How happy are you with the ash tray on your Hearthstone? Looking at getting a Phoenix. Seems some think the ash tray is more trouble than help.
Hearthstone ash tray
- Thread starter Summer
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
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.
Can I summarize to say that the ash pan would be the least of your problems.
I ran 30 cords through a hearthstone heritage I bought new in 2007. The ash pan was the size of a small book and I never used it. The ash pan door gasket was a liability with no reward. Some companies add a crappy ash pan just so they can say it has one and satisfy a prospective purchasers inquiry. Never mind the actual usefulness of the design.
The Phoenix is a really nice looking stove. One of their best looking IMO. Heck, most hearthstone stoves are quite pretty.
So... the stones cracked from the heat - hadn't heard that before. how long did they last before cracking?
So... what would the problems be? it is nice looking but what problems will I encounter with the Phoenix or Heritage Hearthstone??
Last edited by a moderator:
We sell and service Hearthstone stoves. I have my hands on a dozen different hearthstones or so every season. I rarely ever see one that isn’t cracked.. According to Hearthstone a stone can crack, but it’s fine as long as you can’t see light through it. Explain that to someone that just dropped $3K on a stove! Many of these have some age on them I admit, but still. They just aren’t durable enough in my opinion.
My problems when running one for actual full time heat was durability and efficiency. The hinges wore out FAST and were not replaceable without a full stove rebuild to a pile of rocks. The thing would blow through wood to keep low emissions and high flue temps. Very nice fireview and clean glass due to this horrible efficiency. I dumped it on the used market and got a stove more suitable for actual full time use.
If you just want pretty and don’t burn it too often you will likely love a Phoenix. I had no cracks but I credit that to being a stove enthusiast and always being careful to run it below the manufacturer’s limits.
Stone stoves sort of suck in that you don’t get much heat until the stone is hot which takes forever and I believe people overcompensate for this by running it HOT!
If you just want pretty and don’t burn it too often you will likely love a Phoenix. I had no cracks but I credit that to being a stove enthusiast and always being careful to run it below the manufacturer’s limits.
Stone stoves sort of suck in that you don’t get much heat until the stone is hot which takes forever and I believe people overcompensate for this by running it HOT!
Rearscreen
Minister of Fire
Hmm... have you ever had a stone stove? Oddly after going through several steel, several cast iron - I ended up with a Phoenix, then a Mansfield, then a Progress. Wonder why I kept getting stone stoves. My stone stove never goes cold as it retains heat for hours after the wood is gone. Always running from mid Nov to mid May so restarting means the stove is already warm.
I had an ashpan on the Mansfield. Never used it once and never had a crack in any stove I've owned.
Almost always the customer doesn’t know theirs is cracked either. You’ve gotta really look close and run your hands over the surface. It’s never the top, it’s lower back stones a most of the side stones. Maybe you didn’t keep yours long enough to experience this? Or just took it easy? I don’t think they all crack, just too often for my liking.
As we both found out, soapstone makes an excellent insulator! Not so good for a serious 24/7 heater. I prefer the heat to be released into my home, rather than up flue.
Prior stove was a Heritage. What I remember from that installation were the exceptionally high flue temps Highbeam was reporting. Lots of heat going up the chimney.
Yes, I ran a stoner for several years and about 30 cords through it. It performed as advertised and was pretty.
The stone handicap might have been less noticeable in a cat stove that is designed to have a long enough burn time to stay hot all the time but then why use stone? See how that works? If you’re going to keep a fire going then the whole storage of heat becomes unnecessary. If you’re starting lots of fires like most people then you don’t want slowing down the warmup.
They do look nice though. Even Woodstock figured out that steel is pretty awesome. Faster to get hot and burn clean maybe.
Oh and the “softer” heat is just a cooler stove. If that’s important to you then get a stove that has a controllable burn rate and run it cooler. Heat life? Get a proper stove that has a long enough burn time that makes heat just as long.
I crack myself up!
It was pretty though.
I crack myself up!
It was pretty though.
electrathon
Minister of Fire
Current hearthstone owner. It burns a LOT of wood, low heat output to the room compared to wood burned.. The ash pan is a pain and very hard to use compared to shoveling out the door. I have cracked stones and am very careful about overheating. The burn time on the stove is very short too.
The stove is very pretty. If I wanted a stove to look at, I would buy another one. I heat my house with it, I would never, ever consider another one as a main heat source. Soapstone is a very good insulator, the reason the stove gives off soft heat is it is pushing the heat up the chimney.
Did I say the stove is pretty, but a bad heater?
The stove is very pretty. If I wanted a stove to look at, I would buy another one. I heat my house with it, I would never, ever consider another one as a main heat source. Soapstone is a very good insulator, the reason the stove gives off soft heat is it is pushing the heat up the chimney.
Did I say the stove is pretty, but a bad heater?
Similar threads
