HEARTLAND (Sweetheart Cook Stove)

We’ve had this stove for 9 yrs.. It was in a second home and was NEVER used because we were there in the summer. However, we spent a couple of months here in ‘18, and are now full time. We started heating our great room with it. Please note the 3/8 gap in the plate in photo. We are getting smoke escaping from there when the damper is shut down to a normal position. This should not be the case with what Heartland charges for these stoves! Everything should be metered perfectly. They were not at all helpful and told me I should have addressed it years ago. BEWARE! They only have a 1 year warranty!Extremely overpriced! Shop elsewhere!

Have had our Heartland Sweetheart stove (w/o side water) for 23+ years. Burn 3-4 cords in it each winter. Primary heat for our upstairs (2800 ft upstairs). It keeps are open floor plan great room, dining room, and kitchen, with 10-14' ceilings warm. (We use two ceiling fans and are in western OR where it doesn't get too cold.)To the reviewer that gets smoke through one (or all) of the top round keys: (That 3/8 gap hasn't changed on ours since we purchased it new.) How often are you cleaning out? Are you cleaning below the oven and on the far sides? Below oven especially builds up a lot of soot and can thus impede air flow. I clean it good about every 20 fires (80 hours). Not unusual to get a few dustpans full of soot and ash pulled out through the emblem area below the oven.In addition to a few bricks, I've had to replace the grate twice. It can warp and makes the ash bin difficult/impossible to get in and out. Cooking on the stove top isn't too bad, baking in the small oven is a skill we haven't really mastered. Looks great after decades of regular use and service. BrassO polish works well to keep it looking good.

Several years ago I was fortunate to get a great deal on an almost new Sweetheart and couldn't be happier. As a previous reviewer stated, it is a smaller-size wood cook stove, so if you have a big family, consider the larger Oval or another larger make and model. Her 2-star rating is not a reflection on the efficiency and abilities of the stove itself, only that the size did not meet her needs. For a small family with a small kitchen, however, it's perfect. With the rear heat shield it can be put fairly close to a wall, another space saver. I love the 5-gallon water reservoir for hot water for dishes. I love the warming oven to not only keep foods warm, but to warm plates, cups, and bowls. I love that it keeps the kitchen toasty warm plus helps heat the rest of the house. I love that it has become the show piece of my kitchen.I've read that the wood stove cook is akin to a symphony conductor. That's very true and it took some experimentation to learn how to adjust and control the fire and heat (as it does with all wood stoves), how to bake in it, and how to use the entire cook top for cooking. I've learned how to use it as a slow cooker, as well as cook "fast" meals on it. For a small size wood cook stove, it's about perfect.

Please check out this stove and the Oval stove before you buy either one. I almost bought one of the stoves from this company but decided to look at it in person first. I am SO glad that I did. Wow was I ever dissapointed. VERY small and made of sheet metal, not cast iron. Some of the new 'old-fashioned' stoves are 'trimmed' in cast iron to make them look like a 'real' cast iron stove. :( The cooktop is about 5" (?) shorter than the average height of your kitchen counter, or your modern stove. :( Perhaps such a small stove will best fit your needs, but please see it in person before you buy.

I brought this stove in 1999 and installed it in a small guess house, where it was used only 4 times. After 21 years I decided to add a winter kitchen to our main house. This stove is perfect for this small kitchen. It is equipped with a part that fits in the firebox for summer cooking, meaning that the firebox is only filled with a small amount of wood. I watched you tube to learn how to use it. Now I use it as a slow cooker or a fast cooker. I just love it. I make home biscuits every morning and it is a champion. It is a conversational piece. I brought a fan that operates by heat to set on the stovetop and now it warms over half of our house in the winter.

I have owned and used a heartland sweetheart cook stove for over 10 years and love it! A wood stove in the kitchen requires clearance room. So I picked the smaller over the larger. it has an oven, a heating shelf, 6 burners in a cast iron cook top. Mine has the hot water jacket on the side also. The heatshield allows it to go closer to the wall than many wood stoves. Always have heat, hot food, hot beverages and hot water when the power goes out! I have used the cooktop as a giant hot plate when we have potlucks. Very well made, very sturdy, no problems with workmanship after 10 years of use. Live in Michigan so it works 6 months plus out of the year. The cook top has 6 burners and is cast iron. the rest of the stove is metal and chrome and porcelain. lovely to have something without one bit of flimsy metal or plastic on it. is duel fuel and will burn coal also with the coal grate installed, but we have only used wood. Oven is smaller than my large gas range, but big enough for everything but a really big turkey! I love my stove and never regret saving the money to purchase it!

We have had our sweetheart (Elmira) since 1983 and us it every winter. Great stove! The only time we ever have trouble with smoke is when we don't get a good draw out the chimney first. Good for cooking when the power goes out which may happen more in the future