Hello All,
I have been burning my fireview over the past 2 months and thought I would post my thoughts about the Fireview vs. my former stove (Avalon Rainer).
A little history..... I have been burning Avalon stoves/inserts for the past 20yrs. I have owned everyone of their sheet metal stoves during that time. I was very happy with the performance of my Avalon stoves (otherwise I wouldn't have purchased so many). My decision to switch to a Fireview was to satisfy a 30yr desire to own a soapstone stove. That and the tax rebates helped. I read all the posts and there were not too many negatives coming from Fireview owners. It sounded sort of cult-ish. I even had some friends locally who have Fireviews and could not say enought good things about them.
Initially I was a little uneasy with my purchase. The operation seemed more complicated than with the Avalon. The whole concept of the catalytic converter took a little time to get used to. So much so that I kept the crate the Fireview arrived in just incase I decided to send it back.
OK after 2 months I have survived the learning curve and thought I'd share my PRO's and CON's about the Fireview
CON's
1) Rear controls..... not in direct site. Reaching around a 500 deg stove not the most convenient. Also the damper control knob gets very hot. Why not make it similar to the bypass control know so you can adjust it with out gloves or whacking it with some other object
2) Sealed Front window: I like to keep the glass clean. Cleaning the glass throught the window is difficult enought through the side door and then you have to negotiate the andirons.
3) Side Door only access: I actually like the side door for loading the fire, however, having front access would be much easier for starting.
4) Warm-up time: no real heat for the firs 30-40min
5) More complicated to use than Avalon (just slightly)
PRO's
1) Soapstone heat retention: Real nice waking up to a stove you haven't fed in 10 hrs to find it still 200 deg and the room still warm. My heater was always going on in the early morning hours with the Avalon
2) Long burns. Burn times similar to that quoted in brochure (I'm a hardwood burner). Much longer that I could get with the Rainer
3) Appropriate size stove for room. The Avalon Rainier was a little oversized for the room it was located. I know Avalon has a smaller stove (I owned one) however it accepts a shorter log and didn't have the burn times of the Fireview
4) Glass stays clear. While cleaning the glass is more difficult I don't really have to clean the glass very often. Aside from the first few burns in the Fireview the glass stays amazingly clean. I would clean the Avalon's glass much more frequently.
UNKNOWN
Chimney? I never had any problems with significant creosote buildup with the Avalon. It's too early to tell how the Fireview will do.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The fireview has grown on me and I am extremly pleased with its performance. For me the PRO's vasty outweight the CON's. I'm keeping the Fireview. The crate has been split into kindling.
Rick D
P.S. Thanks for everyone posting their comments. I learned a lot from the forum about the positives and negatives of all stoves.
I have been burning my fireview over the past 2 months and thought I would post my thoughts about the Fireview vs. my former stove (Avalon Rainer).
A little history..... I have been burning Avalon stoves/inserts for the past 20yrs. I have owned everyone of their sheet metal stoves during that time. I was very happy with the performance of my Avalon stoves (otherwise I wouldn't have purchased so many). My decision to switch to a Fireview was to satisfy a 30yr desire to own a soapstone stove. That and the tax rebates helped. I read all the posts and there were not too many negatives coming from Fireview owners. It sounded sort of cult-ish. I even had some friends locally who have Fireviews and could not say enought good things about them.
Initially I was a little uneasy with my purchase. The operation seemed more complicated than with the Avalon. The whole concept of the catalytic converter took a little time to get used to. So much so that I kept the crate the Fireview arrived in just incase I decided to send it back.
OK after 2 months I have survived the learning curve and thought I'd share my PRO's and CON's about the Fireview
CON's
1) Rear controls..... not in direct site. Reaching around a 500 deg stove not the most convenient. Also the damper control knob gets very hot. Why not make it similar to the bypass control know so you can adjust it with out gloves or whacking it with some other object
2) Sealed Front window: I like to keep the glass clean. Cleaning the glass throught the window is difficult enought through the side door and then you have to negotiate the andirons.
3) Side Door only access: I actually like the side door for loading the fire, however, having front access would be much easier for starting.
4) Warm-up time: no real heat for the firs 30-40min
5) More complicated to use than Avalon (just slightly)
PRO's
1) Soapstone heat retention: Real nice waking up to a stove you haven't fed in 10 hrs to find it still 200 deg and the room still warm. My heater was always going on in the early morning hours with the Avalon
2) Long burns. Burn times similar to that quoted in brochure (I'm a hardwood burner). Much longer that I could get with the Rainer
3) Appropriate size stove for room. The Avalon Rainier was a little oversized for the room it was located. I know Avalon has a smaller stove (I owned one) however it accepts a shorter log and didn't have the burn times of the Fireview
4) Glass stays clear. While cleaning the glass is more difficult I don't really have to clean the glass very often. Aside from the first few burns in the Fireview the glass stays amazingly clean. I would clean the Avalon's glass much more frequently.
UNKNOWN
Chimney? I never had any problems with significant creosote buildup with the Avalon. It's too early to tell how the Fireview will do.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The fireview has grown on me and I am extremly pleased with its performance. For me the PRO's vasty outweight the CON's. I'm keeping the Fireview. The crate has been split into kindling.
Rick D
P.S. Thanks for everyone posting their comments. I learned a lot from the forum about the positives and negatives of all stoves.
