Another Keystone vs Fireview Thread

[Googs185]

So I've read a lot of threads on Keystone vs Fireview but I wanted to get everyone's opinion. I currently own a Hampton HI300 in a 1050sq foot ranch. It only hits the living room it is in and has a hard time heating the adjacent bedrooms which are down a very, very short hallway. The house is constructed of block and has little, if any insulation i the walls. I had insulation blown in the ceiling. I'm working on sealing air leaks as well.

My father has a Progress Hybrid and my brother in law has a Fireview and they love them. I'm thinking of getting either a Fireview or a Keystone. We plan on adding a 300 sq foot addition in the future and want to be able to heat all 1350 sq feet. Is the Keystone too small? Woodstock says people are heating 1800 sq foot homes with it. Others on this site have confirmed this. I really like the idea of an ashpan. I also saw a Fireview available near me for $1600 used, and may be able to talk the guy down. Considering my house's characteristics and needs, which would you go for?

 

[HomeinPA]

I have customers with this stove and the Regency equivalent and they've been very happy with them. My guess is that the stove is not being burned properly or the wood is not properly dried.

 

[begreen]

A house with uninsulated block walls is going to need a lot of extra power. A lot of heat is radiating outdoors from the walls. You might want to consider the Ideal or Absolute Steel stoves as well if looking at Woodstock.

 

[fire_man]

I've owned both the Fireview and the Palladian (sister to the Keystone). The Fireview did put out more heat but I switched to the Palladian because I will never own another stove without a good ashpan.

In my case the Palladian just supplements the Progress so we did not need the extra heating power of the Fireview. For a normally insuated 1350 sq ft house the Keystone would be fine. Your lack of insulation is of concern - I would run it by the good people at Woodstock. They may even steer you to a higher output stove.

 

[Gyprat]

We have a Fireview. My neighbor owns a Keystone. I could compare the two.
If you are looking for a great looking stove that will be used occasionally, to supplement your existing heater then Fireview will be a good choice.
If you want a stove that will be used continuously, forget the Fireview. When I use mine continuously, I have to manually dig out the ash every other day. It's about 3/4 of a bucket each time.No ash pan is a huge disadvantage of the Fireview. Of course if you have access to a PERFECT extremely well seasoned firewood, you may have to stretch the ash emptying to every 4-5 days. In real life, perfect firewood is hard to get and may cost more than electricity bill to heat the same area. I have also been having a lot of issues with catalytic combustors in the Fireview. They just don;t last much at all. Stainless combustors were a joke. I tried a ceramic catalyst from Woodstock. It worked SIGNIFICANTLY better but only lasted about 3 1.2 burning seasons. Actually, I called them about purchasing a new ceramic combustor today. They no longer sell ceramic combustors.

My neighbor's keystone works a LOT better than my Fireview. It's combustor glows red and puts out lots of heat. A lot more heat than my Fireview with same firewood. He does not need to constantly scoop out hot coals and ash from the stove every other day. Scooping hot ash puts a lot of airborn dust near the stove. No other way around it.

Given choice, I would not buy a Fireview again. It's a great looking stove and it was on sale for only $1,800 when I bought it new. I expected a better performance and less maintenance. Do not buy a Fireview if you want to heat continuously. Soapstone stoves take a long time to get going because of the heat mass and temperature conduction qualities of soapstone. It takes longer to cool down as well. I'm sure you already know this.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[fire_man]

My Palladian with the stainless steel cat fires off better than the Fireview did with its ceramic cat. The Palladian is consistant and always glows every single time I engage the bypass. The Fireview/ceramic was more finicky but I never tried a stainless cat in it. I liked both stoves but I agree with Gyprat. The Palladian is installed in a much taller chimney than the Fireview so that may play into this story.

 

[firefighterjake]

Back in 2008 the Fireview was one of the better loved stoves here . . . and most folks running them were using them 24/7. Seems like they've fell out of favor with the introduction of the Ideal Steel and Progress Hybrid though.

 

[fire_man]

Yup That fits my history perfectly. I bought the FV in 2007 and replaced with the Progress in 2011. I really liked the FV but heating 2200 sq ft during a bad cold snap was not easy. The Progress is a huge step up.

My Progress is proudly one of the first units ever built!

 

[Googs185]

Thank you for all your replies! It seems like the Progress may be a better choice? Now I don't know what to do! It's a big stove for my small house. My dad has a larger ranch and he has the Progress and it really pumps out the heat, but it still has a hard time getting down the hallway to the bedrooms. Since my house is uninsulated, maybe this would be a better choice. Someone has a two season-used Fireview 205 for $1595 on craigslist and I'm tempted though!! But do you think this would be too small for my home? How about a Blaze King?

 

[begreen]

Unless the plan is to insulate the block walls I'd err on oversize. The Woodstock Ideal Steel is also worth considering. It's big like the Progress, but it costs a whole lot less and will run at a low setting during milder weather. A Blaze King stove would also be good if you can meet the flue height requirement of 16'.