Advice on a good USED woodstove

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I cannot believe the number of used EPA stoves you have to pick from; Down here, it's 99.999% old smoke-blowers. :(
 
Well... we have decided to go and look at the Hearthstone Starlett tonight. Special thanks to HOLIDAY for sharing his experience with this stove. Since I have started this journey all I can think about is WARMTH. LOL! To be warm in Michigan winters seemed only to be a dream. Perhaps we just might be able to shed the layers of fleece and flannel. haha! I talked to the owner of the Starlett a few minutes ago. He is original owner. Removed if from his previous house 10 yrs ago, thinking he would reinstall it. Said he never got around to doing so because his current house has a nice built in fireplace, so the Starlett has been in careful storage in his garage for 10 yrs. He says it's in excellent condition. The pics were pretty good so I agree it's in great shape. Should I attempt to make an offer? He has it listed at $525. I won't low ball him. Perhaps throw out $450? Here's the ad again: http://thumb.craigslist.org/for/4155931772.html He's about 40 minutes from me, out in the beautiful country side. Should be a nice trip... but gotta watch for the deer! Will keep you posted. Thanks so much to all.
 
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See I do it different, I always throw out an offer before I go look lol. It should say what year it was made on the back. If it is in that good of shape I'd still probably offer 4 if it was me. Look at the tiles to make sure they are nice, top ones just come off so make sure they aren't broken. I have one on the side that's cracked but it doesn't matter there and can't see it anyway. Firebrick are simple to change and cheap if one is broke.
 
I actually did have to fix my latch now that you mention it. I wouldn't say it's the best latch out there but works good once you get used to it. There's a little spring loaded ball to keep pressure on the door and latch and I had to put a ball in. Used a bb. It can all be taken apart at least and fixed. And the wooden handle isn't made to stay in there, it slides in when you use the door. When I first looked I thought it was broken but it's a good feature.
Going by the pics it looks to be in very good shape. I guess you'll see up close.

Also look up inside the stove, there are two tubes with holes in them. Over top of these is a metal plate, just see if it looks straight. If you look in the flue exit you should see that ceramic insulation stuff which is lying on this plate. Make sure that's there as well.
 
And then?????



Update???
 
We bought the Hearthstone Starlett, $475. I think it was a good deal. It was in GREAT shape! Better in person than in the photo. They took really good care of it. Made some new friends too! The latch was in perfect operating condition, except that a dog chewed on the wood part. Will have to replace that. Other than that, can't find a single flaw. I really can't thank you guys! I would have LOVED to have the Woodstock Fireview... maybe one day. But for starters, I think this will work out just fine. Will update in a new thread when we start to install the hearth, etc.

Thanks to all and God bless!
 
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HOLIDAY, Thank you for sharing the pics of your hearth and final set up. Super sharp! I think we have decided to put it in the corner as well. I love the slate you used (that is slate right?). Any way... might have to copy that! LOL.
 
Yea! I'm glad it hadn't sold yet. I think this stove is going to serve you well. It is a nice size fit and a good looker. Now on to getting a proper hearth and chimney. Hope you are getting the wood scene together too. Dry wood is where it's at.
 
Congratulations. That sounds perfect. You studied hard and did very well.
 
Great! I think you did well, and that's a next to new stove by the sounds and looks of it. You'll enjoy it, perfect stove to start with and to see if your needs are any different after a year or two of use. Much better than spending 3000 and then deciding you need a different size.

Feel free to copy anything you like lol. The stone I used is quartzite, it's a rough texture. I was going to use slate and then a place had some of this to clear out so I went with that.

And feel free to ask any questions, I'm happy to help where I can.
 
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Holiday, what did you use to meet the hearth insulation requirement?
 
I put metal 2x4 studs on edge with 2 layers of durock on top so a raised hearth with the air space and durock to meet the requirement. Seemed like the easiest way to achieve a high r value There's a few pics in the hearth build I linked above.
 
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Found this on a local auction; starts in about a wk. This is local, within 10 miles of my house. yay! Is this what I would most likely need? Some of it? It says "6" double wall". I put this on "watch". http://auction.repocast.com/details.cfm?ID=1461453


We ended up winning the above auction. $271. Four sections of 6" x 36" double wall insulated pipe, made by Selkirk Super Pro, plus some other pieces (cap, wall thimble, wall bond, chimney stand). I think I did pretty good. Still learning and reading up on different hearth styles, material, etc. Watching craigslist and the auctions to save $$$. Thanks again to all.
 
Sounds alright, let us know when you get started. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
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Sounds alright, let us know when you get started. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
What? I thought she got a Starlet? ==c
Seriously, nice score, glad you were able to get that deal. :cool: Great, inexpensive way to get a handle on what you will want and need ultimately. I'm looking forward to some pics, like everybody else. Not too familiar with this stove....
 
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What? I thought she got a Starlet? ==c
Seriously, nice score, glad you were able to get that deal. :cool: Great, inexpensive way to get a handle on what you will want and need ultimately. I'm looking forward to some pics, like everybody else. Not too familiar with this stove....


Yep, I did get the Starlett! Now we are getting piece by piece what we need for installation. We won a local auction last night for piping... 4 sections of double wall Super Pro Selkirk (i think) 36 x 6", along with several other pieces. Auction is $271. Used but in great/clean condition. Went a little higher than I thought it would, but we did the math and I think we basically bought 2 and got 2 free. That's the way I like to think of it any way. What are your thoughts on this? We were thinking of using it on the inside of the house as well, or do you not recommend that?
 
You need to figure out what you need for the best install and kind of go from there, ideally that would be straight up and through the ceiling and roof. The stainless isn't used inside the room, it's supported via a support box which holds the weight of the chimney and this ends just inside the room. Then there is an adapter which adapts your doublewall to your stovepipe which then connects to your stove.
The stovepipe can be black single or double. I used a double so I could have the stove closer in to the wall and corner.
 
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There is nothing wrong with using the SS inside the house. Most don't because it is a lot more expensive than black dbl wall.

I think you did good, that pipe retails for over $100 a section, so the other stuff puts you way over the top on savings.
 
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I still have not insulated and built a chase around my SS dbl wall inside my living room...one of these days:
Hearthstonestovetobasement015-1.jpg
 
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I still have not insulated and built a chase around my SS dbl wall inside my living room...one of these days:
Hearthstonestovetobasement015-1.jpg


Thanks for the input. I was hoping it would be ok to use on the inside, if need be. Your set up looks real nice! HOLIDAY, my set up with be in the corner of the living room, on the inner most corner of the room, so it will go through the highest point of my attic/roof. I live in a typical late 60's early 70's ranch house. It's getting cold again... man, I can hardly wait to be sitting by a fire! This will be a dream come true for me. Why didn't we do this sooner? duh!
 
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