Reports on new Manchester Wood Stove

[Quabbin]

Replacing our old reliable Nashua wood stove after more than 20 years of service. Would like reports on operation from anyone who ran the Manchester last winter.

Since last stove was steel plate we are curious how fast does it take to put out heat on the Manchester since it is cast iron/ soap stone.

Also can you cook (boil water?) on the Manchester.

Thanks.

 

[BrotherBart]

Get ready for a learning curve. Every single person here that has heated with a Nashua that installs a new EPA stove goes through pain and thinks it is junk until they get the hang of burning in the new stove.

The stove is a good one. Just saying be patient making the change. I went through the same thing going from my old stove that served so well for 21 years. And now I wouldn't have the thing back in the house on a bet.

 

[Woody Stover]

It's a new stove but I think webby3650 might have seen it in operation....

They have one here in brown enamel....great-looking stove.

Can you supply details like sq.ft. to be heated, stove location, chimney setup, layout of the home (open floor plan, or many rooms,) insulation and draftiness.

As far as response time, the consensus is that although a plate-steel stove will heat up a bit faster, the difference between it and other materials isn't very great. If you are burning 24/7, it's a non-factor.

 

[webby3650]

I have seen the Manchester burning. It is an impressive stove! It really blasts out some good heat! As far as cooking on it, not sure it would do very good. It has a convection top on it like the Bennington did. It does have a cast iron heat exchanger under the top, but it would be very hard to do anything except simmer a pot of stew on top. Not a big deal to me at all, but some people really think its a must.

 

[Toploader]

Hello; I thought I'd bump this thread because I'm now seriously looking at the Manchester and the Isle Royale but leaning towards the Manchester because I have a wooden mantel above my fireplace opening and thought maybe I would feel a little more comfortable with the convection style of the Manchester over the radiant top of the Isle Royale which if anything seems to run hot.
I'm wondering if anyone else has some experience with the Manchester to offer up or if anyone knows whether or not I'm right in assuming it would push it's heat more out to the front because of the convection design. I would love to buy the Isle Royale but I'm a little hesitant given my set up because it runs so hot.
I have 30 1/4" to the underside of the fireplace opening from the floor and 57" to the underside of the unprotected mantel and there is a heat shield surrounding the closer parts of the wood surround. Also I now have a non-combustible floor surface[copper sheet metal] 18" beyond the brick in the front. With the Resolute the wood barely gets warm but I worry about going to a much taller stove so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[begreen]

The Manchester looks like a good choice. That's a very nice setting for a stove.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I wouldn't let the mantle height influence your decision on which stove to go with. I installed a Jotul F600 stove in front of our fireplace opening last February and the stove sits 32" high with our 11" wide wood mantle only 54" above the hearth. I installed an unobtrusive heat shield on the underside of the mantle and have had no problems with the heat. Here is a photo of my set up.

 

[begreen]

I wouldn't let the mantle height influence your decision on which stove to go with. I installed a Jotul F600 stove in front of our fireplace opening last February and the stove sits 32" high with our 11" wide wood mantle only 54" above the hearth. I installed an unobtrusive heat shield on the underside of the mantle and have had no problems with the heat. Here is a photo of my set up.

View attachment 113281

 

[Toploader]

The Manchester looks like a good choice. That's a very nice setting for a stove.

Thanks; I feel like the Manchester is a good choice as well but I wish there was a little more feedback from actual owners, although I guess based on what I've read about the improvements they've made and design there isn't much that could be wrong with it assuming it can pump out the heat. I like the top loading feature of the Isle Royale and it is a beautiful stove but it's tendency to run hot makes me nervous.

 

[Toploader]

I wouldn't let the mantle height influence your decision on which stove to go with. I installed a Jotul F600 stove in front of our fireplace opening last February and the stove sits 32" high with our 11" wide wood mantle only 54" above the hearth. I installed an unobtrusive heat shield on the underside of the mantle and have had no problems with the heat. Here is a photo of my set up.

View attachment 113281

That's a beautiful stove you have and one of my first choices unfortunately it's too tall for my opening. The heat shield is a great idea but a little harder for me to implement because of the contours and moldings underneath making it difficult to do a thorough job.

 

[Nick Mystic]

When I was deciding on a new stove it came down to the Manchester and the Jotul F600. I went with the Jotul F600 because the legs were a bit closer together (front to back) than on the Manchester. This was important because I was sitting the stove on a raised hearth and only had 17" to work with. The F600 legs were just 16" apart and by sliding the stove into the fireplace opening an inch or so I was able to get the front legs back two inches from the front edge of my extension. Also, the side door on the Manchester opened by swinging down instead of to the side, which would have made loading impossible from the side due to part of the door hitting the inside of my fireplace opening. The price between the two stoves was pretty much a wash, but the final determining factor was the fact that as a new stove my dealer couldn't get a Manchester in the Majolica Brown porcelain enamel we wanted until some time later and we were ready for a stove in February.

 

[webby3650]

Thanks; I feel like the Manchester is a good choice as well but I wish there was a little more feedback from actual owners, although I guess based on what I've read about the improvements they've made and design there isn't much that could be wrong with it assuming it can pump out the heat. I like the top loading feature of the Isle Royale and it is a beautiful stove but it's tendency to run hot makes me nervous.

The Manchester just hasn't been on the market long enough to get any real world feed back. I don't think you could go wrong with it. It's a nice stove, inside and out!

 

[Toploader]

Yeah, I guess it would be hard to go wrong with the Manchester, maybe I'll be one of the first to offer some real world feedback. Nick it's good to know you seriously considered the Manchester as well as the 600 and thanks for alerting me to the fact that my set up might not allow for the side door of the Manchester either. I have 16.5" from the front edge of my brick hearth, where the legs could sit, to the wood surround but the manual for this stove doesn't specifically indicate the distance from the front legs to the back edge of the side door. Are there any Manchester owners out there who could measure this for me?

 

[Nick Mystic]

I went to their web page and looked at their diagram while they don't have a specific measurement for the legs (front to back) they show 20 inches across the top and if you draw imaginary lines down from the top to the outside of the legs it looks like it was too wide for my hearth extension. I had my dealer checking on the exact measurement, but then he found out he couldn't get the stove any time soon in the finish I wanted. Another thing to consider with the Manchester is making the connection to your T connector since you are going to have such a tight fit. The difference between the F600 and Manchester flue collar height is about a half inch. From what you have described it sounds like you will just squeak by getting into your fire place opening. I have five inches on either side of my stove and the insides of my fireplace. This allowed me to reach in from the side to make the connection. Will you have enough side room with your opening? I had about two inches headroom between the top of my stove and the top of the fireplace opening, but that was too tight to reach in from the top to make any connections.

 

[Toploader]

I went to their web page and looked at their diagram while they don't have a specific measurement for the legs (front to back) they show 20 inches across the top and if you draw imaginary lines down from the top to the outside of the legs it looks like it was too wide for my hearth extension. I had my dealer checking on the exact measurement, but then he found out he couldn't get the stove any time soon in the finish I wanted. Another thing to consider with the Manchester is making the connection to your T connector since you are going to have such a tight fit. The difference between the F600 and Manchester flue collar height is about a half inch. From what you have described it sounds like you will just squeak by getting into your fire place opening. I have five inches on either side of my stove and the insides of my fireplace. This allowed me to reach in from the side to make the connection. Will you have enough side room with your opening? I had about two inches headroom between the top of my stove and the top of the fireplace opening, but that was too tight to reach in from the top to make any connections.

Unfortunately the top of the flue pipe on the F600 is 30.5" and my opening is 30.25" the top of the pipe on the Manchester is 28.75" so this gives me 1.5" of clearance . I considered grinding out an inch or so of the underside of the opening to make room for the F600 flue but it's a little sketchy doing that so I was happy to see the Manchester would work.
My fireplace opening is 40" wide so that gives me plenty of room to reach around and secure the connection in the back of the stove. I think my main worry is whether or not the side door will clear my surround. If it won't then I'll revisit the idea of grinding out enough room for the flue on F600 or go with the Isle Royale and do a heat shield under the mantel.