# Freestanding soapestone stove



## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

Anyone have a soapstone wood burner? Any special likes or dislikes? what brand do you have?


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

Woodstock Fireview purchased last February. We installed it last summer and it is our sole source of heat. 

We were in the market for a new stove and looked at a lot of them. We came close to buying a couple different ones and am happy we did not as I've heard plenty of gripes about them. We also looked at the Hearthstone soapstone stoves because for some reason we were a little gun shy on the stoves with catalysts in them, which Woodstock has. However, that was certainly a needless worry as now I'd hesitate a lot before buying one that did not have a cat. in it.

We are amazed at the heat this thing throws at us. What is even more amazing is that when we fill it up before going to bed, we then turn the draft down to about 1/2 way between off and 1 (the draft goes to 4). I'll get up during the night and sometimes can only see one little tiny glow of a coal on the bottom of the firebox, yet, the stovetop temperature will be between 550 and 600 degrees! How can that be? The cat. is the reason for this. 

They told us it takes a while for the soapstone to heat up and a long time for it to cool off. They are partically correct. If you are starting a cold stove, then it does take a little while to heat it up but certainly not a long time; just a little longer than a steel or cast stove. But then, sometimes you think that thing is never going to cool back down. That stone really does hold the heat.

The two biggest benefits we are enjoying right now is that we are never cold in the house and yet we are using perhaps just a little over half the amount of wood we used before. The other is the chimney. There just is no creosote and that is because of the cat. I believe this is the cleanest burning stove made.

Mike, I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have on the stove and go into some more detail. Some only by PM though because of some special things we had, which are all positive. Let me just say that Woodstock will bend over backwards to see that you are a satisfied customer. It is almost unbelieveable in this day and age to have a company like this. They even urge you to call them and you always talk to a real person.

You asked also about dislikes. The only dislike we've had is that thing is really heavy!! Weighs in at 485 lbs. Other than that, we are very pleased.

Pinefarm also put in one of the bigger Hearthstone models last year, I think. If he does not answer here, you might send him a PM as I believe he also is very happy with his.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

Thanks for the reply, woodstock is one of the stoves I am considering. Due to burning a hole in my freestanding fireplace I am without a wood burner for the first time in 30 yrs. Did you buy your stove direct or from a dealer? I am going to have to get the wife to go look at some stoves.


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## huntfisheat (Jul 30, 2007)

You can't beat a Lopi stove. Mine never goes out over night. I light it at the beginning of my stay at the cabin and it goes out when I go home. It just sips the wood. Truly the best thing in any category that I have ever purchased in my life. And thats the truth.


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

plugger said:


> Thanks for the reply, woodstock is one of the stoves I am considering. Due to burning a hole in my freestanding fireplace I am without a wood burner for the first time in 30 yrs. Did you buy your stove direct or from a dealer? I am going to have to get the wife to go look at some stoves.


You can buy the Woodstock only direct from the company.

On Hearth.com there was a post from a fellow who owns a Hearthstone and has problems getting it up to a decent temperature; takes a long time. Here's one post answering and you might find it interesting.

Title: Quickest way to get soapstone stove above 350*
Message:My latest method to heat up the heritage in the morning from 150 to
450 is to rake the remaining coals to the front and then as closely to a log
cabin style as possible fill the firebox with 2-3 inch splits. Right to the
bloody top, touch the tubes. Then wide open throttle until ignition, and
then I back it off to 60% and go take a shower. I consider 60% closed as
just past the little radius in the ash tray. In less than an hour I will be
at 400. As long as it is burning well the temp is climbing and I have seen
it run from 300-400 with a pretty small pile of burning splits and coals.
Once past 400 or 450 I will load it up with a real firewood load for the
long burn.

Medium air settings, full firebox of smallish wood, and just let it rip
will get you there the fastest. The increase does seem to slow down once at
300 or so.

Once at 400-450 then the stove behaves differently. It seems to like
running with a closed off primary air control.

Our Fireview takes a short while to get up to temperature if it is stone cold, but not as long as most folks say it does. Also, once our stove reaches 250 stovetop temperature, we engage the cat. and the temperature goes up really fast then. 

I thought it interesting that this fellow who posted stated, "In less than an hour I will be at 400." I take that as meaning close to an hour or else why use the "hour" in the sentence. He also was talking from an already 150 degree stove so raising only 300 degrees. We can get ours way over that starting from a cold stove.

If you go on hearth.com 

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/2/

You can do a search on various stoves. I am not 100% certain but believe that you will not find even one negative post about Woodstock stoves. That is amazing!!!

btw, we looked at these stoves many years ago but did not have the dollars then but if I knew then what I know now I would have financed the thing back then...and I hate debt.

Now is normally the best time of year to buy a stove too, especially from Woodstock. I think they are $500 off right now, but you'd have to check that.


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

I agree that Lopi makes a good stove and we also looked at them, especially the Leyden. However, I've learned they've had some major problems with them. 

As for just sipping wood, we're burning 50-60% of the wood we burned with our old Ashley stove since getting the Woodstock Fireview.


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## asratam (Feb 1, 2007)

Thanks for the link! I am still debating which way to go, mornings I dont have alot of time to get a stove going. I am sure the soapstone would be awesome if you have the time to tend it.


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

asratam, it takes no longer to tend a soapstone than any other stove! You still have to adjust the draft after filling; that is, when you fill the stove you want it to burn with good flame for 5-10 minutes or longer (depending on the wood) to evaporate any remaining moisture in the wood. This also chars the wood to get it started for a slower burn. Usually after 10 minutes you can adjust the draft and be worry free for a long time. How long? 8-12 hours.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

I didnt realize someone else was logged in when I posted this mornig! Asratam should of read plugger. Have you burned lower quality woods such as poplar, I seem to get the impression that the woodstone does better than most?


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

Plugger, as of now we've only burned white ash, elm and soft maple. If I had something like poplar I would not be afraid to burn it in this stove. Seems I remember someone posting on hearth.com about burning poplar though. For sure it would be good during early fall or late spring because it burns fast with not a lot of heat. When we've burned it in the past this is how we used it.

One thing I have learned though is that we must be careful when doing a full load using very dry soft maple. Have to almost close the draft and do it quickly, else that stuff burns hot! Even so, we've not been close to overfiring the stove, which is 700 degrees according to the manual. We've only been above 600 degrees a few times.

One thing for sure is that this stove is, if not the cleanest burning stove, it has to be a very close second. The cat. really makes it efficient. And as I've stated, it amazes me when during the night I've gotten up and by habit, check the stove while up. Sometimes I can see just a tiny spot of red coal at the bottom. No flame at all. When I look at the temperature the thing is kicking out 550 degrees! How can that be? In this stove you can actually tell most times when the cat. is working good because it will glow red (if the heat is up and not at the end of the burning cycle). It's kind of neat seeing that.

btw, the last two nights I've put in only 3 splits when going to bed. It kept us nice and warm.


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