Just curious as to where everyone's sweet spot is on different Fireview installs. Mine seems to me running nice @ .75 , providing a nice glowing cat. 425 plus stove top and 300 on the flue gas temp.
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Depends how much heat I need. If I want some flame in the box for a while, it'll usually be from .75 to 1.25. If I don't need much heat, I can run cat only with the air closed all the way. This AM I loaded some Red Elm in the back/bottom and Red Maple in front and on top. But I must have cut the air too much or too fast because I lost the flame. I didn't try to get it back because it's not all that cold out right now. Tonight's load will have some flame for a while, though...dropping into the 20s. Anyway, I got to thinking "maybe there are different sweet spots with different species of wood if I want flame..."
I usually ran my Fireview at just a smidge below1 for an average Winters day. My Keystone seems to like it around .75
Sweet spot for our Fireview is in the living room. 
.75 is our normal setting. Sometimes higher and occasionally lower. With the .75 or 1 we can easily get 600+ stove top.
.75 is our normal setting. Sometimes higher and occasionally lower. With the .75 or 1 we can easily get 600+ stove top.
mfglickman
Minister of Fire
Sweet spot for mine, half past a freckle going on a hair? LOL. I don't have numbers on mine, just a slider in the door with 4 holes - the slider closes each door the same amount across the board so they are all at full, a half, etc....no such thing as having one hole, two holes, etc. open or closed.
Stovetop temp 450 - 700 depending on how cold it is outside. Engage cat between 250 and 350 usually.
Stovetop temp 450 - 700 depending on how cold it is outside. Engage cat between 250 and 350 usually.
fireview2788
Minister of Fire
Right now mine is a touch above a one. When it gets colder this week then it will be about .75.
fv
fv
Being new to the Fireview, your saying the more you close the draft the more smoke is created and the hotter the cat gets, thus the hotter the stove top temp ? How much flame is OK for the cat? Can you run at 1.5 getting more heat out of the whole stove?
After engaging the cat, .8 until stovetop temp climbs to ~600-620 F, then down to .6. Nice long burn.
I have found that stove top temps don't tell the whole story because the cat sits right underneath. Basically if you want more heat you need to have good flame in the box to get the whole stove hot verses just the top for a slow cat burn. I think 1.5 may be about max, once you get beyond that the draft may be too strong for the cat to have time to do its thing.
fireview2788
Minister of Fire
I've found that the key for my stove is some flame but it also depends on what I am looking for. If I want a hot stove but a shorter burn then it is more open. If I want a longer burn to sustain the temps then it's more closed. Play around with it and don't be afraid to experiment to find the sweet spot.
fv
fv
Thanks Todd, I'll keep trying different settings and just watch what's going on and what works for my particular set up. Even though I'm out through a wall with my pipe, I have an excellent draft. I can leave my door open any where's from a cold stove, lighting it, to a warm stove while loading and never have smoke spill out the door at all. Even shoveling the ashes out there is really no ash dust per say that exits the stove door. I have a 22ft masonry chimney with an insulated liner. Here I thought adding a 90 to the back of the Fireview was going to slow things up, over the Quad was a top exit,,, boy did I get a good surprise
mfglickman
Minister of Fire
I opened up the draft more than usual (2/3 or 3/4 open maybe) last night but left the cat in, as the house was chilly. Flames started jumping and the room warmed right up - lovely.
They are certainly beautiful heaters and stoves,,, no doubt! In my eye's ,, a really relaxing way to burn wood. Seems like with a stone stove, everything is in slow motion, no rushing to get things regulated as to a burn getting out of control ,,,,,the stove suddenly getting to hot. I have no problem packing my stove full of wood and sleeping at night, I know things will burn as planned. Another plus for the beautiful design of Woodstock stoves. If it flame gets low who cares,,,, the cat is right there to clean things up. Best of both worlds in my opinion. You know I don't feel like a slave to the stove either,, again it's set it and forget it. Go do what you need to do, instead of checking hourly as to the stove not doing what you thought it would do.
.75 is our sweet spot. Just over 1 if it is warmer outside or I want to make some extra heat. As low as .5 when a good cat burn is established or when it is very cold out and the draft is much greater. I think .75 is the best to start at and then experiment a bit and you'll get to know your set up and what works best. I agree that any more than 1.5 is too much air for the cat to do much good except when you want to burn down a big bed of coals, but at that point there's probably not much out gassing going on anyway so you probably don't need that cat engaged anyway.
Again thanks for the feed back. I'm just thankful that I happen to have a very good draft, no back puffing even when set to .5. I knew from day one when I struck the first wooden match to light the first break-in fire, that I had a good draft,,, suck the flame out of the match as soon as I got near the door. I've never had any smoke spillage at all when loading . Door can stay right open and no worries of smoke smell or smoke coming out. Makes it a pleasure to run the stove. Right now it's going to be all silver maple as I had to take down to monsters last fall. It's burning good. When I get into harder wood this stove should rock! 31 outside and blowing , the Fireview is keeping the old farmhouse @ 74 on .75 with soft maple,,, I'm impressed! Nice thing is burning the soft maple with the cat lets me burn it slow yet get a lot of heat retention into the stone. Works out great!
Sounds ike you have it figured out. Yes, it is a great heater. We are starting our 4th season with ours. We had a Franklin style stove before it and the difference was huge. The control and burn time are great. My old stove could burn a wheel barrow full of wood in a day, but still be cold in the morning. My drafty old house stays super cozy with 4 loads per day in cold weather and as little as one load per day in the more mild weather.
I' am still new to the Fireview as well, my sweet spot seems to be right at 1. with stovetop temps between 500~600°. We still haven't had any real cold weather yet so I'm curious to see if I can get the draft down to .75 like everyone else. If I try .75 the fire burns at a real low temp and doesn't burn down all the wood leaving big coals. 1 seems to be a perfect burn, those rolling flames high in the firebox and slow moving! Absolutely mesmerizing, I love it!
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