Basic

The Hearth.com web site was original a creation of CHI Associates, a consulting firm with over 30 years experience in all facets of the stove and fireplace business. Hearth.com LLC (Jim FIscher) took over the site in 2014. The site is editorially independent, and supported by some of the leading Manufacturers and Retailers in our Industry. Instead of having to surf all over the Net for Fireplace and Stove resources, you can just Bookmark this spot - we provide it all !

Hearth.com is about people helping people. It started out as me (Craig / webbie) answering questions and writing articles about hearth products and topics. However, this site has now grown to much more that that - most of our content, consisting of thousands of articles and over 1.5 MILLION forum posts, is now created by our users!
Hearth.com is a community of folks who have rediscovered FIRE.

Specifically, we strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

About Opinions

Much of the content on Hearth.com is in the realm of opinion, both from myself and from our users. This often means Personality, Passions, Politics and other such filters which we each see situations through.

About Facts

Codes, labels, product manuals, training materials and "in the field" practices are dynamic by nature - they change! The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) printout on my desk has already been replaced by a new and updated version. What met the general requirements last year, may not meet code this year. To confuse issues even further, if the stove was installed last year (to last years code), it does not have to be upgraded!

Code and practices are also open to interpretation, and therefore to the opinion of the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction). Furthermore, codes have exceptions written into them, exceptions which in many instances WILL apply.

For that and other reasons, readers of Hearth.com will often find conflicting information and advice. We are continually updating and improving the site, however existing articles and other entries will often be dated or inaccurate. Your product manual and label (affixed to the product) are the best sources of up-to-date Facts concerning your particular appliance.

About YOUR Installation and Stove

It goes without saying that information which is obtained for free over the internet (from afar) is often general in scope. Even with pictures and descriptions, an inspection from a distance is NOT the same as a REAL inspection. Please consult your product manual, code official, local professionals and chimney sweeps and other sources for a hands-on inspection of your particular situation.

Our main goal is consumer education.

The moderators, administration and fine long term members attempt to do their best to help the most number of people.
The most important person on the Forum is the person who is there to get information (the customer).

Customers who come for information may not enjoy reading through dozens of pages of "social" comments and short posts ("I agree, etc."), so we ask forum users to try and provide the most information and least "noise" possible in the main forum rooms. These rooms include:

The Hearth Room
Classic Wood Stove Forum(s)
The Boiler Room
It's a Gas

The other rooms can be more conversational and social, especially the Inglenook - which is the area for off-topic but non-political discussions.

All forums are moderated. Please read our moderation FAQ if you have interest in why and how we moderate our forums.

No.
Hearth.com is a commercial site.
Hearth.com was not started with the ideas of making a profit, however the cost of operation in time and money has become quite high.

Our income comes from sponsors - mostly companies within the hearth industry who pay for banners and listings - as well as from ads placed by google (adwords) and other such programs.

We do not mix advertisements with editorial - in other words, we do not give advice nor write articles or reviews based upon payment from sponsors or others.

Hearth.com does not charge our members or guests, however they are expected to follow the forum rules, guidelines and common sense and decency.

When you registered here you agreed to our TOS. This is fairly basic and is located at this URL:
http://www.hearth.com/talk/help/terms

Note that the Terms of Service refer both to themselves and to the Forum Rules.

Also, they mention we reserve the right to update and change them.

If you are concerned about any of the TOS or Forum Rules, the best thing to do is to contact a Moderator or the Admin using the Conversations feature.

No...
Well, actually, to the extent that clear air, renewable fuels, self sufficiency, high efficiency and consumer education are concerned - yes. We are for all those things.

Of course! However, it must be in a proportional manner and not as a "sales pitch".
What this means is that you and every other purchaser has a right to place a rating/review on our special section at:https://www.hearth.com/talk/ratings/


However, quoted from our original forum rules, please note:
"It is against the Forum Rules to spend endless threads promoting a certain brand or product, even if you don't financially benefit from it (and, of course, if you do!)."

The reasoning is simple - if a single member has 200 posts complaining about a certain product or brand, it tends to slant the forum in a direction which may not be accurate. However, if 20 members review their stove in our ratings sections and have poor experiences, that is likely to mean a lot more. The same goes for positive reviews and posts. If a member starts a thread saying "Do you like your Upland Stove?", you are certainly free to answer in the affirmative and point to the stove review you posted. If they ask about the details how you run your Upland Stove, you should feel free to share. This is all educational as opposed to a sales pitch.

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully you will become one of the regulars here...

We have various benefits for industry members including free PR postings.
If you would like to post PR, contact us and give us your username and industry affiliation.

Please be sure to read the Forum Rules for Commercials Members:


Short and sweet part - forums posts or signatures are NOT the place to promote your business or your products. Those who wish to promote their products here or sponsor the site should contact me for a quote on our advertising programs. My email is [email protected]

By necessity, our Forum Rules are stricter for those members who have a commercial interest in a product or service which is hearth related.


Member Contact

Commercial members (Manufacturers, retailers, distributors, importers, contractors, agents) should not INITIATE contact with our members by email, PM or other methods.

If a commercial member desires promotion on hearth.com, they should contact the webmaster at [email protected] for paid sponsorships.

Note: if a member initiates a conversation with PM or email, etc., please feel free to work with them, preferably taking it to your private emails if it is a longer conversation.


Signatures: In general, we discourage the use of links to your sales-orientated business or web site in your sig. We will make exceptions once members have established themselves as long term visitors who are here to help People...as opposed to those looking to promote their product or web site.


First Rule:

The first rule is effectively the GOLDEN RULE of any respectable forum. If what you are doing here could not easily be done by every one of the hundreds of industry employed forum members......without degrading the forum conversations singly or a a whole...then DON'T DO IT. This should be easy to apply. This means no pushing your product over others, announcing sales, etc.


Second Rule:

If one of your primary reasons for being on the Forums is to get more business for your company, then we would ask that you contact us for paid advertising sponsorship programs as opposed to using and abusing the Forums and membership to push your product or service. This is effectively covered under the First Rule, but repeated just in case you didn't understand the first time.


Third Rule:

If you are a commercial member here, please refrain from attempts to cast a bad light on competitors products. Even if you have a legitimate gripe, this is not the place to express it since there are often many sides to such issues, and mostManufacturers refrain from participation here - as they well should. Again, the forums are primarily for person to person (consumer/end user) advice.


Discussion:

The Forum is for helping People person to person. It is not a free-for-all which you can manipulate to achieve your goals and desires. Any abuse of the Forum lowers it's value (knowledge wise AND financially) to the owners and members of the web site.

The Forums and the entire Hearth.com site are a commercial enterprise, just like yours! As such, we rely on providing a good product to our customers...our readers! This product is called trust. Although we have commercial ads, they are always clearly separated from our advice and content. However, commercial members who abuse the Forums make it much more difficult for our members to assume that the advice or discussion is from an independent viewpoint.


Using the Forums for commercial gain contrary to the rules and guidelines is, in effect, theft of service.


Thanks for understanding.

Note: For inquiries regarding paid sponsorship, email to [email protected]

The "no commercial posts" rule extends to emails and private messages - you should not contact our members by either method in an attempt to sell them on your product UNLESS they start the conversation by sending you a PM or Email. Once such a contact is made and moving along, please take the conversation to your private email or phone.

If you ever get a hankering to promote your brand or other regional/national business on Hearth.com, see our Industry Advertising Information and shoot me an email.

We try to keep it family friendly. That means respect for everyone of every stripe - You may not insult members here based on their religion, race, sex, political beliefs, size, weight or whether they are gay or straight.

Any screen names, photos or avatars and sigs should be hearth or home related - Like no Obama or Trump pics, references, etc...please keep references to your political beliefs, your gun collection, your religion or lack thereof, etc. off of Hearth.com .

Signatures are limited to 4 lines and commercial messages in them are discouraged. Your signature can link to your member profile which can contain more links as well as information

We cannot delete posts and content since they are a part of a full conversation and also quoted in other (following) posts.

However, if a Hearth.com member does not want to actively visit, the solutions are simple.
1. You can change the settings under the Privacy, Preferences and Alert Preferences located under your username - so that no site mailings and email alerts are sent your way.
2. You can log out from hearth.com and delete the "cookie" from your browser so that if you happen by the site, you will not have any kind of automatic or form-filled-in login.
3. You can change your email address to an invalid one - add a character, etc. - this will 100% assure you are never contacted!
4. Make sure to remove your signature if desired - if it contains your URL or other semi-personal info.

If you have never posted, it will be possible to completely delete your account. Message the administrator or a mod and ask them to do so.