Ashford 30.2 vs Hearthstone Shelburne (2020 model)?

[Hermit]

Hey guys and gals. So I've been researching a folk ton and I seem to have narrowed down my search to these 2 stoves. Now I know there's already a thread with this exact title but that post is from 3 years ago and now hearthstone has put cats in all(most?) their stoves. There is SOO MUCH controversy and confusion and I can't seem to keep track of it all.

Here is an older thread of some specifications of my house, location of stove, climate, etc.

Need a beautiful lifetime stove for SHTF scenario.

Hello everyone. I'm here to ask you knowledgeable folk for a wood burning stove recommendation. I'm going to provide as much information as I can so you can help me make a decision. If I am missing anything you'd like to know, don't hesitate to ask. Here is what my conditions are: I live in...

www.hearth.com

My questions are as follows.
1. Are people still not very keen on hearthstone stoves? I heard their customer services is atrocious and their stone cracks and overall negative sentiment but without much reason why. Is this hatred from old models or the new cat models? Anyone with the new models have anything negative to say about them? What should I be worried about if I get hearthstone?

2. Is BK still king here? From all the rummaging through the forums it seems that BK is almost universally liked for a cat stove. Everyone that has one likes it. What are the cons of a BK compared to the Hearthstone? What does hearthstone do better, if anything?

Were leaning towards BK simply because of all the positive reviews here but we like the aesthetic of the Shelburne a tiny bit better. If anyone has anything they'd like to say to sway us in either direction, please do so! Have it out.

I've attached some pictures of where the stove will be located. Don't worry, all the combustibles will not be stored behind the stove.

Any input would be great.

Thanks again folks.

 

[Highbeam]

Hearthstones have always looked great. It’s really their strongest feature. Mine delivered performance exactly as promised by the manual. I had a heritage, about 2006 model, for about 30 cords.

 

[bigealta]

Hmmm. The silence seems deafening? What did you end up with?

 

[rijim]

New BK owner, very pleased with the control this stove provides relative to output. Three stove manufacturers that I was looking at were BK, or Woodstock if CAT stove or PE for non-cat; all got great reviews and seem to have great quality. I didn’t care much for the style of the Woodstock line. If my stove room was larger I may have gone PE Alderlea T5; ultimately I went with BK and for the 5 fires I have had, it is much nicer than my previous stove with the heat peaks in the first 4-5 hours.

 

[Highbeam]

New BK owner, very pleased with the control this stove provides relative to output. Three stove manufacturers that I was looking at were BK, or Woodstock if CAT stove or PE for non-cat; all got great reviews and seem to have great quality. I didn’t care much for the style of the Woodstock line. If my stove room was larger I may have gone PE Alderlea T5; ultimately I went with BK and for the 5 fires I have had, it is much nicer than my previous stove with the heat peaks in the first 4-5 hours.

I share your feelings.