this is for the fireviewers out there!!

[jrendfrey]

i have currently burned through about a cord and an eighth of wood so far this heating season which is a dramatic improvement over last year using the 26 yr old wood furnace. i am extremely happy with my fireview now that you guys helped me work all my kinks out. probably would have gone through less wood so far but the cat was over 10 yrs old and in backwards when i first started out with thats first half cord or so. ive replaced the cat and got it in correctly now currently shes just a glowin stove temp is piping hot and flue temps about 275. i have noticed however that my wood may not be OPTIMUM right now im burning wood thats about 10 months seasoned i know i know but its all i got right now. i have 6 cords that are the same 10 months seasoned i have another 3 that i got in log length they have been bucked up and im working on getting the split now so next year i will have some super seasoned stuff some over a year and some almost two years most ive ever been ahead. i used to cut in the spring burn in the fall with my old hearthstone. i get a sizzler every now and then but not too bad just keep the coAls nice and hot. also ive been keeping two days worth of wood around the stove and its drying up nice. now my question is do you think its time for me to lift the lid and blow out the cat? real quick outside? this is my primary heat source for a super drafty house so we dont let the fire go out all winter unless it gets crazy warm like in teh 50s. and also i was wondering about my stacks of wood the are stacked in single cord rows with metal roofing on top but some snow and rain still get through should i be worried? i will be posting pictures of my setup after christmas when i open that camera under the tree hehe. agian thanks guys my house is wayyy warmer this year everything ive been taught is appreciated

 

[Woody Stover]

That's great news! Gotta love using less wood...
As far as the wood, you're not getting any bubblers, just hissing or sizzling a little bit? Does the moisture quit coming out after the wood gets burning for a while, or does it persist for a long time? As long as you aren't fighting to keep the wood burning and you're getting good heat, the moisture is probably not all that bad. And yes, the wood will dry more around the stove, especially if you can give it several days. Just be careful...

Sure, you could pull the cat and gently blow a little air through it. No compressed air, though. You can blow the catalyst right off the substrate. Super-easy to pull the cat on the Fv, so why not?
I wouldn't worry about a little rain or snow hitting the sides of the stacks. It's just surface moisture, and will dry pretty quickly.

Looking forward to the pics!

 

[weatherguy]

What type of wood do you have? Ash and maple may be ok after 10 months if stacked in a good spot.

 

[jrendfrey]

i have soft maple ash yellow birch and cherry ive gotten maybe 5 bubblers but thats wood from the very bottom of the stack the stuff 3 splits up is very dry or so i think wood sits next to the stove for 2 days then gets burned i wanna get one of those 96 in racks from tsc to store some wood in the house so its dry and warm. i believe everything is going as it should its 79 degrees in here and 22 outside i cant wait till next winter when i am a year ahead and never have to burn the wet stuff agian about 2 years seasoned should be perfect right now i have a cord of almost all soft maple on the porch and it seems to be burning great no struggling to keep it going ii just make sure i have a good coal bed which i always do with the fireview. so in the next couple days if it warms up ill pull the cat and use a can of keyboard air and blow her out should i use a paint brush?? or will the air do enough? any tips that pertain to the fireview are always welcome as i love running this thing. pictures to come christmas day i promise

 

[Todd]

One of the great things and there are many with the Fireview is the easy acsess of the cat. You can let the stove burn down to a coal bed, open the bypass, lift the lid, remove the cat and lay it on the hearth for a bit to cool then take it outside to either brush off, vacuume or blow out and you still have the stove giving off heat. Sometimes just putting your lips together and giving a little blow is all you need to get the fly ash out.

 

[PapaDave]

everything ive been taught is appreciated

Give yourself some credit. It's not just what's taught, it's what is learned.
You've learned well, grasshopper.

 

[charly]

i have currently burned through about a cord and an eighth of wood so far this heating season which is a dramatic improvement over last year using the 26 yr old wood furnace. i am extremely happy with my fireview now that you guys helped me work all my kinks out. probably would have gone through less wood so far but the cat was over 10 yrs old and in backwards when i first started out with thats first half cord or so. ive replaced the cat and got it in correctly now currently shes just a glowin stove temp is piping hot and flue temps about 275. i have noticed however that my wood may not be OPTIMUM right now im burning wood thats about 10 months seasoned i know i know but its all i got right now. i have 6 cords that are the same 10 months seasoned i have another 3 that i got in log length they have been bucked up and im working on getting the split now so next year i will have some super seasoned stuff some over a year and some almost two years most ive ever been ahead. i used to cut in the spring burn in the fall with my old hearthstone. i get a sizzler every now and then but not too bad just keep the coAls nice and hot. also ive been keeping two days worth of wood around the stove and its drying up nice. now my question is do you think its time for me to lift the lid and blow out the cat? real quick outside? this is my primary heat source for a super drafty house so we dont let the fire go out all winter unless it gets crazy warm like in teh 50s. and also i was wondering about my stacks of wood the are stacked in single cord rows with metal roofing on top but some snow and rain still get through should i be worried? i will be posting pictures of my setup after christmas when i open that camera under the tree hehe. agian thanks guys my house is wayyy warmer this year everything ive been taught is appreciated

Glad to hear you happy with your stove,,, I know I'm super happy with mine,, and I'm only burning soft maple.

 

[Ashful]

The few times I've cleaned my cat, I found a shop vac with the dusting brush on the nozzle works well. Less forceful than compressed air, but more than blowing thru it with puckered lips.

 

[PapaDave]

Maybe it would work better with some mistletoe?

 

[HDRock]

I clicked on this thread cuz it said fireview, but U see my avatar ,my stove is a fire view

 

[charly]

I clicked on this thread cuz it said fireview, but U see my avatar ,my stove is a fire view

I use to have one of those in my garage about 15 years ago,,,I bought it for 75 dollars.. Someone had put a variable speed control on the blower.. Heated my garage great! What a nicely built stove, firebrick and all.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

i have soft maple ash yellow birch and cherry ive gotten maybe 5 bubblers but thats wood from the very bottom of the stack the stuff 3 splits up is very dry or so i think wood sits next to the stove for 2 days then gets burned i wanna get one of those 96 in racks from tsc to store some wood in the house so its dry and warm. i believe everything is going as it should its 79 degrees in here and 22 outside i cant wait till next winter when i am a year ahead and never have to burn the wet stuff agian about 2 years seasoned should be perfect right now i have a cord of almost all soft maple on the porch and it seems to be burning great no struggling to keep it going ii just make sure i have a good coal bed which i always do with the fireview. so in the next couple days if it warms up ill pull the cat and use a can of keyboard air and blow her out should i use a paint brush?? or will the air do enough? any tips that pertain to the fireview are always welcome as i love running this thing. pictures to come christmas day i promise

That soft maple should be ideal now! That stuff drys fast. We burn a good deal of it normally but now mostly ash because of the dead trees. Cherry should not be too bad nor should the ash. That said, you mentioned some super seasoned wood. You won't have that for many years! 2 years will be good for lots of the woods but 3 is even better! If you really want some super seasoned wood that the Fireview will love, try some 6-7 year old wood. Now that is super seasoned and really burns nice.

You also mentioned burning less wood. We noticed at least a 50% reduction in the amount of wood we burn with the Fireview vs our old stoves.

Now because your wood is not at least a year from being split and stacked, I would recommend that you give the stove a little extra time before engaging the cat. This will give extra time to evaporate moisture out of the wood and moisture is the worst enemy to the catalyst. So give it extra time on both cold starts and on reloads. You might not be able to dial the draft down quite as far either but that is okay. Good luck.

On cleaning the cat. We quickly went to cleaning only twice per season and this year we'll probably clean it once. But then, we do not expect to burn more than 3 cord and our wood is dry. For cleaning, like Todd states, we burn the stove down to coals and then I just lift the cat out and quickly go out onto the porch. Usually I will just use an old paint brush to brush off the fine white fly ash. You can blow it out with the cans of air if you wish and it won't hurt at all. You can also just lightly tap the cat on a piece of wood and that ash that is inside the honeycomb will fall right out. I usually notice when I sit the cat down on a block of wood that the block has some white on it. Then I just brush. Or if you prefer the air, you can do it all with just the canned air.


Back to the wood. You no doubt have noticed that I always recommend folks have a 3 year wood supply. This not only assures you have good dry wood to burn but should some accident or a health issue keep you from putting up wood one year, you have something to fall back to and won't have to worry about keeping your house nice and warm. I am facing just this issue right now. Not sure how much wood I can put up this winter but will keep trying. However, if I can't do any more, I still have no worries about the wood as we have several years worth of wood already split and stacked. Like you, we use old galvanized roofing.

So why is your wood getting wet? How is it getting wet with the roofing there? If it is just getting wet on the sides, then that is nothing to be concerned with at all.