Avalon Or Soapstone Stove?

[RoosterBoy]

hello i am looking at replacing my old 1977 Vermont casting vigilant with either a Avalon rainier or a Hearthstone heritage.

what would you guys think the better choice for me would be i will be heating my house 100% with wood only one half of my house
864sft r19 walls new Anderson windows r38 in the attic.

the Vermont casting was a hot sun-of-a-gun but smoked like heck and burned wood fast. i never had a new stove but do you guys think a new stove would burn less wood without having to feed the stove as often. also my vc stove never had a coal bed in the morning to start a new fire. Even if i went to bed at 11:00 and got up at 7:00 i hope a new stove will have a nice coal bed so i can easily start a new fire.

i would love to here your advice so i can make the right decision. price is no matter i just want the cleanest burning stove
that user's the least amount of wood.

thanks
Jason

 

[the_guad]

I'm not familiar with the wood stoves but do have an insert. If you want to tend the stove less make sure you buy the one with the biggest fire box. The more wood you can throw in the longer it will burn... that has been my experience at least. All of the modern EPA cert stoves seem to be relatively similar in efficiency numbers so it really came down to the the style of stove for me since it had to fit in with the room.

 

[ourhouse]

I would go with the heritage. When we were looking at stoves I was very impressed with the harthstone. Even if the heritage goes out you still get heat for 2-5 hours with the soapstone.

 

[elkimmeg]

If your setup drafts good, then why not go with the cleanest stove ever tested by the EPA? Only .8 grams per hour. So clean it rivals pellet stoves. No other stove has tested this clean. and its the only stove still cast in America and assembled here.

 

[suematteva]

Rooster,

Not familiar with the avalon. Others here should be able to help you.. In 00 and 01 did alot of research between the bigger end stoves boiled down to hearthstone mansfield and the big Jotul F600 both non cats. We went with the hearthstone...having had a very large cast stove prior that was probably made in the late 70 s early 80 s...would cook you out of the room...wood consumption decreased around 25 percent. Heats the house well but doesnt cook you out..We liked the look of the stove...it is quite the conversation piece up here (quebec) as there are not many..very happy with the stove and the service...had one problem with the door handle and they fedexed parts same day with extra pieces to cover all bases...two years later had something that was preventative maintenance and they did not hesistate to send out the stuff right away...no bs....good proactive response. Check the ratings section if you have not already...

 

[RoosterBoy]

thanks for the replies so far. i just got back from the wood stove store and saw both stoves in person the hearth stone looks real nice but what i did not like is how drafty i think it could end up with 3 doors on it one in front one on the side and one ash pan door
with a crappy ash pan ;-) looks like i would have to change 3 gaskets every 2 years.

Avalon rainier looks like your ordinary old fashion type of wood stove that will do the job. and burn clean but will heat me out of the room if i load it up. but like the fact it's one door and the pedestal has a ash can that i can remove for cleaning. don't know if there is enough room to cook on. witch wood be a plus i need just enough for a pot and a small pan.
because they showed me the insert model i don't know if there is room

still have time to think this all over but so far the Avalon is winning.

thanks
Jason

 

[suematteva]

With our Hearthstone Mansfield: Changed the door gasket once after 3 burn seasons and we put about 5 cord a year through it......do not use the ash pan it is easier to clean out from the firebox...Carp Niels had a 2 or 3 yr old mid size Jotul for sale that is in the size range your looking for and it is a non cat model..might be worth looking at.A buddy of mine has the same model and he is very happy..

 

[Shane]

I'd go with the Avalon. I've burned them both. Yes you'll have alot better luck with coal bed and burn times with either of those stoves than you did with the Vigilant. The Vigilant is set up to burn coal. Like Elk said look at the Encore non cat that's a great stove. Also look at the Lopi Leyden. It's supposed to be released in around a month. I think my boss will replace his Heritage with the Leyden.

 

[RoosterBoy]

thanks Shane i cant seam to find any info on the Lopi Leyden do you have any pictures or info

thanks
Jason

 

[Shane]

It's not yet released. I'll see if I can find a picture for you.

 

[Todd]

Go with a soapstone stove. If your going to burn 24/7 it's the way to go. More even heat and won't blast you out of the room. Hearthstone also makes the Pheonix, which is about the same size as the Heritage, without the side door.

Also look at Woodstock soapstone. I think they are one of the best stoves out there.

 

[RoosterBoy]

hi shane could you please tell me everything you have heard about the new lopi stove like epa ratings size and what not

thanks
Jason

 

[Shane]

It's a non cat top loader that you can install a fan on, similar secondary combustion to the VC Encore NC. If I remember correctly it was a larger stove 60-70k btu. At the show my distributor told me he watched it burn on fir for around 17 hours(there were enough coals left to stoke it back up). It's around a 3 cu.ft. firebox and since it top loads you can actually fill the entire firebox. EPA numbers are still out. It will be available in three colors a matte finish and two enamels brown and red. The matte or "New Iron" finish will be released first. Oh yeah and it has an ashpan. To my knowledge it's the first Lopi ever to have an ashpan!

 

[wg_bent]

If your setup drafts good, then why not go with the cleanest stove ever tested by the EPA? Only .8 grams per hour. So clean it rivals pellet stoves. No other stove has tested this clean. and its the only stove still cast in America and assembled here.

And that stove is????

(broken link removed to http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=136)

Seems like serious over kill for a house that size though. For a roughly 900 sqft house, I'd think a Lopi Answer or Morso 1410 or similar size would be good.

 

[Shane]

VC Encore Non-Cat is .7 grams. So VC makes the cleanest non cat and the cleanest cat stove.

 

[Todd]

It's not yet released. I'll see if I can find a picture for you.

Shane,
Have you found a picture yet?

 

[Shane]

Yes, I have to get permission to post it though. It's on the dealer website, so I want to be sure I can show people. It's not like i would direct link it or anything I'd make a copy and put it on my own webspace and link that way. I don't see why they would have a problem there's a picture of it in Hearth & Home magazine this month. But I just need to be sure.

 

[RoosterBoy]

cant waite to see it ;-)

 

[Shane]

http://lflury1.home.bresnan.net/Leyden.jpg

I have a 2.5mb .pdf which shows alot better detail let me know if you want me to email it to you

 

[elkimmeg]

So Avalon essentially coppied a VC design. I don't know others thought process, but I like tried and true. I learned
the lesson the hard way with my first generation G5 IMac. Lucky to say Amazon Credited me,, but what a hassle.
If you want a stove that looks like a VC Encore coppied top loading then why not buy the tried and true original? Why suffer threw first release issues.. Is is fair to think, and I know Avalon has been at it a while, There copy cast in china will be equal to the American Made model cast over 4 million times? Where R&D has twealed the Encore for 20 years and now the everburn technology
And the cleanest wood stoves ever tested by the EPA.

BTW nice looking stove

 

[RoosterBoy]

Shane thank you please send me the pdf by email that would be grate

thanks
Jason

 

[Shane]

Hey the industry is full of knockoffs. Mr. Rumens has been copied more times than I can count. And run down Lopi you should not. They have a massive 500,000 sq.ft. factory where thousands of fireplaces stoves & inserts are turned out every year by Americans. As far as I know the castings are European, and quite frankly if they are Chinese they're every bit as good as any other castings I've seen. Travis Industries makes no concession on quality whatsoever. The reburn technology is similar to the everburn in the VC. But I see the everburn system as an industry innovation, a technology that should be embraced by the industry and incorporated into many stoves. Similar to Direct vent or catalytic technology. The look of the Leyden is similar to VC in the sense that almost all cast stoves share classic design characteristics and if I remember correctly Redhouse had a hand in the design and anything Redhouse does is reminiscent of VC for obvious reasons. I guess what I am trying to say here is that the Leyden is a worthy competitor for the Encore NC and would be in the running if I was choosing a new stove.