Moving On Up

[johnstra]

Well, I decided to upsize my new Heritage to an even newer Mansfield. I thought I'd be able to get enough heat out of the Heritage for my place, but with the high ceilings and approximately 2000 sq/ft, my main floor is just too much for the Heritage. I was working the stove way too hard to keep my main floor at 70*F on colder nights and I haven't even seen below zero temperatures yet. I didn't want to give up the side door, but I needed the extra heat output, so my hearth now has a Mansfield sitting on it.

First impressions:
* Obviously it's bigger. Mostly depth is the difference... it's about 6" deeper.
* Secondary tubes and and baffle. The Mansfield is significantly different than the Heritage. The Heritage has a cast iron manifold with 3 tubes. The Mansfield has a steel manifold and 4 tubes.
* Two air risers going up to the secondaries on the Mansfield instead of one on the Heritage.
* Much less cast iron in the firebox. The Heritage, with its side door one side and a cast plate on the other has a bunch of cast iron in the box. The Mansfield looks much cleaner with just stone.
* Primary air control linkage is different... just a bar attached to the control lever that directly slides a pair of plates on either side of the firebox. I don't see how somebody can do an OAK with it.
* Has a much larger ash lip in front and a more sharply angled shelf in lower front of the firebox for containing ashes.

I've done my 3 break-in fires, so I'll be cranking it up tonight. I'll report back with how it performs. So far, it appears that the Mansfield's primary air into the firebox is quite a bit stronger than that of the Heritage. This could be due to the fact that I had the Heritage rear-vented and the Mansfield is top-vent only. I had to use two 90* elbows. Didn't want to do that, but that's the only way it would fit. Draft seems great, though. I get a pretty good blow-torch affect on wood right in front of the air ports when the primary air is wide open and shutting the primary controls air input very well. The break-in fires burned fine - no smoke and nice even burns.

I'm eager to feel the difference in heat output.

-john

 

[Fsappo]

This will be a great thread to watch. I use the Mansfield all the time, and only once in a while use the Heritage. I gravitate towards the Mansfield because its easier to load front to back , has super long burn times and just seems to be super easy to load. I'll be curious to see how this change works for you. Best, take pics and change your sig!

 

[shawneyboy]

Welcome to the Mansfield family (better than the Manson family). I look forward to your review. I absolutely love mine

 

[johnstra]

Ok, here are my observations so far. Bear in mind that winter has deserted us here in Colorado, so I haven't been able to burn a full load yet.

First thing... the Mansfield puts out far more heat than the Heritage. I wish I understood more about thermodynamics, because the highest stovetop temperature I've gotten on the Mansfield so far is only about 425F with 3 oak splits. I pushed the Heritage to 550F a few times and even with those high surface temperatures, it didn't come close to heating the house as much as the Mansfield. This is with the stove in the exact same location and chimney.

The Mansfield's front door holds ashes better than the front door on the Heritage. It was impossible to open the Heritage front door without spilling ashes out. I haven't had that problem with the Mansfield.

Secondary burn action does is not as vigorous on the Mansfield. With the Heritage, once I achieved a good strong burn, I could turn down the air and secondaries would take over and dominate the burn - bowels of hell. With the Mansfield, I'll get the flue up to 800F (internal probe) and then gradually turn down the primary air. Secondaries will burn vigorously for a short time and then settle into a steady even burn. I'll get a bit of the "bowels of hell" action but that quickly dies off and becomes fairly tame. I look forward to burning a full load to see if this changes with more fuel.

Air wash for the glass doesn't seem to work as well on the Mansfield. Same fuel in the Heritage and glass was always clean - white ash but not black. The mansfield glass blackens in the corners.

I get higher stack temperatures with the Mansfield. Upon reload, I easily hit 800F and generally use that number as my indicator that it's time to dial down the primary air.

Both stoves are easy to light from scratch with a top-down fire. The Mansfield starts better than the Heritage with the door closed - I had to keep the side door open for a long time to get a good draft with the Heritage. As soon as I have a decent fire started, I can shut the Mansfield door and a strong draft builds quickly. Secondaries seem to be much easier to keep burning strongly with the Heritage, though.

Bottom line... Mansfield is a much stronger heater than the Heritage, but it's a little more fickle to at keeping strong secondaries burning.

-john

 

[Fsappo]

Great review so far. Dont worry if you dont see that rolling flame in the firebox. Even if the fire looks dead , just go outside and look at your chimney. You'll be getting 10 hours burns with no visibible smoke most of the time, regardless of the light show you do or dont get inside. I'm excited for you, thats an awesome stove.