We are considering adding a stand-alone wood stove to our living room. We own a property up north where we inherited a Woodstock Fireview Soapstone Wood Stove and we love how much heat it kicks out as well as how long the coal bed lasts and just overall we’ve really liked it. We wanted to put one in our main home but it seems like it will impede more in the room due to the rear pipe connect (instead of the top pipe). Would Hearthstone give us a similar experience as our Woodstock Fireview? What Hearthstone stove should we consider? Our house is probably 2200-2300 sq ft not including the basement. We are ok with somewhat supplementing the heat if needed too. The beauty of the stove is important to me.
New stove: Woodstock vs. Hearthstone?
- Thread starter MegCog
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The Woodstock Fireview is a pure cat stove. The Hearthstones are hybrids. They have different burn characteristics.
Tell us more about the house and the area where the stove will be located like its age, one or two story, etc. How open is the floorplan? High ceilings? How is the insulation?
Tell us more about the house and the area where the stove will be located like its age, one or two story, etc. How open is the floorplan? High ceilings? How is the insulation?
Begreen I agree.
I WILL say though after living with my Mansfield for a while you can run small loads to really back down the output. It comes down to managing the ember bed. Once the big rock is up to a solid temp there is a lot of leeway in controlling the output based on loading and air all while staying up on the cats.
It does hit the beauty part as well.
I WILL say though after living with my Mansfield for a while you can run small loads to really back down the output. It comes down to managing the ember bed. Once the big rock is up to a solid temp there is a lot of leeway in controlling the output based on loading and air all while staying up on the cats.
It does hit the beauty part as well.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Brenndatomu I can agree with that. Most problems I see here with the HS stoves are ones I experienced. Once I got my arms around mine the "issues" fell away. After decades of running a large Dutchwest VC I had to completely change how I burned.
Hearthstones were much maligned by the fact that their handles gave people trouble. If the handle was used correctly, they were ok. But if closed turning the wrong way (and it would kinda lock that way too), they would not hold up. The design could have been better. In my own experience, the Phoenix I had was an awesome stove, I had just decided I wanted a side loading stove (then I moved to the F500 Oslo). It was a fantastic heater, but not as easy to get up and run, like a steel bodied stove. Looks wise, Hearthstones and the Oslo (like VC) are nice to look at.
I’m not sure I like the position of the cat in the Hearthstone’s, looks to be a maintenance nightmare. I was talking to a local dealer about these stoves a year ago and he said they do get a lot of maintenance calls on them and he has even recommended taking the cats out and running them like the old non cat models. The Woodstocks are nice to work with, just lift the top lid and the cat is right there.
I'll let you know on the cats. Last cleaning I popped the telescoping double wall loose to do a damper mod. I'll decide if it's simpler to take them out the front when I pull the baffle to run a soot eater up or take 2 screws out of the cover plate off the rear of the cat chamber.
I would guess the rear cover is simpler since they aren't shoulder deep from there. They come out the top 6" hole so they should the back as well.
As far as the gnashing of teeth about them being under the stack I can say last cleaning there was no chimney debris on the center one.
I would guess the rear cover is simpler since they aren't shoulder deep from there. They come out the top 6" hole so they should the back as well.
As far as the gnashing of teeth about them being under the stack I can say last cleaning there was no chimney debris on the center one.
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
I've owned 2 Hearthstones in my life, both I loved. I own a Progress now and love it more. Today I just installed the updated
air intake control and I know that, well, I'll love it even more. I made a video on how easy it is to check your cat on a Progress.
air intake control and I know that, well, I'll love it even more. I made a video on how easy it is to check your cat on a Progress.
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Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
I owned a hearthstone heritage for several years just before they went to catalysts. It sure was a good looking stove. If looks are your top priority then I would agree that hearthstone has woodstock beat. I replaced that hearthstone with a pretty ugly BK princess because perormance became my priority and it was a good move for me.
2300 SF in any northern state plus another 2300 basement, don't screw around with a small stove. Get the biggest of either brand which would be the IS or PH from woodstock or the mansfield from Hearthstone.
Do note that hearthstone totally redesigned the stoves for 2020 including the dumb door handles and adding catalysts so you can't really depend on older reviews including mine of the precat heritage.
2300 SF in any northern state plus another 2300 basement, don't screw around with a small stove. Get the biggest of either brand which would be the IS or PH from woodstock or the mansfield from Hearthstone.
Do note that hearthstone totally redesigned the stoves for 2020 including the dumb door handles and adding catalysts so you can't really depend on older reviews including mine of the precat heritage.
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
One thing to add is that I cook on my past woodstoves. However I didn't with Hearthstone soapstone models I used
as they didn't have a way of moving the stones to get directly to the cast iron (in Woodstocks design). If cooking is not an issue
for your heating pleasures, then this tidbit is irrelevant.
But! If you like to see the fire without the glass becoming black, Woodstock figured that out.
as they didn't have a way of moving the stones to get directly to the cast iron (in Woodstocks design). If cooking is not an issue
for your heating pleasures, then this tidbit is irrelevant.
But! If you like to see the fire without the glass becoming black, Woodstock figured that out.
Sorry I've been AWOL. Family vacation and summer chaos and all that.
It's a two-story house. You enter the front door and the living room is on your right, the stairs going up are on your left. Directly in front of you is the closet with a half bath behind that and the kitchen behind that. If you go through the living room, you turn to get to the dining room which leads to an attached sunroom. So the southwest corner of the house is the living room, east of that is the dining room, east of that the sun room. Then to the north of the dining room is the kitchen, then an eat-in area, then a second family room. From the second family room, you can go west to the mudroom/garage. Idk if that makes sense.
Our ceilings are regular 8 ft ceilings. We're not sure about the insulation yet. We just moved here so we're still getting to know the place.
From the other posts on this thread, I'm leaning toward the Woodstock Progress. I didn't realize that some of the wood stoves from Woodstock allow a top-venting option! I'd love to hear any more feedback or considerations before we take the plunge.
I like the way you're thinking. I had thought that all the Woodstock stoves were rear-venting so that's why I had been looking at Hearthstones. Now that I know the Progress has a top-venting option, it's my top choice for our house.
We have a Woodstock Fireview at our property up north (inherited it from the previous owner) and have absolutely loved it. We've also had great experiences with their customer service so far.
I'd love to hear about what you love about your Progress and any tips or considerations we should think about. Progress is my top runner at this point.
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