Esse Ironheart vs Margin Flameview cookstoves

[KodiakII]

I looked at an Esse at a dealer north of us, out the door you were looking at somewhere around the $9000.00 dollar mark (Canadian) the way it sat with the warming rack. The equivalent in the Flameview was around $3500.00 dollar mark. FYI the Canadian dollar is worth about a dollar and five cents US. My conclusion is the Esse must be aimed towards rich folks, because I sure as heck won't be buying one for our Kitchen.

 

[charly]

I looked at an Esse at a dealer north of us, out the door you were looking at somewhere around the $9000.00 dollar mark (Canadian) the way it sat with the warming rack. The equivalent in the Flameview was around $3500.00 dollar mark. FYI the Canadian dollar is worth about a dollar and five cents US. My conclusion is the Esse must be aimed towards rich folks, because I sure as heck won't be buying one for our Kitchen.

I can tell you I'm far from rich. What I can tell you is you should have dealt with Obadiah's, I bought mine for 5000 and change. They are going up in price. You don't need to be rich to be smart! Common sense has no wealth. God does lead you to good people if you pay attention!

 

[KodiakII]

For 1500 plus tx difference (your price...the plane jane model here was six bills) between the Esse and the Flameview, I just cannot see what the Esse will do that the flameview won't...besides burn up money. I'll keep my money in my country.

 

[charly]

For 1500 plus tx difference (your price...the plane jane model here was six bills) between the Esse and the Flameview, I just cannot see what the Esse will do that the flameview won't...besides burn up money. I'll keep my money in my country.

ME TOO Read Obadiah's post, the FlameView is not a sealed stove, smoke and creosote leaks! Plus noise as the stove heats and cools. I think Esse has proved their worth! Plus I can sit and watch my food cook and look at the fire at the same time. I think having the fire box window on the side would not be viewed as often as having it in the front. Alot easier to cook and be able to just look down at the fire instead of running around to the side everytime. Just my opinion. The Esse's not burning up my money, my wood is free, right from my farm!

 

[KodiakII]

I have a hard time accepting the fact that a stove that would leak creosote would be UL or ULC approved. For me where the stove has to go in our kitchen the side loading is a bonus not an encumbrance. "Free" wood, what an interesting concept that is.

 

[charly]

I have a hard time accepting the fact that a stove that would leak creosote would be UL or ULC approved. For me where the stove has to go in our kitchen the side loading is a bonus not an encumbrance. "Free" wood, what an interesting concept that is.

The fact that they are bolted together in sections and no gaskets or furnace cement is used leads me to believe that Woody at Obadiah's is telling the truth. He would know, he sells them. I'm very happy with what I bought. Yes, free wood: I don't buy my firewood, it's harvested from my farm.

 

[KodiakII]

I am going to get in touch with our local dealer...local as in 200 miles from me to get his opinion on this matter. I also get "free" firewood from my farm, but I am taking into account two thousand dollar saws, a trailer and atv used to haul it, a couple of hundred dollars in chain, a chain sharpener, files, axes, mauls,oil, chain oil, gas at a dollar fifty-five a litre, hopefully by the end of the summer a thirty-five hundred dollar splitter, and my time...so free is a rather inaccurate term.

 

[woodchip]

I also get "free" firewood from my farm, but I am taking into account two thousand dollar saws, a trailer and atv used to haul it, a couple of hundred dollars in chain, a chain sharpener, files, axes, mauls,oil, chain oil, gas at a dollar fifty-five a litre, hopefully by the end of the summer a thirty-five hundred dollar splitter, and my time...so free is a rather inaccurate term.

I have started a new thread on free wood in the wood shed as truly free wood is an interesting concept............

 

[charly]

I am going to get in touch with our local dealer...local as in 200 miles from me to get his opinion on this matter. I also get "free" firewood from my farm, but I am taking into account two thousand dollar saws, a trailer and atv used to haul it, a couple of hundred dollars in chain, a chain sharpener, files, axes, mauls,oil, chain oil, gas at a dollar fifty-five a litre, hopefully by the end of the summer a thirty-five hundred dollar splitter, and my time...so free is a rather inaccurate term.

My saw has more than paid for it self. A chain lasts me over a year, sharpen by hand zeroing in the cutter length's using a set of dial calipers. I take off just what's needed. All even to within .000- .003. Gas and my time are all that is costing me. Even my tractor has paid it dues and owes me nothing. I guess you could say it's as free as it will ever get!

 

[Douglas]

I purchased the esse Ironheart a few months ago from Obadiahs, and I can vouge (did I spell that right) for the superb quality of the stove AND the integrity of the owners, and their willingness to assist anyway they can. Can't say enough about how happy I am with this purchase! As far as the other brands being discussed...I haven't a clue. That would be like me reviewing my neighbors car. This is my first post here so I hope I did nothing wrong........if I did.....I'll get over it! Have a great day guys

 

[Douglas]

Can anyone tell me why "my photo" isn't being displayed in the left column? It shows up in my profile ok????????

 

[begreen]

It doesn't pick it up from there. On your Control Panel page, on the left are your personal settings. Select - Edit Avatar and put the avatar picture there.

And welcome to the forums!

 

[begreen]

I purchased the esse Ironheart a few months ago from Obadiahs, and I can vouge (did I spell that right) for the superb quality of the stove AND the integrity of the owners, and their willingness to assist anyway they can. Can't say enough about how happy I am with this purchase! As far as the other brands being discussed...I haven't a clue. That would be like me reviewing my neighbors car. This is my first post here so I hope I did nothing wrong........if I did.....I'll get over it! Have a great day guys

Can you tell us a bit about running the stove, length of burn time, is it also heating an area and if so how large? Do you use it as the primary cooking stove?

 

[Douglas]

Thanks for helping with the "Avatar" thing....I'da never guessed....thought it was a movie. The main reason for "my" purchase is purely for future "emergencies", whatever that may entail.....collapse of economy, etc. I've only used it a few times now, as the weather has warmed a great deal here. I located it to heat aprox 500 sq feet.....it'll do much more. The nickle lids on top can be closed to keep some of the heat down. I also purchased (as in the photo) one of those fans that run off the heat generated electricity....works nice. I haven't used the cooktop yet (too nice looking to mess up), but I have no doubt in it's ability to cook. Saving it for "hard times" Seriously....it really does look that nice. When friends visit their jaws drop when seeing it. It blends in with the decor nicely. As far as burn time.....I didn't really track that as I'm aware that has to do with many variables......wood type...how well it's cured....etc......plus I'm still in the process of "loading up" on firewood right now. I can post more in the future...... Thanks for the welcome.....

 

[begreen]

I couldn't have a stove like that and not be practicing cooking on it all the time. Learn to bake bread in it so that you aren't starving for lack of experience when the sky falls.

 

[woodchip]

I couldn't have a stove like that and not be practicing cooking on it all the time. Learn to bake bread in it so that you aren't starving for lack of experience when the sky falls.

I'd be using that for my primary cooking just for the fun of it.

I'd certainly not wait for the total collapse of the economy and then find the stores have had a run on flour ;-)

 

[Douglas]

I know....I'm itch'n to cook n bake. (don't have to worry bout any run on the flour though.....way ahead on that one). Just didn't wanna get grease splatter n all that stuff mess'n up the looks. I will be going for it, but maybe someone here can help me with this question. What's the best product out there to cure the cast iron with so food splatter will clean up easily? I was guessing just plain old olive oil? This cost me $5400 from Obadiahs (at http://www.discountstoves.net), and I want to keep it looking new.

 

[Obadiah]

Wow! Kinda feelin like home around here. Welcome Doug and thanks Charlie, two customers who have now become apart of the Obadiah Family. See why we feel so blessed? Name another business that a guy could be in that allows him to make great friends while doing business all over the world..... Thanks again for the Kudos's!
The funnest part is Doug used to live in Libby Montana where we had our store, until the "EPA/HPBA's Great Woodstove Change Out Program" Because of the poor air quality and the Asbestos related illness in this area, everyone had to update their wood burning appliance to newer EPA Certified unit, we did about 10 yrs worth of business that year! But after that the market was saturated, so we shifted our focus online, in order to survive. Sorry, off on a bunny trail here.........
Anyhow, Doug left Montana and the Boonies, moved to Michigan and took a job with Ford..... I left Michigan and GM's Chevy Creative Services, moved to Montana, so I could live in the Boonies! How funny is that??? A complete flip flop! It really is a very small world.

Anyhooo thanks for your input, guys! Now we'll have some first hand experiences with the Ironheart's, we'll need to find some other folks with cookstoves to join in on this little party, so we can get some more input on folks experiences with their cookers.

Maybe I'll share next about my experience with the Kitchen Queen and the Bakers Choice. My Ironheart should be here this week, so I'll do some You Tubes on it next winter. Right now I need to finish what I started on the Kitchen Queen 380 Cookstove and properly reducing clearances to combustibles. My hope is to provide honest feedback on every cookstove we sell and eventually even woodstove's and boilers.

I also plan doing some videos next on soapstone and how it affects the heating properties of the Bakers Oven. I'll also be demonstrating the Draw Collar on this unit as it is actually installed in my Avion Coach that I live in while fighting wildfires in the Rockies. The chimney is only 3' tall. As the oven is below the firebox on a Bakers Oven, this can present a problem. This should really put the Draw Collar to the test to see if it really works as well as they say it does. We'll also take a close look at the benefits of soapstone and how it smooths out the spikes in a radiant heating application.

By the way I was not bad mouthing the Margin Cookers, just stating how they are built, as well as feedback from some of our customers. I want to get one of each model and burn them myself so I have first hand experience. I have never personally owned one and just like Doug said, without that first hand knowledge, it is like critiquing the neighbors rig, we don't drive cars here, we drive "Rigs" in Montana
Know this, the Amish that build the Margin Stoves stand behind them, if they weren't any good, they would not be on our website, we would not be selling them. We sell a ton of them! We have only had a few complaints. I only brought it up to begin with to answer the original question that started this thread. What is the difference between the Flameview and the Ironheart. Hopefully our Canadian friend can shed some further light into this by sharing his experience with his Flameview. In fact I think maybe we already talked on the phone. We sell a ton of stoves and fireplaces to Canada, now I understand why. There are only a couple of Cookers we cant ship into Canada, the Esse's and the Margin's, so sorry to my Canadian friends, we cant help save you any money on these brands.
Hopefully with the recent elections in Canada, your prices will start to come back down, before ours start to go up!
We'll gotta git back to work here, might be crossing the line again.......

PS- here is a recent picture from another customer enjoying a dish of ice cream in-front of their new Ironheart. One of my favorite pictures that have been sent in so far.
Be Blessed!

 

[Obadiah]

Doug,

You'll want to season to cooktop the same way you do a cast iron frying pan. Get the stove warm, not hot, smear some veggie oil on the cooktop, let it soak in, then get the stove hot until it smokes, hold the temp there for a while, then let it cool down, repeat the process about a half dozen times and then it will be seasoned like a proper cast iron frying pan. Best to do this when you can open the windows and put some fans to suck the smoke out of the house. Once the process is complete it will be kinda like a Teflon pan. I'll get a You Tube done on this eventually. Let me know how it goes. Don't try this unless you have fans set up at the windows sucking out and another blowing air in, otherwise your wife will most likely shoot ya!

 

[charly]

I'm really looking foward to using my Iron Heart too. Nice picture Woody. And Woody , it is a nice feeling having become such good friends. It's a great family! As far as using my stove, I think it'll will run 24/7 , as I think I'll keep something always simmering on the stove, sauce , chili , soup or whatever and what a convenience to have a stove ready to go, plus it's heating my house..........going to love it!! As far as keeping the stove nice looking, I've always wiped my stoves down with Amorall. Makes stove pipes and stoves look brand new again for a while. Doesn't turn white or anything. I guess stove black works as well.

 

[WoodburnerAU]

G'day Folks

I am looking to replace the current woodstove with a nice new shiny one. Looking around here (Australia) the main choices are:
Rayburn - apparently made by AGA, Stanley, and ESSE.

My question is in regards the Ashbed (ESSE) vs the Grate and Ashtray (Rayburn & Stanley)

Both my current woodstove and my woodheater have grates and ashtrays, so I know cleaning out the ash is incredibly easy to do in these at anytime, even with the fire going.

My concern is the ashbed fire of the ESSE as I burn wood 24 hours a day 7 days a week during the cooler months, (late autumn to early spring).

Can anyone here give me any idea as to how often the ashbed would need cleaned out?

I realize this is dependent on type of wood burnt etc, just hoping someone has had experience with both types of fires.

The ESSE would be my first choice due to its hotplate size, efficiency and build quality, but the whole ashbed thing is a big turn off to me, as the ease of removal of an ashtray for emptying seems so much easier and cleaner.

I currently remove the ashtray for cleaning around once a week for both the woodheater and the woodstove, as I said, this can easily be done with the fire going.

Regards to all

 

[begreen]

Welcome WoodburnerAU. Are you referring to the Esse IronHeart? If so, I believe it has a good grate system and ash door with an ash pan below the main firebox door.

(broken link removed to http://www.esse.com/UK/ironheart-2.html)

 

[charly]

G'day Folks

I am looking to replace the current woodstove with a nice new shiny one. Looking around here (Australia) the main choices are:
Rayburn - apparently made by AGA, Stanley, and ESSE.

My question is in regards the Ashbed (ESSE) vs the Grate and Ashtray (Rayburn & Stanley)

Both my current woodstove and my woodheater have grates and ashtrays, so I know cleaning out the ash is incredibly easy to do in these at anytime, even with the fire going.

My concern is the ashbed fire of the ESSE as I burn wood 24 hours a day 7 days a week during the cooler months, (late autumn to early spring).

Can anyone here give me any idea as to how often the ashbed would need cleaned out?

I realize this is dependent on type of wood burnt etc, just hoping someone has had experience with both types of fires.

The ESSE would be my first choice due to its hotplate size, efficiency and build quality, but the whole ashbed thing is a big turn off to me, as the ease of removal of an ashtray for emptying seems so much easier and cleaner.

I currently remove the ashtray for cleaning around once a week for both the woodheater and the woodstove, as I said, this can easily be done with the fire going.

Regards to all

Just bought my Esse into our home. It does have an ash pan below the grates. Make sure you ask for that option. Haven't burned my yet so I can not honestly tell you anything about that. I bought mine from Woody, who runs Obadiah's. Great people to deal with. Stove is hands down built great. The weight of it speaks for itself.

 

[WoodburnerAU]

Thanks for the info xclimber/BeGreen, Ahh yes, they did say that was an option, but they didn't have it in-store.

I am looking at the ESSE 990WB as the replacement, but seeing as the question was only regarding fireboxes I felt it wasn't really off-topic. :cheese:

How is the ease of operation of that option? it was hard to tell in the pictures I saw.

[The question regarding the ashbed vs ashtray is due to the saleman stating 'it (ESSE ashbed) wouldn't need cleaning out very often' and me being very skeptical about that statement]

 

[charly]

Thanks for the info xclimber, Ahh yes, they did say that was an option, but they didn't have it in-store

How is the ease of operation of that option? it was hard to tell in the pictures I saw.

Two nice heavy cast iron grates and an adjustable up right log bunk, that keeps the wood off the glass. You can can move the log bunk ahead in the slots of the grate, if you want to burn shorter wood. Stove comes with a handle to grab the ask pan which has a handle of it's own. Send me a PM with your email and I'll send you individual pictures of the parts you want to see. What a nice built stove.