Pretty much all gas stoves are manufactured to pretty high standards in order to be certified. I like Heat 'n Glow mainly because I expect they will be around to buy parts from years from now, while a lot of other manufacturers come and go rather frequently.

The amount of heat you get is determined by the efficiency of the stove and the BTU input. How much rock is hung on the outside doesn't matter much.

If you like soapstone, see if they have one that is a suitable BTU input to meet your needs.

There's a lot to be said for being able to get the parts you need for your stove in a few years, though.

I think heatnGlo is good for the $ but theres nicer stoves like lopi and avalon. flame is better and a 30k btu stove is good for 1000 sqft in new england. Also the flame turns down on most freestanding stoves so i dont know where he's coming from with the to hot thing. you would rather get a stove thats a little more btu than u need. you might get colder weather than the place it was tested. my2cents