Scan Anderson 10, soapstone worth the price?

[hyperion]

We think we have finally found the wood stove that both of us liked, after having seen the Scan Anderson 10 in a stove shop over the weekend. We have been exploring a replacement option for our old VC Defiant I for a while.

The dealer quoted $2300 for the stove, and we could opt to get soapstone for the sides (these are long sides all the way to the floor), but they will cost an additional $800. We like the idea of the soapstone and understand the benefits, but are just not sure if it's worth $800.

Some info on our heating habits: we are decidedly not 24/7 heaters. We have a fire in the stove on weekends and occasional weekday evenings (on very cold nights), but always let the fire burn out before going to bed. The house is designed with great passive solar and doesn't need any heat if the sun is out at all (usually gets to 80F when it's 0F outside). So we really use our stove as a space heater for the hours after sundown and before going to bed. When used like this, would we notice the difference the soapstone makes?

 

[precaud]

$800 is awful expensive for a little bit of thermal mass...

 

[wendell]

The A10 is one of my favorite stoves and I wanted to buy it with the soapstone sides but could not justify the extra cost so ended up buying a Morso instead. For what you are using the stove for, I would say the answer is no.

 

[BrowningBAR]

The A10 is one of my favorite stoves and I wanted to buy it with the soapstone sides but could not justify the extra cost so ended up buying a Morso instead. For what you are using the stove for, I would say the answer is no.

Why is your Morso 'in limbo'?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

We think we have finally found the wood stove that both of us liked, after having seen the Scan Anderson 10 in a stove shop over the weekend. We have been exploring a replacement option for our old VC Defiant I for a while.

The dealer quoted $2300 for the stove, and we could opt to get soapstone for the sides (these are long sides all the way to the floor), but they will cost an additional $800. We like the idea of the soapstone and understand the benefits, but are just not sure if it's worth $800.

Some info on our heating habits: we are decidedly not 24/7 heaters. We have a fire in the stove on weekends and occasional weekday evenings (on very cold nights), but always let the fire burn out before going to bed. The house is designed with great passive solar and doesn't need any heat if the sun is out at all (usually gets to 80F when it's 0F outside). So we really use our stove as a space heater for the hours after sundown and before going to bed. When used like this, would we notice the difference the soapstone makes?

I wouldn't bother with it

 

[wendell]

Why is your Morso 'in limbo'?

Because I haven't decided if I'm going to sell it or install it upstairs as a supplemental heater for when temps get into the single digits.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Why is your Morso 'in limbo'?

Because I haven't decided if I'm going to sell it or install it upstairs as a supplemental heater for when temps get into the single digits.

I'd install it upstairs... but with three stove, you must have guessed that would have been my response.

 

[thinkxingu]

No, you don't need it. It will take longer to heat up, and if you're only using it a couple hours it wouldn't matter. Now, if you were going to get it cranking before going to bed so that it keeps the house toasty throughout the night, that's different.

S

 

[BrowningBAR]

We think we have finally found the wood stove that both of us liked, after having seen the Scan Anderson 10 in a stove shop over the weekend. We have been exploring a replacement option for our old VC Defiant I for a while.

The dealer quoted $2300 for the stove, and we could opt to get soapstone for the sides (these are long sides all the way to the floor), but they will cost an additional $800. We like the idea of the soapstone and understand the benefits, but are just not sure if it's worth $800.

Some info on our heating habits: we are decidedly not 24/7 heaters. We have a fire in the stove on weekends and occasional weekday evenings (on very cold nights), but always let the fire burn out before going to bed. The house is designed with great passive solar and doesn't need any heat if the sun is out at all (usually gets to 80F when it's 0F outside). So we really use our stove as a space heater for the hours after sundown and before going to bed. When used like this, would we notice the difference the soapstone makes?

No, the extra $800 is not worth it in your situation. At least, I wouldn't do it if my heating habits were the same as yours.

 

[webbie]

I'd look at the soapstone as a "furniture" thing - that is, it will probably not pay off in an exact economic sense, but it has benefits. If it fits your style or room better, that is another bonus.
I really like that stove myself - was thinking of putting one in, but was warned against it because the room was quite small and I was told it really cranks.

 

[wendell]

I'd install it upstairs... but with three stove, you must have guessed that would have been my response.

That is the direction I'm heading but don't have the money to put in the pipe at the moment. Also trying to decide how I am going to handle the different size wood for each stove. I have 14" now that I had cut for the Morso but you waste so much space in the Fireview but if I cut everything 16" for the Fireview, I've got to take off 2" of everything I put in the Morso. I have no problem with having separate stacks except I don't have room beyond the 12 cord I already have stacked.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I'd install it upstairs... but with three stove, you must have guessed that would have been my response.

That is the direction I'm heading but don't have the money to put in the pipe at the moment. Also trying to decide how I am going to handle the different size wood for each stove. I have 14" now that I had cut for the Morso but you waste so much space in the Fireview but if I cut everything 16" for the Fireview, I've got to take off 2" of everything I put in the Morso. I have no problem with having separate stacks except I don't have room beyond the 12 cord I already have stacked.

Take a stack of 16" splits and cut them into 8" splits. That way you don't have little 2" nubs piling up. Sure, there will be wasted space in the morso, but it should allow for a quicker, hotter fire. Since it will be a secondary stove a fast, hot start up would be idle.

 

[wendell]

Yes, I should've said that. Plus, with 8" I can actually load N/S so wouldn't lose much space in the Morso at all.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Okay Wendell, you can stack some wood on my place if space is your only problem. I have lots of room here and will take very good care of it for you.


To the OP, why not just get a soapstone stove to begin with?

 

[BrowningBAR]

To the OP, why not just get a soapstone stove to begin with?

Because he was looking at a Morso that has a model option of soapstone sides.

 

[wendell]

Wow, Dennis. that is really nice of you. You are a great guy!!

To the OP: Sorry to have hijacked your thread. Get the A10, skip the soapstone sides. (Except, I believe that Scan used an organization to certify their stoves that our government doesn't recognize so their stoves don't qualify for the tax credit. That may have changed but if you are counting on the tax credit, you better check into it.)

 

[Dakotas Dad]

My take on it is, in your case, it's more a decoration then a useful item, nothing wrong with that.

But if I was installing a stove because it looked nice, and not because I needed it, I would for sure get one I liked the looks of. In our case, at least half the reason we picked the stove we picked was because we liked the way it looked. We wanted to move to wood heat, but we wanted a stove we found attractive also. So if the stove looks better with the stone, the "value" is more then just the heat value.

 

[hyperion]

Thanks all, the consensus seems to be a no for the soapstone, which is what we were leaning towards.

About the need versus decoration bit, it's not like we are not wood heat people, we are (thus replacing the stove and not taking it out completely), but our house has an unusual layout (well not that unusual for hillside houses), in that the main living area (the great room, kitchen and dinning room -- one large open space with vaulted ceilings) is upstairs and the bedrooms are downstairs. The wood stove is in the great room, and there is just no way to use it to heat the down stairs no matter how much we crank it. Heck we couldn't do it with the monster VC Defiant I running at 650F stove top (but it sure did get the ceiling temperature to 80F). So running the stove over night isn't going to help, and we don't need the stove at all during sunny days, which are many.

And thanks for the warning on the tax credit qualification. I am aware of it. I am holding out a bit to see what Obama's new "cash for caulkers" program will do for me. It sure sounded like replacing the non-EPA certified VC Defiant has a good chance of qualifying.

 

[tickbitty]

Is there much cost difference (or size difference) between the scan Anderson and the very similar looking Morso stove? Just curious if one would save you any expense there (but probably not - both kinda expensive!)

You were asking if it was "worth the price" but that's very subjective - not that many folks will say that an extra $800 "part" is really necessary to run the stove. But if you were leaning towards it and feel that the tax incentive will save you a bundle on it anyway perhaps you should just go for what you want! "worth it" is relative!