which stove should we buy

[rhetta]

We are currently using a Castine wood burner which is no longer up to heating our no. Minnesota home due to adding square footage. My husband wants to replace it with the Oslo 500. Iam more inclined to opt for the Hearthstone Heritage because of appearance and heat retention. He likes the Jotul stoves for the price and thinks cast iron is more flexible for spring/fall burning. Any input? P.s. any positive thouhts on the stone would be benificial to my cause. Thanks.

 

[begreen]

Welcome rhetta. Both are good stoves. The nice thing with a stove that has a lot of mass is that you can have a shorter hot fire in it, without baking you out of the room. This is a favorable attribute of a stone stove in fall/spring burning. You might also look at the Pacific Energy Alderlea series stoves for this characteristic.

How large an area will you be heating now?

 

[rhetta]

approximately 1600 square ft. The added room is 200 sq. with 10 windows which is the problem

 

[begreen]

Both will do the job, but in northern MN I would at least consider a convective 3 cu ft stove as well.

Is this your sole source of heat or do you use backup heat when it is in the 50's? If it's your only heat, have you looked at the Woodstock Fireview as an all season stove?

 

[rhetta]

We have a propane forced air furnace and two electric base board heaters as back ups but my husband attemps to avoid using either , of course we do get temps of -20 or lower every winter so we do use these other sources on occasion.

 

[begreen]

I was more wondering what you do on the days that are say 55 and cloudy. Do you burn then?

 

[rhetta]

No usually we do not burn 24/7 until temps are in the mid 40's ,but we do burn in the evenings and overnight in the early fall and spring.

 

[begreen]

Given the wide temp range, very cold lows and a desire for a longer burntime, I'd be tempted to go for a larger stove like the Mansfield or a PE Alderlea T6. Both will be fine with shorter hot fires in the fall and spring. And they'll give you good overnight burns even when it's below zero.

 

[Jimbob]

Since you are in Northern Minnesota, you might be not too far from Winnipeg. Contact Flame & Comfort and see what price they quote you on an Alderlea. A Summit Classic might be a good fit for you, also.

http://flame.mb.ca/locate-us

 

[ddddddden]

+1 on the Fireview for spring/fall, but maybe not big enough for January in MN. It's about the same size as the Heritage. If you're buying for next season, they have a larger, probably ~ 3 cu ft stone stove coming out. . .soon, which is shaping up to be quite the looker. http://woodstocksoapstoneco.blogspot.com That + the aforementioned Mansfield would be about it for larger stone stoves, except for the Equinox, which is probably too big. If you do need 3 cu ft, the F600 would be the Jotul option. I think the F500 Oslo is somewhere around 2 cu ft. . .for some reason, they don't publish the firebox spec for the Oslo.

 

[NH_Wood]

Not sure if the Mansfield would be overkill, but for your area, might be worth looking at - not too much more $ compared with the Heritage and would pump a lot of heat into the house when you need it. For shoulder season, I can have a smaller load of small splits and get the stovetop to 400-450 - doesn't cook us out of the house. It is a beautiful stove. I'm a big fan of stone and I think you'd like it too. I burn a cast iron stove in the workshop, and I do like the quick heat it puts out - gets cold real fast though. It is an old parlor stove knock off out of Taiwan. Cheer!

 

[Fsappo]

Mansfield if you like the look of Hearthstone, like the heat retention and if you want one of the easiest to use most forgiving stoves I've ever played with

 

[heatwise]

i cant say enough kind words about the soapstone stove we have. its one that we rely on for getting heat from to heat our house. when its cold and windy and the clouds dont let the sun shine , its filled up and realy cranks out the heat, and on days like today it was loaded about 20% full at 6 am and knocked off the chill till the sun helped us out with that great thermal gain. from what i have learned i could have bought the equinox model and gotten away with it well,,, almost. im sure that other stoves your considering will work as well but in life theyre are so many decisions to make and i chose the rock this time. happy stove shopping and hope the end result is better heating to match your needs. pete

 

[rhetta]

Hey thanks for all the info on stove options...a co worker told me to give this site a try because everyone would be helpful. My husband just sold our castine for 1000.00 so Iguess we will be stove shopping . Talked him into a stone stove but now he thinks the Mansfield might be the answer ...I really like the Heritage..so that's another discussion .Oh and he thinks he let the castine go to cheap since it sold in twenty four hours. Half price for a five year old stove...not bad????

 

[johnstra]

Having had both a Heritage and a Mansfield, I'd go with the bigger rock. I bought the Heritage in October and ran it for only a month before realizing I needed more heater. The Heritage is a great stove... nice to look at, side loading, and easy to run. But it doesn't put out close to the heat of the Mansfield. The Mansfield firebox is not only much larger; it's also deep so you can load north/south easily.

 

[joshlaugh]

I have the heritage and really like it but with where you live etc. I would go with the Mansfield.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Agreed. The Mansfield is the better choice.

 

[ddddddden]

WoW! That was quick! Somebody must've been c0ld. Sounds like a fair price to me, but maybe "Jotul" commands a premium where you live. Probably sold quickly because it's a popular model of a popular brand, listed on the weekend, and priced "right." Moving right along. . .Be glad that the Mr. is ready to go for stone. Go with your momentum and forget the Heritage. Johnstra has given you the voice of experience. The paper voice of specs says that the Heritage has the same max output as the Castine, 55k BTU. The ~ 30% larger firebox would get you longer burns, but not more heat. "Jane, you spent $3k so we could burn 4 logs instead of 3!?!!" Mansfield lists 80k BTU, and the firebox is ~ 80% larger. Price is only $200 more than the Heritage. Male pride demands a *real* upgrade, not a sideways move into something prettier. FWIW, I do agree that the the Heritage is prettier than the Mansfield. . .Equinox looks very similar, but it may be too big, and you would have to change to an 8" chimney. Good luck.