HI300 - Enamel or not

I have not put any chips in mine the ashlip will scratch easy if not careful but no chips. Go for the enamel people walk in my house and are blown away by the look of this insert it is very easy on the eyes. Remember you will be looking at it all year round even when not burning wood.

I have an Hampton HI300 in the enamel brown and am very pleased with the look. I have not had any chipping or scratches as of yet but you do need to be careful.

My wife is the budget conscious one in the family, so she liked the lower price of the black one. I don't think the brown enamel would have looked good with the decor of the room, so we were agreed. I suspect that the lip of the enameled one would wipe down and look cleaner than the cast iron black. Does it matter to you? My wife doesn't automatically get her way on design decisions, but she does if I'm indifferent.

I also have the enamel wood stove of the Hampton (brown). Get it. Hasn't chipped and has been very durable. Center point of room.

I chose the cast iron, just based on how it goes with our house. The enameled ones that I've seen seem surprisingly durable.

I have the enamel timberline brown and love it. Easy to wipe down and keep clean, and don't have to worry about rust. I do have a few chips, but they're more due to operator error... :red: They do give you a little bottle of touchup paint if needed.

lsirois said:

I did end up getting the enamel version and wow....what a nice stove! Thanks for the advice!

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You won't be dissappointed. I got the brown enamel on my H300 and I have hit it with the poker, had some flames hitting the enamel briefly when starting fires when I open the door and it does no damage. I've had embers fall on the lip for maybe 5 seconds and no damage. This isn't to say that at one point in time I'm not gonna chip the thing, but I can definitely tell you it's much more durable than you might think even though it looks so sexy.

Enjoy that puppy, and send pics! Oh, and get busy with your wood supply......

Enjoy it we love ours.

We dropped an extra $500 on stainless steel for our microwave,, I mean stove,,, and it was the BEST decision we made. Mind you, I have seen some basic steel stoves match the decor really well also -- I'd recommend going for it if the room "needs it" to compliment it, etc.