Hearthstone Homestead or Oslo?

[burnt2perfection]

Good day to my burning brethren. I am selling my home and reluctantly saying goodbye to my Opel. I'm downsizing to a little cottage on a lake. I am addicted to watching the flames on cold winter nights, so of course I'm looking for my next wood burner. The cottage is very small, only about 650 sqft total. The main living area where the stove will be located is about 300 sqft. Overall insulation is probably a little less than average, but by no means terrible. The home has a small brick fireplace, and I want to do a hearth mount type instant. I had pretty much made up my mind on a Hearthstone Homestead. The space needing to be heated being small, I concluded that this smallish soapstone model wouldn't force me into running around naked with the windows open. However, I had considered the Oslo. Just this evening I found a local Craigslist ad for a very slightly used Oslo. The asking price is 1K. It's very tempting. I fell the Oslo is a superior space heater, and a new Homestead goes for $2800. What does everyone think? My fear is that I will not be able to burn small enough to not make the living area too hot, or constantly burning small will result in creosote problems. I only burn high density hardwoods CSS minimum 2 years.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[firefighterjake]

If you buy the Oslo I suspect you'll have to become a Nudist.

 

[countybrown]

I'm with Jake. You'll likely turn that cottage into a kiln with the Oslo.

The homestead is a beautiful stove especially in the brown finish. Plus the soapstone will probably help keep a more consistent temp rather than the pulse and go heat of the Oslo.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

 

[begreen]

That's a great deal on the Oslo, but the Jotul is a highly radiant stove. You would need to run it on kindling only on mild days and probably would never use it with a full load of wood. Personally in this space I would be looking at a small, rear vented cat stove like the Woodstock Keystone.

 

[burnt2perfection]

That's a great deal on the Oslo, but the Jotul is a highly radiant stove. You would need to run it on kindling only on mild days and probably would never use it with a full load of wood. Personally in this space I would be looking at a small, rear vented cat stove like the Woodstock Keystone.

The Keystone flue exit height is a little bit too tall for this application, but it indeed appears to be a fine stove. Even though I have an unfounded fear of cats.

 

[burnt2perfection]

Thanks to all who replied. You reinforced what I already knew to be true. It's just a shame to pass up what appears to be a great deal on the Oslo. Hmmmm... maybe for the garage...

 

[begreen]

Well you could pick it up, give it a fresh coat of paint and flip it. If the stove is in excellent condition that is a great price.

I'm surprised that the Oslo would work, but not the Keystone. What is the lintel height of the fireplace?

 

[burnt2perfection]

The lintel is 27". The Keystone needs 26.5", but I would need to add a hearth pad thicker than .5" to achieve its required R-Value. The Oslo being 26", if I bought a short leg kit, would fit..., barely.

 

[begreen]

The Keystone's flue height is 25.75" according to the website. (Flue Height (center of rear outlet): 22.75") so it would be close. A sheet of metal on top of a 1/2" sheet of Durock NexGen seems like it should work.

 

[burnt2perfection]

The Keystone's flue height is 25.75" according to the website. (Flue Height (center of rear outlet): 22.75") so it would be close. A sheet of metal on top of a 1/2" sheet of Durock NexGen seems like it should work.

The installation manual from the website states an opening requirement of 26.5". I'm assuming that takes into consideration the factory sized 7" flue collar. It is allowable to reduce the flue size to 6". I need to do more research on how a reducer could fit. I wouldn't want a large gap between the stove and the existing fireplace. Assuming that setup would look acceptable, it just might barely fit. I have been studying this stove, and it has many features that I prefer over the Hearthstone. Side loading, longer burns, better reviews, substantially reduced hearth pad requirements are just a few. The firebox is narrower, and I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about cutting a couple inches off my entire stockpile. And I did mention my unfounded cat phobia. All that said, I'm leaning towards the Keystone. I had been planning on a tile finish for my hearth pad, but I am intrigued by your suggestion of metal. It gains me a precious .25" in my setup. Of course, it has to be attractive. Have any suggestions where I can look for suitable metals for this purpose?

 

[begreen]

Give Woodstock a call, ask for Lorin. They will fill in the details that you need.

The metal can be painted or powder coated steel, stainless steel, copper, aluminum. It's just an easy to clean ember blocking surface.

 

[burnt2perfection]

Called Woodstock today. They are out of Keystones until spring. I'm pretty bummed.

 

[ddddddden]

Doh!
Perhaps a FireView then?
6" flue collar and easier to service the catalyst(top lifts open.)