Mansfield vs Blazeking King

[chevyheim]

Still in the hunt for the perfect stove.

I have narrowed it down to two woodstove's. I think.

Blaze King King
Hearthstone Mansfield

I'm looking for the best option to heat my house from the basement. 800 ft.² downstairs 1400 ft.² upstairs. I feel like I may not be comparing apples to apples with a cat stove and non-cat stove. It's confusing to me still.

Hearthstone Mansfield is rated 80,000 btu's
King is rated 51,582 for 12 hours

Ultimately is the hearthstone going to throw more heat than the king?
I do like the idea of turning the blazeking down for the long burns in the shoulder season but I also need it to throw lots of heat to make it upstairs when it's 8 like it was last night.

I am currently dealing with a Dutch West large non-cat neverburn. The stove came with the house and I am so frustrated to not be able to get consistent burns I do not want to deal with that. Any input would be greatly appreciated

Any other information you guys would like to know I can throw out there.

Thanks a lot. Mike

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Well.. two completely different stoves. Like comparing a Camaro to a Silverado. Not like comparing a Silverado to an F150.

Heating from the basement is hard. 2200sqft is a lot to heat from a single point. Our Manny does just about that, but has to be pushed pretty hard in single digits.. At more normal winter temps (for here), it cruises along on two loads a day of good wood. At single digits and lower, which we have had a ton of this year, it's 4. Ad +15mph winds and it's 5.

I think either will be better than what you have now, based only on user reviews of the Dutchwest.

Shoulder season burns are not a problem for us with the Manny, we just load a smaller amount of wood. Today is 39 out, we loaded 3 large splits of hickory about 8am, let them get going, aired down to about 20%, it's 2:30pm, stove top around 275-300, pipe about 400, living room about 74, upstairs 70. Works for us. (stove would hold about 7 splits the size I used this morning if full)

Both of the stoves you are looking at have a solid reputation. Ours is in her living room, so that would rule out one of your choices for us right off.. lol. But I seriously doubt either would do you wrong.

 

[Highbeam]

No. The hearthstone is an inferior heater. I dumped my heritage for a princess and have no regrets. Ignore that wonky btu spec, you are dealing with an extra large king that will put out that50k btu for twelve hours vs. a much smaller noncat that might peak out at 80k for an hour.

To add, there is nothing a hearthstone can do that the king can't do better. That is, other than looks, she's not real pretty and 4.3 cf is a whole lot of ugly

Remember, the king requires an 8" flue.

 

[Quentin2]

I can't speak on the Mansfield but I've been heating 1100 sq ft down and 1700 up from the first floor with the king and it comfortably and easily heats my home. My stove is close to a somewhat open/vaulted stairwell. If I don't run the blowers on the stove my upstairs noticeably cools.

I just checked its 20 degrees outside, my stove room is 84 and the center of my upstairs is 74, works for me
Some suggest that we have super insulated homes up here, I don't know what's common in the lower 48 but I have a new construction 5 star energy rated home with r-21 in the walls and blown r-38 in the ceiling.
Good luck

 

[HotCoals]

Well this is prolly a situation where a stove is going to be pushed more and I have a feeling the king won't be able to idle along and get the job done.
I'm thinking a big tube burner here would be the better choice.

 

[begreen]

It all depends on why one has bought the stove in the first place. One thing the Mansfield can do better is look better, even while still sitting in the crate. It's also a nice load twice-a-day stove which is fine for many folks. For many the King may be a better stove, but for others it would have to heat the house from the garage. That's as close as it would get to the house. Not that it's not a great stove. By all accounts it's a champ. But some folks just don't want a big honking steel box in the living room.

 

[chevyheim]

You guys are definitely right the king is ugly compared to the Mansfield that's for sure. The Mansfield is like I've heard before, a piece of furniture. I don't want to go based on looks I want to go based on what's going to do the job best.

Well this is prolly a situation where a stove is going to be pushed more and I have a feeling the king won't be able to idle along and get the job done.
I'm thinking a big tube burner here would be the better choice.

This is what I'm concerned about is will it pump out the heat that is required? I love the 40 hour possible low burn times but like I said need it to do its job and throw a lot of heat!

 

[chevyheim]

No. The hearthstone is an inferior heater. I dumped my heritage for a princess and have no regrets. Ignore that wonky btu spec, you are dealing with an extra large king that will put out that50k btu for twelve hours vs. a much smaller noncat that might peak out at 80k for an hour.

To add, there is nothing a hearthstone can do that the king can't do better. That is, other than looks, she's not real pretty and 4.3 cf is a whole lot of ugly

Remember, the king requires an 8" flue.

Do u really think those BTU numbers are worthless? That's what I was basing these stoves off of. I have 50,000 BTU NEVERBURN now and it just isn't quite getting it done especially with the super inconsistent secondary burns.

 

[chevyheim]

My wife is so fed up with the dutchwest neverburn. I also want whatever stove I get to be very user friendly. Thanks guys!

 

[Quentin2]

Do u really think those BTU numbers are worthless? That's what I was basing these stoves off of. I have 50,000 BTU NEVERBURN now and it just isn't quite getting it done especially with the super inconsistent secondary burns.

Don't know about btu ratings, it's a 4.3 cu. ft steel stove, it'll put my stove room above 90 with stat throttle to spare if I forget to turn it down for whatever reason.
You might have to work a system out to get the heat upstairs but that would be the case with any stove. I can't imagine a reasonable situation where somebody can't get enough heat from this beast, honestly from my experience. Not really understanding what hot coals is talking about with not being able to idle along.

 

[fire_man]

I think what hot coals means is the King is good at pumping out good long term low level heat (he calls it idle) but a "big tube burner" can pump out more short term spikes of heat. Maybe he will correct my interpretation, but that's what I always thought, too.

Not that the King can't put out good heat, it's just when you compare a pure cat stove to a tube burner the BTU vs time profile is different.

 

[HotCoals]

I think what hot coals means is the King is good at pumping out good long term low level heat (he calls it idle) but a "big tube burner" can pump out more short term spikes of heat. Maybe he will correct my interpretation, but that's what I always thought, too.

Not that the King can't put out good heat, it's just when you compare a pure cat stove to a tube burner the BTU vs time profile is different.

What I think is that a tube stove puts out more heat(just secondary's firing) at idle then a cat stove.
I also think that if you need to run a lot of flame in a stove to heat a house the tube stove is the stove to do it in..no worries about damaging a cat due to flame impingement.(sp?)

But yes you're on track with my thinking.

I should add that a cat stove is great if it can hold house temps with a 300-400 stove top because that is where the stove top will be in cruise most of the time.
If you have to run a cat stove with a considerable amount of flame a lot of the time to keep your house warm it is my opinion that you would be better off with tube secondary's.
With a larger amount of air going through a cat stove it will not burn as clean as a tube stove either..these are just my observations on checking out diff stoves and watching the chimneys.

 

[HotCoals]

This is what I'm concerned about is will it pump out the heat that is required? I love the 40 hour possible low burn times but like I said need it to do its job and throw a lot of heat!

It all depends on the heat demand of your house which stove type is best for you and the environment.
I'm heating a two story house (2500sg.ft.) just fine with my King on low burn most of the time. But I can't say for sure that it would work great for you and I won't.
Is your basement finished off?

 

[begreen]

You guys are definitely right the king is ugly compared to the Mansfield that's for sure. The Mansfield is like I've heard before, a piece of furniture. I don't want to go based on looks I want to go based on what's going to do the job best.


This is what I'm concerned about is will it pump out the heat that is required? I love the 40 hour possible low burn times but like I said need it to do its job and throw a lot of heat!

You will get less hours with more heat. But still, 12 hrs of constant 50K heat is excellent. Most folks average a lot more like 24 hrs during cold weather. Depends on the house and the climate.

 

[aansorge]

My blaze king generally heats my whole house by itself, but I sometimes help it out with the Enerzone on sub zero days. The blaze king cranks out solid heat for 12 hours on medium and still has a couple of logs left over at that point. It's an amazing heater for the serious-all-winter heater.

The deep firebox is terrific.

 

[chevyheim]

What I think is that a tube stove puts out more heat(just secondary's firing) at idle then a cat stove.
I also think that if you need to run a lot of flame in a stove to heat a house the tube stove is the stove to do it in..no worries about damaging a cat due to flame impingement.(sp?)

But yes you're on track with my thinking.

I should add that a cat stove is great if it can hold house temps with a 300-400 stove top because that is where the stove top will be in cruise most of the time.
If you have to run a cat stove with a considerable amount of flame a lot of the time to keep your house warm it is my opinion that you would be better off with tube secondary's.
With a larger amount of air going through a cat stove it will not burn as clean as a tube stove either..these are just my observations on checking out diff stoves and watching the chimneys.

That was my thinking as we'll so this was my concern. And that's why I came here for some real world experience. From the guys who run them. I don't want to have to crank the king and be having the innards glow to heat my house.

 

[chevyheim]

You will get less hours with more heat. But still, 12 hrs of constant 50K heat is excellent. Most folks average a lot more like 24 hrs during cold weather. Depends on the house and the climate.

How many hours are you calling less? I'm used to filling this dutchwest like 5-6 times a day and it eats the wood. I was hoping the hearthstone Mansfield would be like 3 a day??

 

[chevyheim]

It all depends on the heat demand of your house which stove type is best for you and the environment.
I'm heating a two story house (2500sg.ft.) just fine with my King on low burn most of the time. But I can't say for sure that it would work great for you and I won't.
Is your basement finished off?

Yes the basement is finished. I live in a raised ranch. Woodstove on basement level with open stair case about 12' away and registers cut through the floor to let the heat rise up

 

[chevyheim]

My blaze king generally heats my whole house by itself, but I sometimes help it out with the Enerzone on sub zero days. The blaze king cranks out solid heat for 12 hours on medium and still has a couple of logs left over at that point. It's an amazing heater for the serious-all-winter heater.

The deep firebox is terrific.

This is why I'm so torn. I work 24 hour shifts for the fire dept. so my wife might never have to touch the stove again if I could get decent burns from the king. I burn 24/7 now because I love the wood heat and love being in the wood hoarders club but I also don't want to wasting my wood either if I have to crank the king.

But if I can create more heat with the Mansfield it may be better to have to load 2-3 times a day if I can

 

[HotCoals]

That was my thinking as we'll so this was my concern. And that's why I came here for some real world experience. From the guys who run them. I don't want to have to crank the king and be having the innards glow to heat my house.

The basement install is what is holding me back from saying to go for it.

Look,I love my stove but I mostly like it because I can heat my house with really no flame off the wood ..at least most of the time.
I don't have to worry about fine tuning the burn.
I kid you not 80% of the time my t stat is shut and just working off a small pilot hole below the flapper.
I burn roughly 3.3 cords a year through it 24/7. Might be a little more this year.
But a few times this season when it was below zero my forced air electric furnace has ran in the wee hours to keep the t stat of the furnace happy at 65..the t stat is two rooms over though from the family room.
Yes I could have set the t stat on the stove higher to not have that happen but like I said i don't like to have much if any flame in the stove when I call it a night..might just be me though.
Part of the reason for that is I really don't have a lot of faith with the t stat in my stove.

 

[HotCoals]

[quote="chevyheim, post: 1670495, member: 28222"]Yes the basement is finished. I live in a raised ranch. Woodstove on basement level with open stair case about 12' away and registers cut through the floor to let the heat rise up[/quote]
Well that does make a positive difference.

Do the registers meet code for a wood stove to be used where you are?

 

[chevyheim]

[quote="chevyheim, post: 1670495, member: 28222"]Yes the basement is finished. I live in a raised ranch. Woodstove on basement level with open stair case about 12' away and registers cut through the floor to let the heat rise up
Well that does make a positive difference.

Do the registers meet code for a wood stove to be used where you are?[/quote]

Yeah they do actually. I just added a 15x18 addition to my existing living room and was subject to all current PA building codes and the inspector told me they were fine as long as they were panned off, they couldn't be open all the way along the joists inside

 

[HotCoals]

Do the registers meet code for a wood stove to be used where you are?

Yeah they do actually. I just added a 15x18 addition to my existing living room and was subject to all current PA building codes and the inspector told me they were fine as long as they were panned off, they couldn't be open all the way along the joists inside[/quote]

Well that's interesting and good to hear all is good with that situation.
I don't really have anything to add except for whatever your decision is I hope it works put great for you.

 

[HotCoals]

Man the quote machine seems to be going bonkers on this end..lol.

 

[chevyheim]

Man the quote machine seems to be going bonkers on this end..lol.

Lol yeah I tried fixing it. Sorry I might have messed it up more lol