Wood stoves
I searched the archives and the most recent recommendations on stores for wood stoves / installers were from a couple years ago. Just curious if anybody has more recent experiences with hearth and home, SOS, or any other installers/showrooms. Also, if anybody could share their experiences or recommendations with regards to catalytic or non catalytic stoves.
Brendan I had Hearth and Home come to give me an estimate to install a fireplace insert. I was told previously that my masonry chimney was not to code and needed to come down.
He said they can take down the old, frame out for the new and side it. He just needed to work out the price.
I called them 3 different times over the next month looking for a price. They just kept saying he was busy and would get us the price soon.
It's been about 5 months now and still no word. I guess he wasn't interested but didn't want to tell me that for some reason.
I called SOS and they said they can't take down the chimney.
Joe M 
mistergoogle I am sure there is a recent thread on this, since I made one of my rare comments. However, to repeat; Luna chimney on 206 in andover installed a Regency wood insert in a flawed chimney in October. We love it and have been using it almost every day. Ed Luna noticed that the chimney lots of cracks and bad mortar and recommended calling our insurance agents who paid for the repair. Luna has a small showroom on route 206 in Andover and makes a good case for Regency stoves.
ex sci teacher I have owned several vermont castings stove, a defiant and a vigilant model. One without a cat converter. I own a vermont castings defiant with a catalytic converter now. It is an extremely well built stove (as many VC models are) but are in the expensive range. The cat works to burn the excess smoke by by closing down the flue and running it to the converter. But the temperature has to be in the correct range. I really have not noticed any heat loss in cat vs. non cat models. One thing to be aware of in the cat models is that that the converter should be cleaned occasionaly. It is a honeycomb converter that sits up on a shelf in the stove behind the back wall. they also recommend replacement of converter every 5-8 yrs or so. They are expensive, $200! (at least for my model) with environmental laws the way they are now, you probably won't be able to get a new stove without a cat in the future, but many people sell old models. I would swear by Vermont castings, but only because mine have been trouble free
bluelinrWe are now replacing our Vermont Castings Vigilant with a VC Encore. Long story short, right now we are waiting until after the holidays to address this since we need to take our chimney down. The old liner cannot be removed ( 2 different companies tried) so we are screwed. A good forum to read is hearth.com.
Blackcat We've had SOS install a wood stove in our home, using the existing fireplace. The fireplace couldn't handle the heat of the stove pipe, so they ran an insert through the chimney. Been working great for 10 years.
As for stoves we've had two, a Jotul and now a hearthstone. The Jotul is hands-down the better stove, even though it doesn't have any soapstone.
Lakeline I am a local contractor to Hackettstown and also a wood stove owner. I have a Jotul Castine in my living room and an older Efel Arden Giant in the Garage which is a wood coal combo. I have owned several Jotul stoves over the years and it truly is an awesome stove in terms of efficiency and overall home heating ability. They are a bit more expensive than other stoves available on the market but in terms of value, it is without a doubt worth the extra money. If your chimney is in questionable or unknown condition I would highly recommend the install of a re-line kit and although there are several local contractors/fire place stores that will supply and install it, you can purchase the kits on line for a fraction of the cost. A smooth interior re-line kit will provide longer service and is easier to clean.
in terms of Hearth and Home, Over the years Marvin and his teamt have become a bit self entitled and rather arrogant about their business and treatment of their customers,but this is what happens to people when they make tons of money in a short period of time and feel above others. It seems they feel like "hey, fongoul, I'm Sandra D" Believe me, they aren't.
Luna is good and I among other local contractors such as Ray Brown and Billy Diamond along with a few others are reputable, reliable, affordable and responsible and won't take you to the cleaners.
Concerned-citizen We have just used Elite Chimney services and were very impressed with their knowledge, response time, explanation of services, etc. The day of installation, they were professional, made sure everything in the house was covered. The lining of our chimney had disintegrated and so we had to fix it - we ended up going with a wood insert. We would recommend Elite. We found Hearth and Home to be difficult to work with - kind of rude when you spoke with them.
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