Late to this thread, but I just had mine (Heritage 8024) installed a few days ago and figure others might benefit from a post. I owned the 2008-era model for 8 years before we moved out of that house. I really really loved the stove, and have been pining to get wood heat in our new home for 4 years. Finally went to work on a large downstairs remodel of which the stove is a central feature.
The best part of the stove is the soapstone keeping the stove warm and still pulling a hard draft for a very easy morning restart without downdrafting after a night of burning. The older model was very simple operation - a single lever for air supply.
You do have to be careful about early season burning and make sure you gently break in the stove with a few lower temperature burns to drive moisture out of the stones (or they can crack). Overfiring can also reportedly crack the stones, leading to an expensive repair. I never had the issue, but I was also very careful about the way I ran the stove.
The second best part is the side loading door. It is so much easier to add fuel using the side door - no mess of ash droppings, hot coals falling out no sparks coming out at you. The newer stove is even better since it opens like an upside-down delorean: from the top-down. I only open the front door to wipe off the glass or clean out ash. Don't get the ash pan...it is completely useless. It was default on the old model, and is an option on the new model.
Also the big window is great for folks like me who love to stare at the fire.
From what I can tell, the new stove is identical in function, except it has the new option of running the exhaust through a catalytic baffle for efficient burning at lower temperatures. My understanding is that you can run the stove in non-catalytic mode up to 60k btu/hour, and at catalytic mode, up to about 30k btu/hr (from EPA specifications). Catalytic mode gives you an insanely long slow burn - on my first overnight burn, stove was still very hot in the morning, unlike the previous models, where it would simply be decently warm.
I am still learning the pattern of the stove operation, but I can see the benefit to running hot during the day, with the catalyst disengaged, and then letting it sit on ultra slow-burn (air supply at minimum setting) in super-efficient catalytic mode overnight. So far it seems I have to play a more active role in the burning if I want to use the catalyst in anything but the minimal air setting since there is a temperature window that the stove easily exceeds on the type of burn I would typically want to run. Send too much heat through the catalyst for too long, and it's my understanding that it can get damaged.
As with any stove, but perhaps especially soapstone stoves, and especially catalytics, make sure your wood is good and dry. It was very hard to get a steady non-problematic burn on fresher wood in the previous Heritage I owned. Compare to an ancient Jotul cast iron I had in my old workshop which would eat anything (although certainly not put out the heat I wanted unless the wood was dry), but that was a pain to restart in the am, and which needed to be loaded very often.
In summary:
Pros:
Soapstone heat retention is awesome
Side loading is awesome
I can see the benefits to having a catalytic option: efficiency as the stove is ramping up to higher temps, and a super extended and efficient long-slow-burn mode
Beautiful view window
Cons:
The catalytic option seems to require a bit more hands-on approach if you're going to use it, but it seems like it is optional
There are reports of stones cracking on folks - I never had this.
related: Break in period for new stove and at the beginning of the season to gently drive moisture out, and having to be cautious about avoiding overfiring.
The PH seems like a very similar stove in function at a bit higher price point, with a bit more btus/hr with the larger firebox and surface area. The cooktop seems silly at first glance...I'm not gonna cook bacon and splatter grease all over the beautiful soapstone, and then have it smoke up the house as it burns off. The thermal mass is way bigger - I think the woodstock stoves have two layers of soapstone. 700 flipping pounds! The heritage is 475. Stylistically, I prefer the hearthstone's slightly more modern looking aesthetic, but that's personal opinion only. For me, it was also much easier to get a hearthstone where I live in upstate NY.