My husband and I are new to the wood stove community and are adding one of these in our new construction home. We have narrowed it down to the green mountain 60 or the heritage based on our needs. Which one would you pick? We have read concerns about the GM60 but not sure if they are something we should worry about.
GM60 or Heritage?
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It was redesigned for 2020. Has a cat now. Yes, hearthstone has sold a stove called a heritage for decades.
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I can't speak for the heritage but being a "hybrid" like the GM60 I would think it works in a very similar way.
As a GM40 owner I am happy with the performance and quality of the stove, also there is nothing else that looks like it in the market! I for one love the modern yet classic look. also It has decent burn times and the glass stays very clean
Just understand SOME care and concern is needed for the Catalyst. It needs the occasional light brushing off or it will restrict draft considerably. I do this when I clean the ashes.
As a GM40 owner I am happy with the performance and quality of the stove, also there is nothing else that looks like it in the market! I for one love the modern yet classic look. also It has decent burn times and the glass stays very clean
Just understand SOME care and concern is needed for the Catalyst. It needs the occasional light brushing off or it will restrict draft considerably. I do this when I clean the ashes.
I love the modern design of the GM60. House is going to be more industrial modern so I think it’ll look good with that design. My husband on the other hand loves the look of soap stone and that he can get the heritage in a color vs black.
I understand the enameled choice of color. I got 4 Hearthstone , 3 Heritage and 1 Castleton soapstone. 2 were Majolica brown, and the 2 other black and we would never go back to Hearthstone enameled stoves for the lack of quality finition, plus the Enameled color is easy to get chipped...Woodstock has a choice of color and the stove (the PH) is so nice and of a superior quality, well all that is just my personal opinion.
I have rarely hear of quality issues with hearthstone stoves. I heard complaints of burn time issues and some general function problems with the older designs it as mentioned before these are completely different stoves with little track record so we don't know there. But I doubt build quality will be an issue. Yes enamel does crack if hit or thermal stressed that is in the nature of the finish
I had so many build quality issues with my heritage that I sold it. They are frequently reported here and elsewhere. The well documented problems are worn hinges, worn door latches, and crappy door handles along with broken cracked stones.
Maybe build quality is different than durability to some people? I dumped my hearthstone on the used market when the hinges became so worn that the door didn’t close right. Repair required near total stove disassembly to a pile of rubble and lifetime casting warranty doesn’t cover labor.
The stove heated well enough and looked great but was not designed for long term use. That was a heritage from 2007. It only lasted 5 years. No cracks for me since I’m a stove nerd and monitored temperatures plus maybe luck.
Maybe build quality is different than durability to some people? I dumped my hearthstone on the used market when the hinges became so worn that the door didn’t close right. Repair required near total stove disassembly to a pile of rubble and lifetime casting warranty doesn’t cover labor.
The stove heated well enough and looked great but was not designed for long term use. That was a heritage from 2007. It only lasted 5 years. No cracks for me since I’m a stove nerd and monitored temperatures plus maybe luck.
Hum, I don't want to be severe with Hearthstone but :the hinges are not the best one and wear rapidly many complaints about them, the latch assembly is wearing rapidly and that is why they make lot of *latch replacement part kits**, the enameled color for different parts on the same stove can in some cases not be the same/not color matching , I saw a brand new Heritage ordered in enameled black , and the stove was still in the crate, when the wraping plastic was removed, the enameled black was real scrap plus there was a big chip in the iron casting frame................I talk about brand new stoves having no more than 3 years, not stove having lot of years of abuse. I read many times issues from Hearthstone stoves owners ( some don't like to say that they have problems with a stove they described so well before having some poor experiences with that top of the line stove, hard on the pride : maybe the new company's owners need to produce lot more than possible, maybe the parts come from too many different countries, I saw poorly matched soap stone panels, the worst one placed right on the top instead of a more discret place... when paying so much money for a stove having the stove builder's signature at the back of the stove like a precious thing, you are deserving the best product in class. Yes they are nice but far from being perfect.
I never said they were perfect every stove has their weak points and strong points. Woodstock has some fantastic stoves but aesthetically there isn't one I would place in my home. A few are good looking but way to gothic for my taste. And the rest are just strange looking.
You can pretty easily drill out and sleeve the hinges if you do it before they get bad. And for the most part if you keep the latches lubricated and adjusted properly they hold up. I agree neither of those features are designed well but as I said I can pick out weak spots in most stove designs.
Yes I agree with you on some points but when you pay so much money for a wood stove and see the company having weak parts and don't improve those parts it's not normal to have to drill in a one yr old stove, plus if doing so you void the warranty, plus not all owners want or can do the job to improve what the company is supposed to do.
Have you looked at the redesigns yet? Have they been changed? I don't know I am asking honestly.
On the warranty issue I have talked to hearthstone about it and they reassured me that me drilling and sleeving the hinge did not effect the warranty at all. And for the record I have had to do the same thing on many different stove brands.
All of this being said I personally would not buy a soapstone stove at all for myself. I just don't see a benifit that outweighs the downsides. But to each their own. And yes you are absolutely correct you should not have to drill and sleeve hinges within the first 5 to 10 years of service. I hope they did address it
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I don't know what a dealer would say about drilling in a new or almost new so $$$$$$$$$$ stove? And who would pay for that modification on an always on warranty stove ? The company, the dealer or the custommer? Hearthstone would probably respect what they say (we suppose they would) but companies are often like politicians : they can say a lot but when comes the time to DO what they said.............. Did you asked to Hearthstone if they modified the hinges and the latches when you talked to them ?
I havnt talked to them for atleast 5 years now so no I havnt asked about their new stoves. When I work on stoves I didn't sell (which I only sell regency) I am paid by the customer. But honestly doing that fix if it is done while I am cleaning is only an extra $75 or so. It honestly only takes 10 mins and very little in materials.
I also usually don't do it on a new or almost new stove. Usually about 5 years. Which is still to soon for sure. But those stoves were already out of the 3 year warranty regardless. I know I did one that was still covered though so that had to be sooner. And I got their blessing in writing I never trust the word of a rep alone
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OK, that is fine thank you for the replies. Just remember that I was talking about less than 3 Yrs old stoves. Hearthstone hinges are a lot different than other stove and have many parts in them cause the door opening can be on the right or left side by rotating the door, that can be done at home if for a special reason the custommer wants to have the door open one side or the other. That said many different parts are needed to do so and drilling is not an option on those models.
My hinge failures were on the stove side mostly and that hole is right against the stove body so no drilling. To remove the casting for replacement as hearthstone recommended is a major tear down.
Hard steel hinge pins, very small, in soft cast iron.
The proper solution was for hearthstone to install the replaceable bushings right from the factory like a car door. No, they got lazy and just drilled the soft casting and pushed the pin in raw dog.
If you are an average wood burner that doesn’t hardly ever use the stove then it could last quite a while and look pretty that whole time.
Hard steel hinge pins, very small, in soft cast iron.
The proper solution was for hearthstone to install the replaceable bushings right from the factory like a car door. No, they got lazy and just drilled the soft casting and pushed the pin in raw dog.
If you are an average wood burner that doesn’t hardly ever use the stove then it could last quite a while and look pretty that whole time.
You can drill them with a close quarters right angle quick change attachment. I have one that fits perfectly
But yes them installing a bushing would be the right thing to do hopefully they did that on the new ones
I am not sure they sell Woodstocks in Canada. If not, that also limits the availabilty there. They do not warehouse on the west coast so shipping here is very expensive.
I agree with almost all you said excepted : on a few almost new stoves the hinge's holding plates weared in the few months of the first year, maybe a bad parts batche ??? But exactly as you said, the material for those parts in very soft and the latches one are not much better.
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