I just had a Hearthstone Montgomery WFP-75 installed after waiting about two years after ordering. Nice looking stove and seemingly well built. Its in place, hooked up and inspected. I am now waiting on the blower to be hardwired and it to be "buttoned" up within my wall (it is currently still opened up). I have had 3-4 break in fires so far, however.
Some observations/questions:
1. My door, too, was misaligned. Higher on the left side (hinged side) and sloping lower to the right, where the handle latches. Not sure if it was shipped that way or if the installers just put it on quickly with no adjustments. But since they are not finished yet, they said they will take care of it.
2. My Primary Air Control Lever does not seem to go all the way to the right side. Left is open and the lever definitely looks able to be positioned all the way to the left. When shutting the air control to the closed position, it seems to be only able to go to max 2/3 or 3/4 of the way shut. There is still about a 1/3 to 1/4 section of that slot that the lever cannot get to. *Now I do know that these newer EPA stoves are designed to only shut down to 80% of the air to not smolder, but I have had other stoves (Pac Energy Alderlea and VC Winterwarm where the lever had free range from left to right and didn't just stop)
3. The air control does not seem to adjust the fire much from full air to "shut down". I have no problem starting fires (although I do need to leave the door cracked a bit on startup to get it to draft normally) but once the fire is established and am able to start to shut the air down in increments, I do not really see any difference in flame. In my other stoves, there would be a sizable difference in what I saw from air open to air closed (highly active flames to slow, lazy dancing-like flames). I am guessing or HOPING this is due to my door not aligning. Obviously it is leaking air in, so hopefully this adjustment will help and it is not due to a malfunction or obstruction in the Primary Air Lever movement.
4. This all led me to check the door seal with the dollar bill/paper test and the door does NOT seal against the stove (which definitely would cause air to infiltrate). I know it is not a gasket issue due to the stove being brand new, however, the hinges being adjusted and possibly the handle being adjusted to allow it to close tighter hopefully will help with this.
5. I read (I thought, anyhow) extensively about the log length max and recommended before getting the unit and it stated that the max length would be 20" but recommended length was 18". All of my wood was cut and stacked at 20" for my Winter Warm unit, so I thought I was good. WRONG. I assumed, like my previous two stoves that the firebox was square, but it opens up with 20" and then tapers back to 18" to the back. So I now have to trim my entire wood stacks of splits to fit this stove🤦♂️. Will now order 16" splits just to be safe from now on (I actually think 16" might allow me to load N/S, but I'll have to measure to be sure. The andiron might be in the way of that).
Our last break in fire was definitely the hottest and even without the blower installed it was throwing some radiant heat. It is my hope that the door/latch adjustment will help control the air situation, allowing me to control the burn better. The last thing I want is to constantly over fire this stove due to this. If anyone has any experience with these units I welcome any information or observations from your end.
Overall, I want to love this unit. Especially after dealing with the Winterwarm for the last 5 years. It is just disappointing that the main issue with the Winterwarm (being able to control the fire) seems to be the same main issue with this stove, right off the bat.
Some observations/questions:
1. My door, too, was misaligned. Higher on the left side (hinged side) and sloping lower to the right, where the handle latches. Not sure if it was shipped that way or if the installers just put it on quickly with no adjustments. But since they are not finished yet, they said they will take care of it.
2. My Primary Air Control Lever does not seem to go all the way to the right side. Left is open and the lever definitely looks able to be positioned all the way to the left. When shutting the air control to the closed position, it seems to be only able to go to max 2/3 or 3/4 of the way shut. There is still about a 1/3 to 1/4 section of that slot that the lever cannot get to. *Now I do know that these newer EPA stoves are designed to only shut down to 80% of the air to not smolder, but I have had other stoves (Pac Energy Alderlea and VC Winterwarm where the lever had free range from left to right and didn't just stop)
3. The air control does not seem to adjust the fire much from full air to "shut down". I have no problem starting fires (although I do need to leave the door cracked a bit on startup to get it to draft normally) but once the fire is established and am able to start to shut the air down in increments, I do not really see any difference in flame. In my other stoves, there would be a sizable difference in what I saw from air open to air closed (highly active flames to slow, lazy dancing-like flames). I am guessing or HOPING this is due to my door not aligning. Obviously it is leaking air in, so hopefully this adjustment will help and it is not due to a malfunction or obstruction in the Primary Air Lever movement.
4. This all led me to check the door seal with the dollar bill/paper test and the door does NOT seal against the stove (which definitely would cause air to infiltrate). I know it is not a gasket issue due to the stove being brand new, however, the hinges being adjusted and possibly the handle being adjusted to allow it to close tighter hopefully will help with this.
5. I read (I thought, anyhow) extensively about the log length max and recommended before getting the unit and it stated that the max length would be 20" but recommended length was 18". All of my wood was cut and stacked at 20" for my Winter Warm unit, so I thought I was good. WRONG. I assumed, like my previous two stoves that the firebox was square, but it opens up with 20" and then tapers back to 18" to the back. So I now have to trim my entire wood stacks of splits to fit this stove🤦♂️. Will now order 16" splits just to be safe from now on (I actually think 16" might allow me to load N/S, but I'll have to measure to be sure. The andiron might be in the way of that).
Our last break in fire was definitely the hottest and even without the blower installed it was throwing some radiant heat. It is my hope that the door/latch adjustment will help control the air situation, allowing me to control the burn better. The last thing I want is to constantly over fire this stove due to this. If anyone has any experience with these units I welcome any information or observations from your end.
Overall, I want to love this unit. Especially after dealing with the Winterwarm for the last 5 years. It is just disappointing that the main issue with the Winterwarm (being able to control the fire) seems to be the same main issue with this stove, right off the bat.
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