Hello. Occasional lurker and rare poster here, checking in on a potential stove switch.
So my house, purchased 5 years ago, came with a Woodstock Ideal Steel Hybrid 210 in the live-in basement. I like the stove, but can't say I love it. My main issues are 1) it's fairly hard to start, 2) smokes a lot when door is open, 3) generates a bit more creosote build-up than I'd like, 4) aesthetics - not terrible, but not exactly beautiful. I've burned a variety of woods - mostly soft (I live in CO, hardwood is a premium). I've actually settled on aspen as my favorite for this stove - it starts easy, burns relatively hot, and much cleaner than the firs and pines (and even some hardwood) I'd been using. Yes I go through a lot of wood, but it's easy to come by aspen. The switch to aspen has helped with the creosote somewhat. I have not been able to solve the smoking issue, even with careful use (just cracking the door for 15-30 seconds to get a good draft going, then slowly opening) it just insists on puffing out a good bit of smoke almost every time I open the door. The "pro" I've had up a couple times has verified the chimney should be more than adequate - it's at least 25', and a couple feet below the ridge elevation. On the plus side, the stove puts out a lot of heat and burns a good 8-10 hours on a full load. It also seems well-built and has been low maintenance, other than frequent chimney cleaning.
Recently a used Hearthstone Mansfield 8011 came up for sale at a really good price. It's an older build, from 2001. From what I can tell, it's fairly comparable specs-wise to my WS, though obviously it's full cast+stone vs the steel and token stone side pieces on the Ideal. The Mansfield claims up to 80K BTU/Hr, whereas the Ideal only claims 60K. However the SF heated is only a bit less, 2200 vs 2500. The Mansfield is certainly better looking! On the other hand, it seems Woodstock is better respected for build quality/reliability than Hearthstone - is that the general consensus?
So finally getting to my question - does the brain trust think I would be happier with the Mansfield than my Ideal Steel, or is this a case of "the grass is always greener" and I should leave well enough alone? Any chance someone out there has experience with both stoves?
So my house, purchased 5 years ago, came with a Woodstock Ideal Steel Hybrid 210 in the live-in basement. I like the stove, but can't say I love it. My main issues are 1) it's fairly hard to start, 2) smokes a lot when door is open, 3) generates a bit more creosote build-up than I'd like, 4) aesthetics - not terrible, but not exactly beautiful. I've burned a variety of woods - mostly soft (I live in CO, hardwood is a premium). I've actually settled on aspen as my favorite for this stove - it starts easy, burns relatively hot, and much cleaner than the firs and pines (and even some hardwood) I'd been using. Yes I go through a lot of wood, but it's easy to come by aspen. The switch to aspen has helped with the creosote somewhat. I have not been able to solve the smoking issue, even with careful use (just cracking the door for 15-30 seconds to get a good draft going, then slowly opening) it just insists on puffing out a good bit of smoke almost every time I open the door. The "pro" I've had up a couple times has verified the chimney should be more than adequate - it's at least 25', and a couple feet below the ridge elevation. On the plus side, the stove puts out a lot of heat and burns a good 8-10 hours on a full load. It also seems well-built and has been low maintenance, other than frequent chimney cleaning.
Recently a used Hearthstone Mansfield 8011 came up for sale at a really good price. It's an older build, from 2001. From what I can tell, it's fairly comparable specs-wise to my WS, though obviously it's full cast+stone vs the steel and token stone side pieces on the Ideal. The Mansfield claims up to 80K BTU/Hr, whereas the Ideal only claims 60K. However the SF heated is only a bit less, 2200 vs 2500. The Mansfield is certainly better looking! On the other hand, it seems Woodstock is better respected for build quality/reliability than Hearthstone - is that the general consensus?
So finally getting to my question - does the brain trust think I would be happier with the Mansfield than my Ideal Steel, or is this a case of "the grass is always greener" and I should leave well enough alone? Any chance someone out there has experience with both stoves?
