Hearthstone Mansfield questions...

[JSL10]

One of the wood stoves we are considering for our new 3200 square foot home is the Hearthstone Mansfield. The dealer doesn't have one in stock to look at so going by pictures only. We have some questions for those that own this stove:

1) From pictures, it looks like it has a beautiful tall viewing window. Does this stove give a nice visual flame with secondary burns?

2) I know you don't want to cook on it, but we love to heat water for cocoa/tea and let things like soups, chili, etc. simmer on it. Does this stove do well for that?

3) Does the handle have a good positive feel when it latches?

4) Is it good to get a blower option for this stove?

5) It says 10 hour burn. Is that reasonable? I want to be able to re-kindle the fire easily in the morning. My last wood stove would often be darn near cold by morning.

Thanks for any additional insight to consider to help us decide if this is the stove for us.

 

[webby3650]

The handles are the biggest let down on the stove. Yes they latch, but never feel too great.
The blower setup is pretty lousy, they have improved it recently, but it's still inferior to most other stoves.
This stove will be pretty and offer a nice flame show. 10 hours burn with easy restarts will be easy. Assuming you have good dry wood?

 

[Mountain Man 511]

One of the wood stoves we are considering for our new 3200 square foot home is the Hearthstone Mansfield. The dealer doesn't have one in stock to look at so going by pictures only. We have some questions for those that own this stove:

1) From pictures, it looks like it has a beautiful tall viewing window. Does this stove give a nice visual flame with secondary burns?

2) I know you don't want to cook on it, but we love to heat water for cocoa/tea and let things like soups, chili, etc. simmer on it. Does this stove do well for that?

3) Does the handle have a good positive feel when it latches?

4) Is it good to get a blower option for this stove?

5) It says 10 hour burn. Is that reasonable? I want to be able to re-kindle the fire easily in the morning. My last wood stove would often be darn near cold by morning.

Thanks for any additional insight to consider to help us decide if this is the stove for us.

Bought our's last winter new to wood stoves so i can't compare to others but we love ours, nice view of the fire, we load it up at night and yes you have coals in the morning, burn time is dependent on the wood you use the temperature you are trying to hold at. The stove surface temp is usually around 225 when i get up.I would not try cooking on it i just don't want to take a chance on doing something to the soap stone. We have an upstairs so we don't have a need for a fan and last but not least it depends on you house layout. We have 2 fireplaces in our home and we don't use them at all anymore. Buy something you like to look at this is a piece of furniture and it will be there everyday so please take that into consideration also.
The handles are adjustable mine works fine.

Good luck i was in your shoes last year,
Ernie

 

[sen166]

I am a new owner of this stove and am going to be putting it to its first full seasons use this year.

The stove has a very nice viewing area and shows a brilliant light show when the secondaries start firing; in my experience, this will often last for hours. The stove will get hot enough to warm up soup, stews, or water for tea and I have used it for this successfully with no problems. However, the stove top will most likely not be hot enough to fry an egg or make water boil. The handle latch is adjustable reference the tension and it may take a bit of tweaking on your part to get it to latch to your preference. A blower is up to you, but I see no need for spending the extra money on an already very expensive stove. The burn times are very long on this stove with an extended heat life with the soapstone long after the fire has extinguished.

I highly recommend this stove to you and wish you luck with your purchase.

 

[DougA]

I own an Equinox which is the big brother. The handles are adjustable and just fine unless you crank it too hard, then they snap more easily than they should. I get a good, positive latch and if not, they need to be adjusted. The stove top does get hot enough for soups, stews, etc. but you need to be careful that you don't get spills on the soapstone or clean it up fast. Stains will show but seem to 'burn off' gradually over use. The top is normally not as hot to the touch as a cast iron stove, that's the properties of soapstone. The advantage is that if you touch it, you're less likely to be burned compared to a steel or cast stove. The disadvantage is that I would not boil water on it unless we have a power outage, then you do what ya gotta do.

I installed mine on a raised hearth and wish I had gone 10" high instead of 7". The secondaries are at the top of the chamber and if you are standing and looking down at the stove you won't see them too much. If you are seated, they're fine.

Mine came with a blower and we use it sometimes. When it's super cold outside and the stove is on high, I turn the fan on, otherwise, I prefer the quiet. The fans on mine are very quiet compared to any other stoves I have heard BUT I like silence the best. I prefer our ceiling fan on low, which is just enough to circulate air without feeling a breeze and is silent.

 

[webby3650]

Keep in mind that the a Equinox has completly different handles than the other stoves. I really wish they would used these handles on their other stoves.

 

[Dairyman]

1) From pictures, it looks like it has a beautiful tall viewing window. Does this stove give a nice visual flame with secondary burns?

Yes

2) I know you don't want to cook on it, but we love to heat water for cocoa/tea and let things like soups, chili, etc. simmer on it. Does this stove do well for that?

Never have but it does get hot.

3) Does the handle have a good positive feel when it latches?

Yes. Just be sure to turn it the right way.

4) Is it good to get a blower option for this stove?

You have to have the rear heat shield to use the blower. Its expensive for what it is. I wish they would have used the fan setup that I saw on the equinox. Mine died last year and I have setup an air purifier as the blower.

5) It says 10 hour burn. Is that reasonable? I want to be able to re-kindle the fire easily in the morning. My last wood stove would often be darn near cold by morning.

Depending on wood species and load size 10 hour reloads are reasonable.


3200sqft is equinox territory to me. But with good insulation and if your in a mild climate the Mansfield probably be fine.

 

[JSL10]

Thanks so far everyone for the input. Choosing a stove is tough! Right now the Mansfield is our top choice.

 

[Rearscreen]

Mansfield was a great stove, I never cooked on it as the splatter would ruin the good looks of the soapstone. I did buy an extra slab of stone to put on top for the kettle. Had an outside air intake straight up no bends in flue. Glass would get dark and required cleaning. I have a Progress now that is built for cooking and has 3 temp choices depending on where you place your pot. The cooking feature is built right in. Glass doesn't require cleaning because of the smart design. If someone were to offer me personally either stove right now, I would pick the PH hands down.