Woodstock Guys / hearthstone and blazeking.....burn times with softwood/ Hearth Stuff...

[Dustin]

Hello again.

I'm still trucking away on the "what stove to buy" question. I finally, and I mean FINALLY bought a house. Closing at the end of this week.


Anywho, 2285 square feet. Currently has an insert installed into a SS lined masonry chimney. *center of the house*

It's an old, very drafty house with old wood framed windows. The downstairs, where my bedroom, kitchen, and den are is where I'll be spending all my time. The stairway upstairs in small, and there are three bonus rooms upstairs.

I really like the look of the Woodstock Fireview. It's between that and a blazeking *ugly* I'm really leaning toward a cat stove for longer burn times. Sadly, all I have out here to burn is Fir, Alder, and MAYBE if I'm lucky some Maple. Oak is hard to find and you have to pay through the nose for it.


Anyone burning softwoods with their woodstock? what kind of burn times are you getting? I'm leaning toward the woodstock because I wouldn't have to do much hearth modification, it would sit up there quite nice.

I'm going to heat primarily with wood, I don't wanna use the baseboard heaters.

I'll post some pictures soon!

 

[Highbeam]

Congratulations on the house. I too have an old house with baseboard heaters and don't want to use them. Also burning NW woods.

I missed the thread where you chose this stove but at 2285 SF of multiple story farmhouse I would seriously consider the fact that woodstock rates that stove to heat only 900-1600 SF of well insulated house. If you don't want to use the baseboards then you should consider the limited output of the stove you have chosen.

They make the Blaze Kings in Walla Walla up here in WA.

Doug fir is a great wood.

 

[Dustin]

I still haven't decided on which stove....how do you like your hearthstone with the softwoods we burn?


If I get a blazeking, I think I'm gonna go with the BIG BOY. But damn it's ugly.

 

[Todd]

I was burning some full loads of Red and White Pine last Fall and was getting 6-7 hr burns. It was really crappy wood and didn't coal well at all. I think you should do better with your Doug Fir than the Pine around these parts. I can get 8-10 hr burns with lesser dense hardwoods like Birch, soft Maple, and Boxelder. There are many people in milder climates like yours doing just fine heating over 2000 sq ft with the Fireview, so if you plan on tightening up your house in the future you may be fine.

Have you looked at the Blaze King in person? They don't look that bad up close in my opinion, I like the look of the Parlor model and have had serious thoughts of buying one, but I just can't see going back to steel. Which ever stove you choose, they will both qualify for the fed 30% tax credit and I don't believe Hearthstones qualify.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure what type of maple you have out there but we can get the 8-10 hours, like Todd using soft maple, elm, etc.

There are several folks with homes your size and larger who heat with the Fireview. Naturally, much depends upon the climate and the shape of the house. It seems to me you have a much milder climate there than we do here in the Great Lakes area so you very well may do fine with a Fireview. If in doubt, go bigger.

I well remember how we were still in doubt a bit even after we bought our stove. It sat in a crate for several months until we installed it and then waited further before finally firing it up. Wow! Our doubts were gone! We heat better than our old big Ashley and use much less wood (40-50% less).

 

[Wet1]

I'm thinking with 2300 sq ft of old drafty house, you would be working the Woodstock pretty hard (which means fairly short burn times, especially with soft wood) to heat that place by itself, assuming it would even do it to your level of comfort. If you're only looking to do supplementary heating with the stove, then the Fireview might be a good option...

I'd think the large BK would be the more ideal way to go if you want to completely heat the house with the stove AND have reasonably long burn times (which I would want). I have to agree with Todd, I don't think the BKK in the Parlor model and gold or silver trim is a bad looking stove, although I do think the classic in all black is a little homely.

I REALLY wish WS would offer a much larger version of the Fireview, but sadly that's not going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Highbeam]

I still haven't decided on which stove....how do you like your hearthstone with the softwoods we burn?


If I get a blazeking, I think I'm gonna go with the BIG BOY. But damn it's ugly.

I really like the hearthstone. It works just as advertized including the "heat life" properties that both soapstone brands love to tout. I have shoved just under 10.5 cords through the stove. 7 of those cords were cottonwood and the rest was red alder, western red cedar, and douglas fir. This stove runs great on cottonwood with easy overnight burns. By that I mean I can load 4 large chunks, well at least as large as 4 can be in a 2.3 CF stove, of cottonwood into a 400 degree stove at 10PM and restart from the coals at 7AM. I do this EVERY night and have never been skunked yet. Hey, I admit that at 7AM the stove is down to 200 degrees but within 15 minutes of reload the thing is back past 400 and heating us up. On the other softwoods the burns don't seem much longer but they do seem be hotter. My next 9 cords of wood is doug fir cut to 18" long for the 21" long firebox of the heritage.

Last summer I majorly sealed, insulated, and rewindowed my house. So far this winter I have consumed right under 3.5 cords since beginning burning in mid October. I use no other source of heat but have the electric wall heaters available for backup.

Our climates should be similar meaning a very long season of cool days but not many cold days. The catalytic stoves would be better at producing a long burn with relatively low output that would be great for those 40-50 degree days. The non-cat stoves are more suited to relatively short bursts of high heat and then a cooling time between bursts. What I do is adjust the time between bursts to correspond to the desired heat output. This can be every 3 hours to every 9+ hours.

The Hearthstone has been a great stove and has delivered as promised but if I was starting a hearth from scratch, I would have a blaze king on it. Probably the princess to avoid the 8" flue. The woodstock is a close second but looses due to the tiny firebox and rear exit flue.

Here's a photo just because we all like photos.

 

[pinewoodburner]

[quote author="Todd" date="1236744421"]I was burning some full loads of Red and White Pine last Fall and was getting 6-7 hr burns. It was really crappy wood and didn't coal well at all. I think you should do better with your Doug Fir than the Pine around these parts. I can get 8-10 hr burns with lesser dense hardwoods like Birch, soft Maple, and Boxelder. There are many people in milder climates like yours doing just fine heating over 2000 sq ft with the Fireview, so if you plan on tightening up your house in the future you may be fine.

I can get between 4 and 8 hours burn time with pine. It just depends on how much heat you need out of the stove. You may need more heat than the Fireview will offer. Mine can not keep 1800 sq ft warm in a mild climate in an older house, but it has reduced greatly the amount of oil that we have used.

 

[Dustin]

I really like the look of that hearthstone.

It's really between that and a Blazeking. I'm gonna have to do some SERIOUS hearth remodel for which ever stove I chose. I don't care for the insert. I just don't really like it.

Here are a few pictures of my hearth.


I think if i go with the hearthstone, I'm gonna go for the "big boy" EQ. Cottonwood? I know where I can get a TON of that for free. It just stinks so bad when burnt..


My chimney is already is clay flue liked 8x8, with an SS liner to the first flue tile and a block off plate. *According to the original owner, yes, i'm gonna check on my own!*

 

[blacktop37]

I really like the look of that hearthstone.

It's really between that and a Blazeking. I'm gonna have to do some SERIOUS hearth remodel for which ever stove I chose. I don't care for the insert. I just don't really like it.

Here are a few pictures of my hearth.


I think if i go with the hearthstone, I'm gonna go for the "big boy" EQ. Cottonwood? I know where I can get a TON of that for free. It just stinks so bad when burnt..


My chimney is already is clay flue liked 8x8, with an SS liner to the first flue tile and a block off plate. *According to the original owner, yes, i'm gonna check on my own!*

I have had my new Hearthstone EQ. for 2months. I came from a 24 year relationship with a blazeking smoke dragon. It was a great stove. BUT I am blown away by the Hearthstone burns and quality. It looks like a piece of fine furniture. I hope it qualifies for the tax credit. If not Im afraid it will put any stove company at a big disadvantage against those that do. That is all we need for a stove company to fail because of a few points short on a test.

 

[begreen]

blacktop, how many sq ft are you heating with the Equinox? It sounds like an awesome monster of a stove, but I'm wondering how well it would work in a mild climate 2,000+ sq ft home like D/F's.

 

[Dustin]

I second what BeGreen said.

With the old house, I'm going to lose TONS of heat I'm sure. But I plan on doing updates as time goes on. I want enough punch for those cold nights. I work 12 hour shifts, night shift. And I hate coming home to a cold house, just to get the stove all warmed up, and go right to bed *I work night shift*

I would love to get a 12 hour burn, come home to a pretty warm stove, load it up, go to bed, sleep for 8 hours like I do on nights, and then load up and go to work again...

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the Fireview would well work for you. Are you living alone? If yes, until you've had a chance to caulk, seal and insulate, maybe close off the upstairs with plastic for the winter unless you're working up there.

Have to say though, considering how little time you get to enjoy the fire, if there's natural gas available, I'd consider a gas furnace on a digital timer thermostat instead.

 

[Dustin]

I have thought about that. The nice part is, I get 4 days off in a row after working 4. So I get plenty of time to enjoy the fire when I'm home. Would that blazeking cook me right out of the house? I like the fireview, but i'm a little concerned that it wont have enough power on those cold nights to keep me warm. I like being able to build a small hot fire when it's not that cold out, and have the serious punch to warm the house up when its freezing.

We had a COLD winter down here this year. The insert I have in the rental couldn't keep up...

 

[Dustin]

The other thought I have, is it really worth it to do some serious hearth modification JUST to have a free standing stove? Or should I just suck it up and buy a new insert...

 

[Highbeam]

I really prefer a freestander but it looks like your masonry chimney is inside the house, like in the middle and two stories tall which is the best case for a masonry chimney. To get dependable 12 hour burntimes you really should be in a cat stove. The BK stoves are convection stoves and would make good inserts according to the couple of guys on this site that use them. You might also consider the other two brands of catalytic inserts as well such as buck and energy king. Inserts have blowers that make noise and inserts can sometimes be tough to sweep depending on how the liner is hooked up.

I knocked down my masonry chimney to install the freestanding hearthstone. It was cracked and I wanted it removed. After the whole job I did lose floor space but I gained a silent stove that won't fall on my head.

The biggest BK stoves really don't put out much heat on their lower settings. Heck, even the big King is only rated for around 2000 SF. The place it shines is long burntimes which is what you need with a 12 hour shift. The princess insert would do the job fine.

 

[blacktop37]

blacktop, how many sq ft are you heating with the Equinox? It sounds like an awesome monster of a stove, but I'm wondering how well it would work in a mild climate 2,000+ sq ft home like D/F's.

 

[jdscj8]

We have a old farm house with old windows and no insulation and a old 80's B/K king insert, my dad had a new big buck stove this year and was not doin the trick on the -20 degree nights in nebraska. so he went ang got a new B/K king cat and loves it he has the parlor model and its a preaty good lookin stove that works well. Im takin my old one out in 2 weeks when my new B/K king comes in. after seeing that one of dads this winter i was sold. hes using it to heat 2800sf as only heat sorce as are we. im going through almost double what dad is using i burn mostly oak and walnut, dad burns whatever is there pine maple anything and goes through much less. Just had to add my B/K story. i know a lot of people like the fireview, but for burn times you cant out burn a B/K.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

As far as softwood burn times, i would cut what ever the manufacture says it will burn by 40%-50%. Also, the hearthstone heritage has a rear exit flue that might come in handy for your installation. I think its a bit undersized, but woudl be a effective zone heater and easy installation. Where you planning on adding another chimney? If not, then you are probably stuck to a rear vent appliance no matter what you choose.