New Hearthstone Mansfield

I use hi temp brake lube on my latches and hinges a couple of times a season but I bet it is graphite anyway so think that is good advice. Also, not sure your model had the suspect hinge pins and the same friction latch that had problems in some of the smaller stoves.

I don't really use the thermometer to get mine going, really only to monitor cruising temps. To get them going, I try to get the firebox raging for a few min and then start backing it down while not losing the secondary flames. There is a pretty decent lag in temp getting through the top stones so I judge the fire early based on what I see in the window more than what the temp is. Like others have said, cruising will normally end up with the primary air fully closed in colder dryer weather. It will take you a little while to get the hang of it but these things are pretty predictable with good dry wood!

Fuut Master said:

Thanks for the advice ridemgis. When the stove is dampened all the way down does it still dump a lot of heat out the chimney? How are our stoves different from any other non cat? Can this be remedied without an inline damper?

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My stove is top vented with 6 feet of double-wall into 18 feet of class A running up through the interior of the house. The draft is so strong I can easily start a fire on a July day (and did when the stove was new!). When I open the side load door on a hot fire in January it will suck the cats off the couch!

As a result I have added both a flue damper and the contraption below to moderate the draft as needed. The most expensive piece was the Hearthstone outside air adapter that bolts onto the stove. The other bits were maybe ten bucks at home depot. I can shut everything down and still have fairly vigorous secondaries, stove top running 450 to 500 and the probe thermometer in the double-wall 18 inches above the stove top at 500. From a cold start the flue can pretty quickly run up to 800 if I don't pay attention.

The house is vintage 1910 with double glazed replacement windows, a mostly open floor plan and decent insulation. I have no trouble keeping the stove room at 80 and the rest of the place in the low 70's. The stove definitely puts out gentle heat. The only place you don't want to stand for long is right in front of the glass. The radiant heat will set your pants on fire.

All in all, I don't think the stove requires anything more than any of the other non-cats on the market. Start slow, keep a close eye on it on start-up and reload and you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Fuut Master said:

I feel bad for your cats lol. My chimney is 18 ft straight up. Do you think I will have a draft that will be too strong and need dampened? If so, I think I would like to try to dampen the incoming air like you did. My Mansfield is the 8012. I don't think I need a outside air kit do I? Looks like it's stubbed out the back already.

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With newer construction I'd suggest an outside air. Is it a possiblity? Sometimes it's just not practical with the stoves location.

Fuut Master said:

I feel bad for your cats lol. My chimney is 18 ft straight up. Do you think I will have a draft that will be too strong and need dampened? If so, I think I would like to try to dampen the incoming air like you did. My Mansfield is the 8012. I don't think I need a outside air kit do I? Looks like it's stubbed out the back already.

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I wouldn't do anything until you see how it burns in cold weather. If you think you need more control try blocking off the intake with a bit something non-flammable. I used a brick and bit of sheet metal that I could slide across the opening to go from wide open to almost completely closed then observed the effect over a long burn.

webby3650 said:

With newer construction I'd suggest an outside air. Is it a possiblity? Sometimes it's just not practical with the stoves location.

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I don't think the question was about whether or not to use outside air but rather, does he need to buy an OAK adapter (literally an Outside Air Kit)for this particular stove in order to have the nice pipe inlet. On the heritage and even the BK, the basic stove can't be hooked to the tube without buying an adapter.

I'm a fan of using outside air if at all possible. It just makes sense for several reasons.

I think you're all set to slip some 3 inch duct right over that opening. My stove needed the OAK to get to that point.

Fuut Master said:

That's what I thought. I might slip it over it and run it to a plastic window insert that came with an air conditioner I have. The insert allows you to close the window on it to reduce airflow.

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I'm not real sure what you have here, but I wouldn't want to have a partially open window for this purpose.

Interesting, it still seems to me that it would leak a lot of air.

I think you should keep in mind fresh air kits should not rise above the bottom of the firebox.