Hearthstone Clydesdale 8492 Review After 2 Months

[fenway]

Hi, everyone. I'm new to this forum but have been checking it out for the last 10 years when I need advice. We finally had a Hearthstone Clydesdale installed about two months ago after a four month wait. We have had a Hearthstone Equinox for over a decade and love it, but we have mixed feelings about the Clydesdale so far. Mostly disappointment, however, considering the high cost of this wood stove insert.

We chose the brown enamel over the matte black. The surround, ash lip, and door arrived with substantial damage. Our expectations were grounded in reality as we know how easily enamel chips, but the surround -- which came in a separate box packaged directly by Hearthstone -- had a gash in the enamel that was about 2 inches wide and can be seen from 20 feet away (seriously). It took about 7 weeks and repeated follow ups from our dealer to Hearthstone to get confirmation we would even get replacement parts. Finally, when the parts came in, our dealer let us know the new surround had another gash in the enamel. It was better than the old one so we decided to accept it and move on, but still frustrating.

Our Clydesdale arrived without a bypass knob. Hearthstone has now sent us three door knobs despite us reminding them every time that we do not need a door knob, just a bypass knob. The bypass is still functional without the knob, but for over $5k, we just want the knob that was supposed to come with it.

Open port: I saw someone else post about this, but we also received our Clydesdale with a mysterious open port/ hole under the grill to the right. Our dealer is currently looking into this and reached out to Hearthstone. Hopefully they send a screw to plug the hole, however, we don't seem to have any issues with overfiring.

The structural integrity of the baffles seems to have gone downhill. The Clydesdale baffles are about as thin and crispy as a potato chip. One of them cracked within the first month of operating the stove but we have been unable to get our hands on a replacement. The upside is that the baffles are extremely easy to access and no tools are needed (seems to be an improvement from older Clydesdales). Hoping we can get a OEM replacement soon.

I think the catalyst temp gauge on our Clydesdale is defective. It never goes much above the "Catalyst Active" zone -- never more than 1/4 in the zone -- despite the front glass reaching 800+ degrees and the top of the stove -- under the grill -- reaching 600+ degrees. It sounds like others' gauges are much more sensitive and those temps would be near or in the "too hot" range.

I've seen other complaints on here about sooty glass. I wouldn't say our glass stays "sooty" but it gets cloudy quickly and needs to be cleaned at least once a week to keep it clear.

Now, for the good: Despite all these annoyances, we're still managing to heat our 2700sqft home (built in '88; has original windows) to between 65--75 degrees depending on proximity to wood stove. We didn't expect any insert to be that effective. On the colder mornings, our FHA heat generally kicks in for an hour or two before we get the stove reloaded and hot, but still, we're really impressed. For comparison, last year, we were burning through about 250 gallons of heating oil every 4--5 weeks to keep our house at 65 during the day and 58 at night. This is a huge improvement in both comfort and cost.

All in all, the stove is gorgeous and works really well, but we've dealt with a lot of nuisances for the high price. Not sure I'll ever buy a Hearthstone product again after this experience -- probably time to try something else.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the review fenway. It's too bad that things got off to a rocky start. The new Clydesdale just started shipping, but one would think that they would have lots of experience shipping the prior version so as to avoid shipping damage. Has the dealer ordered a new cat thermometer?
I'm glad that it is at least heating well. Please keep us updated on how the insert works out over time.

 

[bundy150]

Your dealer should have inspected the stove to make sure everything was as it should be.

 

[Honey Badger]

Hi, everyone. I'm new to this forum but have been checking it out for the last 10 years when I need advice. We finally had a Hearthstone Clydesdale installed about two months ago after a four month wait. We have had a Hearthstone Equinox for over a decade and love it, but we have mixed feelings about the Clydesdale so far. Mostly disappointment, however, considering the high cost of this wood stove insert.

We chose the brown enamel over the matte black. The surround, ash lip, and door arrived with substantial damage. Our expectations were grounded in reality as we know how easily enamel chips, but the surround -- which came in a separate box packaged directly by Hearthstone -- had a gash in the enamel that was about 2 inches wide and can be seen from 20 feet away (seriously). It took about 7 weeks and repeated follow ups from our dealer to Hearthstone to get confirmation we would even get replacement parts. Finally, when the parts came in, our dealer let us know the new surround had another gash in the enamel. It was better than the old one so we decided to accept it and move on, but still frustrating.

Our Clydesdale arrived without a bypass knob. Hearthstone has now sent us three door knobs despite us reminding them every time that we do not need a door knob, just a bypass knob. The bypass is still functional without the knob, but for over $5k, we just want the knob that was supposed to come with it.

Open port: I saw someone else post about this, but we also received our Clydesdale with a mysterious open port/ hole under the grill to the right. Our dealer is currently looking into this and reached out to Hearthstone. Hopefully they send a screw to plug the hole, however, we don't seem to have any issues with overfiring.

The structural integrity of the baffles seems to have gone downhill. The Clydesdale baffles are about as thin and crispy as a potato chip. One of them cracked within the first month of operating the stove but we have been unable to get our hands on a replacement. The upside is that the baffles are extremely easy to access and no tools are needed (seems to be an improvement from older Clydesdales). Hoping we can get a OEM replacement soon.

I think the catalyst temp gauge on our Clydesdale is defective. It never goes much above the "Catalyst Active" zone -- never more than 1/4 in the zone -- despite the front glass reaching 800+ degrees and the top of the stove -- under the grill -- reaching 600+ degrees. It sounds like others' gauges are much more sensitive and those temps would be near or in the "too hot" range.

I've seen other complaints on here about sooty glass. I wouldn't say our glass stays "sooty" but it gets cloudy quickly and needs to be cleaned at least once a week to keep it clear.

Now, for the good: Despite all these annoyances, we're still managing to heat our 2700sqft home (built in '88; has original windows) to between 65--75 degrees depending on proximity to wood stove. We didn't expect any insert to be that effective. On the colder mornings, our FHA heat generally kicks in for an hour or two before we get the stove reloaded and hot, but still, we're really impressed. For comparison, last year, we were burning through about 250 gallons of heating oil every 4--5 weeks to keep our house at 65 during the day and 58 at night. This is a huge improvement in both comfort and cost.

All in all, the stove is gorgeous and works really well, but we've dealt with a lot of nuisances for the high price. Not sure I'll ever buy a Hearthstone product again after this experience -- probably time to try something else.

Hello, Fenway. I had the Clydesdale installed in mid November. I am disappointed in the insert so far. I bought this insert because I had a Hearthstone Morgan, a smaller version of the Clydesdale that is no longer made, in another house. Never had an issue.

The first issue I had is with the bypass. It gets stuck when the insert gets too hot. I have seen three fixes on Hearth.com and on Reddit. In my opinion, Hearthstone should fix this part and send a new one to the dealers when requested.

The catalyst temp probe is no longer functional. It is stuck in the middle of the Catalyst Active zone. It never went to inactive from day 1. It did go from the middle to hot, at first, but as I said, it’s now stuck. I am flying blind when I engage the catalyst, if I do engage it.

Most times, the catalyst does not work well at all. When I engage the catalyst, it smothers the fire, creating lots of creosote on the glass. I clean the glass regularly, at least every two weeks, yet some of the creosote will not come off. I use both ash, water, and newspaper and Rutland glass cleaner.

I also think the air control is no longer working. This is something new.

I am no longer engaging the catalyst. Why bother at this point until everything is fixed?

My dealer is aware of the issues. I am waiting to have everything fixed/replaced per the warranty. I will also have the catalysts checked for damage.

I wrote to Hearthstone to report the issues and to make sure everything is covered by the warranty. At the time, I wasn’t experiencing the air control issue. I also told them they need to improve the owner’s manual, especially what to expect from a stove a with catalyst and a Q&A. I am an experienced wood burner. Along with the Morgan insert, I also had a Jotul stove. I find the Clydesdale to be much too quirky.

Overall, this is a nice insert, but I didn’t buy it to experience all these problems or to use it without engaging the catalyst. I am beginning to think that there’s a quality control issue at Hearthstone with this insert. Did they roll it out too quickly?

This is an expensive insert. Had I read about these problems before I purchased it, I may have looked elsewhere.

I’m sorry you have issues, too. I hope they get resolved.

 

[Scott from Akron]

What I've found is that if the fire slows down when I close the bypass, then the catalysts needs cleaned. This happened to me when I was not leaving the air inlet open full for 15-20 minutes when I reloaded the stove. Ash particles covered the catalysts. Using my shop vac with a soft brush attachment cleaned it all off easily. Since then I've learned to leave the air open until the wood is burning hot and then kick it back down. I've had no more clogged cats and the glass stays much cleaner. When they are clean, I see no difference in the fire between bypassed and not. Sorry you're experiencing issues otherwise.

 

[Honey Badger]

What I've found is that if the fire slows down when I close the bypass, then the catalysts needs cleaned. This happened to me when I was not leaving the air inlet open full for 15-20 minutes when I reloaded the stove. Ash particles covered the catalysts. Using my shop vac with a soft brush attachment cleaned it all off easily. Since then I've learned to leave the air open until the wood is burning hot and then kick it back down. I've had no more clogged cats and the glass stays much cleaner. When they are clean, I see no difference in the fire between bypassed and not. Sorry you're experiencing issues otherwise.

Thanks, Akron. I will try cleaning the catalysts. I can see how ash particles can clog them. I do get the fire pretty hot before I engage the catalysts. I am also finding that when the catalysts are engaged, I also get a Smokey smell in the house. It doesn’t happen all the time. My wood is dry. If I don’t think it’s dry enough, I don’t engage the catalysts. I’ve had a problem with dirty glass from the beginning. Even though I clean the glass weekly, some of the creosote in the corners is hard to get off. I’m still waiting for the dealer to get what it needs from Hearthstone to fix the problems with the insert.

 

[Grandpa Ray]

thank you for posting about your experience. It's been helpful for my own learning as I'm considering a Clydesdale.

 

[SJFam]

Hi, everyone. I'm new to this forum but have been checking it out for the last 10 years when I need advice. We finally had a Hearthstone Clydesdale installed about two months ago after a four month wait. We have had a Hearthstone Equinox for over a decade and love it, but we have mixed feelings about the Clydesdale so far. Mostly disappointment, however, considering the high cost of this wood stove insert.

We chose the brown enamel over the matte black. The surround, ash lip, and door arrived with substantial damage. Our expectations were grounded in reality as we know how easily enamel chips, but the surround -- which came in a separate box packaged directly by Hearthstone -- had a gash in the enamel that was about 2 inches wide and can be seen from 20 feet away (seriously). It took about 7 weeks and repeated follow ups from our dealer to Hearthstone to get confirmation we would even get replacement parts. Finally, when the parts came in, our dealer let us know the new surround had another gash in the enamel. It was better than the old one so we decided to accept it and move on, but still frustrating.

Our Clydesdale arrived without a bypass knob. Hearthstone has now sent us three door knobs despite us reminding them every time that we do not need a door knob, just a bypass knob. The bypass is still functional without the knob, but for over $5k, we just want the knob that was supposed to come with it.

Open port: I saw someone else post about this, but we also received our Clydesdale with a mysterious open port/ hole under the grill to the right. Our dealer is currently looking into this and reached out to Hearthstone. Hopefully they send a screw to plug the hole, however, we don't seem to have any issues with overfiring.

The structural integrity of the baffles seems to have gone downhill. The Clydesdale baffles are about as thin and crispy as a potato chip. One of them cracked within the first month of operating the stove but we have been unable to get our hands on a replacement. The upside is that the baffles are extremely easy to access and no tools are needed (seems to be an improvement from older Clydesdales). Hoping we can get a OEM replacement soon.

I think the catalyst temp gauge on our Clydesdale is defective. It never goes much above the "Catalyst Active" zone -- never more than 1/4 in the zone -- despite the front glass reaching 800+ degrees and the top of the stove -- under the grill -- reaching 600+ degrees. It sounds like others' gauges are much more sensitive and those temps would be near or in the "too hot" range.

I've seen other complaints on here about sooty glass. I wouldn't say our glass stays "sooty" but it gets cloudy quickly and needs to be cleaned at least once a week to keep it clear.

Now, for the good: Despite all these annoyances, we're still managing to heat our 2700sqft home (built in '88; has original windows) to between 65--75 degrees depending on proximity to wood stove. We didn't expect any insert to be that effective. On the colder mornings, our FHA heat generally kicks in for an hour or two before we get the stove reloaded and hot, but still, we're really impressed. For comparison, last year, we were burning through about 250 gallons of heating oil every 4--5 weeks to keep our house at 65 during the day and 58 at night. This is a huge improvement in both comfort and cost.

All in all, the stove is gorgeous and works really well, but we've dealt with a lot of nuisances for the high price. Not sure I'll ever buy a Hearthstone product again after this experience -- probably time to try something else.

I too have many of the same issues on other posts. Did they install a blocker plate or seal around the liner in the damper area as per the installation instructions? See attached.