HELP!!! Real life experience with Hearthstone Heritage or Hearthstone Mansfield

[wayno12]

Hello to all. While a lifelong wood burner, in June of 2023, I retired my failed Central Boiler E Classic 2400 after 11 years of use due to a water jacket leak and purchased/installed a Hearthstone Heritage 8024 wood stove. I am heating roughly 2000 sq feet (plus an additional 1000 sq feet of seldomly used upstairs space some heat may bleed into). My living room and kitchen area is open floorplan (approximately 550 sq feet) with the wood stove being installed in the living room, pretty centralized to this entire area. What I found in October when temps dropped to 40's during the day, and mid 20's at night is, I am struggling to maintain the house temp I was used to with the boiler. Don't gasp, but I like my room temp to be in the area of 75-78 degrees. I find with the Heritage, if I babysit the stove all day, adding roughly 3 mid sized splits (approx. 3-4 inch pieces) I can maybe get my room temp up to that range before the evening sets in. That being said, I load my last charge of wood, filling the wood box full, and go to bed at 10:30pm. When I wake up at 6:00 am, the Heritage has a fair amount of small coals, soapstone temp will be roughly 100-150 degrees, and room temp 70-71 degrees. What I'm finding is, small loads of wood as mentioned earlier give me a burn hot enough to keep the glass clean without burning uncontrollably for about 2.5-3 hours. I'm assuming my nightly full loads are are burning roughly 5-6 hours down to coals. My dealer who I purchased the Heritage from has offered me 75% credit towards the Hearthstone Mansfield which is the stove I had gone in to purchase originally before being talked into this smaller Heritage.  This stove change is going to cost me about $1,500 when said and done, so, I would just appreciate some input to decide if it's a worthwhile trade-up.  Also, this 75% credit can be applied to any stove they sell.  Is there a better alternative to the Hearthstone Mansfield that would give me the heat output I need as well as the extended burn time so it will hold me through the night or allow me to leave the house for the day without returning to a cold house?

PS:
1. My home is approximately 20 years old, 2x6 walls, fiberglass insulation, good insulated e-glazed windows.
2. I run a furnace fan constantly to circulate air to the different rooms of this 2000 sq feet area.
3. I have a thermometer on the far kitchen wall I use to monitor indoor/outdoor temps approximately 18 feet from the stove in the living room.

Now, my questions are:
1. Do any of you experience the same scenario burning your Hearthstone Heritage that I am experiencing with low output for this amount of space? My concern is, when it gets really cold and drops to teens or sub zero, this stove will never keep up.

2. If you're burning the new Hearthstone Mansfield, do you believe I can achieve the temperatures I desire and get a true burn long enough to hold my room temperature through the night. I'm really interested in legitimate burn time, hot enough to generate heat to be "maintaining" room temperatures on a cold night rather than dropping 7-8 degrees on a 25 degree night. I just can't seem to find any real life numbers based on other's experiences.

Thank you so much in advance for any input you might have!

[celliott]

I don't have either of the models you are asking about, but I do have a hearthstone castleton (smaller than the ones you're talking about I believe) I have had ours for 5 seasons now. 

I know I can load it up at 8:30-9:00 when I go to bed and there is plenty of coals to just open the damper, throw a chunk in, and it'll get going. Same when I leave/get back from work. That's not maintaining a high temperature, but it'll keep the backup furnace from coming on.

Another thing I've found with ours, it burns hottest with the damper in about the middle position, not wide open. 

Are you letting the stove go out? Ours almost never goes cold once we start burning, about now till sometimes May. 
Hope some of that was helpful, not sure if I answered any of your specific questions though.

[wayno12]

I, like you, do not let my stove go out once started.  It's interesting what you mentioned about the damper.  The wood stove I had in my house up until I put in my OWB 11 years ago had a damper on the pipe.  This one does not have a damper at the recommendation of the dealer. Seems I'm likely losing a lot of heat due to that, but he said no. 

[47sawdust]

We have been heating our home in Vermont 13 years with a Mansfield stove.It is a terrific stove.Our home is about 2500sf.We have an outside air intake which helps keep the glass clean and our house healthy and comfortable.I also have a SS water jacket in the firebox that preheats our domestic hot water.
A stovetop Ecofan circulates warm air to our bedroom.No damper in the stove pipe.
I try to run the stove hot when I'm home and can tend the fire.I bank the hot coals to one side and load the other side at night and when gone for the day.Dry wood always works best.The stove does extra duty heating tea kettles and slow cooking meals.Never any regrets with this purchase.

 

[wayno12]

Dang!  That sounds amazing.  Sounds like you have definitely utilized it to the max. Makes me feel more comfortable possibly making the swap out for the Mansfield.  How does your fire and temperature hold up through an all night burn? 

[47sawdust]

The stove sits between the bedroom and the bathroom.One of us will always put in a piece as we wander by.
When it does go unattended the soapstone is always warm and we will have to rekindle the fire.

[wayno12]

Ok, that makes sense. I'm thinking, no matter how I cut it, I'm looking at a bigger stove. 

[wayno12]

My new Blaze King King 40 was delivered yesterday morning.  Got it hooked up and burned off.  Absolutely an amazing stove!  Worth every penny I spent on it!  Thank you to everyone who helped steer me in the direction of this upgrade. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

Is that from your original dealer? Did you get credit back on your trade in? I'm not up to date on stove lineups, mine is older than me, so isn't the backup stove sitting up in the barn!