Upgrading Soapstone Stove Only After a Year

[Vic99]

I've been burning a Hearthstone Homestead soapstone stove for a year now. I like the stove, but think I could do much better with a Heritage for my home. I've paid attention to this forum and have been contributing regularly for 2 years so I feel I know the basics of wood and wood burning. I use dry wood cut and split by me, I know how to use air controls, etc.

I figured that the Homestead would work out when I bought it . . now I'm in the "if I knew then what I know now" situation. It is not a bad fit for me, but:

1) overnight burns are less than I'd like except with the highest quality wood, like hickory. Not realistic for me to just burn hickory, apple, etc. I typically get 6-6.5 hours and I fell for the 8 hr burn in the lit . . . obviously lit refers to optimal situation. Live and learn.

2) stove works great in shoulder season. However, under 20-25F (no wind) I need help in non-stove rooms with gas heat. Not really acceptable for a 24/7 burner in MA . . . anyway, if I can do better,why not.

I've added more insulation to the roof, some in the walls where reasonable, did the whole floor (basement celing - stove is on first floor), replaced 2 windows, and plugged a bunch of nickel and dime drafts all in the last year. When looking at code and comparable houses, I figure that my insulation is ave or slightly less. I still plan on a couple of other small insulation fixes this year.

3) cleaning out chimney requires moving the stove. Huge pain. If I switch the stove out (one of those-while I'm at it-kind of things), I may vent straight up through a stove pipe then come in 90 degrees through a thimble into chimney.

It's a good little stove. If my house were either air tight or smaller, I'd probably be better.

Yesterday I saw a Heritage in a showroom. It weighs 115 pounds more than the Homestead, has probably 40% more soapstone surface area (aye carumba) and the firebox increases to 2.3 cubic ft (Homestead is 2.0). At first glance (and I'll do more research) I believe the liner is the same size. Also, I think my house will work clearancewise.

I figure I'll sell my year old homestead on craigslist. I may ask another dealer if they'll buy it, but I don't expect much there. I can't go back to the dealer that sold me the stove because the installation process really sucked . . . plus it has been a year (maybe 2 years if we don't sell it til the summer).

If I sell the Homestead at a bit of a loss . . . and figuring that this sort of thing always costs more than you expect, perhaps it'll run me between 1,500-2,000. If I get what I expect, though, it will be worth it. Not only is this investment spending, it's my new hobby (you guys know what I mean).

Does this seem like a reasonable upgrade? Also,what do the Heritage/Homestead people say? Anyone done this?

 

[Todd]

Sound just like my story. I doubt you will do much better in burn times increasing .3 cu ft in firebox. You may want to seriously consider the Mansfield or a Fireview if you want long burns. I had the same experience with my Homestead and decided to get rid of it half way through it's second season. I teetered back and forth with the Mansfield and Fireview, but figured if the Fireview didn't work out I could send it back free of charge and get the Mansfield. Well it worked out better than expected. I'm heating 1800 sq ft from a finished basement install, getting constant 12hr burns, and much more heat with a full cord less wood usage than the Homestead could give me.

 

[Vic99]

Interesting Todd.

Obviously woodstock has a good rep here. Any drawbacks to the Fireview, other than replacing the cat every 4-5 years? Still not sold on moving away from Hearthstone. Wish they has a 2.5 or 2.75 firebox. 3.2 for teMansfield is a bit much and will dominate the room more than I'd like.

 

[Todd]

Only draw back is the side loading door. I don't like the size, it should be bigger and the handle is too small and you need a glove to open it (it gets hot). The door is also on the wrong side for me, but I'm use to it now. The advantages far out weigh the disadvantages in my opinion.

 

[Vic99]

Thanks for your input.

Did you have to install it yourself? I can handle small DIY projects, but don't feel confident for a stove.

 

[Brian VT]

I'm in the "if I knew then what I know now" situation.

I think we all have been, or are, there.
I lucked out and did pretty well flying by the seat of my pants and then some great help from the good folks here.
If I knew what I've learned here in the past few months before I bought my 1st woodstove I'd probably still be trying to decide which stove to get. lol
Only you can figure out what works for you.
You, apparently, have a good handle on it and are enjoying it, so get the stove you really want. The fact that you're swinging that maul should justify it (if you need to).

 

[Todd]

I actually think the Fireview is more inbetween the Mansfield and Heritage. It gets just as long burns like the Mansfield and may have the same size firebox as the Heritage but is a little more efficient at 80%, so it puts out more heat. Not dissing the Hearthstone stoves, I like them too, just my opinion.

 

[Todd]

Thanks for your input.

Did you have to install it yourself? I can handle small DIY projects, but don't feel confident for a stove.

Yeah, I installed it myself and it was easy because it was just moving it into place and hooking up the stove pipe to the liner. But hey, no harm in calling a local sweep to get it done.

 

[Vic99]

I'll look into the Fireview more. Thanks. One of the things I like about Hearthstone stoves, however, is their simplicity. No cat. Also, I wish there was a dealer nearby that sold them. Seems as though you have to always order factory direct.

Anyone else go through the homestead/heritage comparison or something similar?

 

[jpl1nh]

I'll look into the Fireview more. Thanks. One of the things I like about Hearthstone stoves, however, is their simplicity. No cat. Also, I wish there was a dealer nearby that sold them. Seems as though you have to always order factory direct.

Anyone else go through the homestead/heritage comparison or something similar?

Yes you can only buy Woodstock direct from the factory, but seems like a good thing to me because you will always get superb service. The cat is very easy to use, simplicity is really not an issue. Take Todd's advice and go with the Fireview! You will never regret it.

 

[pinewoodburner]

I bought the Fireview this summer after looking into the Hearthstone stoves. Big seller to me, if you don't like it, send it back in 6 months, no charge. I don't see any other stove makers doing that. The cat cost $125.00. If you don't burn trash, it should last 6-8 years, but if you have to replace it ever 4 years, and use use 1 cord less wood each year, the advantages out weigh the cost. Woodstock does business the old way. They help you out. I had a phone call from them one Friday evening about 7 pm with an answer to my question. They wanted to get it answered before the weekend in-case I was working on the install. That is customer service.

 

[WNY PAT]

Yeah - customer service as great at Woodstock. I just did my first "real" burn last night after a couple small seasoning fires in my Classic. All I can say is wow. I used some small splits to get some coals - loaded about 5 decent size splits in at 1:00 yesterday afternoon... stove was at 500 by 2:30. At about 8:00 or so, it had dropped to about 300, I put in 3 more good size splits and dampered it down. This morning at 6:30, temp was still 250 or so on the top stone although there were no coals left. House was at 78 after I stoked it at 8:00 and 70 this AM. So far so good.

 

[bokehman]

I wish I had a cat. I'd love to be able to run the stove slow and still be efficient. I don't see how it could be complicated to use (open bypass, add wood, wait for temp to rise, close bypass).

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We too looked strongly at the Heritage and really came very close to buying it! I won't bore you with the details, but we ended up with the Fireview....and have not been a bit sorry.

As for the install, we did it ourselves. We ran horizontally out through the wall and then up. Put close to 1/2" rise per foot on the horizontal section. A tee where the chimney goes up makes cleaning a breeze.

It is heavy for sure. We had it delivered to our local tire shop (they have a fork lift). They received the shipment and called us. We took a trailer, they loaded it onto the trailer at no charge (I did slip a $20 into his pocket though). At home, I removed it from the trailer, by myself (I also have a terrible back but was able to do this alone). I slid it onto a furniture dolly. It sat in our carport until we were ready for the install. When ready, a couple neighbors came over and we rolled the dolly up onto the porch using 2 x 10's and placed it in front of the hearth. It was only then that I removed the crating material. We then used two 2 x 4's under the stove and lifted it up onto the hearth. It was amazingly quick and easy.

As for Woodstock, much has been said and I can only second it. They are tops when it comes to customer service.

 

[Jags]

Vic - a .3 cu ft increase in size is probably not worth the change. Your increasing the stove size by a small percentage. I am guessing that you will not be happy with the outcome. There are not a lot of people that rave about the overnight burn capabilities of their 2.3 cu. ft box. Just something to think about.

 

[Vic99]

Jags,

I agree that .3 is not a big difference. About ~7%. However, the stove is 25% heavier. When you look at it, it clearly has more soapstone surface area. I was hoping this would make a difference, but I'm asking for advice from those with this kind of experience. Thanks.

 

[Jags]

The increase in mass will affect the ability to re-radiate the heat that is stored, but the firebox will determine the fuel load. Fuel creates the heat. You can't store heat that ain't there.

 

[Jags]

If you do the math (which I am not gonna do for ya), if you take a 7% increase in fuel load. Calculate the percentage increase in mass from the old stove to new stove, I think your gonna find the increase in actual heating capacity to be smaller than you would expect from a .3 increase and 150 pounds of soapstone. Just taking a swag, I would guess you would get maybe an hour (maybe 1.5 hrs) more of "real" heat.

I ain't about fighting it. Get one that is not gonna be so much work to obtain your goal.

You are talking about 2 really good stoves, but you ain't gonna move a grand piano with a geo metro (at least not twice). Make sure you get what is gonna work and make your job easy in the mean time.

 

[Vic99]

True enough. I am hoping this effect will give more heat over the long term overnight.

 

[Vic99]

My reply seemed to cross with yours, Jags.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Jags is right. I'm sorry I had to say that.

If the issue is keeping up with the cold- then more soapstone does not, theoretically, do that. The soapstone holds heat, evens out the heat output, and extends the heat per load, but the firebox (I think) determines the peak temp and total heat in a load. The soapstone helps over night because even after the coals die you've got some heat.

Vic- now that you're sitting on an extra 3-4 cord of oak, maybe the stove will burn a bit different. If you don't have dry oak, then come trade out a couple stove loads of whatever at my house (The HH on the right is all oak, with just a little birch) and burn it to see if there's a good difference between that and the maple, birch etc. that you've been burning. You might be surprised- oak coals last a looong time.

 

[Jags]

My reply seemed to cross with yours, Jags.

Gotcha

Really though, I hope you sit down and scribble out the math to see if your expected increase in performance will match that of the stove you have in question.

 

[Jags]

Jags is right. I'm sorry I had to say that.

I'll bet you were gritting your teeth as you typed that. :lol:

 

[04RevX]

I have a Homestead centrally located in a 1200 sf ranch. Its more than enough stove, in fact it might be too much right now. I was hoping for longer burn times as well, but I can't complain when I wake up in the morning to a house that is 75* and have a nice bed of coals that easily light new logs. I will be moving this stove though to my breezeway which is at one end of the house. Where I have it now it does blow us out of the room if I don't keep it at a tame temperature. I will be able to let the stove get up to about 500-550* in the breezeway...anything about 400* where it is now is too much. Hopefully it will still do the trick after the re-locate.

BTW - I paid $1200 for mine USED for one winter. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Knowing what they cost new would be tough for me to swallow to have to take the hit you would if you upgrade. But thats up to you.

 

[mikeathens]

Speaking from experience (four stoves in four years at my current house), go for the Fireview or Mansfield. I loved my Heritage, but I couldn't get those overnight burns. I always had to get up and feed the stove every four hours when the outside temps got below 20 or so, and it was a struggle to keep the house at 65. In doing so, I had so many coals that I actually had to waste coals every day (I couldn't fit any more wood in the firebox!). Big waste of energy.

We were at 15 the past few nights. The Mansfield is letting me sleep at least 8 hours, and I am waking up to 65 degrees in the house with a good bed of coals for easy restating. I think this puppy is here to stay!!

I doubt you'd see any difference between what you have now and the heritage.