hearthstone phoenix or mansfield????

[ansehnlich1]

OK, I'm worried the phoenix ain't big enough so I'm lookin' for advise. Got plans of our home at dongardner.com. Search for the Georgetown model. It's pretty open floor plan, about 1800 sq. ft. on first floor. Have 8x8 outside masonry flue. I think this chimney will draw, it already sucks wads of insulation into the thimble. The room the stove will be in is cathedral ceiling with 2 52inch ceiling fans, they'll blow some air for sure.

I wanna burn all night long, like everybody else, haha.

What say you, phoenix or mansfield?

Could get a Jotul F500 or F600 too, my wife likes the look of them too.

help!

 

[Corie]

I say go big.

Mansfield would be my decision. That gentle, constant soapstone heat will be perfect trying to heat that big open area but not cook you out of the immediate area.

 

[colsmith]

We have a house about that size, although without such tall ceilings, and it is heated pretty well by the Phoenix except when it is colder than say 15 degrees outside for a long period of time. Then we need to use the furnace a bit. About "overnight burns", though, we really cannot get those at all. I am pretty sure our draft is too strong, so it would depend on your exact setup. We have a tall internal 6" SS chimney, and our house is very near the top of the highest point in our half of the county. With an outside chimney probably your draft wouldn't be so extreme?!? I don't know much about it so you shouldn't listen to me. ;-)

I talked to the actually knowledgeable guy at the fireplace store last year, and he gave us a big bundle of oak to burn overnight, to see if that would go longer than our scrounged, unknown species hardwood that we used last winter that hubby said was beech and ash. Nope. Almost anything is down to hot coals in 3-4 hours, depending on size and species of wood. If we wait 5 hours, we might have to restart using a match and newspaper. Technically we have overnight burns, but only because I typically stay up until 2 a.m. and hubby gets up before 6 a.m. most days, so our burn is long enough for our schedule.

When putting in wood I often wish the firebox was larger. We love our stove, but the Mansfield is nice looking and noticeably bigger, so I would say that might be good for you and your tall open spaces. We are 2 story and the heat flows up nicely for us, if all the space was on one floor I think it gets trickier to spread the heat around.

 

[begreen]

The Georgetown plans show an interior chimney fireplace. That would be much better. My concern would be draft. What are the specs for the exterior masonry chimney's flue?

As to stoves, you have several choices. Soapstone would be sweet. MSG can tell you how well the Mansfield works. I'd also throw the Quadrafire Isle Royale in for consideration.

 

[Todd]

I second what Corie said. Go with the Mansfield. You will be glad you have the larger firebox for those really cold days.

To: Some like it Hot,
Have you looked into a pipe damper? It could help reduce your draft.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

i would choose the mansfield ( if you go with soapstone) it seems to be the best fit for your space.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Hey I want to thank you all for your replies. That I have an outside masonry chimney is simply the way it is, I know an interior one would be better, but it ain't gonna happen, so, I got what I got. It should suffice. I can crawl up there and brush it down without too much trouble.

So far it sounds as though the mansfield is the pick of the day. I plan on burning round the clock when the time comes and I don't want to be rebuilding fire after fire after fire......

 

[struggle]

I have the Mansfield and love so far.

You might have a potential problem though. You mentioned an 8x8 clay tile liner. If you draft well now you will have problems I am guessing with the 8x8 tile chimney.

I have an 8x8 chimney like you mention but also have to 45 deg. turns at the bottom and mine is an exterior chimney. I had problems with creosote prior to the mansfield so I lined my chimney with a 5.5 316 S.S. liner. There is so much draft that if I fill the stove full it goes into psycho secondary burn and and the temp climbs fast.

I installed a dampener and my neighbor has a fancy digital draft meter (runs a HOBART store and they service large ovens and things that require draft meters) so checked the draft above the dampener with the stove burning at a low rate and stack temp around 500 and it pulled 0.120 . So if the box was full and going crazy secondary burn I would guess it would have gone much higher. I have an overdraft issue so I do not get the super long burn times so it seems.

When this draft reading was taken the stove was dampened down completely and the dampener was closed. Reading was taken above the dampener. I did not have a whole lot of time to experiment with the meter so we only took the measurement twice. Owner was short on time.

Hearthstone spec is to have a draft not exceeding 0.10 without a dampener.

Where does that leave you I do not know but I would be leary of using any new stove on 8x8 tile installation if it draft strong it will reduce the stove burn temps and possibly over fire the stove.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I have the Mansfield and love so far.

You might have a potential problem though. You mentioned an 8x8 clay tile liner. If you draft well now you will have problems I am guessing with the 8x8 tile chimney.

I have an 8x8 chimney like you mention but also have to 45 deg. turns at the bottom and mine is an exterior chimney. I had problems with creosote prior to the mansfield so I lined my chimney with a 5.5 316 S.S. liner. There is so much draft that if I fill the stove full it goes into psycho secondary burn and and the temp climbs fast.

Thanks for the info. Struggle. My stove will be a top vent, then a 90 degree into the thimble. I'm not opposed to lining the chimney, and even have thought about insulation, which would likely mean busting out the clay liner down through there.

Is your 5.5 liner insulated?

Anyway, whatever I put in there I'll keep a close eye on it upon startup, and post results and pics here too

 

[Todd]

If your clay tiles are in good shape, I would try burning the stove without a liner first. You can always reline if your draft turns out to be sluggish. Is that 8x8 flue tile inside or outside diameter?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Hey I want to thank you all for your replies. That I have an outside masonry chimney is simply the way it is, I know an interior one would be better, but it ain't gonna happen, so, I got what I got. It should suffice. I can crawl up there and brush it down without too much trouble.

So far it sounds as though the mansfield is the pick of the day. I plan on burning round the clock when the time comes and I don't want to be rebuilding fire after fire after fire......

the mansfield easly burns all night, (even with my pine). I struggled to get my heratige to burn all night.

 

[ansehnlich1]

If your clay tiles are in good shape, I would try burning the stove without a liner first. You can always reline if your draft turns out to be sluggish. Is that 8x8 flue tile inside or outside diameter?

The chimeny is new. The clay tiles are new, 8x8 is outside diameter. I'm surely gonna hook a stove in there, likely the mansfield, and fire it up...I think it'll burn just fine.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

it will burn just fine, but it would burn better on a 6 inch flue. 8x8's are hard to start, and once you get that large volume of air moving its hard to get them to slow down. But they will work. If you have smoky starts and short burn times consider relining to a proper diameter liner.

 

[Jfk4th]

Don't forget about checking the Pacific Energy Summit or Summit Classic, very nice stove, extra long burn times, a heating machine!
A lot cheaper than soapstone too boot...I paid 2,100 for a Summit Stove, blower, ash pan (must have), pedestal, and very sharp looking gold trim. Big 3.2 cu ft fire box (same size as Mansfield). You can't really go wrong, My Uncle has a Mansfield and he loves it, so If you go with that you will be happy also. I would go with the big stoves, you can always crank it down if you get too much heat (If you get the Summit, you can let the Extended Burn Technology do the work for you, still give you about 44,000 BTU's on an overnight burn so no more waking up to cold rooms or unburned logs)

However the Mansfield has a very nice 41,000 BTU for overnight burn and a really big "viewing area" to watch the flames and the impressive burn. A sharp looking stove if you spend the extra dough and get an porcelain finish

Good Luck with your decision, you will win no matter what you choose, keep picking peoples brains.....

 

[struggle]

I have the Mansfield and love so far.

You might have a potential problem though. You mentioned an 8x8 clay tile liner. If you draft well now you will have problems I am guessing with the 8x8 tile chimney.

I have an 8x8 chimney like you mention but also have to 45 deg. turns at the bottom and mine is an exterior chimney. I had problems with creosote prior to the mansfield so I lined my chimney with a 5.5 316 S.S. liner. There is so much draft that if I fill the stove full it goes into psycho secondary burn and and the temp climbs fast.

Thanks for the info. Struggle. My stove will be a top vent, then a 90 degree into the thimble. I'm not opposed to lining the chimney, and even have thought about insulation, which would likely mean busting out the clay liner down through there.

Is your 5.5 liner insulated?

Anyway, whatever I put in there I'll keep a close eye on it upon startup, and post results and pics here too

NO my liner is not insulated. There is just not enough room to do it. After the install though I think I could have insulated blanket style to the first turn which is accounts for the 75 percent of the total lenght of the chimney. I did not though as the concern was would I even be able to get the liner to make the two 45 deg turns where the clay chimney turns to the thimble in the basement. I did go up and take the cap off after using it 24-7 for three weeks and the pipe just had a fine powder soot on it and was consistent going into the thimble in the basement as well.

When I was using the Vigilant stove with just the clay tile liner I would get black creosote running down the wall and into the stove and I have no indication of that at all with the liner. I never even attempted to use the Mansfield with just the clay tile set up (it was sitting in the back of my truck when I had the chimney fire so I was not going to even bring it down off the truck until I got the liner installed) . Nothing shiny in the pipe with the Mansfield. It seems to burn very clean.

Make sure you find find four of the meanest biggest bad dudes you can find to move that bad boy in place. It is like dragging a 427 big block engine around. She ain't light so tell em to show up with grit teeth because that is when school really begins. Four of us moved it into my basement and we almost went two steps twice and just about lost it both times.

It is really hard to slow a 550 pound block down when it gets a little momentum a flight of stairs.