Making the Right Stove decisions

Friend has one Old Nate they like it i went with IS as it was cheaper.

 

What is the price of the Ideal Steel?

I much prefer the hearthstone but money does talk.

 

According to website IS $2590 and soapstone PH is $44xx
I just like the small family owned feel of Woodstock and there customer service is top notch remember 26% Fed rebate

I think we paid $2300 for ours a visitor loved and wanted to buy my wife said $700 over cost of a replacement if and only if we could get replacement before cold.. That’s how ya know you got right one for you…

 

If you can afford it get the Hearthstone Mansfield.It's a greater stove.

 

Yeah sorry Old Nate friends have Mansfield not Manchester.. But IS will out heat the Mansfield, no question, I have run both in northern Vermont climates so read cold..

 

Hearthstone has the new Mansfield with a CAT.I'm sure it's a better heater with the new tech than the old Mansfield.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. Couple of things… my wife and I simply don’t like the look of the soapstone on the outside of the stove. Hate it. The ideal steel or absolute steel, to us, is not a good looking stove, at all. But the Hearthstone Manchester is a good looking stove and has the qualities we’re looking for. Not quite sure how it’s that much different than the Mansfield.

 

Then get the Manchester.. go on the website usually have factory seconds sale in October in Morrisville Vermont used to be 30-40% off; before Covid

happy wife

 

The Manchester has a much smaller firebox than the Mansfield.However if you don't like the look of soapstone which is rarely said don't get the Manchester.For 2800 sq foot home you'll need a large stove.The Manchester's firebox is approx. 2.3 cubic feet way too small to heat that much space then again you didn't mention how insulated the house will be.Since your wife likes a warm house and if the new house is not super insulated you'll probably need one of the largest stoves out there.Starting at least with a 3.2 cubic feet of firebox .

 

^^ this in this manufacturer that looks close green mountain 80

 

I've looked at the Green Mountain 80 and I would say that would be my next stove, except for the 8 inch flue... I have all the flue pipe for a 6 inch setup... really don't want to spend that much more money if I already have the flue in the 6 inch size. Oh and the above comment was off by a little, but close... the Manchester firebox is 2.45 cubic feet

 

I would suggest to get as many manufacturer brochures as you can (paper, not computer), and study them the old fashioned way. Read them to the point you memorize them.

Then get on forums (lurk) and read every thread you can find on each stove that makes your top 5.

Then before dropping $4-$5k on a new stove (not counting install) begin looking at used ones anywhere you can find them listed online for sale. Study the prices for a several months, even a year or two if you’re not in a hurry.

Once you’ve narrowed it down to 1-3 stoves, or 1-5 stoves, as soon as you see an good deal, and I mean a bargain, jump on it.

Take it home and install it and burn it a few years and start taking notes. Notes on the stoves size, burn times, fire box size and design, hearth design, pros and cons of the stove and hearth and stove location, doors opening right or left, stove depth, height, loading e/w and n/s. Take notes on everything.

While you’re doing all of this each season all season, keep looking for other bargains on your list and gather another stove or three. Don’t buy anything you’re not afraid to part with. On the other hand, try and buy them cheap enough that you don’t mind having an extra stove tucked away. Swap them out and learn th by using them a few years each.

Keep track of the stoves physical size to compare when choosing a new stove to buy. By this time you will have an excellent idea of what stove will be the proper size to choose for a medium-MH burn most of the winter. Don’t pick a stove you have to burn full tilt all the time. Consider a stove with a thermostat and compare with non-thermostat.

Next, time to buy the new stove and sell the old ones for near what you gave for them…likely just a few hundred dollars compared to $2500-$5000 for a new one. By the time you’re ready to purchase that new dream stove, that is if you haven’t settled on keeping a bargain stove you fell in love with, you will know exactly what you want and exactly what size. You will have done your due diligence with your research, gained hands-on knowledge and experience, and can now drop those $$$$.$$ on the stove of your dreams without fear of, “I hope I’m choosing the right stove and the right size”.

Worst thing in the world is to make a guess and spend hard earned money on a stove far too small or just as bad, far too big (as opposed to just a little bigger).

If you ever experience either you’ll understand what I’m saying…because either can and will be miserable.

You will also learn about your hearth design and the location of it all.

My $.02 cents for what it is worth.

P.S.
I’ve acquired several stoves that are waiting to be tried. Don’t worry. The manufacturers don’t change the models all that often, so there’s plenty of time. I’m currently (burned several) burning one stove 3 years going on four years. I may swap it out mid-season for “wood only” stove and begin a new few years experience with another stove on my list.

P.S.S.
Don’t try this if you don’t have the patience of Job. LOL!

P.S.S.
This is not for everyone. Those that like to tinker and generally like stoves as a hobby will love it.

 

Man, that's intense!

 

Yep, that’s a good way to describe this journey.

What’s more intense is frustration. Frustration from having dropped $2500-$5k on a stove you’ve come to hate, for whatever reason, and not being able to change, maybe because of finances or some other reason.

I’ve seen it happen on this forum. Maybe not quite as much money spent on a stove, but a person buys a modern style stove that might even be bigger in size yet may not heat as well as an older smaller stove all because of stove design.

If I’m not mistaken forum member Warner is a prime example of this, but like I said I don’t think he went all out on a really expensive modern stove, but the outcome was the same. He hated that stove if my memory serves me correctly and I believe he put the old stove back in it’s rightful place. Had he spent thousands on a stove he may not have recouped most of his investment.

Along the journey you might find something that works and trips all your triggers and you could be satisfied. Otherwise, it’s all a learning curve.


The big take away is the knowledge you gain comes in real handy if you ever change homes. Having tried and used several stoves over a period X number of years you’ll have a good start in the new home. The journey will actually start over, but this time around you have much more knowledge than before and picking the right stove that satisfied every aspect you want will come much quicker and maybe hit the right one on the first try.

I love this stove I have, but it’s not the right one for this house. For this particular design I need it’s nearly identical twin that is smaller. I know this having never used it. I know it from using this stove and from studying the brochures. But, I enjoy doing that just like I do these forums.

 

It is tough when there are so many options out there and you really only have one shot at it, at least one at a time any way. For someone like me (most of us I imagine) we don't want to over spend or buy the wrong stove for our situation. I have burned my Jotul 500 for the last 5 years and while I have come to know and enjoy that stove, I was hoping for something with a little more of a gradual heat, instead of the intense in your face heat the Oslo gives me in the stove room.

 

Also, everyone was telling me the Hearthstone Manchester was not big enough... the only other stove with really more heating capacity is the Blaze Kings and maybe the Green Mountain... am I missing one? Maybe one of the Woodstock stoves, but a) I don't like the look of them and b) I don't think they are any bigger than the Oslo 500 or Manchester.

I also would consider the Jotul F55 Carabasset but last I checked, they do not qualify for the 26% tax rebate. And I guess in the long haul that's not everything, but money is money and if I can get that 26% I'm going to get it.

 

I wouldn’t say I hated the drolet, It did not do the job I was hoping it would. Heating from an unfinished basement is a whole different animal. The large plate stove has worked best for me( I have the big brother in my garage I’d like to try but none of my friends pick up the phone in the fall anymore lol) If the drolet was in the living area I’d bet it would blow me out of the house easily. And if it remember correctly I payed 1600$ I could be off on that tho. Hoping to recoup my money this winter…



I will say that I have used at least a half dozen stoves in both houses I have resided in and I didn’t find the “Goldilocks” stove for either. I’m thinking my youngest is old enough to move the stove into the living area this or next heating season the search will change gears again.

 

From my journey, pertaining to, “something with a little more of a gradual heat, instead of the intense in your face heat”, that is where I discovered stoves with a thermostat shine. You simply cannot beat a thermostat on any stove.

At the same time I cannot stress enough how important it is to use wood that is dry, as in seasoned for a couple years up off the ground and top covered and verified dry using a moisture meter.

 

My apology for misrepresenting your comments then.

From your post I took it you bought a stove according to size that should have worked and didn’t for your situation. From other posts I thought I detected some serious complaints about that stove which is why I thought you replaced it with your old stove, but I must have been mistaken. Again, my apology.

 

No worries, you may have been thinking about the “summers heat” I got from lowes that stove was in my case a potential death trap. The glass fell out of that door at some point in the over night burn, we got lucky. Dealing with ESW was an absolute nightmare. I would DEFINITELY not recommend the stove or company. I replaced that with the HT3000 that the drolet website claimed to be a heat beast. It is a good stove just dosnt have the horsepower the old stove has. I bought the plate stove from an old buck that went around New England pulling them out of cellars and barns cleaned them up and resold. He said this stove is the Mack truck of heating and to stay away from stove shops! I should have just listens to him!