Fireview???

[scotsman]

After much aggravation and frustration as well as resistance on my part to a catalytic unit, it looks like it has come down to a Fireview, mainly because there are no dealers close enough to me who will sell AND service what they sell. Apparently WoodStock will sell direct and assist. The hesitation persists because of the FV 2.2 cf firebox. Our house is about 2700 sf with 2000 of that essentially on the main floor. I'm concerned that this stove is not large enough to heat even our main floor when it's rated at 900-1600. However, we are not in the kind of cold many of y'all are, so that may help our cause, but it does get downright cold when it decides to.

The question: How does this stove perform for those of you in REALLY cold country and in what size houses? Please give me the benefit of your experiences, positive and negative, so I can make an informed decision. I don't want to have to run the thing at 95% of its total capacity just to maintain 55 to 60 degrees in the house. I'd rather be able to do it at 60 to 75%. I've been considering the Harman Oakwood and the Isle Royale also. Anyone having those or who have had both/all three or gone from one to the other type, please respond if you will. The only requirement is that whatever I get must have a rear vent capability.

Thanks for the help.

 

[rickw]

Now in second year of burning a FV. Over the summer added about 650 sf to our small ranch for a total of 1800 sf; which is well insulated. Overnight burns with 20 degrees outside are no problem with oak, marginal with pine. I'd think it would be a great fit with your generally milder climate. If you get a stove big enough to keep your whole house warm no matter what then you may find its too much stove for a lot of the time. The benefit of the cat is a long burn without using lots of wood. I don't find it fussy or difficult to use. Good luck!

 

[Todd]

How cold does it get down there and hows your insulation and windows? I heat a well insulated 1800 sq ft with mine and really don't need to push the stove till it dips into the single digits or below and the wind also plays a factor. When it's in the 20,30, and 40's I can easily overheat the house if I wanted to. I like to keep the house above 70.

 

[scotsman]

How cold does it get down there and hows your insulation and windows? I heat a well insulated 1800 sq ft with mine and really don't need to push the stove till it dips into the single digits or below and the wind also plays a factor. When it's in the 20,30, and 40's I can easily overheat the house if I wanted to. I like to keep the house above 70.

The past two weeks we've had official lows around +17. That's in Lubbock-about 20 miles SE of here. We are out in the country with no tree protection--nothing to stop the wind. I'm a weather observer and have my own weather station and my lows have been around 8 to 10 with WC in the -12 to -20 range. House is 5 years old, good insulation, double-pane windows, good doors that I've weatherstripped well. Plan to connect to double-wall pipe into which I'll have a 6" SS liner installed (is that something I could do?) and position the stove out in front of the FP in the family room. Main floor is quite open with only the BRs having doors off of it.

Can this stove burn overnight without being watched? How would it do burning 4" to 8" cedar logs that have been sitting out in our weather for a minimum of 60 years? All my wood is bone dry cedar and I've got at least 3100 cords of it.

 

[begreen]

I realize the season may be short some years, but thought that west Tx can get pretty raw, windy winters. I would get a big beast for that place. Home Depot and Lowes near by? Get an Englander 30NC. Or order up a PE Summit and have it shipped to you by thechimneysweep. Or order a big Napoleon 1900 online if need be.

Paging BB. Is there is a Buck dealer nearby in Lubbock?

 

[BrotherBart]

I used to live in the same place in North West Texas where Texas Boy is. It is goofy weather there. Fifties in the daytime, because clouds are just a word in the dictionary, but temps drop like a rock at night. Averages are in the twenties at night but below zero isn't uncommon. And they get ice storms like most folks get snow. Whoever named Chicago the windy city never lived in Lubbock, Texas. It blows at what most of us think is a high wind year round. You ain't lived until you have walked outside in an ice storm with 45 mile an hour winds. Happens there every winter.

I recommended the Fireview because it is the best support he will find, the stone has great heat life and the cat will give flexibility heating during the day and transitioning to the cold nights.

 

[begreen]

I've got a friend from Ropes, TX. Described it the same way. When you want heat, you want heat. Then tomorrow, turn on the AC.

 

[BrotherBart]

I realize the season may be short some years, but thought that west Tx can get pretty raw, windy winters. I would get a big beast for that place. Home Depot and Lowes near by? Get an Englander 30NC. Or order up a PE Summit and have it shipped to you by thechimneysweep. Or order a big Napoleon 1900 online if need be.

Paging BB. Is there is a Buck dealer nearby in Lubbock?

His install scares the crap out of me but it is gonna have to be rear vent.

 

[Slow1]

If you have good insulation the Fireview can heat 2000sqft and more. I'm doing over 2200 here today with temp range of high/low 27/20f winds running 10-20mph gusts over 30mph. Pretty raw weather to spend time outside. Stove has run well - fed it a bit more than previous days, put in 20 splits for the day but no complaints about temperature from any of the family except when I opened the deck door to refill the wood rack (hey if they would get up and help it wouldn't take so long eh?).

As to your wood - I'll bet that cedar will burn hot and fast. However you can damper down the stove quite well and should be able to keep it under control. At least you shouldn't have to worry about having too much moisture robbing your BTUs eh? You will likely have to feed more often than I do with my oak but who knows. Large pieces are a good deal - if you are cutting for this stove I wouldn't cut them too short but also don't go much over 17" if you want easy loading (recommended is 16").

Hey - if you go for it and stack up a bunch of that wood you may be the only one here able to overtake Dennis with a larger pile of older wood stacked and ready to burn!

 

[scotsman]

I realize the season may be short some years, but thought that west Tx can get pretty raw, windy winters. I would get a big beast for that place. Home Depot and Lowes near by? Get an Englander 30NC. Or order up a PE Summit and have it shipped to you by thechimneysweep. Or order a big Napoleon 1900 online if need be.

Paging BB. Is there is a Buck dealer nearby in Lubbock?

Forgot to mention that I have to have a rear vent unit. Have looked at virtually every stove available, but must have a rear vent. Buck dealer is in Hereford and not interested in me having anything except an insert. Just was not listening. Finally left after asking him what about "freestanding" did he not understand? HD and Lowe's have nothing I can use.

This place is unique. Tuesday of this week, I went to work at 0630 (completely dark) in freezing ice fog with ice on the roads 1/2" thick. Visibility about arm's length! As I got toward Lubbock, it began to snow through the fog. Temps were at 11 degrees. About 0830, it cleared off, sun came out and it got up to 17. Then at noon we had a snow squall preceeded by rain, then sleet, then snow--about 2". Then at 1400 the sun came out again and we had hurricane force winds and over 80 mph until about 1800 and a dust storm that you would not believe unless you'd seen it. Tumbleweeds were stacked against fences, including mine, about 12 feet deep. (Just finished burning them about two hours ago. Took me about three hours to do it.) That's a site one has to see, too, huh, Bart? Not unlike herding cats. They have been thick enough to stop trains.

 

[Wet1]

I'd be looking for more stove, I think you'll find the FV too small for your place. It would be great during the shoulder seasons and probably find during the days in the depths of winter, but my guess is that it would probably not be enough to keep the house up to temp at night AND get overnight burns.

 

[begreen]

Ugh. No offense, but I'm glad it's not me living there. I lived in Tx for a short while in the midlands, that was enough.

It's not ideal, but maybe it's a good idea not to shoot for 100% heating during the extremes. The stove is probably going to be working it's ass off when it's nasty cold. Expect to supplement it with the central heating.

But for most winter days and nights, the Fireview should provide a lot of comfort and will put a dent in the heating bill.

 

[scotsman]

If you have good insulation the Fireview can heat 2000sqft and more. I'm doing over 2200 here today with temp range of high/low 27/20f winds running 10-20mph gusts over 30mph. Pretty raw weather to spend time outside. Stove has run well - fed it a bit more than previous days, put in 20 splits for the day but no complaints about temperature from any of the family except when I opened the deck door to refill the wood rack (hey if they would get up and help it wouldn't take so long eh?).

As to your wood - I'll bet that cedar will burn hot and fast. However you can damper down the stove quite well and should be able to keep it under control. At least you shouldn't have to worry about having too much moisture robbing your BTUs eh? You will likely have to feed more often than I do with my oak but who knows. Large pieces are a good deal - if you are cutting for this stove I wouldn't cut them too short but also don't go much over 17" if you want easy loading (recommended is 16").

Hey - if you go for it and stack up a bunch of that wood you may be the only one here able to overtake Dennis with a larger pile of older wood stacked and ready to burn!

Didn't know there was a wood collecting contest! Where do I sign up? Since the Cotton Board won't let compresses and warehouses store cotton outdoors anymore, I've negotiated for the "dunnage" that they used to keep it off the ground. So far have a batch of 861 cords at one location and the rest is at 14 warehouse locations all around the South Plains that belong to one cotton storage company. Yesterday I found a pallet manufacturer who can supply me 10 cords/week of 4 foot 2 x 4 and 4 x 4 hardwood pallet stringers, if I'll just go pick it up. Hell of a lot of wood for someplace that has no trees, eh wot!!

 

[BrotherBart]

That's a site one has to see, too, huh, Bart? Not unlike herding cats. They have been thick enough to stop trains.

Yeah but I still miss chicken fried steak and eggs at the Longhorn Cafe. Well, except the night the fight dropped a guy in my gravy bowl. :ahhh:

 

[Slow1]

Didn't know there was a wood collecting contest! Where do I sign up? Since the Cotton Board won't let compresses and warehouses store cotton outdoors anymore, I've negotiated for the "dunnage" that they used to keep it off the ground. So far have a batch of 861 cords at one location and the rest is at 14 warehouse locations all around the South Plains that belong to one cotton storage company. Yesterday I found a pallet manufacturer who can supply me 10 cords/week of 4 foot 2 x 4 and 4 x 4 hardwood pallet stringers, if I'll just go pick it up. Hell of a lot of wood for someplace that has no trees, eh wot!!

Heck with that sort of wood supply I'd give serious consideration to some sort of boiler that could take 4' lengths so that you wouldn't have to cut them down to size. Then gather up about 20-30 years supply and stack them up and you are set til the mortgage is paid off. You'd probably end up with some plumbing to do but you could heat the whole place that way and with that supply efficiency likely isn't your main concern. Since all that wood is kiln dried (or otherwise VERY well aged) you don't have to worry too much about it being hard to burn clean either.

 

[scotsman]

Didn't know there was a wood collecting contest! Where do I sign up? Since the Cotton Board won't let compresses and warehouses store cotton outdoors anymore, I've negotiated for the "dunnage" that they used to keep it off the ground. So far have a batch of 861 cords at one location and the rest is at 14 warehouse locations all around the South Plains that belong to one cotton storage company. Yesterday I found a pallet manufacturer who can supply me 10 cords/week of 4 foot 2 x 4 and 4 x 4 hardwood pallet stringers, if I'll just go pick it up. Hell of a lot of wood for someplace that has no trees, eh wot!!

Heck with that sort of wood supply I'd give serious consideration to some sort of boiler that could take 4' lengths so that you wouldn't have to cut them down to size. Then gather up about 20-30 years supply and stack them up and you are set til the mortgage is paid off. You'd probably end up with some plumbing to do but you could heat the whole place that way and with that supply efficiency likely isn't your main concern. Since all that wood is kiln dried (or otherwise VERY well aged) you don't have to worry too much about it being hard to burn clean either.

I have calculated that if I actually got all the wood here that I have been promised, every square ince of the three acres back of my house would be 28 feet deep in wood with no aisles. It would be solid. There is another batch of wood at a compress east of Plainview that is at least another 1300 cords that I have not even talked to them about. It's available, but there is only so much I can haul. I need a stake bed truck that has a dump bed!

 

[scotsman]

That's a site one has to see, too, huh, Bart? Not unlike herding cats. They have been thick enough to stop trains.

Yeah but I still miss chicken fried steak and eggs at the Longhorn Cafe. Well, except the night the fight dropped a guy in my gravy bowl. :ahhh:

Aw, hell, Bart, that was just th' entertainment! They woulda brought y'more gravy!

 

[BrotherBart]

That's a site one has to see, too, huh, Bart? Not unlike herding cats. They have been thick enough to stop trains.

Yeah but I still miss chicken fried steak and eggs at the Longhorn Cafe. Well, except the night the fight dropped a guy in my gravy bowl. :ahhh:

Aw, hell, Bart, that was just th' entertainment! They woulda brought y'more gravy!

They did. Damn I miss that place. Not just the Longhorn, the whole damned part of the country. I used to joke that there were three people in the world that loved West Texas and I get Christmas cards from the other two.