Okay, so as the firebrick in the summit have been needing replacing, i have been installing some old 1 1/4" thick soapstone panels from rebuilt Hearthstones in the firebox (two big ones in the rear, so far, one on each side).. I posted about wanting to do this a few months back, and after running the stove for a while, here is what I have found:
The blower takes a little longer to start coming on with the auto start snap switch. However, it stays on way longer, and the little "on then off" cycles it does as the fire cools down have become far fewer; thus i don't need to use the manual setting on the blower much at all, anymore.
The stove's performance has been exactly the same as far as burn time, 2ndry burns, clean glass etc.
The soapstone holds up way better than the firebrick.
The blower takes a little longer to start coming on with the auto start snap switch. However, it stays on way longer, and the little "on then off" cycles it does as the fire cools down have become far fewer; thus i don't need to use the manual setting on the blower much at all, anymore.
The stove's performance has been exactly the same as far as burn time, 2ndry burns, clean glass etc.
The soapstone holds up way better than the firebrick.