Will I burn more wood with a Hearthstone upgrade?

[Vic99]

It's 90% likely this summer I'm moving up from a HS Homestead to a Mansfield. The Homestead is a very good stove, but it is not ideal for my house and set up. I want more heat and a longer overnight burn.

Homestead has a 2.0 cubic ft firebox, Mansfield has a 3.2. Obviously the Mansfield has a much larger amount of soapstone to store and radiate heat. I've also noticed that when I push my Homestead on cold days (reload a few times at 350F instead of 250-300F) that I tend to get much bigger coals and the morning temperature of the stove is higher than normal. Seems the stove does a better job of holding heat when operated in this fashion.

I also know that the stove is not reaching over fire temps because I'm staying up with it until temp peaks and starts to decrease.

I think I'm more wood efficient than last year (my first year). I estimate that I burn about 4 cords of wood (1 cord of that is white and red pine).

Do you think I'll go through more wood for the year if I run the stove full most of the time? My initial guess is yes, but I wonder if having a larger volume of wood will be more efficient and thus even out . . . . maybe there are other factors I'm not considering.

Thanks.

 

[Todd]

Good question. I'm thinking you will burn a little more just because your Homestead doesn't quite do the job, so you need to burn more BTU's/wood. And then there is the greedy factor where you will see how hotter you can get your house than before. And also the new stove inexperience factor where you try different techniques and end up burning a little more.

 

[Vic99]

Ah yes, the greedy factor. Too true.

And yes, obviously I want the temps up a few degrees when it is below 15F outside . . . when temps are in the 20s the Homestead gets it done. In the 30s and I'm in a tropical paradise . . . ok, except for the tropical part, it's dry . . . and maybe not quite paradise either.

 

[burnham]

I have a Mansfield in a similar sized house, decent insulation but 22 lousy windows and 4 sky lights, and I go through about 3-4 cords a season. I don't burn 24/7, I guess it's more like 24/5 maybe. We let the stove go out sometimes for a day or two, or when we're at work. I like to keep the house at 75-78F when it's running. On a cold day (20F) I can load the stove three or four times over the course of the day, about one large wheel barrow load.

 

[Rich L]

It's 90% likely this summer I'm moving up from a HS Homestead to a Mansfield. The Homestead is a very good stove, but it is not ideal for my house and set up. I want more heat and a longer overnight burn.

Homestead has a 2.0 cubic ft firebox, Mansfield has a 3.2. Obviously the Mansfield has a much larger amount of soapstone to store and radiate heat. I've also noticed that when I push my Homestead on cold days (reload a few times at 350F instead of 250-300F) that I tend to get much bigger coals and the morning temperature of the stove is higher than normal. Seems the stove does a better job of holding heat when operated in this fashion.

I also know that the stove is not reaching over fire temps because I'm staying up with it until temp peaks and starts to decrease.

I think I'm more wood efficient than last year (my first year). I estimate that I burn about 4 cords of wood (1 cord of that is white and red pine).

Do you think I'll go through more wood for the year if I run the stove full most of the time? My initial guess is yes, but I wonder if having a larger volume of wood will be more efficient and thus even out . . . . maybe there are other factors I'm not considering.

Thanks.

For longer burns and more heat put in a pipe damper.

 

[Vic99]

Damper pipe is just what I'm thinking. Do you have experience with this on a soapstone stove, Rich?

 

[wellbuilt home]

Damper pipe is just what I'm thinking. Do you have experience with this on a soapstone stove, Rich?

I installed a pipe damper in my equinox . I think it slows down the burn and keeps heat in the stove . The temp gos from 400 to 450 with a longer burn time. It looks like i mite burn 5 cord of wood this year. But its hard to say . With the EQ i dont really need to burn all day if it above 32o I can just lite up around 5 pm and at bed time load again. When its 0 out i need to burn above 400 to stay warm

 

[Rich L]

Damper pipe is just what I'm thinking. Do you have experience with this on a soapstone stove, Rich?

Hi Vic,yes I do.I have the Mansfield in my basement.Before I put the pipe damper in The stove was devouring wood.My draft is very strong and the stove's damper wouldn't allow me to shut it down but so far which wasn't enough.Since the damper insert I'm getting longer burns and more heat.Overnight burns are no problem.Also check out the large Blaze King stove.Alaskans speak highly of them.

 

[karri0n]

and maybe not quite paradise either.

I went on a tropical cruise(Disney cruise line, I can't possibly speak any higher of them), and had a great time with the kids and the wife, and it was great to get away from the daily grind, etc. On the other hand, towards the end of the cruise, I really felt that there's nothing better than being in my own home, with the woods all around me, chilly fall/winter air outside, and a warm fire inside. No paradise will ever be better than that. Just my thoughts.

 

[charlesj]

I have a Hearthstone Phoenix & I'm using the close clearance stove pipe made by excel. Can I install a dampener in that pipe.

 

[DAKSY]

I have a Hearthstone Phoenix & I'm using the close clearance stove pipe made by excel. Can I install a dampener in that pipe.

Yep. The ICC producrt code is UBD (Ultra Black Damper)
A 6" sells for about $72...

 

[Vic99]

Hi Rich,

How long do you think engaging the damper extended your burn times on say a 20F day?

Anyone else have any experience with this on a soapstone stove? Thanks.

 

[wellbuilt home]

Hi Rich,

How long do you think engaging the damper extended your burn times on say a 20F day?

Anyone else have any experience with this on a soapstone stove? Thanks.

On my Equinox I'm getting 10 to 15% longer burns, The big difference is in the heat out put when you are down to coals . I started burning last night at around 5pm the house was 67o when i went to bead at 1030pm I thru in 4 splits .It was about 74o inside and 24o outside . Now its 1130 am and i have about 3 gallons of coals in the stove after cleaning out the ash . The stove is around 225o the house is 69o inside . If i burn all very dry hard wood and get the stove cooking it like sitting next to the sun . John

 

[karri0n]

I have a Hearthstone Phoenix & I'm using the close clearance stove pipe made by excel. Can I install a dampener in that pipe.

Yep. The ICC producrt code is UBD (Ultra Black Damper)
A 6" sells for about $72...

Am I picturing this correctly? Is this just a regular inline key damper? For 75 bucks?

 

[Rich L]

Hi Rich,

How long do you think engaging the damper extended your burn times on say a 20F day?

Anyone else have any experience with this on a soapstone stove? Thanks.

Hi Vic99 when I first got the Mansfield and after the break in fires I did the first large burn and I noticed right away that once the stove was burning well and I damped all the way down the wood lasted about 4 hrs.I said to myself this is crazy and I immediately put in a pipe damper.After the damper I'm getting 8-10 hrs of good heat time after damping down in a uninsulated cellar.