New owner of a used Hearthstone Equinox....

[mackvision]

Hi all. I just got a new *(used) Hearthstone Equinox that is 2 years old and has only one burn season on it. This is replacing a 6 year old Dutchwest XL which is the catalyst stove. Any tips, tricks, or things I should be informed of from a seasoned users of this stove? I will preface by saying this: My home is 1100 Sq. Ft. and this stove is rated for 3500, however I couldnt pass the price on it from private owner. I looked at this stove 6 years ago, and knew it was oversize, but so was the price, however, I checked my hearth measurements and requirements for this stove and they met or exceeded, so I went for it. So, just looking for the following:
Comments in general
What is good to use to clean the stone?
Any other maintenance tips other than what is in the manual?
I am opent to whatever...even constructive criticism!!

thanks!

Rick

 

[BrowningBAR]

Hi all. I just got a new *(used) Hearthstone Equinox that is 2 years old and has only one burn season on it. This is replacing a 6 year old Dutchwest XL which is the catalyst stove. Any tips, tricks, or things I should be informed of from a seasoned users of this stove? I will preface by saying this: My home is 1100 Sq. Ft. and this stove is rated for 3500, however I couldnt pass the price on it from private owner. I looked at this stove 6 years ago, and knew it was oversize, but so was the price, however, I checked my hearth measurements and requirements for this stove and they met or exceeded, so I went for it. So, just looking for the following:
Comments in general
What is good to use to clean the stone?
Any other maintenance tips other than what is in the manual?
I am opent to whatever...even constructive criticism!!

thanks!

Rick

Holy crap. An equinox going into an 1100 sq ft home?

I don't want to see a thread from you titled "Not enough heat".

 

[BrowningBAR]

That said, Of the three stoves I own, the Hearthstone is the easiest to get going and lock in a temperature. And I've only been using it for two weeks.

My main concern for you will be that you will probably never have that stove over 500 (hell, 400 might drive you out of the house) degrees considering the size of your home. Check your chimney regularly the first season to be sure the low burn temps don't create a creosote issue.

 

[tlingit]

Lucky guy. I love our equinox. I use rutlands glass cleaner, keep the soapstone clean with just a dry microfiber cloth, and really enjoy it. Man, that is going to keep you so warm. Our heats our whole house, 2500 feet, upstairs and down, poor airflow and -20 weather. I'm sure if it is too much for you, someone here will take it off your hands. Enjoy.

 

[Renovation]

Welcome, MackVision!

Sounds like quite the score! I was going to ask how much you paid, but I'll just imagine and feel envious.

Of current stoves, I like the looks of the Hearthstones best. Even though the Hearthstones aren't the best match for me, one of each model came up on auction last month, and I would have bid on just about any of them if they weren't already bid up to near retail. I had some nice fantasies about having one of those beauties in my house.

So I understand your move.

As BrowningBAR noted, you'll have to be on guard against choking your stove and chimney up with creosote, since it won't burn cool and clean like a cat. So I suggest burning relatively small, fast fires and letting them burn way down or even out, especially in mild weather. Also, I suggest *not* using a fan or blower on it, so that the stove gets as hot as possible for a given heat output. But all that rock should soak up the heat and even things out. Nice.

HTH, and good luck!

Photos, please?

 

[shawneyboy]

Hi all. I just got a new *(used) Hearthstone Equinox that is 2 years old and has only one burn season on it. This is replacing a 6 year old Dutchwest XL which is the catalyst stove. Any tips, tricks, or things I should be informed of from a seasoned users of this stove? I will preface by saying this: My home is 1100 Sq. Ft. and this stove is rated for 3500, however I couldnt pass the price on it from private owner. I looked at this stove 6 years ago, and knew it was oversize, but so was the price, however, I checked my hearth measurements and requirements for this stove and they met or exceeded, so I went for it. So, just looking for the following:
Comments in general
What is good to use to clean the stone?
Any other maintenance tips other than what is in the manual?
I am opent to whatever...even constructive criticism!!

thanks!

Rick

Welcome fellow stoner As others have said oversized is one thing but man an Equinox for 1100 square. That is SUPER SIZED ! Depending on the price I don't blame you at all I have the slightly smaller brother of that monster and we absolutely love it.

To clean the stone, simple microfiber works very well. If you need to when the stove is cold, a coton cloth and water.

Other maintenance.... Relize that the soapstones are slightly different and since you are coming from a cat stove, perhaps very different. It will take a bit longer for that beast to get up to temperature on the stove top. I know that is common knowledge but you would be surprised. The reason I mention it is because even if the stove top (on cold/cool starts) is not in the "no creo" zone, the fire and flue may be. For that reason if you don't have one, get a flue thermo, if you have a double wall get a probe thermo.

As for the secondaries.... burn smaller hot fires, (with your square footage) but get those secondaries flaming. With the volume of air in that firebox, they may not be blazing like you will see in pics from others, but that is because you will most likely be burning smaller fires.

You will most ikely find, as I and others have found, Hearthstones are pretty simple to operate, and an excellant source of heat.

Burn on, and again, welcome to the stoners club.

Shawn

 

[Todd]

Congrats on the stove, the Equinox is a beauty. You will have to experiment with different heating techniques with that monster in a small home and you may find it best to burn it kind a like a masonry heater. One hot fire once per day may be all it takes for that 700lb mass of soapstone to keep your house up to temp?

 

[oldspark]

Most impressive stove I have seen, maybe in your size house one fire per week.

 

[NH_Wood]

+1 with everyone - great stove and holy cow what a beast for your sized home. You'll have to keep us posted on how it works out for you - I'd add a couple big loads of beach sand to your floor and pop in a few palm trees - you house is going to be absolutely tropical! Cheers!

 

[sauer]

man If I could only find a stove like that. If it doesnt work out for you let me know. How much was it? PICS?

 

[mackvision]

s Thank you for all the tips and input! So far, my theory is this: Hot Long burn overnite with oak, small fast burns during day to keep coals and get pipe temp up, however, that chunk of rock holds the heat well as said to be the character of soapers! It is a world away from the operational aspect from the catalyst stove to this, infact it is taking some getting use too. I dont know if it was the way I operated the catalyst stove, or what, but in 2 days of this stove, I have had more conistent 400+ degree pipe temps than the Dutch. I had really inconsistent temps with that stove and backpuffing regardless of fuel in it. IT did the job for 6 years, and had Inot come across the deal I did, it would still be in service instead of being prepped for sale.
Helps for you all to know the layout of the house, and why I chose a 2200 sq. ft. stove to beging with. House is Cape Cod/bungalow style, and "open floor plan" is not us! Numerous doorways and specific rooms, however the saving grace is that the main floor is accesible in a complete circle with all given entry ways which makes for good air flow. With that said, the hearth and burner are in the SE corner of the house main floor, living room in NW corner, Master in NE corner, so all main functioning space of house is NOT in this hearth room which serves as our library. The second floor is all open with knee walls, so we ducted piping from library second floor, and force heat in via a 210 CFM exhaust fan, and now with this Equinox, have some duct access to heat the semi finished basement with the same method now, just have to work out the details and find the correct fan.
IF this stove was centrally located in this small of a house, there is no way I would have got it, but since it lives in a remote location, and goal being keeping the furnace off as much as possible every winter, I went with a stove (to start with) 2x the rating of our SQ. FT.

that should make it a bit more clear, and now you all have a better lay of the land!

Added pic with flue thermo about 375ish and the unit itself! Has a load of Maple for daytime...oak at night.
In the pic, note pile of build up black ash to the right, that is what came out of about a 5ft. section of single wall when scraped after removal of the Dutch. That is about 6 weeks of 24/7 burning. It looks like that usually after 4-5 months of burning. The dutch took quite a bit of babysitting, but has done its job, this year it just didnt seem to be working quite right. Even after a new catalyst, and gaskets all the way around the beginning of last year....so there you have it!!

 

[mackvision]

Note low left block it seems either something dripped, or someone sat something on top of it,and left the marks you see. Think that will come up? Ihave no idea what it is, or could be. 2 more pics...

 

[sauer]

when I rebuilt my mansfield I had some scuffing on the top center stone. I wet sanded the stone sarting at 600 grit and worked my way up to 2000. then I polished it with a car buffer and some buffing compound. Not a beginner job but I bet that stain can be removed . What did you pick it up for. Im itching to know

 

[tlingit]

Someone left some greasy pizza fingerprints on our stove. I just left them alone, and they are gradually fading, burning off. I'd leave them alone for a few months and see what happens.

 

[snowtime]

Just a thought. If you find your new stove is a bit much try replacing the single wall with double wall stove pipe. You will gain 2 things. First your chimney will stay hotter and so less creosote second the pipe will not heat up your living space as much. Good looking stove hope it works out.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Note low left block it seems either something dripped, or someone sat something on top of it,and left the marks you see. Think that will come up? Ihave no idea what it is, or could be. 2 more pics...

We've had some discoloring kind of like that from our kettle. I think it should polish out or burn off...

 

[gyrfalcon]

As BrowningBAR noted, you'll have to be on guard against choking your stove and chimney up with creosote, since it won't burn cool and clean like a cat.

I think this may be a misconception. I have a tiny soapstone non-cat stove that only rarely gets above 350, and have zero creosote problems, even when burning not really well seasoned wood. I do have a double-wall interior flue and a good insulated SS outside chimney up through the roof to the proper height. When I fretted about creosote after the first year to my chimney sweep/installer, he politely laughed in my face. I've never had more than a couple handfuls of creosote powder, and none of that scary glassy stuff stuck to the chimney.

By contrast, a friend has a big Vermont Castings cat stove in a drafty old house that he runs at 600 or 700 24/7, and he had a very scary chimney fire last year after burning only about 6 months since the last cleaning.

So I suspect creosote formation may have a lot more to do with chimney construction than it does pure operating temps.

 

[BrowningBAR]

As BrowningBAR noted, you'll have to be on guard against choking your stove and chimney up with creosote, since it won't burn cool and clean like a cat.

I think this may be a misconception. I have a tiny soapstone non-cat stove that only rarely gets above 350, and have zero creosote problems, even when burning not really well seasoned wood. I do have a double-wall interior flue and a good insulated SS outside chimney up through the roof to the proper height. When I fretted about creosote after the first year to my chimney sweep/installer, he politely laughed in my face. I've never had more than a couple handfuls of creosote powder, and none of that scary glassy stuff stuck to the chimney.

By contrast, a friend has a big Vermont Castings cat stove in a drafty old house that he runs at 600 or 700 24/7, and he had a very scary chimney fire last year after burning only about 6 months since the last cleaning.

So I suspect creosote formation may have a lot more to do with chimney construction than it does pure operating temps.

It's not a misconception. And your friend with the VC is burning wet wood.

 

[gyrfalcon]

As BrowningBAR noted, you'll have to be on guard against choking your stove and chimney up with creosote, since it won't burn cool and clean like a cat.

I think this may be a misconception. I have a tiny soapstone non-cat stove that only rarely gets above 350, and have zero creosote problems, even when burning not really well seasoned wood. I do have a double-wall interior flue and a good insulated SS outside chimney up through the roof to the proper height. When I fretted about creosote after the first year to my chimney sweep/installer, he politely laughed in my face. I've never had more than a couple handfuls of creosote powder, and none of that scary glassy stuff stuck to the chimney.

By contrast, a friend has a big Vermont Castings cat stove in a drafty old house that he runs at 600 or 700 24/7, and he had a very scary chimney fire last year after burning only about 6 months since the last cleaning.

So I suspect creosote formation may have a lot more to do with chimney construction than it does pure operating temps.

It's not a misconception. And your friend with the VC is burning wet wood.

Heh. Well, you're right, he is. But so have I been, and at a lot lower temperature.

 

[snowleopard]

Perhaps it's time to build that addition . . .

Stain may have been caused by the folks on the forum drooling over your stove. Hearth-envy . . .

 

[mackvision]

At this point I am not going to do anything with the stains. To the person that said, that it looks like dirty fingers, the more I looked at them, that is what it looks like. IF they dont burn off this winter, then I will take different action in spring when it sits dormant. So far, exhaust temps run consistently higher for longer duration, (350-500) than the VC ever did. House stays around 73-78 on average. So far I really like this stove, however, it seems to burn through the wood rather quickly so I will have to do the incense test on it. Then again it could be that I am just not used to how this stove operates. Front door gasket might stand to be replaced as there is not much tension on the door when the handle is twisted to close. Thanks again to all!

 

[BrowningBAR]

Front door gasket might stand to be replaced as there is not much tension on the door when the handle is twisted to close.

You might be right. I don't have an equinox, but the Heritage front, side, and ashpan doors all fit snugly. I also have a damper on my pipe for when I have excessive draft.

 

[sauer]

ive also heard they are a little hungry. I cannot attest to this personally. Havent owned one, If it doesnt work out for ya I'll take it off your hands, or trade you one of my fireviews for it......................................(I cant believe I just said that)

 

[heatwise]

extremely nice stove you have theyre. i think with these its perfectly ok to oversize them to the area to be heated. if it should get nasty out with some extreme low temps ,you will have no problem with heating . as far as consumption, i dont have that large a model but it should go longer between reloads . i check the top and wait till it drops to about 200 or less or when the coals are burning down real low. have a great time with this incredible stove and thanks for sharing the pictures. pete

 

[mackvision]

Well, I am the original poster, and have a dilemma. We moved from this house in 2012, however still own it. The stove is still there, and that is the last season it saw action. We are faced with selling the home now as we don't plan to move back, my issue is that I don't want to part ways with this stove, but see if anyone here has used these as an insert to a fireplace or are these models strictly free standing?? I got a killer deal on this thing back in 2010 and paid $1500 for it. It was only 2 years old at the time with one burn season on it. So aside from getting a great deal, I don't want to part ways with it, and put it to use in our current home which is 2200 sq. ft. however with a fireplace. I will be amazed if anyone replies to this. If not, I will start another thread. Thanks!