Questions about the Hearthstone Heritage

[Oldstove]

Greetings,

Glad I found this site. Good stuff. The more I learn about the Heritage, the more I don't know. For instance: how thick is the stone? (thick enough?, so thin it's prone to breaking?), how do the door hinges and gaskets hold up?, is the blower option worth it? Can anyone offer insight to these issues? I've read that some people are not happy with the ash tray, but I don't know why.

The stove should work for us, we have an open floor plan in a 1500 sq. ft. ranch and want to augment our Quadrafire pellet stove insert. The Heritage will replace an early 1980's wood stove. With the tax credits it seems like the time is right.

Thanks

 

[johnstra]

Welcome, Oldstove!

The Heritage is perfect for you application. Overall construction on mine is very good. I can't tell how thick the stones are (at least 1/4 inch), but they are substantial. Yes, they are easily thick enough.

There are reports of the door latches on Hearthstone stoves failing. The cast tab that the handle latches against wears away over time. My stove is new, so I don't have this problem yet. In the cases I've read about, parts are replaced under warranty.

Hinges and gaskets are good.

The ash pan is poorly designed. It's easy for the sliding grate to get stuck open and when you remove ashes using the pan, you end up with a big mess. Ashes get spilled and left behind. I don't use my ash pan anymore; I just shovel ashes out. I personally don't mind this.

The Heritage is a beautiful stove that heats well. The soapstone heat is very mellow but still effective.

-john

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Greetings,

Glad I found this site. Good stuff. The more I learn about the Heritage, the more I don't know. For instance: how thick is the stone? (thick enough?, so thin it's prone to breaking?), how do the door hinges and gaskets hold up?, is the blower option worth it? Can anyone offer insight to these issues? I've read that some people are not happy with the ash tray, but I don't know why.

The stove should work for us, we have an open floor plan in a 1500 sq. ft. ranch and want to augment our Quadrafire pellet stove insert. The Heritage will replace an early 1980's wood stove. With the tax credits it seems like the time is right.

Thanks

While I don't own a Heritage, I have a Hearthstone Homestead, somewhat similar stoves..

The stone is 1 1/4 inches thick. I know of no one who has reported "breaking" a stone. A few have cracked, it can happen, but so can winning the lottery. A cracked stone to me would just be character, if all the way through, a little cement on the inside, and go with it.

The blower may or may not be a good option, depends on your install I think. I have one, we use it. It's not overly noisy, unless on high, but I am partly deaf..

I suspect the hinges and and latches hold up as well as most stoves, that part of the stove is cast iron.. There is a thread on here somewhere about latches and at least one door frame not holding up, all as I remember, covered under warranty.

I also think most people with an ash tray don't use it much. I have used mine "in season" about twice. It's easier to just use a shovel. It was handy to sweep the last dregs from last year into, to get the stove really clean, but then I ended up vacuuming it anyways.

Gaskets are a maintenance item on all stoves, and I would bet they are all the same brand anyways.

 

[Tarmsolo60]

Stones are pretty thick around 1 1/4" like mentioned above, No cracks in mine.

I love the side loading door, bottom hinge pin needs to be pushed down occasionally. Can usually do it with my thumb.

I shovel out my ashes instead of using the ash pan. If pulling out the ash pan I put an old cookie sheet under it, its open in the front.

The Woodstock fireview was on my list also, I liked the looks of the Heritage better. Sometimes I wonder about the Woodstock though as all the owners seem so happy with it.

I think this will be my fourth burning season with the Heritage, Its a nice stove .

 

[joshlaugh]

I have the Heritage for a few years how. I really like the construction of the stove itself. And LOVE the side loading door. I have replaced the latch on the side door and the entire front frame(due to it not latching properly) My dealer has been great about it and everything was under warranty. I recently replaced all the rope gaskets but those were never an issue, just need replaced every few years. I do agree about the ash pan. Every once in a while I try using it and than remember why I usually just open the side door and scoop the ashes out. Not a deal breaker to me, just an annoyance. I don't have any cracks in my stone but the manual does say that they can occur and that is "normal" Overall I really like the stove and am glad that we bought it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Oldstove.

Hearthstone does indeed make some beautiful stoves and we also looked hard at the Heritage when we purchase our last new stove. However, in the end we bought a Woodstock Fireview Soapstone stove. Here is a link to their web site:

Woodstock Soapstone Stoves

On the soapstone you will find that Woodstock uses a double layer of stone vs the single layer in Hearthstone. This might mean holding heat a bit longer but the real top item is the catalyst. With the cat, you can dial down the draft on these stoves and the cat will burn off the smoke which gives you lots of heat, plus, if you have good fuel, will keep you from having creosote problems. For example, in 3 years burning our Fireview (we heat 100% with this stove and have no backup heat) we have cleaned our chimney exactly one time and have got about a cup of soot from it. In addition, we are not burning only half the amount of wood we burned with the old stove. It is worth checking out.

Good luck no matter which way you go.

I'll send you a PM too.

 

[Oldstove]

All right! Thanks for all the quality replies. I have another question in a new post.

 

[Highbeam]

While the woodstocks do have a double layer of stone, the layers are thinner and it is unclear what the advantage is other than hiding cracks on the inner layer. Both stoves have similar weights so you aren't getting more stone with either construction method.

I'm on year four with OEM gaskets and hinge hardware. I am not impressed with the latch's catch on the frame of the stove. It appears to be weak and prone to wear. I am not looking forward to the door popping open in the middle of the night and then having to do a major stove disassembly to fix it. Warranty only covers the casting and not the labor for this repair.

I heat 1700SF very easily with the stove. It performs as advertised and the looks are IMO superior to the competition.