It's been an epic journey that has lasted almost a year. My 30 yr old VC had to be replaced as it needed a complete rebuild and I looked at a TON of options and visited 6 or more dealers plus spoke to 3 different mfgs. I took a real good look at a Summit but it just was not my thing. I was about to plunk $$ on the Woodstock IS until I found out it wasn't certified for Canada. A BK King was in the top 2 choices but the cost was out of reach.
I spent a long time researching masonry heaters after someone here posted some incredible photos. I fell in love but the price was just too much and the hurdle of getting it certified if I built it myself was too much of a risk. In Ont., if you don't have it certified with a WETT inspector, you don't have home insurance. Many calls and arguments with WETT forced me to drop that option.
Finally I discovered an almost new Hearthstone Equinox at an incredible price. We spent quite a few hours driving to see it, then pick it up. It was a monster to get on the trailer!
The install meant relocating from where the VC was to take better advantage of the heat in the stove pipe which in turn meant building a stone wall. I was NOT going to run 8" black stove pipe all the way up a white wall that's 16+ ft.high. I know everyone does it but I think it's just plain UGLY. So, a few months of searching for the perfect stone veneer at a super cheap price, then wet sawing it and installing it on scaffolding. Tons of fun!
We wanted a nice soapstone hearth but after many calls, found out that would set me back as much as the stove cost. Not an option. Then a member here (Thislilfishy) posted about building a soapstone hearth and he had some left over. - thanks for the help Ian
. We drove up to see Ian that night and thought either his tractor was going to roll over or my trailer would collapse from the weight. We made it home and spent a long time cutting the soapstone and re- polishing it.
We spent 4 weeks waiting for all the 8" Ultra Black to finally come in. A lot of stuff is back ordered this winter! After a whole lot of swearing and risking life and limb, the ceiling adapter was installed and the stove pipe finally put in place on the weekend.
Last piece was to get the stove off the cart it's been sitting on for months. The Equinox weighs a TON. A 4 ton car jack and 4 people managed to slide it on the hearth and viola - it was almost done.
Oh ya, I forgot the day I spent installing the OAK. I know the argument but I decided that fresh air was imperative for our house. Drilling a 4" hole through cement stucco is not fun if you're too cheap to rent the drill and diamond blade ($55).
So, we did a few modest fires and there was almost no paint smell, even though I did touch up paint on all the pipe that got scuffed during install. We may get some yet as I haven't pushed the stove over 450.
Bottom line is this - even with a modest fire of 400 running, this stove puts out a TON OF HEAT! It's 11:00 pm and I opened the window again. It's almost 75
in here! My wife's comment was that we're burning no more wood than we would have with the old VC but getting a LOT more heat. I was already thinking the same thing. I expected to be burning much more, given the 4 cu ft firebox but that seems to be the truth. Time will tell.
I will post some more photos and some info on performance as soon as I get a chance. Have to finish the woodshed before winter!
Doug
I spent a long time researching masonry heaters after someone here posted some incredible photos. I fell in love but the price was just too much and the hurdle of getting it certified if I built it myself was too much of a risk. In Ont., if you don't have it certified with a WETT inspector, you don't have home insurance. Many calls and arguments with WETT forced me to drop that option.
Finally I discovered an almost new Hearthstone Equinox at an incredible price. We spent quite a few hours driving to see it, then pick it up. It was a monster to get on the trailer!
The install meant relocating from where the VC was to take better advantage of the heat in the stove pipe which in turn meant building a stone wall. I was NOT going to run 8" black stove pipe all the way up a white wall that's 16+ ft.high. I know everyone does it but I think it's just plain UGLY. So, a few months of searching for the perfect stone veneer at a super cheap price, then wet sawing it and installing it on scaffolding. Tons of fun!
We wanted a nice soapstone hearth but after many calls, found out that would set me back as much as the stove cost. Not an option. Then a member here (Thislilfishy) posted about building a soapstone hearth and he had some left over. - thanks for the help Ian
. We drove up to see Ian that night and thought either his tractor was going to roll over or my trailer would collapse from the weight. We made it home and spent a long time cutting the soapstone and re- polishing it.We spent 4 weeks waiting for all the 8" Ultra Black to finally come in. A lot of stuff is back ordered this winter! After a whole lot of swearing and risking life and limb, the ceiling adapter was installed and the stove pipe finally put in place on the weekend.
Last piece was to get the stove off the cart it's been sitting on for months. The Equinox weighs a TON. A 4 ton car jack and 4 people managed to slide it on the hearth and viola - it was almost done.
Oh ya, I forgot the day I spent installing the OAK. I know the argument but I decided that fresh air was imperative for our house. Drilling a 4" hole through cement stucco is not fun if you're too cheap to rent the drill and diamond blade ($55).
So, we did a few modest fires and there was almost no paint smell, even though I did touch up paint on all the pipe that got scuffed during install. We may get some yet as I haven't pushed the stove over 450.
Bottom line is this - even with a modest fire of 400 running, this stove puts out a TON OF HEAT! It's 11:00 pm and I opened the window again. It's almost 75
in here! My wife's comment was that we're burning no more wood than we would have with the old VC but getting a LOT more heat. I was already thinking the same thing. I expected to be burning much more, given the 4 cu ft firebox but that seems to be the truth. Time will tell.I will post some more photos and some info on performance as soon as I get a chance. Have to finish the woodshed before winter!
Doug
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!! . . . looks a bit small to my eye in terms of size . . . but I am guessing that is the photograph and actual size requirements were met.
