The Equinox
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Not really, but Hearthstone loves the thing. There trying to go back to there original H1 model. I believe it was designed by the president of the company. I have had a few people interested in it, but no takers yet. I might get one next year for our floor
I'm still trying to decide beween one of these and the PE T6. I still can't figure out which one will perform better. I'm looking for prolonged surface temperatures of 400 - 500 F - like more than 6 hours. If the Equinox can sustain this temp for like 8 hours, I think it will be the winner. Otherwise, I'm going to cast iron so I can at least crank the thing up to 700 in no time and get the room up to temp. This is to replace a Hearthstone Heritage that's a bit too small for my house. It' sunfortunate because it's such a grat stove
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I guess I really need a good reason to justify an extra $1000 in price. I'm interested if anyone has any info.
!I guess I really need a good reason to justify an extra $1000 in price. I'm interested if anyone has any info.
Mike from Athens said:
It's the heaviest stove in the world! There's a talking point that ought to be worth an extra grand... :bug:
We shipped our first Equinox back in December. I recently E-mailed our customer to ask how it was doing, and here's his response:
Hi Tom glad you E-mailed. This is one BIG stove, but it fit right in where the old stove was with no problems. We had temperatures fall to -9 degrees and it still kept my two story house 75 degrees. My old stove had a hard time at 10 degrees above zero. I have four friends in the area with stoves and they were impressed.
Hi Tom glad you E-mailed. This is one BIG stove, but it fit right in where the old stove was with no problems. We had temperatures fall to -9 degrees and it still kept my two story house 75 degrees. My old stove had a hard time at 10 degrees above zero. I have four friends in the area with stoves and they were impressed.
I know the Equinox will take time to get up to temp just like my Heritage, and I am assuming has surface temperature restrictions, too - probaly max in the 500 - 550 range. If that sucker could maintain 500 for long time,I htink i'd be set. Problem is, when it gets too cold (like beolw 20) or I fall asleep and the stove drops below the 400 point, the house gets cold really quick, and I have a hard time catching back up, if at all. The soapstone makes it even harder to catch up becasue it take time to heat up, and then you can only fire it so hot. It seems like these soapstone stoves are ideal for a well insulated home. If I don't have the stove cranked 24/7, the house will quickly lose heat, like 10 degrees per hour or more, and I'm basically screwed until there's sunshine and temps get above 20 outside.
That's one of the attractive points of the PE T6 - looks like it will keep at the 400 + point for 6 - 8 hours, and I could also crank it up to 700 for a really quick warm up in the house, if needed.
Any info on a comparison will help me greatly. Now it looks like I need to make a decision before April
That's one of the attractive points of the PE T6 - looks like it will keep at the 400 + point for 6 - 8 hours, and I could also crank it up to 700 for a really quick warm up in the house, if needed.
Any info on a comparison will help me greatly. Now it looks like I need to make a decision before April
I am in the same situation as you are Mike , I am debating between the Alderlea T6, and the Equinox. I have the same type of house, Old and not very well insulated, and lots of drafts.. so it does cool off quickly. Like you I need to make a decision before April now... oh well. I was hoping by now someone here would have had one and had info on them.
Jeff
Jeff
As you guys know, I got the Mansfield instead of the T=6. I don't regret that but I also don't think I'd have regretted the T-6. The Equinox is a big momma for sure; my house is 2400 sq/ft plus a lot of Cu/Ft to boot. I originally was going to get the Equinox but I thought that it would be a bit of overkill since the Mansfield was rated at 70K/BTU. Also, the way my stove sits on the Hearth I would not be able to make use of the side door and didn't want to change my set up.
The Mansfield is doing a good job. I have pretty good burns overnight from 10PM to 6AM. I do damp down all the way. In the AM my stovetop is about 250 and the house is cooling; but I expected that. Next year, I'm going to try an in pipe damper and see if it slows the burn down and retains a bit more heat. I am 16 feet stack of 6 inch stainless.
The big question for Mike is will you really be patient enough to wait for the soapstone and do you have the time to keep it up to temp. That is the one drawback with the soapstone as I see; you don't get the quick pop from it. I'm working around that, you may or may not want to.
No doubt the Equinox is a great stove. If they had one in stock I might have gotten it anyway; but I am happy with the Mansfield and think my wood use has been reduced by 1/2 from the Defiant stoves (CAT and Non-CAT)
I wish I could put in the T-6 and evaluate the difference as I would really like to see which does the best job.
In this case I think its like deciding between the Rolls or the Bentley!
The Mansfield is doing a good job. I have pretty good burns overnight from 10PM to 6AM. I do damp down all the way. In the AM my stovetop is about 250 and the house is cooling; but I expected that. Next year, I'm going to try an in pipe damper and see if it slows the burn down and retains a bit more heat. I am 16 feet stack of 6 inch stainless.
The big question for Mike is will you really be patient enough to wait for the soapstone and do you have the time to keep it up to temp. That is the one drawback with the soapstone as I see; you don't get the quick pop from it. I'm working around that, you may or may not want to.
No doubt the Equinox is a great stove. If they had one in stock I might have gotten it anyway; but I am happy with the Mansfield and think my wood use has been reduced by 1/2 from the Defiant stoves (CAT and Non-CAT)
I wish I could put in the T-6 and evaluate the difference as I would really like to see which does the best job.
In this case I think its like deciding between the Rolls or the Bentley!
Do I understand you to say that your Defiant stoves actually DID burn wood? :lol: I've spent this whole winter with soapstone and you're right, it's a completely different rhythm of burning you have to get in to. I'm still learning but have reached a point where it just fits in fine. House is ALWAYS comfortable, but I always load it in such a way, depending on whatever weather conditions, that it is that way. Like you say, no quick pop from soapstone, so you let it cool and you pay for it. Sure that's true of even a behemoth like the Equinox.swestall said:
Oh Yeah, the Defiants burn wood. The Defiant CAT stove was actually really great. I had to replace the CAT a couple of times and then fell for the Defiant Everburn story. The Defiant NON-CAT burned a lot of wood because I was always there feeding it, trying to get the Everburn engaged, watching it to see if it stalled and then starting over again because it did. Once in a while I actually got it to engage and burn. All this tending and operating with the primary damper open resulted in burning more wood than the Defiant CAt or the Mansfield. It was so unreliable that I finally got totally worn down by it and upgraded to the Mansfield.
The best thing is that every time I go down the driveway I look up at the stack and see a heat wave; with the VC non-CAT it was always smoke and I had a lump in my throat just knowing it was generating a ton of creosote.
Given that my wife and I both work, we often come home to a stove with coals and a cooler surface temp. We stoke and go; in about 2.5 hours the temp in the house gets right back up there.
As long as the days are sunny and the outside temp isn't in the single digits, the house doesn't get cold at all. When I built it we oriented it to face the southwest with lots of glass so the solar gain will bring it up into the high 60's even when the stove goes out.
On overcast or snowy days, we have to keep the fire up a bit more. So, we are definately finding the rythm of the soapstone as well. But, I like it and it seems the Mansfield is just fine.
The best thing is that every time I go down the driveway I look up at the stack and see a heat wave; with the VC non-CAT it was always smoke and I had a lump in my throat just knowing it was generating a ton of creosote.
Given that my wife and I both work, we often come home to a stove with coals and a cooler surface temp. We stoke and go; in about 2.5 hours the temp in the house gets right back up there.
As long as the days are sunny and the outside temp isn't in the single digits, the house doesn't get cold at all. When I built it we oriented it to face the southwest with lots of glass so the solar gain will bring it up into the high 60's even when the stove goes out.
On overcast or snowy days, we have to keep the fire up a bit more. So, we are definately finding the rythm of the soapstone as well. But, I like it and it seems the Mansfield is just fine.
That rhythm is different than steel. I was sitting in my living room with guests last night and the room was a nice 75 degrees and low 40s outside. The stove top was cooling into the 250-300 range and I went and stoked my heritage up with a medium load. The guests thought that I was crazy(er) since it was already quite warm but We all sat there and watched the roaring firebox slowly warm the stove up but not the room. The lesson I had to teach them was anticipation. With the soapstone I had to anticipate the room cooling off and start the warming process early to prevent it.
A couple weeks ago I stopped at the dealer I bought my Heritage from. They had one of those big boys sitting on the floor. I asked if they have sold any - so far they have moved 4 of them with no problems. One concern the dealer had was with the drop down side door. There's kind of a slide plate inside (I guess to keep ashes from falling out when you open the door). His concern was that coals or ashes will get caught in it and jam up the assembly, or that people may try to force and bend it when the door is closed. Other than that - typical useless ashpan.
Overal a real nice looking stove. It is a monster in person. The Heritage sitting next to it in the showroom looked tiny.
Overal a real nice looking stove. It is a monster in person. The Heritage sitting next to it in the showroom looked tiny.
HB, really well put. More than once I based my decision on what I was experiencing now only to regret it a couple of hours down the road.Highbeam said:
Agree, I'm loading at no less than 300 if I want it to stay warm. On the other hand, we get low temps if we are trying to go 10 hours between loads. But, that is the way of the country life!
The rhythm isn't a big issue with my soapstone - it's the frequency. I llove it, but I literally can't let it get below 400 if it's below 20 out. It's a reload every 3-4 hours. Combine that with a screaming babby, and it's time to look for a longer sustained surface temp. I don't know, maybe the mansfield or equinox at 250 would be equivalent to the heritage at 400, due to the surface area? I can't remember my thermodynamics and I think it would give me a big headache to try to figure it out. Anyone know how to figure this one out?
My heritage willl EASILY hold 200 - 250 surface temp for 12 hours. Man, I love that stove. Oh, well. This next one will be the last - third time's a charm, right?
My heritage willl EASILY hold 200 - 250 surface temp for 12 hours. Man, I love that stove. Oh, well. This next one will be the last - third time's a charm, right?
Well a bigger rock (the equinox) at 200 will make more heat than the smaller heritage. If the stove had twice as much surface area then it seems logical to expect twice as much heat output for a given temperature.
I will agree Mike that to keep the Heritage above 400 but below 500 would require pretty frequent tending in the 3-4 hour range. That's a narrow operational window and is a shortcoming of Hearthstones. Now if you wanted to stretch the max temp out and run the stove hotter than recommended then that might make it easier but you seem to need more heat than the heritage can provide if you require more than 400 24/7.
To get a long burn out of a heritage requires you to use the thermal storage of the stove and allow it to run from 500 down to 200 before reloading. If that style does not deliver enough heat then you will have much shorter burn times and I believe you will consume much more wood. I burn it hard, reload at 400+, as you describe when trying to heat up a cold house but to maintain that temperature I can let it it cruise down to 200 between reloads.
I will agree Mike that to keep the Heritage above 400 but below 500 would require pretty frequent tending in the 3-4 hour range. That's a narrow operational window and is a shortcoming of Hearthstones. Now if you wanted to stretch the max temp out and run the stove hotter than recommended then that might make it easier but you seem to need more heat than the heritage can provide if you require more than 400 24/7.
To get a long burn out of a heritage requires you to use the thermal storage of the stove and allow it to run from 500 down to 200 before reloading. If that style does not deliver enough heat then you will have much shorter burn times and I believe you will consume much more wood. I burn it hard, reload at 400+, as you describe when trying to heat up a cold house but to maintain that temperature I can let it it cruise down to 200 between reloads.
Highbeam said:
I don't know that heat output is proportional to surface area. Regardless, it will put out more heat. I just wonder if 200 on the equinox would be similar to 400 on the heritage. I guess that's equation I'm looking for. Like, maybe a brick at 5000 would heat similarly to my heritage at 200.
T6 or equinox...what's a guy to do?
I suspect the real heat advantage of the Mansfield or the Equinox is simply the fire box size. You can put enough wood in the Equinox that you can hold a 400 stove temp for double plus what the heritage will hold it for and you really need the hotter temp for heat. Yeah, I think the extra surface area will make some difference too but no where near the shear wood load longevity of that big ole firebox.
"T6 or equinox...what's a guy to do?"
You know I love my soapstone but I would go T6 on this one. The price on that largest soapstone is very very high and I think you are getting into the 'no fooling around' phase where you want the ability to seriously heat. Run that t6 up to 800 and that will make some btus.
You know I love my soapstone but I would go T6 on this one. The price on that largest soapstone is very very high and I think you are getting into the 'no fooling around' phase where you want the ability to seriously heat. Run that t6 up to 800 and that will make some btus.
Highbeam, I've really come to respect your opinions. I totally love my heritage, and it is definitely doing it's job. I just wonder if the T6 will hold the heat. We're looking at a 3.2 CF (I think) fire box on the T6 vs. a 4.0 CF firebox on the Equinox. If that equinox will keep my house warm and maintain a nice even heat like the Heritage, it jus t might be the way to go. Man, if night timE temperatures bottomed out at 30 or so like you have, i'd be in pretty good shape. In fact, I'd be perfectly content. You must have the mirror image of my house there.
One of the thickest plate steel fireboxes going... wrapped in cast weighing in at 585 pounds...I think it will hold some heat.
It doesn't have the magic of soapstone ;-P but my non T6 regular old summit at 490lbs can stay north of 400deg surfacetemp for 8hrs no problem.
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