Hearthstone Bennington anyone?

[Rick]

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone else is using a Hearthstone Bennington. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one...

Thanks,

Rick

 

[Todd]

You may be the only one? It's a nice looking stove, how does she burn?

 

[Rick]

I like it, but it took me a while to get to this point. She needs a very strong draft and extremely dry wood, but maybe they all do? I'm adding the optional outside air kit to her this year, just to see if there is any difference.

Rick

 

[jbrown56]

Rick,

When I started looking for a new stove, I looked at the Bennington. While it is a nice stove, Hearthstone builds great soapstone stoves. That's why I decided to get a Jotul. They build great cast iron stoves. I would still like to know if you like the stove and how it runs?

Jim

 

[begreen]

I've always liked the look and design of the Bennington. It was on the short list for our house.

As for the draft, if you open a nearby window, does the fire intensity increase? Can you describe the flue system on the stove?

 

[Rick]

The fire doesn't intensify when you open windows near it. My main reason for experimenting with the OAK is for fun. I figure it shouldn't make it worse, and if it does I'll just remove it. The chimney is about 18' with two 15 degree offsets. This thing will rock with the right wood in it, she is just temperamental. I still can't figure out where the primary air comes into this stove. I see where the lever goes up and down on the left side but I think I need to remove the side of the stove to get to the actual mechanism. I had an Englander stove before this and you could see the damper sliding back and forth. I like that feature better. There is a review of the bennington where the poster says his stove had a casting defect that was choking off the primary air. I would love to check my stove for the same thing.

 

[begreen]

Flue sounds pretty good. Is this all double-wall pipe? Is it draft fussy all the time or just when the temperatures are moderate outside?

Tom at the chimneysweep might be able to provide you with more info on how the stove has burned for him.

 

[Rick]

It is double wall stove pipe. I'm not really complaining about the draft, i'm just curious as to wether it is the best it can be or not. But it also beginning to look like i am one of the few that has one of these....

 

[begreen]

You might ask your dealer if he has a manometer to check draft. That would tell you how close to spec your flue system is.

 

[thechimneysweep]

[edited, see below]

The Bennington is one of those stoves that teaches you how to run it. It is an interesting combination of cast iron and built-in air convection chambers: kind of a blend of two typical wood stove designs.

You need to adjust to the slow response time of the double-wall cast iron, but will benefit from its heat storage properties at the end of each burn.

Energy radiation from the side and rear panels is extremely gentle (hey, is this thing going?), but step in front of the viewing window and WHAM!

Once the Bennington is up to peak operating temperature (about 600-700 degrees on the top plate), the flow of heated air without blower assist is surprisingly hot and forceful.

We loved the Bennington as the every-day heater for our showroom, as it filled the space with heated air to a comfortable temperature without blasting us out of the room with radiant energy. In the morning, the chill would be off our otherwise unheated building, and the stove would still be warm so we could get the store heated up quickly with our morning fire.

We were not so fond of the Bennington on Monday Mornings, when we wanted to bring the showroom temperature up from 40 degrees or so to 68 degrees quickly. All that themal mass had to come up to temperature before the heated air started to flow, and that seemed to take forever. Today, we recommend the Bennington to people who start a fire in the Fall and feed it until Spring.

 

[BrotherBart]

That thing is the most solid, well finished looking wood stove I have ever seen. It was just a tad too tall for my fireplace application or it would be sitting here right now. I still walk over and look at it every time I am in the stove store.

 

[jpl1nh]

The Bennington is one of those stoves that teaches you how to run it. It is an interesting combination of soapstone AND cast iron AND built-in air convection chambers: kind of a blend of all three typical wood stove designs.

You need to adjust to the slow response time of the soapstone firebox liner, but will benefit from its heat storage properties at the end of each burn.

Energy radiation from the side and rear panels is extremely gentle (hey, is this thing going?), but step in front of the viewing window and WHAM!

Once the Bennington is up to peak operating temperature (about 600-700 degrees on the top plate), the flow of heated air without blower assist is surprisingly hot and forceful.

We loved the Bennington as the every-day heater for our showroom, as it filled the space with heated air to a comfortable temperature without blasting us out of the room with radiant energy. In the morning, the chill would be off our otherwise unheated building, and the stove would still be warm so we could get the store heated up quickly with our morning fire.

We were not so fond of the Bennington on Monday Mornings, when we wanted to bring the showroom temperature up from 40 degrees or so to 68 degrees quickly. All that themal mass had to come up to temperature before the heated air started to flow, and that seemed to take forever. Today, we recommend the Bentley to people who start a fire in the Fall and feed it until Spring.

Tom, with all due respect for your years of knowledge and expertise, are you sure you aren't confusing the Bennington with the Pheonix? I think the Bennington is all cast with double wall construction, and the Pheonix is the soapstone, cast hybrid.

 

[Rick]

I don't think the Bennington has any soapstone in it, but the rest of your description was spot on.

 

[thechimneysweep]

Ah. We burned the Bennington side-by-side with a Craftsbury, which IS lined with soapstone, and my remaining intact brain cells evidently melded the two in the fog. I've edited my original post above, which does accurately portray our impression of its burning characteristics.