Trading in a Hearth Mansfield for a Progress Hybrid

[Wolf]

Hi all,
After reading all the posts about the Progress Hybrid I decided to bite the bullet and buy one. I am selling my Hearthstone Mansfield. It was made in June of 2011. Bought it for over 3500 bucks plus I have about 7' of excess class A chimney to go with it. If anyone is interested please message me. I am in Pa.

My Mansfield just doesn't seem to be able to heat the house to the temperature I need. I have roughly 2700 sqft house and it can only get the main living areas to about 65 on below freezing days. I want the capability to get the house much hotter if I really need to or if the weather drops.

Not only that, but I made a HUGE hearth location error. I didn't stick it in my main family room, but stuck it in my front living room. This causes the heat to go straight upstairs unless I have a box fan running the whole time to circulate the air. The good news is that I only used a pre-fab hearth pad so I can move it to the family room. However, when I do I am going to go all out with a raised hearth and stacked stone similar to some of the ones I have seen on this site. So I'll be starting another thread on building that hopefully this summer.

Can I get some opinions on the Mansfield vs the Hybrid? Are there any Hybrid owners that can confirm or am I jumping the gun?

Last question, if I run the metal class A chimney through the house, how much heat comes off the outside of it or how hot will it get?

Thanks for your input in advance,
Wolf

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. You are jumping the gun. Get some solid advice here about operating that big rock ya already paid for before dropping the money on another rock.

 

[pen]

Agreed. The Mansfield is a big stove, 3.2 cubes if I remember versus the Progress being 2.8.

The progress is a good heater, as is the Mansfield.

I believe you need to do some more figuring before you change things up.

pen

 

[dave_376]

I have never used either stove but I don't see how a smaller stove will heat large space better than a larger stove. If you have 2700 sqft to heat and your Mansfield is listed at 2500 and the PH is listed at 2200 sqft I think you are looking at the wrong stove for your house. If you are planning to redo your installation to a different place in you home I would try your current stove there first before you spend money on a new stove.

Tell us more about you current home and the wood you are burning.

 

[weatherguy]

The PH is hybrid technology and has a higher top end so he may get more heat out of it than the one he has.

 

[Wolf]

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. I burn primarily red oak and maple. Seasoned between one and two years. My house is fairly new construction built in 2003. I had my attic air sealed and added insulation to it.

So the main reasons for wanting to switch out to the hybrid is because my Mansfield:
A) doesn't heat the house enough
B)can't get a long overnight burn

Maybe I am doing something wrong?

I load the stove before I go to bed at 10pm and I am down to coals by 4am. I don't get up to add more wood til 6:30 before work but the house is already down to 60 or lower and there are still some small coals to get the fire going again in a few minutes. I usually close the damper down to almost fully closed at night, but I would really like to be able to burn overnight which is why I am considering the PH.

 

[begreen]

Something ain't right here. Could be the wood, the flue, the room, the operator or all of the above. Start by describing the entire flue in detail. Then describe he area the stove is in including ceiling height.

 

[USMC80]

wood could be the issue. Let that red oak season longer maybe. Find some Ash and maple for next season

 

[Motor7]

Also post your floorplan, I suspect that your layout has a lot to do with getting the house up to proper temps. Do you have a probe flue thermometer installed 18" up off the stove top? And your Mansfield should give you an easy 8-10 hour burn so it sounds like you are not loading it full, or are giving it way too much air.

Double wall Class A with give of some heat, but I would say it is nominal compared to single wall(which I do not recommend). Can you post some pictures of your stove/set-up and how you have it loaded for a night burn?

Hard maple or soft maple? There is a big difference in BTU's between say Silver Maple & Big Leaf Maple as opposed to Sugar & Black Maple. .

 

[Fireshoppe]

It seems you have already diagnosed the first half of the problem...location. Years ago I installed a heavy hitter Buck 81 ina fireplace at the end of a room which had a 8ft ceiling which ended at the other end of the room at a 17 ft foyer. And the front window was a 6ft wide single pane bay window. You could stand infront of the stove and bake your front while your arse froze. Lesson learned

 

[Bluezx636]

What temp are you heating the stove up too? Fill the fire box with as much wood as you can fit and get the temperature up to 550-600 degrees.

 

[Wolf]

Okay so I did a rough floor plan drawing. All the ceilings on the first floor are 9'. The Foyer is about 18'. My master bedroom which is above the garage has vaulted ceilings about 12'. The rest of the rooms upstairs are 8'.

The green circles represent a doorway with a header. The blue circles have no header so the heat can flow through the door way easily. We are always in the family room and kitchen, but a propane fireplace was already in there so I didn't want to take that out to get the wood stove in there, but I am very tempted to swap the fireplace and woodstove.

You guys may be right that the wood may need more seasoning. I'll have to pick up a moisture meter and see what the percentage is. Not sure what kind of maple, but it is a hardwood and its local. I live in Lancaster Pa.

The front living room is hot from the radiant heat of the stove. The dining room is usually cool since all the heat flows straight up stairs through the doorway without a header. The family room and kitchen stay around 63 and struggles to hit 65 unless I am running my fireplace which I am trying my best not to do. The upstairs foyer gets around mid to high 70's and all the bedrooms except my master get to high 60's. My master is always chilly in the low 60's.

So my plan was to get a wood stove that pumps out more heat per amount of wood. Try it in the current location. If it still didn't heat any better, I want to move the hearth to the wall opposite of the kitchen and run the chimney up through the master bedroom in hopes to rob some heat off it and then continue it up through the roof. This way here the main room is heated and hopefully there will be enough heat to go up through the foyer and heat the upstairs bedrooms and have the chimney help heat my master.

Lastly, the current design has double wall black chimney above the stove about 4' and then out the wall and up the outside of the wall.

 

[Wolf]

I don't think it has ever reached that high. Mine usually cruises around 350-450 or so. I will load her up today and see what she can do.

 

[Dairyman]

Welcome to the forum Wolf! I wouldn't swap out stoves yet. 1-2year seasoned oak isn't helping your cause but can be burned and get that rock hot. Also if you think stove location is a problem then why not move the Mansfield and give it try there 1st?

I consistently get 10-12hr burns with this stove , 8 when its below 10°. With SST's peaking out around 550 with the blower on medium low.

If you don't have a probe to read flue temps I highly recommend that you get it. That and look of the fire I find is the easiest way to run mine.

What is your total chimney length? Describe in full detail please.

 

[Dairyman]

And this thread is the best to get the most out of your Mansfield.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/getting-a-hearthstone-up-to-600°.76166/#post-76166

 

[BrowningBAR]

Get that big hunk of steal north of 500 before you give up on the stove. The usable firebox of the Mansfield is about the same as the Progress. The Progress has more mass and will probably give you longer burn times than the Mansfield, so it has an edge. But it will not be a big difference in terms of heating capacity.

Get the Mansfield working properly. Then decide if you need a different stove.

 

[toddnic]

We love our PH but I would definitely make sure that you are getting full use of your Mansfield before changing over. That would be a whole lot of work as well as expense!

 

[NH_Wood]

I have the Mansfield and it is the main source of heat for my 3000sqft home - the oil heat only kicks on if downstairs temps fall below 67F, which almost never happens - if I burn a gallon of fuel oil a year, I'd be surprised. the upstairs 3 bedroom and one bath stay at 60F for most of the winter from the heat rising from the downstairs. I can keep the downstairs at 70F in the coldest weather (but burning 4 full loads/day) and I can easily heat the downstairs to upper 70's with three loads per day if the daytime temps are in the upper 30's. I burn 5 cord a year in New Hampshire to do this - it sound like you need to relearn your stove. Burn good dry wood and run that rock to 550F (I think this temp is the sweet spot on this stove). You have an awesome stove and it's also beautiful to look at - both the stone and the fire in the large window - I'd be figuring out that Manny before even thinking about changing the stove. Can you just relocated the Manny to the better spot? (okay, perhaps 'just moving' is not the best term - damn this weighs over 500lb). Last words of advice - stick with your Mansfield! Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions - I've been running mine for four years and I think I've got it down real well. Cheers!

 

[begreen]

When checking the wood be sure to test on a freshly split face of the wood, not the end grain.
The best solution here may be to add a second stove like a Keystone.
I don't think replacing the Mansfield with a PH would solve the problem.

 

[Todd]

How tall is your chimney? Maybe you need a pipe damper?

 

[Hogwildz]

Oak 1 to 2 years CCS is no where near ready to burn. The Maple should dry sooner than the Oak.
PA does not see enough dry air to dry that Oak out any sooner.
2 years at best is soso for the Oak, it will burn but not as optimal as 3 years CCS.

Unless you have a good convection loop going on, you may not heat the house 2700sf as you like with any stove.
Gotta have truly dry wood & good circulation of the heat produced in most homes that size to heat the space desired.

 

[BrowningBAR]

You can still get a Hearthstone up to 600 with less than dry wood.

 

[weatherguy]

In my stove there's a huge difference in heat output and burn times with 3 year seasoned oak vs 1 or 2 year.

 

[Motor7]

Looking at your floorplan, I agree with you, the Family room would have been a better choice. 2700 sq ft in a house with so many rooms might be a challenge and I kinda like begreens idea of a second stove, that is if you are not buying your firewood. If you are, you may just want to kick the propane fireplace on every evening and get the place comfortable, then shut it off at bedtime. Firewood like propane can get expensive which is why I c.s.s. my own off my own 100ac.

 

[BrowningBAR]

In my stove there's a huge difference in heat output and burn times with 3 year seasoned oak vs 1 or 2 year.

Sure, but he can absolutely get that stove to 600 degrees with partially dry wood. If marginal wood is what he has right now, let's try to get him to make the most of it.