Hearthstone - Castleton 8031 TruHybrid

[Shrewboy]

Hello, there was this thread on Hearthstone but I wanted to make a post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearthstone-stoves.186075/

A few days ago we got everything installed and working properly with my new Castleton 8031 TruHybrid wood stove (has a catalyst)

So far it works great! I am burning mostly smaller pieces of wood, I don't have very much dry cordwood.

I filled the firebox halfway and let it burn overnight, it had a nice bed of coals and was still warm to the touch in the morning.
I think if I got it up to the middle of the Catalyst heat range, raked all the embers to one side of the stove, then filled it with hardwood and turned the air down, it would burn for a very long time. It seems to be very efficient and releases a lot of heat, even from smaller pieces of wood.

So far I haven't had any issues with overdrafting or anything. I put in 2 x 45 Degree elbows in the black stovepipe and made sure the chimney height was correct.

Very nice looking stove.

Feel free to ask questions, or if you want me to take pictures of / measure anything on the stove I can!

Pros:
- Looks awesome! Everyone likes the appearence of the soapstone and stove design. The glass viewing window is also nice and big and clear.
- Nice large area on top to set a kettle or pan on. I don't think we will cook anything on here because it may ruin the nice appearence. Maybe once it gets older :D
- Good draft, catalyst works great.
- Convenient ability to choose between rear or top stove pipe placement
- Large firebox accommodating 18" logs.
- The brown majolica porcelain looks great!

Cons:

- The shipping was a mess. The wooden frame they built around the stove was broken apart when they loaded it onto the truck, and I had to literally reinforce it to be able to have 4 people (2 using lifting straps) barely able to carry the stove into the house. Not acceptable for such an expensive and HEAVY stove!!
- The "feet" of the stove are pan head bolts, but mine were stripped / the threads were stripped inside the legs / feet of the stove, most likely due to the high weight of the stove and junky pallet / packaging. So I am unable to screw them in properly, making the whole stove wobbly. I am going to call the store I bought the stove from about this and see what they say...
- Very pricey stove! $3000 MSRP, but you get what you pay for :D

 

[tabner]

Looks great, thanks for sharing!

 

[Hoytman]

You're stove and install looks great! However, I would have never taken that delivery. No way. I would have sent it back telling them what you described and why I had sent it back. A wobbly stove is unacceptable.

 

[nortcan]

Hello, there was this thread on Hearthstone but I wanted to make a post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearthstone-stoves.186075/

A few days ago we got everything installed and working properly with my new Castleton 8031 TruHybrid wood stove (has a catalyst)

So far it works great! I am burning mostly smaller pieces of wood, I don't have very much dry cordwood.

I filled the firebox halfway and let it burn overnight, it had a nice bed of coals and was still warm to the touch in the morning.
I think if I got it up to the middle of the Catalyst heat range, raked all the embers to one side of the stove, then filled it with hardwood and turned the air down, it would burn for a very long time. It seems to be very efficient and releases a lot of heat, even from smaller pieces of wood.

So far I haven't had any issues with overdrafting or anything. I put in 2 x 45 Degree elbows in the black stovepipe and made sure the chimney height was correct.

Very nice looking stove.

Feel free to ask questions, or if you want me to take pictures of / measure anything on the stove I can!

Pros:
- Looks awesome! Everyone likes the appearence of the soapstone and stove design. The glass viewing window is also nice and big and clear.
- Nice large area on top to set a kettle or pan on. I don't think we will cook anything on here because it may ruin the nice appearence. Maybe once it gets older :D
- Good draft, catalyst works great.
- Convenient ability to choose between rear or top stove pipe placement
- Large firebox accommodating 18" logs.
- The brown majolica porcelain looks great!

Cons:

- The shipping was a mess. The wooden frame they built around the stove was broken apart when they loaded it onto the truck, and I had to literally reinforce it to be able to have 4 people (2 using lifting straps) barely able to carry the stove into the house. Not acceptable for such an expensive and HEAVY stove!!
- The "feet" of the stove are pan head bolts, but mine were stripped / the threads were stripped inside the legs / feet of the stove, most likely due to the high weight of the stove and junky pallet / packaging. So I am unable to screw them in properly, making the whole stove wobbly. I am going to call the store I bought the stove from about this and see what they say...
- Very pricey stove! $3000 MSRP, but you get what you pay for :D

View attachment 274873View attachment 274874View attachment 274875View attachment 274876View attachment 274877View attachment 274878View attachment 274879View attachment 274880View attachment 274881View attachment 274882View attachment 274883View attachment 274884View attachment 274885

Very nice set-up. The stone color is so nice with the stove, you made a real nice place for the Castleton.

 

[Evermal]

Hello, there was this thread on Hearthstone but I wanted to make a post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearthstone-stoves.186075/

A few days ago we got everything installed and working properly with my new Castleton 8031 TruHybrid wood stove (has a catalyst)

So far it works great! I am burning mostly smaller pieces of wood, I don't have very much dry cordwood.

I filled the firebox halfway and let it burn overnight, it had a nice bed of coals and was still warm to the touch in the morning.
I think if I got it up to the middle of the Catalyst heat range, raked all the embers to one side of the stove, then filled it with hardwood and turned the air down, it would burn for a very long time. It seems to be very efficient and releases a lot of heat, even from smaller pieces of wood.

So far I haven't had any issues with overdrafting or anything. I put in 2 x 45 Degree elbows in the black stovepipe and made sure the chimney height was correct.

Very nice looking stove.

Feel free to ask questions, or if you want me to take pictures of / measure anything on the stove I can!

Pros:
- Looks awesome! Everyone likes the appearence of the soapstone and stove design. The glass viewing window is also nice and big and clear.
- Nice large area on top to set a kettle or pan on. I don't think we will cook anything on here because it may ruin the nice appearence. Maybe once it gets older :D
- Good draft, catalyst works great.
- Convenient ability to choose between rear or top stove pipe placement
- Large firebox accommodating 18" logs.
- The brown majolica porcelain looks great!

Cons:

- The shipping was a mess. The wooden frame they built around the stove was broken apart when they loaded it onto the truck, and I had to literally reinforce it to be able to have 4 people (2 using lifting straps) barely able to carry the stove into the house. Not acceptable for such an expensive and HEAVY stove!!
- The "feet" of the stove are pan head bolts, but mine were stripped / the threads were stripped inside the legs / feet of the stove, most likely due to the high weight of the stove and junky pallet / packaging. So I am unable to screw them in properly, making the whole stove wobbly. I am going to call the store I bought the stove from about this and see what they say...
- Very pricey stove! $3000 MSRP, but you get what you pay for :D

View attachment 274873View attachment 274874View attachment 274875View attachment 274876View attachment 274877View attachment 274878View attachment 274879View attachment 274880View attachment 274881View attachment 274882View attachment 274883View attachment 274884View attachment 274885

Hi Srewboy, awesome work on the stove installation. I actually saw your YouTube video before coming here.

I also got the same model and after doing some small break in fires I tried to let it burn for a couple of hours. However I noticed some blisters inside the firebox , would you know if that is normal ? I posted I thread in the forum with more details , but I'm wondering if you have any insights what that might be.

 

[Rearscreen]

I had no idea Chewy sold hearth kits.

 

[Rob_Red]

Now to pull that carpet and reveal those beautiful hardwood floors!

Looks great, I love my hearthstone

 

[Shrewboy]

Hi Srewboy, awesome work on the stove installation. I actually saw your YouTube video before coming here.

I also got the same model and after doing some small break in fires I tried to let it burn for a couple of hours. However I noticed some blisters inside the firebox , would you know if that is normal ? I posted I thread in the forum with more details , but I'm wondering if you have any insights what that might be.

View attachment 284439 View attachment 284440 View attachment 284442

I noticed a little bit of that in my stove as well, but not that much, maybe some leftover residue from manufacturing process? I will take a look into my firebox today with a flashlight to see if mine is similar

 

[Shrewboy]

I had no idea Chewy sold hearth kits.
View attachment 284458

by chance, that box was almost the exact size of the footprint of the Hearthstone castleton so I used it to easily create the blue masking tape template on the carpet :D

 

[Shrewboy]

Hi Srewboy, awesome work on the stove installation. I actually saw your YouTube video before coming here.

I also got the same model and after doing some small break in fires I tried to let it burn for a couple of hours. However I noticed some blisters inside the firebox , would you know if that is normal ? I posted I thread in the forum with more details , but I'm wondering if you have any insights what that might be.

View attachment 284439 View attachment 284440 View attachment 284442

I checked my stove, it has the exact same buildup in the back.
My theory is, that area is recessed back further than the piece above it, so I bet its a dead air zone there.
When you burn a small fire, all the smoke and junk probably gets stuck there and condenses onto that dead air area.
I could be wrong but its actually slightly worse than that on my stove and I haven't seen any issues lol!

I bet when we burn a few really hot fire this winter, it will burn all that junk off

 

[Evermal]

I checked my stove, it has the exact same buildup in the back.
My theory is, that area is recessed back further than the piece above it, so I bet its a dead air zone there.
When you burn a small fire, all the smoke and junk probably gets stuck there and condenses onto that dead air area.
I could be wrong but its actually slightly worse than that on my stove and I haven't seen any issues lol!

I bet when we burn a few really hot fire this winter, it will burn all that junk off

Got it . Glad to hear that I didn't ruined my stove in the first run
Thank you for checking , and taking the time to reply back.

 

[bundy150]

Are you Castleton owners using a top flue or rear flue exit? I use a rear exit 28ft chimney and don't notice the buildup or blistering.

 

[Shrewboy]

Are you Castleton owners using a top flue or rear flue exit? I use a rear exit 28ft chimney and don't notice the buildup or blistering.

I have top flue, and that adds more credability to my theory of a "dead air space", since if the flue exits in the rear that airspace will now be moving.

Can you post a pic of the inside of your stove to show how the rear exit flue looks?

 

[fire_man]

Thanks Shrewboy for posting this! I really like the tile work.

How did you meet the 8" and 20 "clearance to combustible requirement at the wall for a corner install? My understanding is you can't call it noncombustible just by installing tile and cement board on a combustible surface.
Maybe the picture just throws me off.

 

[Shrewboy]

Thanks Shrewboy for posting this! I really like the tile work.

How did you meet the 8" and 20 "clearance to combustible requirement at the wall for a corner install? My understanding is you can't call it noncombustible just by installing tile and cement board on a combustible surface.
Maybe the picture just throws me off.

View attachment 285161

Thanks! Yes it does meet those requirements, the center of the stovepipe as shown in figure "F" is over 20.5" away from the drywall. Same with the corner clearence.

I made those measurements before I put up any tile or built the hearth, at the start of the below video when the blue tape is on the floor, it is meeting the requirements.

 

[Shrewboy]

I somehow forgot to link my YouTube video of the full install process:

 

[begreen]

That's a nice installation and a helpful video. There is one safety error in the chimney install. Offsets are designed for interior (attic) use, not exterior. At least one Elbow Strap (SDP-ES) is required for each offset. Elbow Straps ensure adequate support
.

 

[bundy150]

I have top flue, and that adds more credability to my theory of a "dead air space", since if the flue exits in the rear that airspace will now be moving.

Can you post a pic of the inside of your stove to show how the rear exit flue looks?

 

[Shrewboy]

View attachment 285336

I am an idiot, for some reason I assumed the hole for the rear exit would be inside the firebox 🤣 nevermind my theory is wrong, thanks for posting pic!

 

[Hoytman]

Are you by chance a bow Hunter?