Thanks so much for your encouraging video. Just got the same stove with the same issues - the difficult startup- because of low draft with 14ft chimney height.
This is the stove I'm looking at, although I may need the Green Mountain 80 due to the size of my house and long stretches of sub-zero temps throughout the winter. Definitely getting the blower. I already have the chimney in place from the prior stove and it easily exceeds the minimums punching through two stories. Plus I'm adding an additional section of flue, a roof brace and a wind-directional flue cap. I'm building a slate pad with brick trim and bricking in the wall behind it.
Do you remember how you connected the stovepipe to the collar? I have a GM40. My stovepipe had an inner lip and outerlip that cradles the collar. When I aligned the screw holes on the collar and pipe I was surprised to see that the stove pipe does not really seat on the collar that much. It's definitely not an airtight gap. That said my stove does not draft very well. I dont know if that is the issue as there are millions of complaints on these stove being a PIA. Interested to hear your thoughts on that part of the install.
If you need a part you can only get it through a retail dealer. Hearthstone does not sell anything direct and everything is way expensive. And they don’t like you contacting them. They want all questions/ issues to go through the dealer. That would be fine if the dealer was well versed in this model, but mine isn’t. Dealer even screwed up the install. I do like the stove though and it has an aesthetically pleasing look.
The wood quality and chimney height are super important. Though I think with any high efficiency catalytic stove this is probably true. I have better wood for this season so I will post some update videos in the near future.
Agree!! We’ve had it a few years now and while YES, it puts off great heat, we’ve had so much more trouble starting fires, occasional back smoke compared to other family members stoves we’ve used & run over the years.
Nice install and I like the look of the stove but some of the reqs I am not a fan of as much. Question for you though as you are in NY I believe? Is your house insurance okay with you installing it yourself as I have experienced that wood stove installs need to be done by a company (not sure if they are certified or what). I have had wood stoves all my adult life except now and am looking to replace a propane insert with one but have to deal with an existing brick chimney.
The homeowners rep only required that it was filed with the town and passed all required inspections. The town allows you to install it yourself as long as you meet all the building codes!
Bought the same stove I’m part because of your review. How deep is the blower? Looking to go 5” from the wall but the blower motor was not in stock and I don’t want to cut holes before knowing if in fact 5” clearance is possible. The fan looks chunky and appears to intake from the back side. Can’t wait to listen to a hairdryer……
5” clearance is measured from the body of the stove when the blower is installed. The blower is less than 5” overall. I have to double check but probably around 3”
10% moisture reading is probably not on a fresh split face... try a fresh split and see what you get. You mentioned you're burning ash that was taken down a year ago, but only just split a few months ago... very likely this wood is still far too wet. In most climates hardwood needs to be split and then seasoned for at least a year to be dry enough to burn.
If I load before bed with good quality wood and get the air set right, after 8 hours I’ll have nice hot embers to get another fire going. It falls out of catalytic range by the morning but is still plenty hot. I’ve only had it one season so far with so so quality wood; ash and maple.
Moisture meter readings should be inside the log on the face of a fresh split, not on the end of a log. Your moisture content was/is likely twice what that meter is showing on the end.
Looking at this stove, scared it might be too big for our space and be too hot. We are heating a 1200sqft ranch with 8’ ceilings, well insulated and avg outside temp low 30’s.
@@StanwoodStudios Thanks for the quick reply. And regarding some of the challenges starting the fire - is this with the catalytic component on, or off, or in both cases?
@@romaihnatowycz4897we struggle w/ startup & bk smoke more frequently than others. We always have the catalytic converter open when starting fire… I wouldn’t imagine u could start one w/ it closed. Ironed this as well.
Yes absolutely! The blower just spreads the air around a bit and allows for closer clearance to combustibles. It has an on off speed switch with thermostat that only kicks it on when the stove warms up.
Just wondering if you have had any problems since you have installed it? I love this stove, but I have seen a lot of negative comments about the build quality and components.
So far it seems pretty good but I’ve only had it one season. It’s definitely finicky with having good quality wood. I think if I had a taller chimney the stove would work better. As far as fit and finish it all seems pretty good. Probably too soon to tell with just one season. Overall I’m happy with it.
@@StanwoodStudios thanks for that info. We really like the stove, but man, the reviews I have seen on facebook, just scare the hell out of me. We are looking at a Lopi Cape Cod, but we like the GM60 much more.
I was considering Lopi but I think I ultimately decided on hearthstone because they had the catalyst. All I know is with any new high efficiency stove, wood quality and chimney height are super important. What did the reviews you were worried about say?
@@StanwoodStudios thanks for the response. I see a lot of people talking about the stoves not being sealed properly and having creosol leak out of the bottom by the four legs, they provide pics. Also, they complain about the glass hazing and lastly poor customer support. Maybe you can touch on that? You said in your video you had to call to find out where the two pieces go. Any problems there? I spoke to a dealer today who sells Lopi and Hearthstone. He recommended the Lopi. The Lopi stove we are looking at is the Cape Cod. I'm not crazy about it and its quite a bit more expensive, but I havent seen any complaints.
The fit and finish seems fine, I haven’t had any creosote leak on this stove in the season I’ve been using it. The glass stays clean only if I burn it hot with good wood. If I don’t burn it hot enough or use older more rotten wood the glass will build up with soot.
Thank you!! Wood stove and blower - $3,582 Chimney and stove pipe connector - $1,307 48x48 Ember King hearth pad - $620 Plus NY tax on all that. There is a 26% EPA tax credit because the stove is high efficiency for the year installed though.
Excellent, stay tuned for a follow up video! My main complaint is difficulty starting, and smoke in the house when opening door. I attribute this mainly to having minimum chimney height. When I take the time to use good kindling and seasoned dry wood, it’s a much better experience. I have it cranking right now, currently burning unseasoned ash.
@@StanwoodStudios my two friends with the 60 and 80 both have a ton of problems with startup / have you figured anything out on the hard starts? I have the baby model and I’ve never had an issue drafting
@@kabbythedog9409 Hi - when you say you've never had an issue drafting, do you mean that you don't have any problems starting up a fire in the 40 model? (I'm assuming that's what you have.) Asking because we're considering getting either the 40 or the 60...
@@romaihnatowycz4897 yes and it rips I probably have a solid 20' of chimney the guy with the 60 added a cold air intake and is still having issues....a side note... both these boners refuse to install a damper ... but check the fire box 1/10 to flue opening ratio first as the 40 and 60 have the same outlet anyways you'll notice those 2 have the same flue outlet so who knows, the 40 has a pretty small box which makes normal firewood a bit rough you almost have to chop your own so there's that
Unfortunately having an electric blower defeats one of the main purposes of having a wood stove in the first place, and that is to save money on energy. A wood stove should allow you to cut out gas and or electricity entirely, thus maximizing energy savings. Hopefully a person can order these models without the blower. Anyway it's nice looking stove. There is no better heat than wood stoves.
Well, the blower uses very little power. The main benefit is it can really kick off a lot more heat with the blower full on. But it also does lower the overall temp of the stove.
Yes you can order without the blower of course, but having it installed allowed closer clearances to combustibles. Additionally, for the nominal cost of running the low wattage blower, you can achieve better disbursement of heat in the space.
Thanks so much for your encouraging video. Just got the same stove with the same issues - the difficult startup- because of low draft with 14ft chimney height.
Super helpful! Thank you!
This is the stove I'm looking at, although I may need the Green Mountain 80 due to the size of my house and long stretches of sub-zero temps throughout the winter. Definitely getting the blower. I already have the chimney in place from the prior stove and it easily exceeds the minimums punching through two stories. Plus I'm adding an additional section of flue, a roof brace and a wind-directional flue cap. I'm building a slate pad with brick trim and bricking in the wall behind it.
That sounds great!! I also installed a ceiling fan, spinning in reverse it circulates the air even more!
Steve get the larger stove and put in a pipe damper.
@@StanwoodStudios There's already a ceiling fan, but I have low ceilings downstairs and need to replace it with one of a shorter profile.
@@richardlawrence3770 Is that okay to do with a hybrid?
Do you remember how you connected the stovepipe to the collar? I have a GM40. My stovepipe had an inner lip and outerlip that cradles the collar. When I aligned the screw holes on the collar and pipe I was surprised to see that the stove pipe does not really seat on the collar that much. It's definitely not an airtight gap. That said my stove does not draft very well. I dont know if that is the issue as there are millions of complaints on these stove being a PIA. Interested to hear your thoughts on that part of the install.
If you need a part you can only get it through a retail dealer. Hearthstone does not sell anything direct and everything is way expensive. And they don’t like you contacting them. They want all questions/ issues to go through the dealer. That would be fine if the dealer was well versed in this model, but mine isn’t. Dealer even screwed up the install. I do like the stove though and it has an aesthetically pleasing look.
I saw an official Green Mountain video, and saw a post there as well were someone said "it was a bear to keep the fire going" when starting it up.
The wood quality and chimney height are super important. Though I think with any high efficiency catalytic stove this is probably true. I have better wood for this season so I will post some update videos in the near future.
Agree!! We’ve had it a few years now and while YES, it puts off great heat, we’ve had so much more trouble starting fires, occasional back smoke compared to other family members stoves we’ve used & run over the years.
Nice install and I like the look of the stove but some of the reqs I am not a fan of as much. Question for you though as you are in NY I believe? Is your house insurance okay with you installing it yourself as I have experienced that wood stove installs need to be done by a company (not sure if they are certified or what). I have had wood stoves all my adult life except now and am looking to replace a propane insert with one but have to deal with an existing brick chimney.
The homeowners rep only required that it was filed with the town and passed all required inspections. The town allows you to install it yourself as long as you meet all the building codes!
Bought the same stove I’m part because of your review.
How deep is the blower? Looking to go 5” from the wall but the blower motor was not in stock and I don’t want to cut holes before knowing if in fact 5” clearance is possible. The fan looks chunky and appears to intake from the back side.
Can’t wait to listen to a hairdryer……
5” clearance is measured from the body of the stove when the blower is installed. The blower is less than 5” overall. I have to double check but probably around 3”
10% moisture reading is probably not on a fresh split face... try a fresh split and see what you get. You mentioned you're burning ash that was taken down a year ago, but only just split a few months ago... very likely this wood is still far too wet. In most climates hardwood needs to be split and then seasoned for at least a year to be dry enough to burn.
So it doesn’t burn all night. You have to restart every morning ?
If I load before bed with good quality wood and get the air set right, after 8 hours I’ll have nice hot embers to get another fire going. It falls out of catalytic range by the morning but is still plenty hot. I’ve only had it one season so far with so so quality wood; ash and maple.
Moisture meter readings should be inside the log on the face of a fresh split, not on the end of a log. Your moisture content was/is likely twice what that meter is showing on the end.
Good to know, thank you!
Looking at this stove, scared it might be too big for our space and be too hot. We are heating a 1200sqft ranch with 8’ ceilings, well insulated and avg outside temp low 30’s.
Is it 1200’ sq of open space? Or all separate rooms?
@@StanwoodStudios open then hallway to three bedrooms. It would be supplemental heat and for power outages, we have central heat/air.
It will probably heat the auxiliary rooms well but it might be too hot in the room it’s in
@@StanwoodStudios yeah, I am going with the smaller 40. It’s a tight space and just for some added heat gas gets expensive, thanks for the response.
Yes absolutely! Good luck!!
Hi - I'm assuming the blower can be turned off so there's no noise coming from it? Can you confirm?
Yes absolutely, it has a variable speed switch with on off. It only comes on if the stove is hot enough and the switch is on.
@@StanwoodStudios Thanks for the quick reply. And regarding some of the challenges starting the fire - is this with the catalytic component on, or off, or in both cases?
@@romaihnatowycz4897we struggle w/ startup & bk smoke more frequently than others. We always have the catalytic converter open when starting fire… I wouldn’t imagine u could start one w/ it closed.
Ironed this as well.
Can you run this without the blower? I would love to have the blower option but want to be able to use it if the power goes out. Thanks for the video!
Yes absolutely! The blower just spreads the air around a bit and allows for closer clearance to combustibles. It has an on off speed switch with thermostat that only kicks it on when the stove warms up.
Just wondering if you have had any problems since you have installed it? I love this stove, but I have seen a lot of negative comments about the build quality and components.
So far it seems pretty good but I’ve only had it one season. It’s definitely finicky with having good quality wood. I think if I had a taller chimney the stove would work better. As far as fit and finish it all seems pretty good. Probably too soon to tell with just one season. Overall I’m happy with it.
@@StanwoodStudios thanks for that info.
We really like the stove, but man, the reviews I have seen on facebook, just scare the hell out of me.
We are looking at a Lopi Cape Cod, but we like the GM60 much more.
I was considering Lopi but I think I ultimately decided on hearthstone because they had the catalyst. All I know is with any new high efficiency stove, wood quality and chimney height are super important. What did the reviews you were worried about say?
@@StanwoodStudios thanks for the response.
I see a lot of people talking about the stoves not being sealed properly and having creosol leak out of the bottom by the four legs, they provide pics. Also, they complain about the glass hazing and lastly poor customer support. Maybe you can touch on that?
You said in your video you had to call to find out where the two pieces go. Any problems there?
I spoke to a dealer today who sells Lopi and Hearthstone. He recommended the Lopi. The Lopi stove we are looking at is the Cape Cod. I'm not crazy about it and its quite a bit more expensive, but I havent seen any complaints.
The fit and finish seems fine, I haven’t had any creosote leak on this stove in the season I’ve been using it. The glass stays clean only if I burn it hot with good wood. If I don’t burn it hot enough or use older more rotten wood the glass will build up with soot.
Nice video! How much did the setup cost you?
Thank you!!
Wood stove and blower - $3,582
Chimney and stove pipe connector - $1,307
48x48 Ember King hearth pad - $620
Plus NY tax on all that. There is a 26% EPA tax credit because the stove is high efficiency for the year installed though.
@@StanwoodStudios thank you for the breakdown! Stay warm 🙂
I was wondering how your stove is working after a year?
Excellent, stay tuned for a follow up video! My main complaint is difficulty starting, and smoke in the house when opening door. I attribute this mainly to having minimum chimney height.
When I take the time to use good kindling and seasoned dry wood, it’s a much better experience.
I have it cranking right now, currently burning unseasoned ash.
@@StanwoodStudios my two friends with the 60 and 80 both have a ton of problems with startup / have you figured anything out on the hard starts?
I have the baby model and I’ve never had an issue drafting
@@kabbythedog9409 Hi - when you say you've never had an issue drafting, do you mean that you don't have any problems starting up a fire in the 40 model? (I'm assuming that's what you have.) Asking because we're considering getting either the 40 or the 60...
@@romaihnatowycz4897 yes and it rips I probably have a solid 20' of chimney the guy with the 60 added a cold air intake and is still having issues....a side note... both these boners refuse to install a damper
... but check the fire box 1/10 to flue opening ratio first as the 40 and 60 have the same outlet
anyways you'll notice those 2 have the same flue outlet so who knows, the 40 has a pretty small box which makes normal firewood a bit rough you almost have to chop your own so there's that
@@kabbythedog9409my gm 40 is a real pain in the ass, terrible to start , needs to be cleaned out way too often,
Can’t decide between this vs ideal steel by Woodstock
Looks like a cool stove, I didn’t consider that one because I hadn’t heard of it at the time! There’s so many options out there.
Are you using outside air intake?
No I am not
Why would any big company want to deal with a bunch of whiny a$$ individual customers? Especially when they can let distributors deal with that.
good point!
Unfortunately having an electric blower defeats one of the main purposes of having a wood stove in the first place, and that is to save money on energy. A wood stove should allow you to cut out gas and or electricity entirely, thus maximizing energy savings. Hopefully a person can order these models without the blower. Anyway it's nice looking stove. There is no better heat than wood stoves.
Well, the blower uses very little power. The main benefit is it can really kick off a lot more heat with the blower full on. But it also does lower the overall temp of the stove.
Yes you can order without the blower of course, but having it installed allowed closer clearances to combustibles. Additionally, for the nominal cost of running the low wattage blower, you can achieve better disbursement of heat in the space.
You want your stove to perform well even when the power goes out and the blower can't work.