Country Hearth US Stove 3000

[VirginiaIron]

We did not find a lot of online user information that we thought was valuable, so the purpose of this thread is to provide some information, hopefully valuable, for those individuals who might be considering this particular stove. I get buyers remorse very easily, so I did all my research and investigation prior to making the purchase. This is not intended to be a scientific review but to provide some useful data for others who might struggle with making a purchase because of all the unknown factors andor design changes within their present system.
The house is a single-story masonry structure built in 1976 and has just under 2000 ft. of space and pretty much a square and relatively open space. The windows are original, old technology, double pane windows, with vynil frames-more than 50% of the exterior wall surface is glass.The chimney was recently lined with an insulated 6 inch Champion Armor Flex system that is approximately fourteen feet high.
I have to say I am initially impressed with and very satisfied with the stove, but it's the long-term performance and satisfaction that will determine the overall quality of this stove. The stove heats quickly and appears to hold its temperature for a satisfactory period of time. Currently, it is 27°F outside and 79° inside near the stove and 72 and 70° In the outside perimeter rooms, I have used only four pieces of wood on top of a thin layer of coals to maintain the interior temperature.
If you have purchased and installed a country hearth, US stove 3000 at one time or another and have valuable feedback, good or bad experience, feel free to post your comments here. Thank you for reading my post.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I have heard it said the two most difficult tasks in the Life is to match the color of pre-existing mortar and to communicate accurately. I apologize in advance to those who feel my views are lacking substance or are not meeting their standards.

Initial Pros-
1- Depending on where you purchase it from the purchase cost may be a pro or con. We have found the stove runs about $168 more than the similarly sized Osburn, or slightly cheaper from Lowes or Tractor Supply Company. We were able to find this stove at Northern Tool and have Lowes match the price for a substantial savings.
2- The steel on the upper surface appears heavier than those stoves with equal or less BTUs.
3- The stove appears well-made, all welds appear proper and the fit of materials seems good.
4- The stove has a low overall height for a top discharge vent connector. This enabled us to install the stove through the face of our fireplace.
5- After some use, the glass door has remained extremely clean with just some minimal soiling along the outer edges.
6- The firebox opening seems to limit the amount of radiant heat projected onto the user-this appears to make loading the unit much more comfortable since the user is not blasted with what seemed to be a terrible amount of heat from another stove with a larger opening.
7- This stove produces quick and abundant amounts of heat up to 123k btus. There were only three stoves in this range, Vocal Zhang Pondarosa, equinox 8000, and country hearth US stove 3000.
8- After the initial heating, the stove does not require much wood supply to maintain the space temperature.to prevent the space from overheating we have been experimenting with one third to one half full loads within the firebox. This morning, at 23°F outside air temperature, the main space was 77° and the outlying spaces are 72. After six hours vern time the exterior of the stove is still over 200°.
9- The stove can be operated unplugged and off the grid. It does include a small fan at 100 CFM rating. The fan is exceptionally quiet when it is not mounted to the rear heat shield. If needed, we'll probably opt for a box fan with more volume and less noise.
10- Even though this is a top discharge stove, the stove performs well with minimal vertical connector height.
11- We took advantage of Lowe's "if you're not happy bring it back" guarantee.


Initial cons-
1- Lack of reputation and or reputation, parts or whole unit made in China. We initially turned our nose up at these stoves because they were available at Tractor Supply and some other discounted stores. I remember the poor quality Chineses parts and tools from the 1980's. China has come along way and produces some high quality productis and this stove is one of them, if applicable.
2- The fiberboard baffles had a fine space where they abut each other- this may increase with time and render the baffle useless and cause the fire from the firebox to go directly to the vent pipe and reduce efficiency. This is probably the only major flawin my opinion. But it seems to be the technology that the industry is embracing. In my opinion this is not a dealbreaker because it could be modified very easily.
3- The Ash plug at the base of the firebox is offset to the left, this almost ensures that the user will spill the ash over the side of the ash pan since it's not centrally filled. There were negative comments online about the system. I've never used an ash system like this before and I can say that the few times that I've used it on this stove it was convenient but it is a disappointment that it's not properly centered.
4- The overall firebox opening is smaller than our previous stove and it takes some getting used to. However, the opening of the stove is sufficient to permit the proper operation and loading of the stove.
5- The fan appears much louder when it is attached to the rear heat shield, but the noise is nowhere near the the level of noise that my insert produced. One of my hobbies is the repairing of old mechanical clocks. It brings me great joy to hear these once discarded timepieces sing in our household. Without the loud sound from the insert fans I can actually enjoy these sounds once again.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Update: I'm getting consistent smokeless burns now. Last night I loaded the stove about three quarters full and after an eight hour burn, I awoke to a sizable amount of Coals at the base. I really like the stove and I think it is highly underrated.

We went for a walk in the mist this morning and put some vittles on the stove for some midday goodness.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the detailed review. Good to know the stove is working well. Maybe post a picture of it to go with this thread.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I am going to start paying more attention to logging firebox fill and burn times.

 

[Dave Miller]

Great review! Over the years the main thing I've learned with stoves is you pay for what you get. For example my Harman lasted for years, I tried a cheaper unbranded one a few years ago and I had problem after problem.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Thanks for the feedback. As a side note the glass has not been cleaned since I started. There isn't much soot or discoloration on the glass.

 

[begreen]

Good airwash, that's the way it should be. We've been burning for 5 weeks now and the glass is clear, just has some fly ash on it.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Good airwash, that's the way it should be. We've been burning for 5 weeks now and the glass is clear, just has some fly ash on it.

I agree. So far so good. It is truly amazing how much he transference comes from the stove into the living space. I never had this heat with my insert. With eight pieces of wood I fired up the stove a little over 20 minutes ago and my surface temperature rose to 554 and the stack temp was 315 according to an infrared thermometer. The magnetic gage registered about 400F on the surface while it registered 529F electronically.

EDIT: I was in a different place twenty one years ago. To the credit of the insert, heat was not really my first priority and I never really thought seriously about cooking on a stove. I know this Country Hearth US Stove 3000 stove is not designed for cooking, and perhaps a separate kitchen and stove may a consideration in the future.

 

[lhuffhines]

Thank you for the honest information on this stove. It is one of my Favorites that we sell. I like that the relatively square firebox allows for both a North-South Fire and East-west fire. In addition, this is one of our cleanest burning stoves especially when used in the North-South configuration.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Thank you for the honest information on this stove. It is one of my Favorites that we sell. I like that the relatively square firebox allows for both a North-South Fire and East-west fire. In addition, this is one of our cleanest burning stoves especially when used in the North-South configuration.

You're welcome. Yes, I have been experimenting with these configurations and a mix thereof. Our wood was cut smaller for the previous unit so Ihave that option now. All new wood is cut 1 to 2 inches of max length. I find a greater disconnect of flame east to west when burning in secondaries.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Well boys and girls, we loaded up the stove this morning and after doing some fiddling with it it was 4:30 AM and the top surface of the stove was a little over 600°F . The outside temperature at that time was 28°F. We ended up going over the hills and through the woods and got back and checked the stove at 5:41 PM with an outside temperature of 32°. However, the unheated dog dishes had a decent thickness of ice on top of them. Of course the heated bowls are not affected. The inside temperature was 73°, the top of the stove was 138°, and the vent pipe was 111°. We could feel that massive amount of steel continue to radiate it's heat out into the room. So that's 13 hours and 15 minutes later the stove was still giving off heat at 138°. We put the fan on a timer and it went off at 10 AM so the fan was off when we got home. Now we know that if we do this again will try and stretch the fan time to perhaps 12 or 2 o'clock. Or if were home will try and just leave it for a long burn time to figure out what would be a good Time to turn off the fan. The coals inside were fairly level and you could see glowing Coals at various places within the firebox. We open the door and use the poker to disturb the coals and rake them into the center at which time we noticed there was a considerable amount of Coals sufficient enough to start the new fuel on fire. So far so good we love the stove.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Now maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase where I see saving several thousand dollars as a good deal. I so desperately wanted the equinox 8000. But I recall that the heat transference into the space was very low. Today is the first day that we operated the stove with no one home. Currently, for the performance and the money that we saved over the equinox this was the right decision. I find the stove attractive, clean, and rather handsome. The stove is masculine and authoritative in appearance but it lacks a gentile refinement that the Equinox 8k exhibits. I wanted heat and a surface I COULD cook on, so this is the way I see it. If you want a lot of children, marry a woman who lives in a shoe and If you want a lot of controllable heat with more than satisfactory burn times we recommend the purchase this stove. She might not be pretty but she produces. The wood we burn is mostly oak,there might be some pine here in there and tulip poplar here and there but it's all salvaged wood- dead standing, or recently fallen from a storm. The wood is always seasoned more than a year.

 

[begreen]

There are many excellent stoves on the market. Welcome to wood heating.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Thank you. There are many excellent stoves on the market that perform very well. I am just a little excited with this purchase due to the cost v performance ratio since our regular heat has not been on yet all this year.

 

[begreen]

That's a common experience when it all works out well.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Update: We have been using some of our larger splits that will fit into the firebox. Most of the splits are around 8x8x19 but some of them have to be tweaked to get in to the firebox since the firebox opening is only 16 wide by 7 7/8 high. The small firebox opening was one of the complaints in several of the reviews. It is a little difficult handling the larger splits anyway. I will say that this stove does burn the larger splits more effectively than the quad. I will customize newer splits specifically for this opening (which I don't think is unreasonable since most of our splits are were made smaller to accommodate the tastes of the quad).

 

[bcrtops]

Yes, thanks for the review & updates -- it is always good hear about some of the more economical stoves & the pleasure they are bringing to their buyers!

 

[hughhamm]

I have a similar model. 2500LN bought at tractor supply. This is my 5th year heating. I have had my stove replaced once under warranty for cracking at the corners on the opening for the fire box( where the door seals against. The new stove is doing the same. I did drill out the ends of the cracks last year and that seemed to stop the cracks. Until this year as one has spread some. This time I will be grinding the corners rounded and weld the cracks along with some reinforcing on the inside. This will wait till spring but will be keeping a close eye on it till then. Great size and works great. I built a 12" high hearth for the replacement stove made loading much easier. Enjoy the heat but keep an eye on the corners of the firebox opening. They were very responsive on warranty and it is possible they have remedied the issues but I remember reading some others having the same problems.

 

[VirginiaIron]

It was possible that it was your review that we read prior to making the purchase. We hoped even though the 2500 and the 3,000 are very similar, they were different stoves. The construction is the same and all the welds appear properly made in that area. We are keeping an eye on the stove, like a chicken hawk, and really figured that once a stove is put into operation we really have no recourse for warranty. Your story, however, does give us hope that the manufacture will stand behind the product if we should need assistance. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[hughhamm]

Yes they sent me a new stove and I even finished out the burn season on the old stove. Then sent a truck to pick up the old stove. I know it sounds crazy and may void warranty but rounding the corners may prevent the problem as thermal expansion would be distributed more evenly. Looks like the 3000 and 2500 are really close other than that mine has legs and a shiny door. I agree withe the fasteners used. As I upgraded the bolts on the legs to grade 8 hardware that were longer. The factory grade 5 bolts had maybe 2 threads holding the legs on. Though there were three bolts on each leg I wanted to upgrade as failure would be a bad thing if i was not home or not. I did not however replace the burn tube screws. I wish I would have now. Another thing I did is seal up the ash shoot with some furnace cement and replaced plug as I saw that as a possible problem if a log fell and knocked it out or it started leaking at any time. let me see if i can get a picture of the problems and upload. Not a bad stove and the low rear clearance is the main reason I went with this stove, and well of course price.

 

[hughhamm]

Hope that works. But i would not worry about it just keep a good eye on it and their warranty is good just save all info and make a copy of your receipt as thermal receipts don't last. I did the install myself and had to send pictures of stack and components used. This one is out of warranty and I can weld pretty will so I will modify it some

 

[hughhamm]

no idea why it posted the pictures twice??? Burn on and enjoy the heat. I will add that this is the only source of heat in my home Around 800 sq/ft and not including basement and walk up attic. all stays warm. Sometimes hot but I can crack a window if needed. Neighbors look at me funny when I let my dog out wearing shorts and flipflops. But they complain about their 4-500$ electric bill.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Thanks for the photos. I would think that the second stove indicates a more systemic problem with the design/materials/workmanship and should still be covered in warranty.

Please report your two problems here

https://www.recalls.gov/

if you already have not done so so that there may be a national/federal database and possible recourse for consumers.

https://www.recalls.gov/

 

[kennyp2339]

I have a similar model. 2500LN bought at tractor supply. This is my 5th year heating. I have had my stove replaced once under warranty for cracking at the corners on the opening for the fire box

The same exact thing happened to me, I just got rid of the stove, it wasn't worth fighting the company for a warranty problem imo, I also had issues with the secondary reburn tube mounts, when I went to pull the baffle board out I had to take the first two tubes out, the screws that hold the mounting clips just sheered off, had to redrill and tape new holes, it was a huge pain just to clean the chimney out.
Lesson learned, never buy a stove from China, yes the stove provided good heat, decent burn times but the rest was not worth it, I also vented my frustration about the stove cracking in the door corners here and there was a US stove rep that was just a pompous jerk that replied, I lost faith with the company (especially when you see how BK handles there customer issues) that's why I said it wasn't worth fighting the warranty problem.