Did Hearthstone fix their door hinge pin and handle latch problem?

[Jason763]

I'm interested in buying a Hearthstone Heritage stove, but on here I've heard of many of the same problems of the doors sagging because of poor hinge pins. Also the door latch wearing our prematurely. Both of what I've heard are expensive fixes. Has the company addressed these past issues or is it ongoing?

 

[Smoked]

New or used? Think the new ones may have an insert in the front casting to address that wear concern and the side door is completely different. I have burned one of mine for 10 years and it does show a little wear. I started using hi temp grease this year on the friction points just in case. Replace gaskets with the factory items too. I have really enjoyed mine.

 

[Jason763]

New or used? Think the new ones may have an insert in the front casting to address that wear concern and the side door is completely different. I have burned one of mine for 10 years and it does show a little wear. I started using hi temp grease this year on the friction points just in case. Replace gaskets with the factory items too. I have really enjoyed mine.

New. I'm really interested in one. Did you have any issues with the stones?

 

[Jason763]

What is the warranty on their stoves? I have a smaller home and was told soapstone had a gentler heat with less of a temperature spike than a steel stove.

 

[Smoked]

Not sure about warranty, will have to look at papers. I have one crack on the now 11 year old dog in the rear bottom right. Not sure when it happened. Noticed it when I moved it this season. The word is as long as you can't see light through it, it is fine. I can't see it on the inside, only the outside so it may not even be all the way through?

 

[Smoked]

On the heat, the stone does round things out some but it is still a radiant stove. If you are in line of sight and it is hot, you will feel it. Stove room is the best room in the house in the winter!

 

[webby3650]

I'm interested in buying a Hearthstone Heritage stove, but on here I've heard of many of the same problems of the doors sagging because of poor hinge pins. Also the door latch wearing our prematurely. Both of what I've heard are expensive fixes. Has the company addressed these past issues or is it ongoing?

No, they haven't really fixed any of the issues.

I'm yet to work on a Hearthstone more than 5 years old that isn't cracked...

 

[webby3650]

What is the warranty on their stoves? I have a smaller home and was told soapstone had a gentler heat with less of a temperature spike than a steel stove.

They have a lifetime warranty on the stones. You have to cover the labor, but they will give you the stones. But they will not match your existing stones. To get to these busted stones the labor can be astronomical!
Hearthstone stoves are not really a good option for 24/7 burners, they just don't hold up over time. If you are looking for an occasional fire and don't want a very responsive stove then it would be ok.

 

[Smoked]

I don't live in Alaska but when needed, my single stove was burned 24x7 and was the primary source of heat for 2,700 sq ft. Obviously when it was windy and cold, it was not enough stove. I would not have bought another one if I thought they were bad stoves and I was fully aware of the issues at the decision point last year. I also saw a 97 model several weeks ago that was in nice shape. I think the friction points should be lubed for sure and you have to be careful when replacing gaskets to not get things too tight on the latches. Keep STT temps at recommended levels an maybe you don't turn them to rubble???

When deciding what to buy, I did look at other stoves. BKs and Woodstock seem to be the best on the market from reviews here. There was not a BK dealer anywhere around here and I really wanted a freestanding stove on my raised hearth and none of the Woodstocks seemed like they would fit. I did sort of want to try a cat stove but ...oh well. One day I will build a house around a big cat stove.

If you like soapstone and don't mind the occasional cat expense, look at the Woodstocks too.

 

[webby3650]

Paging @Highbeam
Maybe you could share your hearthstone experience?

 

[Highbeam]

Paging @Highbeam
Maybe you could share your hearthstone experience?

Yes, I shoved about 30 cords through a heritage that I bought new sometime around 2008. It was the previous model heritage with the side swinging side door and my home is only 1700 SF. The stove did a good job as our 24/7 heater for a non-cat. It did what the advertisements said it would. Barely, but dependably, made it through the night without needing a match to relight. Kept the 1963 house warm in single digit temperatures burning softwood.

The current model heritage has upgrades which address most of the problems I had. The side door hinges are now on the bottom so hinge wear should not be a problem, the cast iron frame has replaceable inserts where the door latches catch which are way easier to replace than the whole side of the stove. The remaining problem that I can see is the front door hinges, they are very dainty and expected to carry a lot of weight and maintain a very tight tolerance so that the very skinny door gasket meets up. That still is a weakness but if you never use the front door (which I never did except for cleaning) it may last quite a while. The front door frame could be replaced without a total tear down but it's expensive.

I never cracked a stone in all of my years running it but I am a stove nerd and carefully monitored stove temps, never approaching the redline of 550 as I recall.

(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hsherit.htm)

I moved up, upgraded, to a fully loaded BK princess. It was no more expensive than another new heritage. In fact, it was cheaper. I got that BK for under 3000$ out the door including our 9% sales tax. From the link above, I couldn't get the heritage for that little. The BK is far superior in terms of burn time and efficiency. It's a much better heater for 24/7 house heating in an area like mine with a 9 month burning season.

The heritage was a much prettier stove with an excellent fireshow. It just wasn't durable enough and replacing the wear parts impossible without tearing the stove down to little rocks.

 

[webby3650]

I don't know why some of them crack and others don't. I see it all too often though, from otherwise very observant and educated burners. 3 out 4 that I see have cracks..

 

[Riff]

We are at almost 4 years on a Heritage, just had to have the door latch and frame replaced due to wear, as was pointed out those don't last terribly long. The new frame has a replaceable stainless steel part to meet the latch and looks like it would be fairly inexpensive and easy to replace. We haven't had an issue with the stones cracking yet but we're fairly careful about how hot we let it get up to.

 

[Highbeam]

They have a lifetime warranty on the stones. You have to cover the labor, but they will give you the stones. But they will not match your existing stones. To get to these busted stones the labor can be astronomical!

Same deal on the castings. Lifetime guarantee, they offered to send me a new casting to replace the one with egged out hinge pin holes but I would have to cover the labor to replace it which means a pile of little stove rocks and sealant goop on the floor. MAJOR surgery. I was able to speak with actual techs at Hearthstone, that was cool.

So I sold the stove used for a bit over 50% of new and it is probably sitting there on his hearth as a decoration like most stoves, maybe used occasionaly or during power outages. We here are stove nerds, 99.99% of people don't use a woodstove for full time heat so the heritage would last a long time. Also, we care about things like leaky door gaskets. Most don't.

 

[Jason763]

Gotta thank everyone for your information. I have some time before the purchase and am trying to find what will work out best.
I have a choice between Osburn,Hearthstone or Jotul, as those are the lines our dealer/installer carries. I am in an area where not many businesses install wood stoves. They mainly put in fancy fireplaces and stone hearths, more money to be had. This installer will be coming from about 50 minutes away. Of what has been said as a first time burner, I don't think soapstone would be a good choice.

 

[Jason763]

The Osburn 2000 looks like a good stove.

 

[Highbeam]

The jotuls sure look nice though.

 

[Jason763]

They do, but I'm looking more at function and durability. Don't know much about them ?

 

[Smoked]

Gotta thank everyone for your information. I have some time before the purchase and am trying to find what will work out best.
I have a choice between Osburn,Hearthstone or Jotul, as those are the lines our dealer/installer carries. I am in an area where not many businesses install wood stoves. They mainly put in fancy fireplaces and stone hearths, more money to be had. This installer will be coming from about 50 minutes away. Of what has been said as a first time burner, I don't think soapstone would be a good choice.

You should likely post some more info about your intended setup. Stuff like will it be on an existing hearth or a completely freestanding install. How tall will the chimney be? Will it be straight up or through the wall and then up? How many sq ft is the room it will be in? Do you intend to burn 24x7? That might make a difference on what folks here recommend for your setup. The Hearthstone is not any harder to learn than any other non cat stove, so being new should not be the deciding factor if you otherwise like the stove. Start stocking up on wood! You will need good dry wood for any of these new stoves. < 20% moisture will make any learning curve much easier

 

[webby3650]

They do, but I'm looking more at function and durability. Don't know much about them ?

They've been in business for like 300 years! Not sure, but a long time. They make a solid stove, the nicest castings in my opinion. A majolica brown Oslo is the prettiest stove made in my opinion. I've had 2 Oslos and 3 or 4 other older Jotuls.

 

[Jason763]

You should likely post some more info about your intended setup. Stuff like will it be on an existing hearth or a completely freestanding install. How tall will the chimney be? Will it be straight up or through the wall and then up? How many sq ft is the room it will be in? Do you intend to burn 24x7? That might make a difference on what folks here recommend for your setup. The Hearthstone is not any harder to learn than any other non cat stove, so being new should not be the deciding factor if you otherwise like the stove. Start stocking up on wood! You will need good dry wood for any of these new stoves. < 20% moisture will make any learning curve much easier

The stove will be freestanding on a pad. Chimney will be 24ft, straight up, no bends. House is 1200sq ft two story, well insulated. I would like to run it as much as possible, still uneasy about when we're not home. As for wood, I have just shy of four cords between 19-17%. I also have three more cords ready to be split and stacked in a couple weeks.

 

[firefighterjake]

They do, but I'm looking more at function and durability. Don't know much about them ?

Function and durability . . . hard to beat the Jotul line up.

But Webby is wrong. Their prettiest stove is the Oslo with the blue black finish.

 

[webby3650]

Function and durability . . . hard to beat the Jotul line up.

But Webby is wrong. Their prettiest stove is the Oslo with the blue black finish.

Ya, I had one of those too! And a 602 in B/B. It's a nice finish, but not the prettiest...

 

[Smoked]

The stove will be freestanding on a pad. Chimney will be 24ft, straight up, no bends. House is 1200sq ft two story, well insulated. I would like to run it as much as possible, still uneasy about when we're not home. As for wood, I have just shy of four cords between 19-17%. I also have three more cords ready to be split and stacked in a couple weeks. View attachment 176490

Looks like to wood is not a problem I don't think you would need to push a mid-sized stove very hard to heat that space. You may want to think about a little smaller cat stove so you can get an overnight burn without running you out of the house. Cat stoves can be run clean at a lower output. I have to have a pretty good load in mine to have coals in the am. To be clean, non cats have to run hot. You can do small hot fires to control output but you can't get overnight burns without a big load, and that will make a bunch of heat. slightly larger than what you need is better for sure. If you are really well insulated, you may have issues keeping a non cat dialed back on a longer burn though.

Seems like you have a setup that just about any option will work well. Glad Highbeam gave a little different perspective too

 

[webby3650]

Looks like to wood is not a problem I don't think you would need to push a mid-sized stove very hard to heat that space. You may want to think about a little smaller cat stove so you can get an overnight burn without running you out of the house. Cat stoves can be run clean at a lower output. I have to have a pretty good load in mine to have coals in the am. To be clean, non cats have to run hot. You can do small hot fires to control output but you can't get overnight burns without a big load, and that will make a bunch of heat. slightly larger than what you need is better for sure. If you are really well insulated, you may have issues keeping a non cat dialed back on a longer burn though.

Seems like you have a setup that just about any option will work well. Glad Highbeam gave a little different perspective too

I agree, with mine and Highbeams first hand experience with the lack of durability it's a no brainier. I'd go with something else.
I have my hands on about 7 different stove brands every year, Hearthstone has to be the top service call generater since we dropped VC. If we Sell a Jotul or any steel stove we will never hear back from that customer.