So I've really had a couple months now to settle in with my Fireview and I am very pleased with it. The only way it would be better in my opinion would be if it had that neato/cool ash pan set-up that the PH has. But of course that would change the whole character of the stove as it would need longer legs at least and it really looks great with the profile it now has, which I appreciate too. One of the things I really love about the Fv is the total control the draft control seems to provide. It's incredibly easy to manage the intensity of the burn with the draft. Not like my Resolute which is letting in so much secondary air, one wonders why bother with a primary air control, you could drive a truck through that air inlet on the VC. With the Fv, I can pretty much shut the entire stove down using the draft control when I shut it all the way, and then have complete control bring it up through various ranges of burn as I increase the draft. Normal burn on a really cold day, my cruise setting for everything after loading up and charring the wood is just a tad under 1 on the draft control. This will give me either no flames but a nice bright cat, or, some wispy blue/orange flames and/or the rolling flames. On a nice cold day below say 20'F I set the control about .75 and get a great little light show with lots of rolling flames and/or light show of gas ignitions. But today was in the upper 30s all day and it's 6:45PM and still 35 degrees out, with a 78' temp on the far wall of the stove room. (a 26X13 living area/kitchen with cathedral ceilings and loft above) and a 68'F temp on the far wall of the back rooms of the house. But I'd like to keep the heat in this main living area down below 75'F if possible so my strategy has been small fire, minimize the fuel and just let the stove glow for hours down on the <350'F side of stove top temp. It's so easy to do this with the Fv.. I've got 4 small spits in there and and after charring the small load I've just brought it down to about .5 on the draft control and I've got a bunch of glowing coals and the cat just died down and I'll prolly feed it a stick or two if I need to between now and 10:30 when we hit the sack. Then I'll load it for the overnight burn, and simply load up fully, char the wood and then set for cruise control. I know I'll peak STT at about 550 but then it seems to settle in for a long time at 400ish and I'll find it a 300'F and a nice bed of coals tomorrow morning. This is so much better than the life I was leading before when it was either too hot, too cold, needed kindling and a prayer in the morning, ...you know the drill.
It is more efficient and I expected that, but it is also more linear in it's ability to put out heat. Kind of the equivalent of an engine with a nice smooth power curve. My last stove was like an on/off switch, either smoulder and creosote or blast furnace, this one is much more controllable.
I feel exactly the same way about the PH and Ideal Steel - control and power curve. My parents have a FV, but have it in too small a house to put it through its paces, so I haven't experienced what it can do. Do you get a lot more heat out the front on the upper end of the curve?
All away around really but very much so radiant from the glass and also off the top. Once it's on the plus side of 600'F it's putting out some major BTUs. I've just now started to dive into the "good wood" that I have meaning a solid 2 years+ old and mainly oak and ash. The good wood and the cold weather made that recent cold snap a pleasure to heat. Nice balanced heat too. Love it when the flames go out but that cat is bright orange in there and the needle stays 1/4 inch or so from the red, plus side of 600 and cruising.
