Tribute by Hearthstone right for me any suggestions.

[dwaynecornhauler]

I'm glad to have found this website and have been reading a lot of posts
I am looking at purchasing a Tribute stove for my living room and would like some feedback, is this a correct stove for our wants. First my home was built in 2000 and is a ranch style, the stove would be place in a corner along a outside wall within 16" of a window. The room is 13' x 20' and the stove would be at far end of room. The stove would be used to heat during the waking hours while watching tv etc. and mostly on during cold days but would not run 24/7. We also heat our home with corn but would like the beauty of the stove and the extra heat. Is this stove the correct size, can I get 30 years out of it using it modestly. The dealer wants $3370 for stove, pipe, installation and includes tax. I would build hearth. Of course this qualifies for the OBAMA 30% refund. Any suggestions or comments on price. Thanks

 

[Nic36]

The Tribute was one of the stoves I considered early on when I was looking for a stove.

Are you planning to heat just one room or more? The Tribute is pretty tiny. The firebox is only 1.2 cubic feet in size. The Tribute is rated to heat 1300 square feet, but as most will tell you here, most stove manufacturers tend to be a bit optimistic on their estimates, and 1300 square feet is probably a stretch.

You mentioned only heating at certain times. I have no experience with soapstone stoves personally, but it is my understanding that soapstone takes a while to start radiating heat, but are OK once you get it up to temp. A steel or cast iron will radiate heat quicker and are probably more suitable for short burns for quick heat.

Also, soapstone is also a bit more fragile than steel or cast iron. Overfiring may damage soapstone stoves much more easily than other stove types.

I have to admit though, the Tribute is a pretty little stove. Maybe some others that have experience with one and can give you some more input.

Offhand, the price for the stove, pipe and installation sounds pretty good. Are you looking at the matte black Tribute or the enamel? I assume you are considering the matte black based on the price.

By the way, does your dealer have any other stoves you have considered?

 

[gyrfalcon]

I'm glad to have found this website and have been reading a lot of posts
I am looking at purchasing a Tribute stove for my living room and would like some feedback, is this a correct stove for our wants. First my home was built in 2000 and is a ranch style, the stove would be place in a corner along a outside wall within 16" of a window. The room is 13' x 20' and the stove would be at far end of room. The stove would be used to heat during the waking hours while watching tv etc. and mostly on during cold days but would not run 24/7. We also heat our home with corn but would like the beauty of the stove and the extra heat. Is this stove the correct size, can I get 30 years out of it using it modestly. The dealer wants $3370 for stove, pipe, installation and includes tax. I would build hearth. Of course this qualifies for the OBAMA 30% refund. Any suggestions or comments on price. Thanks

Moderatly happy Tribute owner here. I'm a big fan of this stove, only moderately less than thrilled because I do want to burn 24/7 and use this as my main, or even exclusive, source of heat, and it's too smal for that, especially during the worst part of VT winters.

Is your seating area near the stove? If so, and you don't mind tending it pretty frequently, I think you'll be fine. My stove is on one end of my long front room, which is about 13 by 35 or so. The far end of the room from the stove is fine to walk through, but would be a bit chilly to sit in for any length of time.

Using a stove this small to keep you warm in a cold climate does take a pretty good learning curve, though. And you must, MUST have very dry wood to get the most out of it. The two problems with small fireboxes are the frequent reloading, but more importantly that a single piece of not so good wood or some less than ideal technique will keep you from getting it up to a good temperature.

Although it's soapstone and takes a bit longer to start producing heat than cast, it's not very long if you have good wod, learn what the stove wants and take care with your initial fire. After two-and-a-half winters, I can get mine up to 500 in about 45 minutes.

It's a very, very handsome little stove that does a really good job heating relatively small spaces.

Can't tell you whether it'll do you for 30 years, but it's solidly built, so should go for a long time. Its one vulnerability is in the door latch, largely because the small firebox means you're going to be opening and closing the door a lot more frequently than you would with a larger one. So if you get a Tribute, or any other small stove, just be aware of that and treat it gently.

 

[thinkxingu]

dwayne,
one of the comments you'll find all the time on this forum is the "you can always build a small fire in a bigger stove, but you can never build a big fire in a smaller stove." With that said, you may wish to look at the Homestead or Heritage for a few reasons: 1. Won't take much more room, 2. More stove area, so more radiant heat, 3. Larger fire boxes, so can run longer, 4. Larger fires=more heat, but given the soapstone properties will not "blow you out of the room", 5. Can take larger size logs--many people complain about having to re-cut wood sometimes in the smaller models.

Finally, the costs aren't much different between the stoves (~$800, but $500 after credit) and the install costs would/should remain the same.

S

 

[summit]

the tribute does not cut it for most people... best look a little bigger if you want to do more than a room.

 

[dwaynecornhauler]

Thanks for the replies and advice. To answer a couple of questions asked: We would have a seating area as close as 4' and the furthest seating about 9' away, would the Homestead which is the next step up be a better choice. What other soapstone stove are out there? Thanks again for the input.

 

[Highbeam]

You didn't say how big your home is. The size of the room is only somewhat important when sizing a stove. As an ambiance stove just for looks and occasional fires that tribute will be a nice stove to look at in the corner. You're not going to want to heat your home with it unless it is a much much smaller than average home and unless you like constantly refilling the tiny firebox.

About the smallest you'll want to go in the hearthstone line for actual heat of your home is the heritage. The homestead is similar in size but has crack issues, door latch issues, about half as much soapstone, and has no side door which is hugely important.

So is this a decoration or a heater?

In the shoulder seasons I have to relight fires to take the chill off once or twice a day. These seasons are very long in the moderate climate I live in. During those times the soapstone is a bad thing since it takes a long time to warm up a cold room and then it is easy to overheat it since simply letting the fire go out does not stop the heat output. The stone is great once you can keep a fire rolling along all day.

Nobody knows if you can get 30 years out of it. None of the models have been around for 30 years. I will guess that there are no stoves designed to last 30 years without major rebuild which will cost more than a new stove. The Hearthstones have some qualities that make them shorter lived than others such as their dainty door latches and hinges. I would expect many years of service though and have put 14 or more cords of wood through mine with no wear issues.

 

[dwaynecornhauler]

The size of my house is roughly 1400 sf, but I don't think that is relevant to my question of whether or not the stove is correct for my room size. I will not be using the stove to heat my home nor to run 24/7 but only to create a warm room 13' x 20'. If the ceiling fan ends up pushing the heat into other rooms that will be a bonus but not the desired effect. I don't want to get a stove bigger than the Homestead, or I will have the stove out into the living room further than I would like.

 

[Fsappo]

I'd say the Tribute is going to be perfect if you dont need overnight burns. Despite what the brochure says, it will heat about a 25x25 area and thats about it. You'll be fine with how your furniture is situated. If you want the back up of a little extra heat and a longer burn time, go with the Homestead. Hearthstone stoves are easy to use and will last a lifetime if taken care of.

 

[Highbeam]

For only that room heat you will be fine with the radiant heat from that tribute. It will be a nice stove to look at and be close to. The window is plenty large to see all of the brilliant non-cat flame picture. You will often hear that the stone stoves are at a disadvantage in the quick heat area, you will not be able to go into the room and raise the temperature from 60-70 within an hour like you would with a steel stove. In fact, if you try to heat it up too fast then you will again be saddened when the dang thing keeps shooting heat out and your room temp rises too much.

You don't normally size a stove for a room. If that were true then those of us heating our whole homes would have one stove in each room!

 

[thinkxingu]

Highbeam,
Though I've seen a mention or two of cracks in the Homestead, is it really an issue? Also, the latch on my Homestead looks identical to that on my in-laws' Heritage--what's different? It seems like the Homestead is sometimes beat up when, in reality, there are many people very happy with them--myself included (PS Since I've gotten all my advice here, we run our Homestead much more efficiently, and with greater success, than my in-laws run their Heritage--it's not the vehicle sometimes, it's the driver!).

Dwayne,
I provided feedback based on what I've heard from Tribute owners and my experience with our Homestead--the Tribute will work to heat the room, but there may be other considerations (as mentioned).

Good luck,

S

 

[gyrfalcon]

For only that room heat you will be fine with the radiant heat from that tribute. It will be a nice stove to look at and be close to. The window is plenty large to see all of the brilliant non-cat flame picture. You will often hear that the stone stoves are at a disadvantage in the quick heat area, you will not be able to go into the room and raise the temperature from 60-70 within an hour like you would with a steel stove. In fact, if you try to heat it up too fast then you will again be saddened when the dang thing keeps shooting heat out and your room temp rises too much.

You don't normally size a stove for a room. If that were true then those of us heating our whole homes would have one stove in each room!

I have no trouble raising the temp in the general vicnity of the stove 10 degrees within an hour with my Tribute, despite the fact the room itself is 13 by 35 and adjoins a large unheated kitchen with very litttle wall in between.

But it all really depends on your expectations and heating standards. Suburban folks who insist on 75+ degrees indoors with no cold spots would not be happy. By country standards, though (ie, thermal undies, sweaters, room temp in the mid to upper 60s, cold spots in the corners), the stove does a great job. With low to mid single digit outside temps all day, I've been perfectly comfortable in my old and nowhere near tightly sealed farmhouse with just the Tribute. This very cold AM, it brought the room up from a shivering 47 to a tolerable 60 in about an hour, and then another hour to make it to high 60s.

 

[Highbeam]

That's some great performance gyr. How hot do you get the stovetop? You must be doing something very right.

Previous owners of homesteads have had door latch problems and specified that there is a tech bulletin and updated latch for the homestead. Nothing like this for the heritage though. It would lead me to believe that the homestead latch is or was unique to that stove. Also, we have had reports of the homesteads and even the tributes cracking but no such reports on the larger models, at all. Like none. I worry enough about cracks with a stove that has no history of cracking, I would hate to have even worse odds. Yes, lots of people have bought the homesteads as they fill a specific need for a hearth stove.

With proper expectations a small non-cat stove can be great. I know the bigger ones work exactly as advertised.

 

[gyrfalcon]

That's some great performance gyr. How hot do you get the stovetop? You must be doing something very right.

Previous owners of homesteads have had door latch problems and specified that there is a tech bulletin and updated latch for the homestead. Nothing like this for the heritage though. It would lead me to believe that the homestead latch is or was unique to that stove. Also, we have had reports of the homesteads and even the tributes cracking but no such reports on the larger models, at all. Like none. I worry enough about cracks with a stove that has no history of cracking, I would hate to have even worse odds. Yes, lots of people have bought the homesteads as they fill a specific need for a hearth stove.

With proper expectations a small non-cat stove can be great. I know the bigger ones work exactly as advertised.

Stovetop 450 to 500 and a little above. I'm VERY careful not to let it go higher, and I've experienced no cracking.

Because I'm so definitely under-stoved here, I've had to learn every tiny little trick to improve both the performance of the stove and maximizing keeping the heat where it belongs. Also, old as my house is, it's solidly built, does have some insulation in the walls, old but good windows, and is perfectly situated on the SE side of a low ridgeso that most of the windows face south or east, and the prevailing W and NW winds in winter hit first an attached woodshed, and then an unheated storeroom addition in between that and the W wall of the living space. Also, the house has east and west-facing walls a foot thick. (Should have been north and south, but it was built elsewhere and moved to this spot around 1900, something I sure wish I could have seen!)

I learned from you guys here, too, that lots of small splits make hotter, faster heat than a few bigger ones, so that's what I use to get things up fairly quickly, and then from time to time if I miss the sweet spot for reloading. I've also learned you simply cannot get away with really big dense hardwood splits, even if they're bone dry, in a tiny firebox like this. It's just too much dead space in there. (It's purely coincidental that I really enjoy splitting stuff down from what my supplier delivers...)

I have the stairs to the unheated 2nd floor blocked off with a heavy-duty mover's blanket and a ceiling fan in the big stove room to push the heat down and around. I use thermal curtains after dark on all the windows. I figure each one of those things has gained me a degree or two of room temperature, and those 5 or 6 degrees of increased efficiency make the difference between being chilly or comfortable on really cold days (like today, 6 degrees out).

The biggest problem, though, is the short burn cycle. There's no way this baby will produce significant heat for more than a few hours, which means I still have to use the cursed money-burning boiler in the basement to keep everything from freezing up overnight.

Also, it most definitely has a latch issue. I won't rehash that whole thing, but the end result is that since it's out of warranty and replacement of the entire frame and door assembly would cost money I don't have and more than I could even sell the stove for at this point, I've had to brace the door closed with my heavy insulated ash bucket, which does make a tight seal but is a pain in the ***. If I eventually manage to save up enouh for the larger stove I need, I'll have to give this one away for free because of that door latch.

 

[dwaynecornhauler]

Given the input on the forum and I do appreciate it. I think I might seriously consider a Homestead instead of a Tribute. Can someone give me an idea what a Homestead would cost, the Tribute was quoted $1650 minus 10%. Thanks for the input. 26 degrees here in mid-michigan and the corn stove is purring 68 in the whole house.

 

[Nic36]

Given the input on the forum and I do appreciate it. I think I might seriously consider a Homestead instead of a Tribute. Can someone give me an idea what a Homestead would cost, the Tribute was quoted $1650 minus 10%. Thanks for the input. 26 degrees here in mid-michigan and the corn stove is purring 68 in the whole house.

About $2500.00 for the matte black model.

 

[thinkxingu]

Dwayne,
We paid $3300 installed--$2250, $525 labor, $525 parts, but this was pre-season when I think stove shoppes weren't sure about future business. Retail would have been $3725 I believe ($2,500, $525, $699).

S