A quick note on decision to purchase Green Mountain 80 by Hearthstone

[joefrompa]

Hi all:

My wife and I spent 6+ months looking at wood stoves with a modern, clean look that could generate real heat in our new build home. Our home will be 3,800 square feet with about 1,000 sq foot great room. We will live in a neighborhood that loses power a good bit and we generally like to be self sufficient, so we wanted a stove that could in a pinch keep the house liveable especially if we sealed off a few areas.

I focused on stoves that could trigger the EPA tax credit....and had a modern look....and were good sized. Ummmmm, those were few. So we expanded a bit and looked the quadrafire discovery 3, blaze king chinook, Supreme Novo 24/38, MF Fire, and a few others. Lot of online shopping then visiting in person where possible.

The Green Mountain 80 met all the paper criteria but we were worried it had the "legs" my wife didn't want - she wanted a straight vertical side.

We went to a great stove shop that carried in person the Supreme (both 24 and 38), all hearthstone products, jotul, and others.

Man, that made the decision easy. The supreme is a looker FROM THE FRONT. From the side, it is a mass of flat, undetailed steel. We are putting the stove in a place where the side profile is going to be seen every single day.

In person, the green mountain 80 is outstanding. Incredibly clean design, quality look from every angle, the Iron looks well crafted, and every function works smoothly. We saw the green mountain 60 in person and somehow it makes a 2.0 CF firebox look huge and manages enormous glass. I have urged my wife to get the 80 for our size home but I'm even concerned with how big it may be in person. Albeit it's going to be in a large room.

Extremely excited. I won't get to post pictures until next year but wanted to share this impression now. Huge thanks to this community for bringing my attention to Hearthstone.

 

[kennyp2339]

2cu firebox might be a little to small, those boxes look big but figure a weeks worth of ash sitting on the bottom of the firebox. Might be a little tough getting a full overnight burn, in my opinion 2cu pans out to 5-7hrs of useful burn time heat. But, you also have new construction so that burn time might not be needed due to new building materials and better insulation being used, compared to my 30 year old 2x4 framed house.

 

[joefrompa]

Thank you Kenny. Hearthstone claims 30 hours of heat with the case iron stove, soapstone bricks, and cat burn on their largest model (3.1 cf). I'm anticipating I can reliably load it up at 8-9pm and it's still pumping heat at 8am and can be reloaded in full or part to start the day off.

Never burned with a cat before. Excited to learn the ropes. I've got a 2 acre wooded lot and I already cut down and into slices about 2-3 cords that are seasoning all this year and all next before our first burn. White Oak, Maple, Cherry, Hickory.

 

[begreen]

How well sealed and insulated will the home be? Are there other complicating factors in the new home like tons of glazing or cathedral ceilings in the stove room?

While still in the planning stage also look at the BK Chinook 30,

 

[stoveliker]

I think the OP may have signed on the dotted line already?
The heartstone green mountain 80 has a 3.1 cu ft firebox, so that should be good. 23" logs - nice!

You seem to like the glass (me too; I can sit and stare for a long, long time). However, depending on the heat needed (high or low setting of the stove operation), one might not see flames at all with a cat stove.

 

[begreen]

I think the OP may have signed on the dotted line already?

A year in advance?

 

[stoveliker]

A year in advance?

That was my reading. Decision.
But it doesn't matter.

I did not see the use of asking about other stoves (even though I like the Chinook very much) after a decision was made (see title) when it is a good stove and the wife is happy.

 

[begreen]

Yes, that's the problem with scrolling down to read the post. The title disappears.

 

[Rob_Red]

I think the GM80 should serve you well! I have a GM40 and I like it a lot. I know its completely subjective BUT I think Hearthstone makes some of the best looking stoves in the business. The Green Mountain stoves are extremely simple for a cat stove, not many moving parts and easy to understand and work on. I live in new England and use the stove to heat my house, it runs 24/7 and handles it just fine. It may not have the same burn times as some other cat stoves but being a hybrid it does have an attractive fire (it doesn't really operate in smoulder mode like a Blaze King).

If I fully stuff the stove and turn it down I wont get a full overnight burn but the stove will still be hot in the morning and will have enough coals for an easily revivable fire. Keep in mind I have the GM40 which has a tiny firebox. If I were to do it again I would get a stove with a bigger firebox

The only con I have is the Cat needs to be brushed off periodically to remove the fly ash that builds up. You will know to do this when you go to open your bypass and the fire visibly chokes down. When I burn 24/7 I need to do this about every 3 weeks.

One things to consider is this stove (and any other modern stove) needs dry wood with 20% moisture content to properly operate. This takes some planning to achieve. Also I had to learn the hard way that a masonry chimney with a clay liner isn't a good setup for heating your home. I had creosote buildup, cracked tile, and a small chimney fire. Now I am almost done installing a class A chimney setup that I can easily self clean.

With my stove fit and finish is great and it operates as it should, the only reason I would change it out is because I'm a wood stove nerd and I would be curious to try a different setup.

 

[joefrompa]

Begreen/all:

Looked at the BK Chinook and decided not to go for it purely on aesthetic grounds - and I liked it.

I'm not a year out. I've finalized my home design, gotten building permits, and my foundation walls are now poured. I'm ~7 months out from moving in

I have to select the stove now because of backordering AND because in about 6 weeks we'll be building/planning the chimney and other install while everything is roughed out.

 

[BKVP]

Begreen/all:

Looked at the BK Chinook and decided not to go for it purely on aesthetic grounds - and I liked it.

I'm not a year out. I've finalized my home design, gotten building permits, and my foundation walls are now poured. I'm ~7 months out from moving in

I have to select the stove now because of backordering AND because in about 6 weeks we'll be building/planning the chimney and other install while everything is roughed out.

The entire industry is facing unprecedented demand. If our dealers do not have it in stock, wait times today are 10-12 weeks.

The Biomass Energy Tax credit has given consumers a great incentive to shop for a new wood or pellet heater and correspondingly created delays in delivery.

Good luck in your search!!

 

[outdoorguy864]

I have the GM40 and i was a little hesitant as some stated some issues with smoke rolling out when opening the door, but I have not found that to be a problem as long as i do one thing. When you do the initial fire in a cold stove, build it so it can get to full heat so the draft develops properly, I have zero problems after that. I would also say this is probably wise for any stove though.

The overnight burn works well for what i expected with a tiny wood box. The appearance of the flame is the best i have seen on stoves being a hybrid, the wife loves it. The heat retention is good due to the soapstone and cast iron. One person mentioned above about ash on the catalytic being a problem. I myself have never had that problem, I just clean it once a year when i clean the chimney and when i did it i may have had a few clogs, very minor and I would say expected i suppose. Just blew them out and good to go again.

I also should note, i'm quite particular about seasoning my wood. I never buy "seasoned" wood for the current year. I buy at least one year ahead and let it sit for a full season regardless if they claim it is "seasoned".

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the update! How large of an area is the stove heating? What is the range of burntimes in mild weather and in very cold weather?

 

[outdoorguy864]

Thanks for the update! How large of an area is the stove heating? What is the range of burntimes in mild weather and in very cold weather?

Hey begreen, haven't been on here in awhile, just saw your message. So the main floor the stove is on is about 1200 sq. ft. I do have cathedral ceilings throughout the floor and a couple of skylight windows. The walls are 2x6 and I found they also have that pink foam insulation on the outside too. It is nice, but was also frustrating fitting a stove to the house as I started with just too big of a stove and ended up on the GM40 cause the first one was just over heating the house, just unbearable on the smallest burns. I started with a Woodstock stove, really liked it, just overheated us out of the house, o well, my lost someone else's gain. We like a temperature range in the house to be about 68 to 74'ish. The stove sits in a big open area, kitchen, dining room and living is one big room.

Then I have a finished basement, 1200' sq ft. Were not down there too much. I typically don't start a fire unless it is under 40 degree's regularly. 18' double wall chimney. I haven't had a problem burning it in mild or cold and I'm guessing this is related to my chimney height being just right for my setup....?? This year I will try to pay attention to the burn time compared to mild and cold temperatures.