I got some questions?

don't know anything about the other stoves but love the way my Mansfield works

Don't know about the clogging of the cats, because we've not seen anything even close. As for replacement costs, $100 every 6 or 7 years doesn't seem that much. For the extra heat you get and the cleaner burning, it is well worth it. btw, I too was afraid of the cat. stoves, until I bought the Woodstock Fireview. It has not been any problem whatsoever.

I've had a 1976 Defiant, A 1986 Encore, and currently a 2003 Hearthstone Heritage. All 3 units are in the same location, same chimney system; so it's been a very
good comparison concerning operation and heat output. The Heritage heats the room better than the previous VC products . It's also simpler to operate; ie. no bypass
damper, only the air input lever. The Heritage also retains heat longer than the cast models. I come down in the morning to a charcoal base and 200 degrees on the stove top thermometer. The cast stoves might have had enough charcoal to get a fire going, but the same thermometer was reading almost room temperature. The Heritage does not get as hot as the cast stoves, but the room stays warmer. This has been verified by daughter who went to college and this winter moved back. She will fall asleep watching TV, wake up at 3:00 am and does not feel cool. She used to do same thing in high school and would wake up cold with last cast stove. I do NOT have a damper in my stackpipe to control the fire in the Heritage, it's simply not needed. The off-season maintenance is to vacuum the secondary air tubes and the so-called "dog house" air opening below the front door inside the firebox. There's no cat to examine, clean, or replace. My wood use wnt from 6-7 cord per year with Defiant, to 4 to 5 cord with both the Encore and the Heritage. I will point out that the Encore's swing out ash pan and the top load capability were great, but I'll gladly give that up for the simpler operation and maintenance, plus the improved heating comfort of the Heritage.

Gas tech

Hi companyman,

A real nice review. I owned a late '70s Defiant in the years past, and loved it for heat output.
Now have a new Encore NC. Appreciate your comments. Thanks for your fine post!

companyman what kind of burn time do you get...just wondering if my new heritage will heat my 1500 sq ft ranch all day while im working...leave at 4:30 am return at 5:00 pm..man I work to much...ZZZim

The Hearthstone non cat Equinox states a 12 hr burn time with a 4 cu ft fire box and my Woodstock Fireview cat actually does that and more with half the firebox volume. I'm sure the Hearthstone puts out more BTU's in the 12 hrs, but it has to, to keep the emissions low for a huge stove. If you use dry wood and have a proper setup, you should have no problems with a cat stove.

Sort of went through the same process a you this past spring and found this site an enormous help! In the end this is sort of how I would summarize my impressions.

1) For 24/7 burning many people (not all)prefer the soapstone stoves for the slower release of heat and gentler nature etc.
2) Some dislike the slower time to warm a cold room of the sopastone and find the steel /cast stoves superior to quickly get the chill out
3) In general people trend to shy away from the cat stoves with two notable exceptions: 1) the woostock fireview and 2) the VC (as the non-cat, "everburn" VC seems to have some performance issues in some installs and or has a steep learning curve.
4) The woodstock has many loyal and happy burners who have no issues with the cat
5)The woodstock requires you to deal with the shipping PU, and install as there is no dealer network - though the company seems quite helpful
6) Soapstone stoves are more expensive; there are a lot of happy englander and pacific customers who paid less and seem to have stoves that they are very happy with
7) styling matters - In the end you are going to be looking @ it for 10-20 years perhaps,
8) if you have a wife her thoughts on styling are even more important
9) try to match the above considerations with the BTU expectations you have for your heating

In the end I chose the Equinnox as we wanted 24/7 burners, we both work so we wanted longer burn/heat times, we have a larger house (2800-3000 sq ft) with a very open floor plan and many windows and could use the high output. Both my wife and I also liked the look of the soapstone. I did not like the price but as former propane heater with a frequntly heat sucking fireplace burning (purely for the "romance" of it), Mr. Propane man was talking over 4K for the spring Pre-buy (prices were higer then but Cmon). I think we will make a pretty big dent in the purchase price in our first year given that all of my wood was cut from the "back 40", and the heat sucking fireplace is now a heat producer.

Hope this helps

Oh and if its for this year - better hustle: Late to get stoves, late to get them installed and very late for dry wood (though you might have this already by the sounds of it)

EDIT: I did not have an in-line damper installed though I saw the same posts. Installers said it wasn't needed but could add it later if I thought I needed it. Haven't gotten a full firbox of flame going yet but so far the stove looks like it shuts down fine without any additional draft restraint.