Mansfield for sale. Homestead question.

[JonOfSunderland]

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house. We currently have a Mansfield which heats 2000sf (uninsulated basement + main floor). The house we're hoping to buy will only be 1200sf (1st and 2nd floor). There's a fireplace in the living room that would be perfect for a Heritage or Homestead. After looking at the Homestead though I'm not too excited about the ash pan design. I don't like that there's no latching door, just a gasketed pan that wedges in place. I'm picturing it popping out of place and causing a runaway fire. Anyone with a Homestead have any comments on this?

Anyone interested in a Mansfield?

 

[Todd]

I wasn't a big fan of that ash pan when I had the stove. It did loosen up on me a couple times and almost overfired. I ended up taking the ash grate out and replaced it with fire bricks and just shoveled the ash out.

 

[Highbeam]

With the heritage you get the most excellent feature of a side door. It is extremely nice to have on these stoves that area built shallow and wide.

If you can fit the heritage in the space then I would recomment the upgrade. The ash pan latches shut though I don't use it.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I agree with highbeam. Im a fan of the heritage. Its a great looking stove that drafts well and is easy to load. The Homestead is great for hearth mounts because it offers a trim panel to hide the connector pipe. We sold plenty of homesteads with no reports of problems with the ash pan, im just a fan of the looks and performance of the heritage.

 

[bcnu]

2 years with the Homestead. No problems with the ash pan - but I never use it.

 

[Ithaca]

1 year of Homestead use in Central NY, 24/7. It kept us cozy in my 1400 sq. ft., 2 story house. I too said I wouldn't bother with the ash pan. But that was before Jan. hit and I didn't want to mess with shoveling around hot coals to shovel the ash out of the front door as I had been doing all season. I have to say, the grate at the bottom and the ash pan worked great and less ash dust in the house for me. I don't see why it would pop out as it sits snugly. Just keep an eye on the gasket and it should stay nice and snug.

My only knock on the homestead were the 'hairline' cracks that developed. It is supposed to be common, but every time I saw 1 I had to check it out to make sure the crack wasn't all the way through. Not something I wanted to deal with. I would also suggest getting an infra-red thermometer. I used a faulty bimetal one at first and over fired the stove.

 

[bcnu]

No cracks here - not even wise ones - too hot - 93 today. Feels like I overfired something!

 

[kniffin50]

N o proplems with my Homestead after one season of burning. And I do not ues the ashpan.
Rusty

 

[STOVEGUY11]

Both are great stoves, though they are similar in BTU's, I think the Heritage with the larger firebox gives you longer burn times and simply more bang for your buck. The Homestead with the hearthmount legs and low flue collar make easy install to fireplaces, but Hearthstone contradicted themselves with the design of this stove into the fireplace. If you look at the mantle clearances off of this stove they are quite large. I believe you need 36" of non-combustable above this unit. If its a stone mantle your in the clear.

 

[burnham]

There's a Homestead for sale in Lowell MA. How much for the Mansfield? A buddy is looking.