Just wondering why you need to open the door and poke around after you have loaded your stove? Once I put my splits in the box, I never have to open the door until I am ready to reload. I doubt Hearthstone expects you to be opening the door at this stage. Maybe determine why you are having to open the door and poke around to get a fire established, and correct that.
Seriously considering the Hearthstone Manchester wood stove
- Thread starter izzyq
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Double yes. A log smoking as bad as you describe suggests the wood is not fully dry. Dry wood would easily turn into coals and would not need to be poked at. Have you tested the moisture content of your wood with a moisture meter on a fresh split surface?
LOL OK.
Reloading can be the worst time. Opening the door for a few seconds could make the room or maybe the whole house smell like smoke.
So for anyone else who doesn't think it's ok for the stove to smoke when you open the door, I welcome your suggestion. Like I said, my last stove didn't smoke, and I heated the house with it for 12 years. Thanks.
The chimney was just cleaned. My dealer is coming out Friday to do a draft test, but I don't expect any problem with that either.
I do like the big door for viewing the fire and loading and cleaning, but I'm pretty sure the opening is too big to hold the smoke in. It's practically the whole broad side of the firebox.
Reloading can be the worst time. Opening the door for a few seconds could make the room or maybe the whole house smell like smoke.
So for anyone else who doesn't think it's ok for the stove to smoke when you open the door, I welcome your suggestion. Like I said, my last stove didn't smoke, and I heated the house with it for 12 years. Thanks.
The chimney was just cleaned. My dealer is coming out Friday to do a draft test, but I don't expect any problem with that either.
I do like the big door for viewing the fire and loading and cleaning, but I'm pretty sure the opening is too big to hold the smoke in. It's practically the whole broad side of the firebox.
I have been burning the same stove since November. The only issue I have had with the stove is the ash falls out when I open the front door, so I don't use it. Only to clean the glass. I am burning sugar maple, ash, and black walnut, the MC is around 18% on the maple which is what I have the most of. It had been 18 years since I last burned wood so I lurked around here and followed the recommendations of the members here. I try to reload at 250 degrees at the bottom of the flu collar. I have not had trouble with smoke smell in the house thank goodness or my wife would have a fit. I have had smoke when I open the front door as you say. My splits are pretty small so I don't really need to use the front door.
Great to see a few owners surfacing since reports have been few and far between. I'd be interested in hearing the sq.ft. that folks are heating, burn times, and how the stove runs. What's your chimney setup? Do you find it easy to control the output of the stove? (I've never run tube stoves, but what I read here is that it's critical on a fresh load to be cutting the air before too much wood gets gassing, so you can control output and burn length.)
With 20' of stack, you should have good draft. If you must use the front door, try closing off all other air (side door and air control) to force the draft to pull into the front door stronger. Like others posters, I don't need to poke the fire and don't use the front door, just side-load it, close it, and work the air controls and cat bypass, then cruise until it's time to reload. If your wood has been split (not too huge) and stacked for a couple years (longer for the Oak and Hickory you have,) it will start right up when loaded on a coal bed, you don't have to coax it to burn. You may need some bigger splits to control the burn in your stove, but if you're leaving round logs unsplit, they take really long to dry (maybe decades for Oak.) 
Get way ahead on your wood supply, and the payoff is huge...burning wood becomes a joy instead of a chore. I tried to burn wet Red Oak for many years until I came here and got dry-wood religion...never going back. Now I'm burning 3-yr. Oak and Hickory, and lovin' it! 
This stove is probably a little different than what you had before. The box is wide and shallow, and with no bypass and the big front door, smoke spillage is more likely. But the big-window view is worth making allowances for, IMO.
With 20' of stack, you should have good draft. If you must use the front door, try closing off all other air (side door and air control) to force the draft to pull into the front door stronger. Like others posters, I don't need to poke the fire and don't use the front door, just side-load it, close it, and work the air controls and cat bypass, then cruise until it's time to reload. If your wood has been split (not too huge) and stacked for a couple years (longer for the Oak and Hickory you have,) it will start right up when loaded on a coal bed, you don't have to coax it to burn. You may need some bigger splits to control the burn in your stove, but if you're leaving round logs unsplit, they take really long to dry (maybe decades for Oak.) Get way ahead on your wood supply, and the payoff is huge...burning wood becomes a joy instead of a chore. I tried to burn wet Red Oak for many years until I came here and got dry-wood religion...never going back. Now I'm burning 3-yr. Oak and Hickory, and lovin' it! 
Wise Guy
New Member
It's been a while since I've posted here on the forum, mostly due to being way too busy. I would echo the same sentiment as that expressed by D8Chumley. There are a few occasions when I do open the front door while there is fire in the box, but mostly I stick to opening the side door. Nonetheless, I can report that I too get smoke pouring out if I open the front door during a burn, especially if I open the front door quickly. I can reduce the smoke outpouring if I open the front door slowly. I can also a reduce the smoke outpouring from the front door if I first open the side door slightly, and then open the front door. See if this last trick helps, at least to reduce the smoke coming out the front door.
I got spoiled by being able to burn up as big a log as I could stuff in the box of my last stove, but the Manchester just isn't designed that way. Big logs only fit in the front door and do not burn up but usually just go out. I assumed the door would be usable for loading, but maybe that wasn't the intent. So I'm going to split up the logs smaller so I can only load in the side door. According to the information on this board, the wood should dry better anyway and require less attention to burn. It will be more work, but I'm sure my wife will appreciate the smaller logs compared to the logs now that she can hardly pick up LOL.
Wise Guy
New Member
Here's a snapshot of the setup I have using my Manchester. I heat an old, drafty, two-story farmhouse built in 1910. The stove is in the living room, on the first floor. I keep two thermometers in the house, one in the dining room, which is next to the living room, and one in the kitchen, which is on the other side of the dining room. The temp in the ding room stays somewhere between 70-76, depending on outside temps, and the kitchen stays somewhere between 60-65, depending on temps outside. The temp in the living room is obviously above those temps, but not sure how far above. As for burn times, I have always found that concept hard to understand. Does it mean, the time when I begin to see the thermometer go down below a certain temp, or does it mean when I can't find anymore hot coals? Or something else? What I can say is that I burn far less wood with my Manchester than I did with my old steel constructed Haugh's stove. How much less? I am guessing here, but I think it is the neighborhood of about 2 chords less per year. As for the chimney setup, the total length of the chimney is about 26 feet, with two 90 degree turns. The first elbow is about 3 feet above the stove top and the second is about 3 feet from the first elbow. The stack is about 20 feet. I have no draft problems whatsoever. As for controlling the output of the stove, I certainly can do that. This is a major difference from the old stove I had. I couldn't control the output and consequently, the stove over heated.
This is my second season with my Manchester and I LOVE this stove! We have about an 1800 sq ft ranch and we burn just about 24/7. I use the side door only for loading once it's lit but use the front door when I want to clean the glass (love that it's so big) and when I want to clean the stove out. I don't have a problem with smoke coming out into the room UNLESS my wood is not good. We ran lower than expected on good wood for this year (thankfully I have 5 cords stacked out back that will be ready for next season). When I tried to use wood that I knew wasn't seasoned enough it was awful! I saw all the problems everyone comes here complaining about when everyone tells them it's a problem with their wood. Luckily we found a friend with a source for some real seasoned wood and were able to buy another 2 cords to get us through the season. I couldn't appreciate the difference until I tried to burn without good wood!
Anyway we have a shorter chimney (1 story house and through the attic) but we lined the chimney this year and we have no draft issues. We get overnight burns no problem with coals left in the morning to quick start it up again. We are out of the house all day at work so most days I have to restart it when I get home after about 9 hours but the house is still in the 63-65 range. I get my livingroom where the stove is up to 74 easily. I love that the stove can take longer splits and using the side door I can fill it well and keep the house toasty overnight.
Anyway we have a shorter chimney (1 story house and through the attic) but we lined the chimney this year and we have no draft issues. We get overnight burns no problem with coals left in the morning to quick start it up again. We are out of the house all day at work so most days I have to restart it when I get home after about 9 hours but the house is still in the 63-65 range. I get my livingroom where the stove is up to 74 easily. I love that the stove can take longer splits and using the side door I can fill it well and keep the house toasty overnight.
Thanks for the quick review izzyq. It's good to know the Manchester is working well on a shorter chimney. How tall would you say the flue system is from stove top to chimney cap?
rideau and Grisu...
I apologize for my response to your suggestions about my wood being too wet. It sounds like I can get great performance out of the Manchester if I season the wood better, so that's what I'm going to try.
I apologize for my response to your suggestions about my wood being too wet. It sounds like I can get great performance out of the Manchester if I season the wood better, so that's what I'm going to try.
I was too dumb to figure out how slow the Red Oak dried, and cutting for 3 households it was easy to procrastinate. But once I joined here and these guys straightened me out, I saw the benefits firsthand in my stove. That was all the motivation I needed to make dry wood a priority.
That's a difference between the old and new stoves; The old ones will burn bigger/wetter wood by pulling a lot of air through the box and burning hotter. But as you saw, they will chew through a load in a few hours. The new stoves will burn with much less air, and also extract heat from burning the smoke with secondaries, so you get longer burns with less wood. But you need dry wood to be able to burn the load slowly with low air, and for the secondaries to work well, so you have to be ahead on your wood stacks to assure yourself good fuel...
Hey guys, just got a new Manchester and was wondering where most of you were reading temps from. I have an IR thermometer and every single part of the stove reads a different temp. I know I can't read it from the stove top because of the air-flow system it has going on. On the other hand, should I just install a pipe thermometer (double wall) and just go by that? Thanks for your help!
D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
I have single wall and a magnetic temp gauge about 16" up from the bottom. IIRC double wall you might need a gauge with a probe to measure inside temps? I like my Manchester a lot, I'm in my 3rd burning season with it and no issues other than I'd like to find an easier way to clean the ash out after I sweep the pipe.
The coals should not fall through the grate as the grate is suppose to be closed when burning. This may be your problem. I have no issues with burning longer lengths of wood. But if you burn with the crate open, you will lose coals and you may over fire your stove.
D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
This is a year old thread... however the Manchester can't be burned with the grate open as you say. The Ash drawer wouldn't be able to close if the grate was slid forward to clean the ash out. I slide the grate forward and use a modified rake to move the ash back and forth to let it fall into the ash pan to be removed fwiw
electrathon
Minister of Fire
Yes, with the grate in the open position it will not allow the ash door the shut, there is a bracket that keeps the door open. Even so, if the grate was able to be open, very little falls through without stirring it around. I pulled the ash shaker grate out of mine, it really serves no purpose. If my stove was hot you could not get the grate to slide open, had to wait till it cooled. With the grate removed I still have to stir the ash with the poker if I want to pull the ash pan to clean it. I usually just shovel it out.
To the original topic: If I was going to buy a new stove, a Hearthstone stove would not be on the list of possible choices. It burns way too much wood and puts out way too little heat. It is pretty though.
can you cook on the Manchester stove?? We are considering buying one. It's between the Manchester and the quadra-fire explorer iii.
Those of you who own the Manchester, would you recommend me purchasing this? I want the ability to open-view as well as the possibility of cooking when electricity goes out since we live in the mountains. Thanks so much!!
The Manchester has a convection top. This would be ok for slow cooking, but not ideal if you need direct stovetop contact for higher heat. The Explorer III has a top-load lid for direct contact and higher cooking temp if needed. @webfish can tell you a bit more about this feature and stove top temps there.
@pclafferty
I took top stove temps this morning as I got a pretty good fire going. Stove top is running about 430 degrees. So easily could cook on it. It will settle back down as I turn back air. Hope this helps . I do love this stove. Easy to use and looks great.
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