Hearthstone Green Mountain and Blaze King Ashford

[outdoorguy864]

Would like to make a purchase on a wood stove in the upcoming summer. Currently I like the Green Mountain and Blazeking Ashford. It sounds like with the Blaze King, you can't go wrong with their design. Looks like the catalytic is hidden up and behind a flame plate. I do really like the Green Mountain, but it is new. eeekkk

But, I have read the design of the catalytic is based on the Castleton hybrid, which I heave heard really good things about. From the best I can do with researching on the internet, the Green Mountains catalytic is well hidden behind a metal baffle protector and up above the actual baffles. Seems very similar to the Blaze King design, probably where they got it.

However, looking for some professional opinions on this. Stay safe with Blaze King or try out the fancy Hearthstone? Thank you.

 

[Nigel459]

Hi there, I’ll chime in... I’ve had a BK sirocco for a few seasons now and am currently running a Green Mountain 40, the little guy at 1.3cf. I moved the BK to replace an old stove at our cottage and am running the GM 40 where the BK was so I’ve run them both in the same place now. I bet you’re looking at the GM60 or 80.

Without knowing more about your needs it’s really hard to comment, but I will say first, the GMs are indeed untested comparatively and there are many many happy long-time users of the BKs. I’ll also say you likely can’t go wrong with either. My GM is built like a tank and I’m super happy with the performance.

If low low long burns are what you need, the BKs can’t be beat. You have likely read, or are about to hear, all thedrawbacks too, such as possibly more chimney buildup due to low flue temps, cost of cat etc. (Although cost of cat is worth pointing at since the GMs use two.)

I am really happy with the GM 40 and actually prefer it to the BK in the space it is in. I also prefer the BK in the space it is in, as I use it in shoulder seasons mostly, and the low, even, 20hr+ heat is ideal.

I’m hopeful that the GM line will be a success, and from what I can tell so far from mine I believe they will be. Let me know if you have any questions, or tell us more about your needs and we can try to help further. Cheers and have fun with the process

 

[outdoorguy864]

Hi there, I’ll chime in... I’ve had a BK sirocco for a few seasons now and am currently running a Green Mountain 40, the little guy at 1.3cf. I moved the BK to replace an old stove at our cottage and am running the GM 40 where the BK was so I’ve run them both in the same place now. I bet you’re looking at the GM60 or 80.

Without knowing more about your needs it’s really hard to comment, but I will say first, the GMs are indeed untested comparatively and there are many many happy long-time users of the BKs. I’ll also say you likely can’t go wrong with either. My GM is built like a tank and I’m super happy with the performance.

If low low long burns are what you need, the BKs can’t be beat. You have likely read, or are about to hear, all thedrawbacks too, such as possibly more chimney buildup due to low flue temps, cost of cat etc. (Although cost of cat is worth pointing at since the GMs use two.)

I am really happy with the GM 40 and actually prefer it to the BK in the space it is in. I also prefer the BK in the space it is in, as I use it in shoulder seasons mostly, and the low, even, 20hr+ heat is ideal.

I’m hopeful that the GM line will be a success, and from what I can tell so far from mine I believe they will be. Let me know if you have any questions, or tell us more about your needs and we can try to help further. Cheers and have fun with the process

I really appreciate the information you provided and am glad to see your purchase is paying off. You are correct, I am looking at the 60. I am an experienced at wood burning, but not in this house. Sense I miss it so much I decided to get one and I'm noticing in 2020 the new EPA requirements. So, the research began..........

With that, I naturally came across BK due to their proven design with the cat. Following, I have always been a fan of the Hearthstone due to the longer end even burns with the soapstone. So I been trying to narrow down to the best of my ability the differences in what makes a good design and to possibly shoot for the Green Mountain. From what I can tell, the Hearthstone looks like a good design compared to what i have found that fails and what seems to operate appropriately. Again, this is from research, not my experience with a hybrid design.

I will be able to use my 24/7, especially if i can get some longer burn times out of some loads. So i'm quite excited to get back into it.

Thanks again

 

[Woody Stover]

I will be able to use my 24/7, especially if i can get some longer burn times out of some loads.

If you can provide some details of your layout (open, where heat is easier to distribute, vaulted ceilings, sq. footage to be heated etc,) level of insulation and air-sealing, we'll have a better idea of what stoves might work for you. A crude drawing might help as well.
Have you considered the cat stove vs. non-cat question?

 

[Mech e]

When I was shopping for a stove i looked at the green mountain. I personally did not like having the cats sit right under the stove pipe connection, allowing the combustion heat from the cat to go right up the stove pipe.

 

[outdoorguy864]

If you can provide some details of your layout (open, where heat is easier to distribute, vaulted ceilings, sq. footage to be heated etc,) level of insulation and air-sealing, we'll have a better idea of what stoves might work for you. A crude drawing might help as well.
Have you considered the cat stove vs. non-cat question?

So the house is a walkout ranch, overall is 2400 square feet, BUT, half of that is the walkout basement, which is 90% finished, 8 foot ceilings. The main floor is 1200, with cathedral ceilings. After reading the regrets of some putting the wood stove downstairs, i decided it would be best on the main floor. On the main floor i have a nice open layout. The kitchen, dinning room and living is all one big room. About 26x25'ish (something like that). Again cathedral ceiling. The center of all the cathedral ceiling's is 11 ft, the low edge near the wall is 8'6".

The insulation for the entire house is good, i just added more to the attic and the walls are 2x6. However, in the main big room, there are some extra windows, outside the norm at least and a sky light.

The rest of the main floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom connect off a hall way, about.....8 feet in length, no cathedral here. The two bedrooms at the end have cathedral ceilings as well, bathroom, cathedral ceilings.

From my calculations, it seems wise to go with at least a 2 cubic foot box wood stove for overnight burns, etc.

So my basement has a nice door at the bottom of the stairs, i was going to close it. my plan for the basement and the end bedrooms (if necessary) is to have the furnace wired with a thermostat in the basement to kick on and supplement those two bedrooms and obviously heat the basement. But, we aren't in the basement too much and i was thinking if at some point i add in ceiling fans i might be okay with just the wood burner.

 

[outdoorguy864]

When I was shopping for a stove i looked at the green mountain. I personally did not like having the cats sit right under the stove pipe connection, allowing the combustion heat from the cat to go right up the stove pipe.

Yeah so I just recently came across some non-cat 2020 stoves. I'll be honest, the cat design freaks me out. I don't want to get to year 2 and have it break. I love the idea of long burns, but if the cats are that unreliable, that means i need that part to be made for the next however long i have that stove. But, with that said, it seems some have a good design where you can go 6+ years on a cat, but a lot of the design seems so new.

Someone told me about Pacific Energy and it seems i can't find to many people that don't like them. They have strong promising reviews. Floating steel box, non-cat design with their baffles and the EBT. Currently I really like the T5 so I'm going to go check them out here in the next couple of days.

 

[kennyp2339]

Nothing wrong w/ PE, I personally like the summit - 3cu fire box, convective jacket for a softer heat, I just know burn times of +10hrs may be a little tougher to get. My definition of burn time btw is stove top +350 deg f

 

[Nigel459]

When I was shopping for a stove i looked at the green mountain. I personally did not like having the cats sit right under the stove pipe connection, allowing the combustion heat from the cat to go right up the stove pipe.

I worried about that too. Thankfully, the design seems sound: as soon as I flip the bypass and engage the cat, flue temps plummet and stove top temps rise, just like on the BK. There is an air space above the cat--it must allow it to radiate to the stove top adequately. The GM cruises readily for me at 350F flue temp. Not quite as low as the BK in black box mode but behaves very similarly.

 

[Nigel459]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Wow, your house is very similar to mine, and you're in the same climate. Do you get a lot of solar gain with your big windows? Doesn't matter too too much. If you were at all considering the Ashford, you really shouldn't hesitate. Great, well-proven stove, that would give you a really nice heat even in shoulder seasons with its turn-down capability. I'd go for the 30 box.

So the house is a walkout ranch, overall is 2400 square feet, BUT, half of that is the walkout basement, which is 90% finished, 8 foot ceilings. The main floor is 1200, with cathedral ceilings. After reading the regrets of some putting the wood stove downstairs, i decided it would be best on the main floor. On the main floor i have a nice open layout. The kitchen, dinning room and living is all one big room. About 26x25'ish (something like that). Again cathedral ceiling. The center of all the cathedral ceiling's is 11 ft, the low edge near the wall is 8'6".

The insulation for the entire house is good, i just added more to the attic and the walls are 2x6. However, in the main big room, there are some extra windows, outside the norm at least and a sky light.

The rest of the main floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom connect off a hall way, about.....8 feet in length, no cathedral here. The two bedrooms at the end have cathedral ceilings as well, bathroom, cathedral ceilings.

From my calculations, it seems wise to go with at least a 2 cubic foot box wood stove for overnight burns, etc.

So my basement has a nice door at the bottom of the stairs, i was going to close it. my plan for the basement and the end bedrooms (if necessary) is to have the furnace wired with a thermostat in the basement to kick on and supplement those two bedrooms and obviously heat the basement. But, we aren't in the basement too much and i was thinking if at some point i add in ceiling fans i might be okay with just the wood burner.

 

[Woody Stover]

So the house is a walkout ranch, overall is 2400 square feet, BUT, half of that is the walkout basement, which is 90% finished, 8 foot ceilings. The main floor is 1200, with cathedral ceilings. After reading the regrets of some putting the wood stove downstairs, i decided it would be best on the main floor. On the main floor i have a nice open layout. The kitchen, dinning room and living is all one big room. About 26x25'ish (something like that). Again cathedral ceiling. The center of all the cathedral ceiling's is 11 ft, the low edge near the wall is 8'6".

The insulation for the entire house is good, i just added more to the attic and the walls are 2x6. However, in the main big room, there are some extra windows, outside the norm at least and a sky light.

The rest of the main floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom connect off a hall way, about.....8 feet in length, no cathedral here. The two bedrooms at the end have cathedral ceilings as well, bathroom, cathedral ceilings.

From my calculations, it seems wise to go with at least a 2 cubic foot box wood stove for overnight burns, etc.

So my basement has a nice door at the bottom of the stairs, i was going to close it. my plan for the basement and the end bedrooms (if necessary) is to have the furnace wired with a thermostat in the basement to kick on and supplement those two bedrooms and obviously heat the basement. But, we aren't in the basement too much and i was thinking if at some point i add in ceiling fans i might be okay with just the wood burner.

I agree, put it upstairs for sure. Those vaulted ceilings aren't real high so I don't see them pooling a lot of heat; It will build down to the tops of the doorways pretty quickly. Moving the heat back to the bedrooms with an 8" fan on the floor in the hallway, or near the hallway entrance taking cool, dense air toward the bottom of the stove room, will displace the warm air out to the bedrooms. If you have kids who like to close their doors, small room heaters might be the easiest fix. With the doors open a bit, I think you can get heat back there. You'll have to experiment to see what fan position works best for moving the heated air.
Sounds like the weatherization of your house is pretty good so I agree, a 2 cu.ft. stove should handle it. No problem getting an overnight burn with that size stove.
Maybe you can zone the basement to get its own heat when needed, but I don't know much about that sort of thing..

 

[Woody Stover]

Yeah so I just recently came across some non-cat 2020 stoves. I'll be honest, the cat design freaks me out. I don't want to get to year 2 and have it break. I love the idea of long burns, but if the cats are that unreliable, that means i need that part to be made for the next however long i have that stove. But, with that said, it seems some have a good design where you can go 6+ years on a cat, but a lot of the design seems so new.
Someone told me about Pacific Energy and it seems i can't find to many people that don't like them. They have strong promising reviews. Floating steel box, non-cat design with their baffles and the EBT. Currently I really like the T5 so I'm going to go check them out here in the next couple of days.

No need to freak about a cat. They last 3-4 years with full-time heating in most of the US. They rate cats for about 10000-12000 hrs. of burning. When they start to decline, it's a gradual process; They don't quit all at once. You can still get cats for some pretty old stoves, so I don't think you have to worry about that aspect of it. But I agree, we just don't know yet how some of the new hybrid designs will work out. Others like Regency and Woodstock have been out for a while.
I got my SIL a PE stove for the solid engineering you mentioned, and they are built well and easy to service; Just pull one lock pin to remove the baffle for a clear shot when cleaning.

 

[BKVP]

You shouldn't fear the technology. Vast improvements have been made over the years. I would encourage you to read some emissions test reports, on mfg websites, before assuming only cat stoves can experience part failures, which is not common. Some stoves in testing experienced broken or warpped baffles and other components.

It really comes down to the OVERALL history of the product.

 

[Woody Stover]

I would encourage you to read some emissions test reports, on mfg websites, before assuming only cat stoves can experience part failures, which is not common. Some stoves in testing experienced broken or warpped baffles and other components.

I would expect some failures, when running the high-output portion of the EPA burn tests with the air wide open. Of course the BKs have thermostatic protection..

I'm in Vegas for IBS....his response, quickly followed up with "Seriously, did we get it addressed for you? Would you invest in another SIG?"
That's what it's about right there.

Sorry to hear about your Irritable Bowl Syndrome..I hope your treatment for that in Vegas goes well. Maybe it's time to cut back on the bourbon.
So, did you PM charger4406 with an offer to repair or replace his 8 yr. rusted-through Ashford, like webby said they did on a 12 yr. stove in a case he knew about? That kind of product backing would be impressive..

 

[Nigel459]

Sorry to hear about your Irritable Bowl Syndrome..I hope your treatment for that in Vegas goes well. Maybe it's time to cut back on the bourbon.

Nope it’s the international beauty show I’m sure

 

[Woody Stover]

Nope it’s the international beauty show I’m sure

First thing that popped into my head was International Burning Symposium.

 

[BKVP]

International Builders Show

 

[begreen]

Nothing wrong w/ PE, I personally like the summit - 3cu fire box, convective jacket for a softer heat, I just know burn times of +10hrs may be a little tougher to get. My definition of burn time btw is stove top +350 deg f

Not too much of a challenge with good hardwood.

 

[Woody Stover]

Nothing wrong w/ PE, I personally like the summit - 3cu fire box, convective jacket for a softer heat, I just know burn times of +10hrs may be a little tougher to get. My definition of burn time btw is stove top +350 deg f

Not too much of a challenge with good hardwood.

Yeah, and what is the temp of the sidewalls of Kenny's stove at that point?

 

[Woody Stover]

I can open the air on a coaling load and keep the stove top at 325, and with no firebricks on the sides they are pretty hot from coal radiation.

 

[jack26181]

Any new opinions on this question from a few years ago now that the Green Mountain stoves have a longer record?

Specifically, I'm trying to decide between a Blaze King Ashford 30.2 and a Green Mountain 80. Both designs are wife-approved. This will go on a hearth in an alcove on an exterior wall to replace an open fireplace. It's a first-floor family room with a 20'+ ceiling. The house is 4,000 sqft, open design, with upstairs bedrooms and a stairway/catwalk in the middle. We'll have a 25-foot Class A chimney going straight up inside a chase.

We'll use the stove in three seasons (Northeast U.S., mild spring/fall, cold winter) to supplement forced-air geothermal heating. Our firewood is basically free. I understand that the GM 80 takes a more expensive 8" pipe, but that's not a big factor for us.

Are they equally safe to run unattended at medium-high at night, and which would produce more heat? Would both produce flames if run at low-medium while we're sitting near them? How big of a plus is the thermostat on the Ashford? Could both run on 2x/day loading? How do fan noise and ash cleanup compare? Thank you.

 

[kennyp2339]

Ashford has a proven track history on this forum, and is also more convective due to wrap around jacket,

 

[outdoorguy864]

I have a GM40 so I can add my small tad bit of information. I really like the stove, it produces heat for a very long time even after coals get low due to the soapstone and cast iron combined. You can get a flame at any level with this stove as long as the fuel is there. I regularly fill it at night around 10pm and have coals at 6am for another fire.

Now, for the other information I have heard on this stove. You need a high draft, i have a straight full double pipe chimney, about 16' and have had zero issues with smoke coming out the door. Maybe I'm just lucky.....?? But there are others that have this complaint. With a 25' chimney i can't imagine you would have an issue. Once you get soapstone going, it goes and takes a long time to cool down, but for me that is not a problem. Also, with the GM40 they say they don't get a very long burn time, I suspect this is all due to the type of wood. At this point, with my experience with this stove, I think it comes down to just knowing your stove and what makes your stove work as you learn over time. I really like the stove and have no reason to ever switch it out.

However, Blazeking from my understanding is a very good stove and would hard to beat. My guess is you will find less issues/complaints with a blazeking then the green mountain? Just a guess but not really sure.

 

[EbS-P]

The BK customer service is some of the, if not the best in the industry. Proven designs. Hands down the Ashford.

 

[outdoorguy864]

Man, you guys got me looking at the ashford 20.2 for me now.............