new 2000 ft capacity stove suggestion

[mgriz]

looking to replace my VC encore cat with a new Jotul f500 or a Hearthstone (pheonix or bennington). I have had a lot of problems with my VC back puffing and my wife has had enough. I like the size of the stove and love the top loading feature. I am slightly hesitant to get another top-loader because if a new stove back-puffed through the griddle I would go nuts. any experience with either of the three models would be appreciated.

 

[FireWalker]

Read, read and read some more, that's what I did. Lots of info here. See reviews of the stoves you listed here:

https://www.hearth.com/ratings.html

The Pheonix seem to have that love hate thing going for it.

If your house is low to medium well insulated doesn't seem like you have enough stove selected, well maybe the Jotul. I believe in bigger is better, that way your not running the snot out of your appliance. IMHO