Thinking of taking the plunge...

[BrowningBAR]

Your the guy with 2 stoves right. I remember now. I would say you would be THRILLED with the Heritage. Do it within the next couple of weeks. Hearthstone is having a 10% off sale. In fact, go buy it today so you can claim the rebate on your 2010 taxes and get your cheese back faster. Go go go hurry!

Well, it's more like 1.5 stoves with the way the Intrepid is performing.

What about the Phoenix and the Mansfield? Specifically the Phoenix. It is a bit bigger. What type of difference will I see/feel?

I'd get the Mansfield. It should cover the area well enough to remove the Intrepid and forget about it or put in a cooktop stove like the little Napoleon.

Not on the list, though I can also recommend it, is the big PE Alderlea T6. It won't drive you out of the room unless you let it. This is a very flexible. simple and easy to run stove.

That surprises me. The PE is a BIG cast iron stove. What type of usable burn times do you get out of it? And for this instance a burn time is a temp of 350 or higher. The square footage and BTUs rating are greater than the Mansfield, yet it has a smaller firebox. Does this effect the amount of wood used or shorten the burn times? I have no experience with PE stoves. Love the looks, but I don't know what to expect from them.

Does it lock in to a temperature well?

Basic needs for the stove:
I need a stove that I can set in and not worry about it (much).
Long Burn times. At least 8 hours of good temps. Preferable 10 hours. (outside temps obviously effect this, but you understand)
I'm avoiding a cat stove on this go around due to my experience with the Intrepid. I will probably try a Cat stove again when I replace the Vigilant in a few years, but right now my frustration outweighs the benefits of a cat stove.

 

[begreen]

The firebox sizes are pretty close, withing spitting distance of each other. I haven't run the Mansfield, but the folks that have them report a good wide temp range of operation. I can also say this for the T6. Both stoves benefit from mass. Maybe contact mountainstoveguy about the Mansfield for daily operation.

Yes, the PE T6 locks in to a temp readily. I like that it can have a half load of wood and lock into about 500 stove top for several hours, or with a tight full load, lock in at about 650-600 for many hours. But the main difference with the stove is is the quality of the heat. It's not the drive you out of the room. The Alderleas are convective heaters. Their heat is not blasting out, but is instead an even soft heat. Similar to the Mansfield. And it lasts. I may wake up to a stove at 200 with a small bed of hot coals, but the air temp is still at 67 and the heat pump hasn't come on.

Wood consumption is relative, and probably the same regardless of the EPA stove. If you want more heat you are going to burn more wood. The burn time to is relative to the type of wood burned. A tightly packed hardwood load should provide about 5-6 hrs at 600+, tapering down to about 400 for an hour or two as you burn down the coals before reloading. I've come back to the stove after 12 hrs and had a nice coal stash for quick reignition of a fresh load of wood.

But basically this is about the simplest stove I've owned to run. It starts easily, no bypasses or passages to get clogged, and it heats. Loading is super flexible, e/w or n/s it seems to burn well. And it looks good.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Basic needs for the stove:
Long Burn times. At least 8 hours of good temps. Preferable 10 hours. (outside temps obviously effect this, but you understand)

If your primary goal is those kinds of burn times and ease of use, you should look at the BK. Keep in mind also that you need a stove that will need to primarily run in milder temperatures. While I know exactly what you are talking about with the VC cat experience, my personal experience is that the BK cat is nothing like what you are experiencing even when your stove was brand new.