HI all - in comparing them I can see the specifics and it seems both will heat a similar amount of space and have other similarities. Can anyone speak to how they may be different to operate, ease of use, etc?
Hearthstone - Mansfield vs. Manchester?
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One is soapstone, one is cast iron. The Mansfield is less radiant and slower to warm. Some call this soft heat. The stones will slowly realease heat as the fire dies down. This can make for less temp swing between loading cycles. The Manchester is a highly radiant stove. It will heat up faster and is better for large areas where line-of-sight heating is beneficial.
Our Manchester has been a nightmare but our local dealer acts like they've never heard of a problem with the Manchester, so I don't know what to think. I do think the Manchester would make a wonderful boat anchor though. If I had it to do over again I would buy the Jotul Oslo--never another Hearthstone.
What sort of issues are you having? My Hearthstone has definitely thrown me some curveballs that's for sure.
Well, basically the stove feels like a lemon because the vent mechanism is now failing for the 3rd time in barely 6 years. The vent mechanism is kind of important, and unfortunately it requires the stove to be 1/2 disassembled to replace it. The catalyst aspect is okay other than having to clean it every 3 weeks during the Winter. The stove is incredibly messy in terms of ash getting everywhere. Where the door meets up with the front of the stove seems to have been designed to catch as much ash as possible so as soon as the door is opened ash falls out and the little catch tray is inadequate. The ash tray door mechanism has to be babied when closing because it is very easy to close it in a manner that feels/sounds like it closed but the left side will still be cracked open. The matte black paint began failing after 4 seasons. The fact that there are posts here dating back 10 years with people describing the exact same vent mechanism failure that we're having, yet the company apparently has changed nothing really speaks volumes as to the integrity of Hearthstone. At this point you could not pay me to own another Hearthstone.
Basically our experience has been that the Hearthstone Manchester is an incredibly fussy stove that costs much more than it's worth. I'm a competent mechanic and fix darn near everything around the house and this wood stove has me irritated beyond measure. I actually suspect there may be some subtle variances in the casting that may be causing our problems, or the initial assembly was botched in some way. If I had a book of specs I would consider tearing down the stove and rebuilding it but I would rather eat the cost of a new stove than burn down the house.
My stove doesn't have an ash drawer but I have to keep a broom and dustpan essentially next to the stove to keep things clean. That much I can relate to. My air control definitely feels flimsy. So far no issues but it sounds like I should brace myself. Fussy is a great way to describe my stove. It burns well but needs attention more often than I'd like. I'm surprised you can't find technical data on the air control. I'm not familiar with the Manchester, but my Craftsbury has a very simple air control design.
The local dealer was very surprised to hear about the repeated failure of the vent mechanism, and they have been the local wood stove source for over 35 years so I don't think they're being disingenuous. Perhaps your stove has a better design. I've never used a stove that had such a clunky vent mechanism like the Manchester does.
I just looked up your stove and it does have a different vent control design. The Craftsbury vent control moves in or out and the Manchester slides left to right which is where the binding occurs. I have to carefully jiggle the handle to open or close the vent. When I watched the repair tech replace the vent mechanism a couple years ago I could see that there were a lot of points of "linkage" and all those points can become points of resistance if any buildup or particulate gets in to them. Basically the design looked like it had too many moving parts and connected in a flimsy manner.
Do your linkages break or just bind up? Is there an access panel over the air control? The tinkerer in me would never be able to leave that alone until I was happy with it. If binding, perhaps a little copper anti seize might be in order for all the various moving linkage points. While I'd be lying if I told you I hadn't had a bit of buyers remorse sometimes, I also feel confident that there is an answer to the problems I face with my stove.
Never actually broke to the point of disconnecting but broke in the sense that eventually the mechanism is 100% bound and no movement left or right. Copper anti-sieze might work. Live and learn.
I guess the final question is, when the control is working, does the stove burn well? When I get mine running right, it's lovely.
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