# Hearthstone Manchester



## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 9, 2013)

I've been a long time lurker on the forum and I finally pulled the trigger on a wood stove. We've been heating with wood pellets for the past 8-10 years but recently I decided to make the change to cordwood. I picked up our new Hearthstone Manchester yesterday and am in the process of completing my new hearth and lining our old chimney.

Pics to come in the next few day.


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## begreen (Apr 10, 2013)

Welcome. That's awesome. I haven't seen one in person yet, but that looks like a beautiful stove. Please take pics and post.


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## webby3650 (Apr 10, 2013)

That is one nice stove! Did you get it in Enamel or Black?
 At the HPBA show in Orlando they had a brown one burning, It was putting out some impressive heat!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 10, 2013)

I got it in black with the blower, I couldn't really swing the extra cost for the enamal. I picked this one up with the blower for just over $2600.

I'll get some pics up in a day or two, I really like the looks of it.


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## Wood Heat Stoves (Apr 10, 2013)

The Hearthstone Manchester is a great stove. We saw one for the first time at a Hearthstone dealer meeting and liked it so much we took their display model back for our showroom. We had to stuff it in the back of a Subaru wagon but it was worth it.


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## Todd 2 (Apr 10, 2013)

Nice looking choice, I'm a fan of the big glass stoves.


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 10, 2013)

Very nice stove Papa and welcome aboard. 

Pete


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## Nick Mystic (Apr 10, 2013)

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of the Manchester after you've had a chance to get to know the stove. When I was shopping for a stove a few months ago I had narrowed my search down the to the Manchester and the Jotul F 600.  In the end I went with the Jotul F 600, partially because the Hearthstone dealer said he didn't know when they were going to start production of the Mojolica porcelain enamel finish, which is what my wife and I wanted. We got the Jotul F 600 and are very pleased with how it's performing. Nonetheless, I'll be curious to learn more about the Manchester.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 10, 2013)

I'll keep you all posted and thanks for the warm welcome!

So here we go, a little update: A 2x6, a couple floor jacks, and some redneck engineering and the stove is now in the house.


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## webby3650 (Apr 10, 2013)

So was all that easier or cheaper than just paying the hearth store a little bit for delivery? They would have used their escalera to move it in place in just a few minutes.  I'm glad you got it in,  in one piece!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 10, 2013)

Wasn't a problem, I used a front end loader to set it on the porch in the crate, un-crated it, put a 2x6 lengthwise under it, Jacked up both ends of the 2x6, and rolled it on in. I ended up ordering it through a store about an hour and a half away and picking it up. My semi-local store was about $500 higher on the price and then wanted another $349 for the blower.


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## ddddddden (Apr 11, 2013)

Verrrry niiiice!

For anyone who hasn't seen the video:


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## DanCorcoran (Apr 11, 2013)

Surprised you didn't turn it so that glass would be facing the table, so you can watch the fire while you eat...


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## MaintenanceMan (Apr 11, 2013)

Nice looking stove!


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## heatwise (Apr 11, 2013)

Wow, nice stove, great pic.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 14, 2013)

More pictures:

Top




Inside End-View




Doors Open




Side-Load Door




Ash-Pan




Ash-Pan Door




Fire-Box Right Side




Fire-Box Left Side




Fire-Box Bottom




Fire-Box Top (Secondaries)




Latch


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## Highbeam (Apr 14, 2013)

Thanks for the pictures. They really upped their game over the heritage. Replacable and more robust door latches are the big thing.

Is that ash pan grate open all the time to the firebox so ash can fall through at will or is there some sort of sliding grate system? Ash pan is small but at least is hinged to open the short way.

They sure do like to douche everything with black paint don't they. Are the interior panels firebrick, stone, or iron?

Gotta say, that funky cast top plate is not my style. Reminds me of the bob barker on "the price is right"!

I like moving stoves around unless there are stairs involved. All of my stoves have come home in the bed of a pickup and have been sold to folks who loaded them into pickups.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 14, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> Thanks for the pictures. They really upped their game over the heritage. Replacable and more robust door latches are the big thing.


 
Yeah, I had read about hearthstone stoves lacking in the latch department so I made sure I posted pictures of the latches on this stove. To me, they seemed to be very sturdy compared to those of our pellet stove or that of my olds wood stove in the garage.



Highbeam said:


> Is that ash pan grate open all the time to the firebox so ash can fall through at will or is there some sort of sliding grate system? Ash pan is small but at least is hinged to open the short way.


 
It is open all the time as far as I can tell but it is two layers with a handle in the ash pan drawer which allows you to sift the ashes by moving the grate back and forth if that makes sense.




Highbeam said:


> They sure do like to douche everything with black paint don't they. Are the interior panels firebrick, stone, or iron?


 
The paint is actually very nice and uniform. Some of the pictures of the interior make it look as though the paint is somewhat sloppy inside with overspray and such but that is just dust which my camera flash reflected off of rather dramatically. I believe the dust is from the soapstone which the firebox is lined with.



Highbeam said:


> Gotta say, that funky cast top plate is not my style. Reminds me of the bob barker on "the price is right"!


 
Yeah, I have mixed feelings regarding the pattern on the stove but it's growing on me.



Highbeam said:


> I like moving stoves around unless there are stairs involved. All of my stoves have come home in the bed of a pickup and have been sold to folks who loaded them into pickups.


 
+1! I would much rather move the thing myself. I place a whole lot more trust in my own abilities than I do some 19yr old city dip$&*@ delivering fireplaces for some home and patio store at minimum wage... No offense to you city folk...


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## Highbeam (Apr 15, 2013)

Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar said:


> +1! I would much rather move the thing myself. I place a whole lot more trust in my own abilities than I do some 19yr old city dip{target}amp;*@ delivering fireplaces for some home and patio store at minimum wage... No offense to you city folk...


 
That's funny. I'm sure the shop would repair any damage that they did you your house or stove during the move but then you would have some 19YO goof repairing your sheetrock or touching up the stove paint! Us woodburners are a self sufficient lot, it we wanted easy then we would just turn up the thermostat!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 16, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> That's funny. I'm sure the shop would repair any damage that they did you your house or stove during the move but then you would have some 19YO goof repairing your sheetrock or touching up the stove paint! Us woodburners are a self sufficient lot, it we wanted easy then we would just turn up the thermostat!


 
...Bingo!

And after a little investigation I found that the ash grate can be opened and closed.


Also, the manual mentions that the stove was supposed to include a pair of gloves but I didn't get any with it. My question is: Are these hearthstone included gloves worth a hoot? Are they worth contacting the dealer and getting, or should I just go buy a pair of gloves?


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## Highbeam (Apr 16, 2013)

My BK was supposed to include a super cedar fire starter but it would appear that the dealer may have borrowed mine. Funny how things disappear. The glove thing is new news to me, I didn't get any with my previous heritage. Long sleeved welding gloves made of leather seem to be quite awesome if you find you need gloves for tending the stove.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 24, 2013)

Got me some welding gloves.

Next thing in order is lining my chimney. Anyone have an opinion as to go with rigid or flex liner and why one over the other? It seems to me that a rigid liner would draft better, be easier to clean,  and collect less creosote, all due to the walls of the rigid liner being smooth as opposed to the corrugated walls of the flex liner.


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## ddddddden (Apr 24, 2013)

All true, perhaps, but it's probably a question of degree. How much better? 10% ?
Flex is easier to install and cheaper. "Good enough," IMO. The 316Ti SS is tougher than you might think. Lots of flex installs on here, not many problems reported.
Rigid is probably somewhat more durable too, but my flex has a lifetime warranty.


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## 1750 (Apr 24, 2013)

That is a really nice looking stove!  The build/finish look very clean. 

The side-loading door seems like a brilliant idea -- I wonder why more mfgrs don't do this.

Congrats!


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## ddddddden (Apr 24, 2013)

1750 said:


> That is a really nice looking stove! The build/finish look very clean.


+1
I like the look of the legs running the full height of the stove.



> The side-loading door seems like a brilliant idea --


I agree. Side loading is where it's at. A front loader that is deep enough to load N-S is basically the same thing though.


> I wonder why more mfgrs don't do this.


Increased side clearance


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## DanCorcoran (Apr 24, 2013)

"I like the look of the legs running the full height of the stove."


I never noticed that before...now I don't like my Shelburne!  Bwaaaa!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 24, 2013)

Got another pic to add.

Working on the Hearth now.


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## ddddddden (Apr 24, 2013)

Nice!

What kind of stone?


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## ddddddden (Apr 24, 2013)

DanCorcoran said:


> "I like the look of the legs running the full height of the stove."
> 
> 
> I never noticed that before...now I don't like my Shelburne! Bwaaaa!


 
There there, Dan.
No such thing as an ugly stove. . .especially one covered in majolica porcelain!

I suspect the real purpose of your post is to illustrate the very strong family resemblance between the Shelburne and Manchester.  Both good lookin' stoves.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 25, 2013)

ddddddden said:


> Nice!
> 
> What kind of stone?


 
Thanks!! The walls and front/sides of the hearth are natural multi-colored slate and I'm really liking the look of it. The top is a man-made fake stone and I'm not sure I'm liking it. I'll give it a while to grow on me but I have a feeling I might be ripping them off and going with a natural stone down the road.......maybe.


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## Highbeam (Apr 25, 2013)

I used tile for under the stove and wish I had installed that thick looking slab type stone instead.Cool hearth.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Apr 25, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> I used tile for under the stove and wish I had installed that thick looking slab type stone instead.Cool hearth.


 
Yeah, I went with tile under my pellet stove and ended up with a couple cracks so I decided to go with the thick slabs on this one considering that it weighs almost twice what my other stove does. I like the thickness of them I just don't like the man-made look. I didn't get a chance to see them before I ordered them in anything other than a picture and they looked a whooole lot more like natural stone than they do in person.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (May 1, 2013)

Made a little progress on the hearth this evening. Hopefully I will have time to get it finished tomorrow.


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## Ram 1500 with an axe... (May 1, 2013)

Great pics...


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## jeffesonm (Sep 17, 2013)

Ever finish your install?


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## Hoosier Christian (Sep 25, 2013)

Did you finish the install? I'd like to hear how it burns!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 10, 2013)

Finished the tile today and will be putting the finishing touches on everything and installing the stove Saturday.


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## begreen (Oct 10, 2013)

Is the TV moving? If not, what will shield it from the heat of the stove?


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 10, 2013)

Yes, the tv is now in the corner so that it is not directly over the stove.


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## begreen (Oct 10, 2013)

Good deal. I'm looking forward to the final installation shots, with FIRE!


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## cableman (Oct 11, 2013)

I wanted that stove but my hearth would have been that much bigger! Such a nice looking stove! I settled on the shelburne which looks the same just smaller and no side loader. I think their stoves have a nice newer looking design! And work well too


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## Woody Stover (Oct 11, 2013)

Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar said:


> Yeah, I have mixed feelings regarding the pattern on the stove but it's growing on me.


I had no such feelings; They have one here in a shop, and I fell in love the first time I laid eyes on it.  I really like the metal work on the glass, too.

Looking forward to some burn reports!   We're getting close now, in our neck of the woods. Looks like next Wednesday for me....


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 13, 2013)

A little update: my wife decided she wanted the tile to run to the ceiling so got set back a little but did get the stove set in place and the majority of the work done. Still need to finish grout, finish pipe plumbing, and finish the shelf which will hold the A/V equipment in the corner below the TV.


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## DanCorcoran (Oct 14, 2013)

cableman said:


> I wanted that stove but my hearth would have been that much bigger! Such a nice looking stove! I settled on the shelburne which looks the same just smaller and no side loader. I think their stoves have a nice newer looking design! And work well too



I wouldn't say "settled" on the Shelburne.  "Upgraded" to the Shelburne, perhaps...


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## cableman (Oct 15, 2013)

DanCorcoran said:


> I wouldn't say "settled" on the Shelburne.  "Upgraded" to the Shelburne, perhaps...


 
Ya that didnt sound right lol i love the stove and what an upgrade from my huge bullard!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 16, 2013)

She's on far





Blurry pic of secondaries


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## stovelark (Oct 16, 2013)

Hey Pyro-  beautiful stove and install, most people don't like the 45's (everyone likes squareness)   I like it.  That is a robust stove too, its a better look than the Bennington's double front doors.  Hearthstone is listening, their new style handles really work well, and look good too.  Have always liked the Shelburne, but we are a major Jotul dealer, so that's our primary cast stoves.  The Shelburne and Manchester are indeed true contenders in the cast side of the house now.  Good luck   stay warm.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 16, 2013)

stovelark said:


> Hey Pyro-  beautiful stove and install, most people don't like the 45's (everyone likes squareness)   I like it.  That is a robust stove too, its a better look than the Bennington's double front doors.  Hearthstone is listening, their new style handles really work well, and look good too.  Have always liked the Shelburne, but we are a major Jotul dealer, so that's our primary cast stoves.  The Shelburne and Manchester are indeed true contenders in the cast side of the house now.  Good luck   stay warm.



Thank you, so far so good, I can't wait for it to get nice and cold so I can see how it keeps up.


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## cableman (Oct 16, 2013)

Looks great! Lucky your burning already, its gonna get cold here soon and i dont know when my shelburne will be back in business!


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 16, 2013)

Thanks cable, it's not real cold hear yet but I figured I got it hooked up, I might as well give it a run and get the new burnt off. Low tonight is in the mid 40's so I figured cold enough. I have a few windows open and it's still about to run me out.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 18, 2013)

Okay, a bit of an update: I still need to put the finishing touches on the hearth but my table saw crapped out on me so my shelving is on hold but I've had a few fires in the stove and so far so good.
I had a little hiccup yesterday morning, I burned a small break in fire Wednesday evening as noted and Thursday I woke up to find that my air control lever wouldn't move past the halfway point. Another person on the forum noted that after the first fire they were also having trouble getting their air control to move. I did end up getting mine to move freely again and haven't had a problem since (cold or hot). I spoke with Scott at Hearthstone regarding the issue and we both assumed this was temperature related and he assured me that it was most likely a product of the break in and shouldn't happen again. I've since had a couple of fires in the stove and have not had a single issue with the air control.

Now onto my take on the stove so far: It hasn't been very cold yet(mid 40's) and I've only had the stove running for a couple days so this is a bit premature but I will say that this thing throws out some heat! I will be heating approx 2800sf of a 3100sf old farm house. I've installed new windows, exterior doors, and attic insulation to help seal things up but it's still a fairly large old farm house so it's been fun to heat. Last night I decided to put a decent sized load of wood in. I didn't load it to the gills but I did have about three medium/large splits and one small split in it. At the point that I fired it up the temp was only down to the low 50's outside and I quickly found out that a medium/large fire at those outside temps was a bad idea, the living room was pretty steamy even with a window open. The stove top got up to about 580f according to my IR thermometer and after closing it down settled in and cruised right around 515-520 for a couple hours. I started the fire right at 7pm and when I headed up stairs at 11 the stove top was around 470-80. At 7 this morning the top was around 190f and you could feel a bit of heat if standing next to the stove but not a lot. I opened it and found a pretty decent bed of coals and a good sized charred chunk of one of the splits in a back corner. I moved things around a bit, threw in three more chunks, closed the door, and opened up the air. A couple minutes later I had a good sized fire and not long after the top was back up around 500. I then closed it down and it's been cruising in the low to mid 400's ever since with a nice glow of coals inside and a dance of flames in the top and the bottom every so often.

On a side note, the stove has some holes in the convective top and I'm getting the previously mentioned temps by shooting my IR thermometer down through them to the actual top of the stove itself.


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## begreen (Oct 18, 2013)

Thanks for the update. It sounds like the stove is perking along nicely.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 18, 2013)

Closing in on noon, 5hrs since reloading on hot coals, been running low and slow and the stove top is now at 350-360 with about half of the three medium sized splits I threw in burnt.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 19, 2013)

Looks like it's going to get into the 30's tonight , might try a full load on a low and slow burn and see how long I get out of it.


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## izzyq (Oct 20, 2013)

How did you get the air control back moving freely when it got stuck?


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 20, 2013)

izzyq said:


> How did you get the air control back moving freely when it got stuck?




I gave it a couple good thumps back and forth with the side of my fist. Not real hard but hard enough to get it moving.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 25, 2013)

It was 24 degrees out when I got up this morning....Brrrrrrr!

I loaded up the stove to the Gills at 9 last night and woke up to a nice bed of coals and a warm stove. Thinking of adding a second stove, maybe a BK for those looong burns. I just wish they had a better looking stove. I'm not really even digging the looks of their new Ashford.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Oct 30, 2013)

Finally got a little free time today to start on the cabinet that will hold the A/V equipment in the corner below the TV. It will be stained to match the rest of the woodwork.





The stove tools will hang on the right side on these nifty hooks I found at Menards and Painted to match everything.


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## cableman (Oct 31, 2013)

Nice work


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Nov 6, 2013)

Another step towards getting done with the whole thing. Got my cabinet stained, installed, and just about complete. I have two more hooks on the way to hang a bellow and coal rake, as well as a door to go on the cubby at the lower-right of the cabinet. This area was previously going to be used for wood storage but I decided to use it for power strips, my bright orange welding gloves, and other items that need to be stored out of sight.


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## izzyq (Nov 8, 2013)

Looks good!  Are you enjoying it for burning?


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Nov 8, 2013)

Thanks, yeah so far I'm really liking it. I can't wait for the real cold to set in so I can run it through it's paces. We've had one windy night that it got down to 24 but I want to see how it does when we get into the teens and below and stay there for a while. We have a fairly large old house so I'm probably going to install a second stove just for those really cold times, that way I can run both of them low and slow and reload less often.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Nov 11, 2013)

Chance of snow here tonight with a low of 25. Tomorrow the high is only 37 and the low is 17. I put in my first load of good 3 year seasoned oak. For the most part I've been burning uglies and not-so-dry stuff up until now. I just loaded it to the top on a hot bed of coals.


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## Stihl-ing Trees (Dec 2, 2013)

Does the ash pan have a open or closed back? We are getting the Chester installed in a couple of weeks. How is it performing so far?


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Dec 2, 2013)

Stihl-ing Trees said:


> Does the ash pan have a open or closed back? We are getting the Chester installed in a couple of weeks. How is it performing so far?



The ash pan has an open back which has it's ups and downs. It does make it easier to poor the ash out with less mess.

So far so good, we're planning on putting a second stove in due to the size of our house and the layout but The Manchester is outperforming my expectations as far as heating ability. It was in the single digits last week with wind chills in the high negatives and the house was warm and cozy.


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## Lumber-Jack (Dec 2, 2013)

It all looks great, but I'd be a little concerned about what the excessive heat from the wood stove might do to the life of you TV.


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## izzyq (Dec 3, 2013)

Have you found a good reliable place to use your IR thermometer to get a reading?  I'm not sure where I will get the most accurate reading from the stove.  If I shot from up above the stove into the holes on top I get a higher reading than anywhere else.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Dec 3, 2013)

Lumber-Jack said:


> It all looks great, but I'd be a little concerned about what the excessive heat from the wood stove might do to the life of you TV.


I was a little worried about that as well but it actually stays fairly cool where it's at. 



izzyq said:


> Have you found a good reliable place to use your IR thermometer to get a reading?  I'm not sure where I will get the most accurate reading from the stove.  If I shot from up above the stove into the holes on top I get a higher reading than anywhere else.


Yip, I take my readings through the holes on top. The hottest spot on my stove tends to be directly to the front right of the pipe.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Jan 5, 2014)

Whiteout conditions outside




Toasty inside.


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## Stihl-ing Trees (Feb 12, 2014)

PYRO, I've been running the Chester since Christmas. I am really enjoying the stove and has already saved us hundreds of dollars.I was wondering if you have a damper installed in your pipe? I had to install the double wall on the inside of home because of clearance reasons. I am just thinking I can get way more out of my stove if I had the damper? The installation guys said they would not recommend it, stating that they hardly ever put the damper in. The IR reading on the top by the chimney pipe outlet never really exceeds 190 degrees.


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## Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar (Feb 13, 2014)

Stihl-ing Trees said:


> PYRO, I've been running the Chester since Christmas. I am really enjoying the stove and has already saved us hundreds of dollars.I was wondering if you have a damper installed in your pipe? I had to install the double wall on the inside of home because of clearance reasons. I am just thinking I can get way more out of my stove if I had the damper? The installation guys said they would not recommend it, stating that they hardly ever put the damper in. The IR reading on the top by the chimney pipe outlet never really exceeds 190 degrees.



At the moment I don't have a damper in the pipe but have considered installing one just to see if it would extend my burn times any.


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