The Hearthstone Bennington non catalytic wood stove has been on my list for some time to own someday. About 10 years ago there was a small Stove shop in Boyne City,MI called Reh Acres, they sold Hearthstone,Morso,Buck and Pacific Energy. They had a good selection of higher end models and I would go there and just rub my hands checking out all the neat stoves. The Bennington always caught my eye and the shop owner actually down played the stove for some reason and suggested others in stock.
A couple weeks ago I seized the opportunity and bought a used Hearthstone Bennington and had some repairs and corrections to complete before deciding what to do with it. The stove is a Blue/Black porcelain enamel which is almost flawless, hope I can keep it that way. The secondary baffle was broke in half and some stainless steel came in handy to patch the broken baffle. New gaskets on the doors were installed with black hi temp silicone. The door latches were at some time were 1/2 way replaced with upgrade kits but, only some of the parts were used so I had to buy a couple parts to get the doors working right. The side load door in particular was not operating smoothly so I tried some hi temp bearing grease and so far it's working well, this is an exterior latch mechanism and is not exposed to flames.
So far I am pleasantly surprised and can say after running numerous other stoves that the Bennington is a winner! Thus far the Bennington has put more heat and longer burn times than the other stoves I have owned and operated. Hergom of Spain makes the Hearthstone line of stoves, castings anyways and the Bennington is still available in Europe and elsewhere marked along with the Manchester. The Manchester looks to me as a single front door Bennington with improved door latches and looks the same inside. Hearthstone catches more guff than they deserve in my opinion, I have worked on a lot of different brands and Hearthstone seems to be as well put together as any high end stove.
I get it about the door latches and there must have been issues due to the upgrade kits available but, asides from that Hearthstone stoves are rugged and beautiful from what I observe.
A couple weeks ago I seized the opportunity and bought a used Hearthstone Bennington and had some repairs and corrections to complete before deciding what to do with it. The stove is a Blue/Black porcelain enamel which is almost flawless, hope I can keep it that way. The secondary baffle was broke in half and some stainless steel came in handy to patch the broken baffle. New gaskets on the doors were installed with black hi temp silicone. The door latches were at some time were 1/2 way replaced with upgrade kits but, only some of the parts were used so I had to buy a couple parts to get the doors working right. The side load door in particular was not operating smoothly so I tried some hi temp bearing grease and so far it's working well, this is an exterior latch mechanism and is not exposed to flames.
So far I am pleasantly surprised and can say after running numerous other stoves that the Bennington is a winner! Thus far the Bennington has put more heat and longer burn times than the other stoves I have owned and operated. Hergom of Spain makes the Hearthstone line of stoves, castings anyways and the Bennington is still available in Europe and elsewhere marked along with the Manchester. The Manchester looks to me as a single front door Bennington with improved door latches and looks the same inside. Hearthstone catches more guff than they deserve in my opinion, I have worked on a lot of different brands and Hearthstone seems to be as well put together as any high end stove.
I get it about the door latches and there must have been issues due to the upgrade kits available but, asides from that Hearthstone stoves are rugged and beautiful from what I observe.
