New Hearthstone Clydesdale 8492 - Review

[spooky]

After some deliberation, we decided on a Hearthstone Clydesdale to fill our existing fireplace. I really appreciated this forum when researching and a few folks who discussed the other stoves with me in other threads. I had also considered a Buckstove 91 and a Pacific Energy Summit but what tipped us over to the Clydesdale was that after careful measuring I thought the standard trim might *just* fit inside the edge of our existing stone work. Our fireplace is set in a large rough hewn fieldstone type wall, so there isn't a flat surface for a surround to mate up against. It turns out I was right, and as you'll see below it fits about like they were made for each other.

The stove was out of stock in nearby distributors, I ended up finding one at a dealer about 100 miles away and picking it up myself so I wouldn't have to wait. My local installer/dealer didn't give me any grief and was still happy to install it with the caveat that they would not be responsible for shipping damage. I inspected the stove as best I could when picking it up and decided I was ok with the risk.

Install was pretty straight forward... removed old damper and a little bit of brick, insulated 6" stainless liner into existing flue, and had them plug the top of the old smoke chamber around the liner with roxul to limit air movement into the old flue. I made up an "extension cord" with flexible metal conduit, a metal handy box, and a heavy duty outlet to power the blower from inside the fire box. It runs down the old ash chute and is currently setup with a plug on the end so it can be powered by inverter or other backup power easily in a pinch.

So far we're very happy with the stove both in looks and function. It certainly tends to get going and I have been carefully working up towards a full firebox and watching the temps on the built in cat thermometer. Right now it seems like if I had it packed full it would overfire even with the air control all the way closed. The break in fires left some soot on the glass around the bottom corners but that is starting to burn off with a few full fires. We are comfortably starting a fire in the evening and finding coals in the morning with the stove still warm enough to have the blower on.

One thing I noticed right away is the blower motors have a bit of a hum to them, which is especially noticeable when they are on low. I think this is just normal behavior for AC motors especially when slowed down with a rheostat. In the future I might experiment with a variac on the supply to see if a transformer could reduce the hum while keeping the adjustment range useful but it isn't bad enough to be high on my priority list.

We haven't had truly cold weather yet (MD) since installing the stove, so the real test will come over the next couple of months. I'm not really trying to 100% heat the house with wood, but certainly don't mind the stove taking a good chunk of the load. I'll paste a few pics of the installed stove and the wiring for the outlet below in case folks are curious.

 

[Scott from Akron]

Glad you're enjoying the Clydesdale. I self installed in November. It's heavy. Takes a while to get hot but puts out a nice controllable heat thereafter. The glass got easier to clean off after a few burns, almost like it needed seasoned. For the most part a hot burn in the morning takes care of anything that may have collected overnight. My wife and I are very happy with it, especially the light show with the secondary air burn.

The hum you're hearing could be vibration from the sheet metal air inlet just below the blower control wheel. I carefully wedged something under it to stop the vibration and that took care of any noise.

 

[spooky]

Thanks. Testing with my fingers I can lower the noise of the hum with light pressure to that sheet metal under/behind the wheel but not eliminate it entirely. I think it is hard to do with AC motors like that… there is purposely a magnetic field changing directions 60x per second and in most cases that translates into some noise. If nothing else I’ll carefully wedge it like you did.

Maybe in combination with a transformer I can make it really quiet. It is only noticeable on low speed when I am just sitting there in a silent room reading or similar.

 

[Grandpa Ray]

thinking about installing a Clydesdale....looks great! the fit of the trim with the stone is spot on.
thanks for posting pictures of the blower outlet. I like that idea.

 

[Narsil487]

Just curious where you self-installers acquired your chimney liners. I just got an outlet installed in my fireplace. And have a Clydesdale sitting in my garage since the spring. Can't wait to get this thing installed!