Cast iron or soapstone?

[Highbeam]

The one reason I would skip the mansfield is the lack of a side loading door and those duck feet. You can get real enamel on the hearthstones and I would recommend it over paint that fades quickly. I only use the side door when operating my heritage. The front door on all of the hearthstones is very large for a nice fire view but they are not the best stove access due to smoke spillage and ash spillage. The seal system is marginal and tends to hold ash against the door gasket to be dumped when opening the front door but not the side door.

Why not consider the equinox? It is a super sized heritage and could take advantage of that oversize flue you have.

I haven't found ash or smoke spillage to be an issue at all with my Mansfield. Also, with side loading your Heritage, are you limited to E/W burns? That is one thing I've noticed with my Mansfield - N/S loading is MUCH better for getting the load burning quickly. Cheers!

Unless you're cutting short, the Heritage is an E/W loader.

Does the primary air enter bottom, front and center in the Heritage as it does in the Manny? If so, either the heritage is just better at E/W burning, or my particular setup is bad at it - N/S is always great, hit and miss E/W - mainly miss. Cheers!

Well the huge majority of primary air is dumped in via the airwash at the top of the glass and there is also a small hole at the bottom front and center for "zipper" air but neither of these make the heritage a N/S burner. Fact is the heritage is very shallow in that direction, maybe 8 inches? You just can't fit normal sized splits any way except in the E/W orientation.

The mansfield is about the same width but deeper allowing for N/S loads. That's a pro in the manny's favor. Plus we have a beer here in the NW called Manny's pale ale from Georgetown Brewing Company that is excellent. Major pro in favor of the mansfield stove.

When I load the heritage I don't mess around. Fill her to the gills. So as snowleapord points out, that method is likely to put ash near the glass which means that ash will pack the front door seal and dump onto the hearth when I open it every few months.

 

[firecracker_77]

I have used a Hearthstone Heritage for a year, and I like soapstone as many have said. I bought a Woodstock Franklin gas for my house where it is not convenient to burn wood in an urban area. I can say that the Woodstock is a good looking stove, but not quite as beautiful as the Hearthstone models. I don't know if this makes a difference at all, but the Hearthstones are some of the prettiest stoves out there. The folks at Woodstock are very nice to talk to, and mine arrived without incident. Like I said, the little gas model is very attractive, and I would do business with Woodstock again.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I don't get much if any smoke spillage out of the front of our Homestead. I do open the air and wait a few seconds before opening the door. I guess if I left the air closed and yanked the door open I would get smoke.. (she does.. lol)

But I find the minor bit of ash spillage to be a non issue. I clean the hearth area daily. Near as I can tell, bits of wood, bark, dirt, the odd spider or two is part of the joy of wood heat.. OH, and much as I love them Super Cedars, they make their own litlle pile of cedarpoop every time I open one.. If I am cleaning all that other up, it's no big deal to pull the ash lip and rinse it off..

If I didn't like it.. I could just turn the thermostst up..