FHC Exclusive! Long low oak burn in the new Ideal Steel stove

Now that's a mountain of firewood !
Keep the Jeep, I'll take the wood

 

I always wanted to try burning a log like this but something this size just wouldn't have fit through the door of my Fireview. Heck I don't know if it would have fit in the firebox.

 

Big fireboxes are a lot of fun. Several times I've had splits that I was like "well, there's no way that's going to fit in the stove." Followed by, "I'll be dammed, I got the door closed."

 

I've been burning without the andirons in general but we've been using up some long pieces loading EW for two days so I put them back in yesterday. I was glad I did when this log rolled up against them with a thud, several seconds after I closed the door. I don't think it would have hurt the door glass but I wouldn't have wanted a log this size resting against the glass for the next 12 hours.

 

Nice long burn. I was hoping the new WS could go 24+. Keep the info coming.

 

I prefer andirons. The Heritage would have been a better stove with andirons. It is interesting to see a front loading stove with them. It's rare, if not unheard of. I wonder how many times I will curse myself for over filling the stove when I realize I can't put the andirons in place. Should be interesting, but I prefer them as it also prevents ash spillage when reloading.

How are you burning these days? Did you get the Locust, yet? Can you do a 12 hour cycle of legitimate heat during cold temps with the softer wood you were using?

 

The andirons kinda scared my 17yo son one day last week. He dropped them to do a load but then between some coals on the lip of the stove and a log that was a bit too long, he couldn't get the andirons back up in place. The logs were catching fire and he was a bit frantic but he got them up and got the door closed after fiddling with it.

My wife was sick in bed all day yesterday so we didn't go to my parents' for Sunday dinner. Scotty lives in the same county as them so I had planned on getting the locust yesterday. Oh well...next weekend.

If I pack the stove really full, I can get 8-10 hours of legitimate heat out of the cherry. But if I'm going for a lot of heat, it can really chew through that cherry quickly.

The oak and ash lasts longer, obviously.

 

Brian, anything new to share about the Steel?

 

Merry Christmas Brian. What's the latest news about that heating beast?

 

Not much to report. We're just burning it daily and enjoying the heat. I've been working on other stuff lately so no other tests going on. I still haven't picked up the locust so that's the next test.

My youngest son is the one who operates it the most and is burning through the 2/3 cord of oak blocks right now. He likes using them because they last so long and are so easy to load and it ends up being a twice a day chore instead of three times a day with the cherry.

90% of our loads are NS and I have removed the andirons for that reason. I've only emptied ash twice since I started burning it. To me that doesn't even seem possible but that is the case. We've cleaned the door glass once.

It's just become a twice a day routine with the oak. Load it, engage the cat after the load chars and cut back the air and forget it. An hour or two before reload I open the air up to 100% to burn down the coals. It pumps out as much heat as needed and we can close down the air to zero to cool it off when needed. It's very controllable. (I would chose a darker color scheme in the future. I don't like the light gray on the body.)

We have a back room on the first floor that we used to close off when heating with the Fireview. Now I leave the door open with a fan blowing on low towards the main rooms of the first floor. That room stays comfortable now. I have a ceiling fan in the living room where the stove is located. If I want more heat in the living room I turn that fan on to draw the heat down off the ceiling. The room will go up 3 to 5 degrees in a half hour. I turn the fan off at night so the heat goes up the stairs at the far side of the living room to heat the second floor bedrooms and bath and the attic which my two sons share as a bedroom. This stove has more than enough BTUs to handle the whole house. Our Fireview was an excellent stove but it couldn't keep up with this drafty old house.

 

My son also packed the stove full with kiln dried oak ends and boards the other day as an experiment. I was a bit apprehensive because that stuff burns HOT and fast so I told him to watch it close and dial it back fast if it starts running away. He got it going and dialed the air down sooner and a bit lower than usual and it behaved like a good load of oak. I don't know how many hours we got out of that load but it didn't run away on us.

Yesterday we were lazy in the morning and opened presents and lounged around instead of building the fire. In the evening he finally got around to loading the stove with more of the big oak blocks. He tried to start them with our Dixie cup/shredded paper and wax firestarters because there weren't enough hot coals left from Tuesday night, but was disappointed they wouldn't catch. He loaded several 2x4 pieces of pine under the oak and tried again with the firestarter and it then caught easily. He has only had to start a fire with firestarters two or three times now with this stove so I think he's forgetting the basics. He's getting spoiled because this stove almost always has enough coals left to catch splits on a reload.

 

Welcome to the club.. we got two good sized storms here in New England and then some rain on southern New England but Maine and Northern States got hit hard with an ice storm. Many still don't have power and they lost it before Christmas.

But since then we've had a cold snap and it was teen temps for Christmas and today is sitting at 25'F.

 

thanks for the update Brian. Good report.. Happy New year

 

How do you keep something this big going though? I need a lot of coals or multiple pieces to keep flame going.

 

I loaded it on a big bed of coals. After about two hours I moved it to the far right hand side of the stove and loaded the rest of the firebox with cherry splits. I don't think you could burn a round this size without other wood to keep it going.

 

That makes sense. I was thinking...maybe open the air control, but you'd have no coals into the burn for a few hours.

 

I put a half round of the big ash on the far right in this load. Then filled it in with a combo of the oak blocks, an ash split and some of the kiln dried oak ends and boards. This load should provide a LOT of heat for ten to twelve hours and have a big coal bed to reload on. (We have the house thermostat set a little higher than usual for the Holidays, about 68, so we haven't been as diligent about keeping up a rip roaring fire.)

 

I burn rounds that barely fit through the door of the PH. They burn just fine alone in the PH. It may be easier to maintain a fire in the PH.

 

This ash was cut and stacked in April. It might not be as dry as it could be but I'm just playing around with a couple pieces to see what happens. This is probably the fourth piece I've loaded this size.

If properly seasoned I think it would be ok.