or better. My house was below average and I spent a lot of this year getting it up to average.

If you want an overnight burn, 2 cu ft firebox seems the minimum.

The homestead covers me for 24/7 burning 1650 sq ft. If the temps are 20F +, I do very well. Under that, I need a quick blast of natural gas heat in the morning to help me catch up.

Read as much as you can. Many people here know as much or more about our particular stove than some of the stove dealers out there . Probably because we are boarderline obsessed with wood burning.

I love soapstone’s ability to hold heat. I, too, weighed the 2 stoves.

The homestead vents directly out my fireplace. Cats seem to be sensitive to what can burn through them (Others that know will correct me if I’m wrong). Although you shouldn’t burn anything treated with chemicals, a noncat is less fussy if you mess up with the odd piece of scrap lumber . . . I like burning pallet wood during the shoulder seasons. Although I have no direct experience, based on what people have said, cats seem to need replacing every 4-6 years.

The homestead’s low clearances are definitely a plus. I recommend the 6 inch legs over the 4 inch to help with the under the stove clearance.

For both, get the manuals online and compare . . . DON’T go by the brochures, some of those stats, although close, are incorrect.

Good luck.

First season with the Homestead. Very good stove and no problems. (Hadn't heard of the Woodstock stoves until later.) I'm heating the house 24/7 - have used oil furnace about 30 minutes so far. We are both home and can reload as needed. When doing a cold start it still takes me 45 min. to get heat. I'll be better prepared for the shoulder months next year. I also vent directly into my fireplace. Probably agree with all Clown's points. Do your homework for your particular situation then enjoy whichever stove you go with.

One of the guys I teach with had a Heritage for 5 or 6 yrs. He liked it a lot but wanted longer burn times. He put an addition on last year and put in a mansfield before winter. He really enjoys good overnight burns now. I ordered a Fireview last week for our new house thats (slowly)being built. I like the long clean burns and set it and go operation that every owner on here has posted about. I have never read one even slightly negative review on any woodstock stoves. They seem to be perfect for 24/7 burning. I'll know better next winter.
Good luck

The part I don't understand is when you (clown) posted, "If the temps are 20F +, I do very well. Under that, I need a quick blast of natural gas heat in the morning to help me catch up." Wow! If I needed a quick blast of natural gas heat I'd be quickly looking for another stove!

20 degrees is not that cold and we really have to tone our stove down when it gets over 20 degrees! Our Fireview is the only source of heat we have in the house and we don't even need a shot of other heat when the temperature is below zero and the wind is 30 mph outside. We stay nice and toasty with no problem.

As for the cat. needing replacing every 6 or 7 years, at $100 that is not expensive and what you get by having that cat., it is well worth it in every way. I was a little shy of it when we were looking to replace our old stove and tried to stay away from a cat. stove. Now I'm glad we have it and if we were to buy another I would definitely be looking for a stove with a cat.

In the long run though, get what you will be most comfortable with. Hearthstone and Woodstock are both good stoves.

Backwoods says: ""The part I don’t understand is when you (clown) posted, “If the temps are 20F +, I do very well. Under that, I need a quick blast of natural gas heat in the morning to help me catch up.” Wow! If I needed a quick blast of natural gas heat I’d be quickly looking for another stove!

20 degrees is not that cold and we really have to tone our stove down when it gets over 20 degrees! Our Fireview is the only source of heat we have in the house and we don’t even need a shot of other heat when the temperature is below zero and the wind is 30 mph outside. We stay nice and toasty with no problem. ""


In the morning when the overnight low is, say, 15F, I find that running the gas for 30-40 minutes helps me. Typically the main living area is 65-68 F, but the kitchen (poorly insulated so far) and the upstairs is usually in the low 60s. Wife likes it higher, so we run a bit of gas in the morning on the weekends. The stove could do it, but the gas can bump us up in 1/3 to 1/4 the time. I think that part of my issue is taking care of insulation gaps in my 1920 house. This winter I probably spent 50 hours getting cellulose into old walls and adding fiberglass batts under the floor, plus a bit of tightening in the attic. It helped a lot, but I could do more.

That's great that your stove works so well for you. I wish I had that, but I'd still rate the Hearthstone for my set up as a B+/A-. Above 20F is great. Now I'll add insulation as I remodel. In time maybe I'll get to an A-/A.

Hey, why does my last post say 6:31 p.m? It's 12:30 p.m. here.

Clownfish99 said:

Hey, why does my last post say 6:31 p.m? It's 12:30 p.m. here.

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That's because you got up so early this morning. Daylight savings time makes a big difference! lol

No doubt the insulation will make a difference. To be fair also, one of us usually is up sometime during the night and will throw an extra log or two on the fire. It is still well into the 70's when we get up. Sometimes even warmer than that!

Yesterday we did not put wood in the stove until around 5:00 pm and were about roasted out all day long. Temperature got almost to 40 and sunny with no wind. Makes a big difference.

Yes, daytime outdoor highs in the 40s are great! House is 76-82 in the main living areas, 70-72 in cooler spots.

Clownfish99 said:

Yes, daytime outdoor highs in the 40s are great! House is 76-82 in the main living areas, 70-72 in cooler spots.

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Clown...tell me what kind of wood you are burning and what your typical burn is like ie. fill firebox full two or three times, or smaller splits more often or?? Our daytime temps are a little higher than your and I'd like to get a little more heat from the stove, but I'm also trying to conserve on wood(even though I have 10 cord stored up) Guess I remember all the work it took to get it to that point and don't want to use it any quicker than necessary.

I've burned both stoves and I have to say the Fireview wins hands down for me. I go through less wood, have longer burns, and warmer house temps with the Fireview. The Homestead isn't a bad stove, but I thought it was just a bit too small for what I needed it to do.

We have the homestead also, and are very happy with it. We are heating 1000sq. ft. of well insulated ranch style house, it is the only source of heat at this time as the furnace quit last spring, it's a well built easy to operate stove and I would highly recommend it. With that being said the woodstock looks like it is probably a better stove, longer burns, less wood, and I have never read a complaint about any of their products. The only drawback is the clearance issues, also on the homestead add 2-3 inches on the minimum clearances listed, because at the min. the wall temperature will be at the maximum allowable, 117 deg. plus ambient, 117+ 80=197 that was a little too hot for me last year so I moved the stove out another 3in on the side and 2 on the rear, and temps are much lower.

bcnu-

I hear you about conserving wood.

I misestimated how much wood I would need (this is my first season with a stove). Now I am burning pallets and scrap wood . . . all unstained, no glue etc. It's free and already seasoned, unless it has been caught in the rain.

I scrounge for wood, so I get all types, but for NEXT YEAR I have 1 cord of sugar maple, 1/2 cord of white birch, 1/2 cord of white & red pine, and 2 cords of misc. I'll probably also keep about 20-25 broken up pallets as well for next year.

In general, I find the stove produces excellent heat with a stove top temp above 500F, solid heat above 400F, and maintains the house temp at 300F.

A ceiling fan in my living room, where stove is, circulates the air.

If it is really cold out, and I'm home, it makes sense to reload between 325-350F stove top temp. I have found that letting the wood char for 5 minutes with the air 1/2 or 3/4 open and THEN closing all the way makes a HUGE difference in keeping the temp up. This is easy with a stove temp in teh 300s.

On days like today (when the outdoor high is in the 40s), I can let the stove go down to 200F before a 3/4 fill with pallets. We are more than warm in this scenario. In fact, sometimes, I don't refill until 100 because the house will get too warm.

Hope this helps.

Clownfish, do not assume that all pallets have seasoned wood. In fact, most pallets are put together with very green wood. I've been at several places where pallets are made and green wood is all they use! I've received many deliveries with pallets that are so green I'd be afraid to burn them in a stove. So you might watch them pretty close and maybe even treat them like you do your regular burning wood.

I'm also not sure why I keep reading about clearance issues with Woodstock vs. Hearthstone. What are the clearances with the Hearthstone stoves?

Thanks Clownfish. I'm pretty much on track with what you are doing except that I (can) rarely get the stove above the low 400's. I agree that 500* would really put out the heat.

Backwoods,

Good point. All pallets are not seasoned. I test with a moisture meter before breakup. Often, the very grey pallets are also all set. Pallets are helping me to get through to the rest of the year. Some days I get sick of breaking them up. Next year I will be better prepared.


bcnu,

Why do you think that you can not get to 500F? What do you think that we do differently?

Clownfish, have you considered taking a chain saw to those pallets? Seems like it would be fast but then you would have to pick out the nails from the ash, but a good magnet would do that for you.


bcnu, I agree. Why can't you get your stove to 500 degrees? Are you leaving the draft wide open? If so, 80% of your heat will go straight up the chimney. How can we help? You definitely need to do something different.

Backwoods, tried a chainsaw and tried a mallet.

Now I use a sawsall on the pallets. Pallet goes on the ground, I stand ontop and rip down either side of the center piece. Then I rip the planks off with my hands. The 2x4 supports then get cut into 3. I'm pretty efficient now. I get banged up a bit, but not too bad.

I want to get a magnet, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Primary Air Lever - if anything, I probably shut it down too soon. I pretty much follow what I've read; wide open to char the splits, reduce air to half or less, then I usually close all the way. So I'm not losing ground on heating the chimney.

Wood - I may have some that was a bit damp - but also had some oak that was cut and split for over a year. All the stuff I have stored for next season will be in great shape so that may make some diffeence. But again, even with the oak I can only think of two times when she reached 490-500* - a few 450* which I thought was mighty good, but a firebox full of good stuff usually got me to the 420 range. I'm not complaining, but I can see that a 450-500* stove wll make us more comfortable. My Doug Fir , which will burn hotter/quicker wasn't ready this season but will be for next. I'll see how using it in the mix helps the temps.

Stove Set Up - I'm venting directly into my fireplace, then a 90 degree that goes straight up for 17 feet with a SS liner, inside a masonry chimney on an inside wall. Getting a good draft isn't a problem and I don't think it's overdrafting. It was a Heat-a-lator so had a professional do the work.

Thermometer - I'm using a Condar Chimguard that I bought from a stove place and I keep it on the top center . I assume it's pretty accurate.

I can't think of many other variables - so assume it's how I get the fire going and the quaility of what I'm using.

Back to the original post, what are you going to or did you buy?>

swestall said:

Back to the original post, what are you going to or did you buy?>

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Oops, another hijacked post. Yes, be sure to let us know what you get - and next burning season be sure to let us know how it's working for you. On the other hand, they expect snow here in western Oregon tomorrow, and I talked with my friend in PA today and it was 11*... so maybe you can still get the stove going this season!

We got snow this morning in the puget sound lowlands. Heritage cranking at 425 when I left.