So I'm really thinking about ordering the AS for our 1200 sq ft house to be. We like the look of simple black. Got to looking at the IS out of curiosity. First thing that caught my eye........ the IS is a bigger stove yet the simple black version is a full $350 cheaper!?? Next thing that I noticed......the IS puts out less BTU/hr than the smaller AS. Burn time is a lot longer but......... Can anyone educate me on this?
I’m no pro on this subject but one big difference between the two is the AS has a lot of cast iron parts as the IS is all steel. I have a IS and like it. If I was heating 1200 I’d be looking at a fireview. I have one also and it is one heck of a heater. VERY efficient stove. My wife wanted a stove in our main living area and fireview is what we went with. It rarely runs but when it does its impressive. We heat 1900 with our IS and windows are open on a regular basis here. The IS makes a lot of heat! The only downside to the fireview in my opinion is it’s not a hybrid. The flame show my IS puts on with the secondaries is impressive. My 2 cents.
I’m thinking you are confusing the PH, with its many cast parts, with the AS, which has few if any cast parts (the grate?).
I don’t have a good answer for the numbers on paper. The hybrid stoves were developed as PH, then IS, and then AS. In terms of max output at a point in time they perform in that order, with the IS closer to the PH than to the AS. In terms of length of burn (time between reloads) in winter heating situations, I’d rank them as IS, PH, and AS. That might change with the new PH air control, but I doubt it. There is no question that the AS has less peak and less total output than the IS (on my flue with same type of wood in both stoves). I stuck with the PH because I can get more BTU per day out of it than the other two stoves in weather like this current cold stretch, but the IS would be a better stove for me in October and April. The new air control for the PH might negate that difference. I personally don’t like the IS door as compared to the AS. I found the IS air control worked best of the three on my flue. The AS has the tertiary air supply on the spring damper, and likely is more efficient.
If that is the biggest mistake you make, you are in pretty good shape! Same company, same burn technology, etc etc
Thanks for that Slocum. I am really interested in the Fv. It's more than we wanted to spend but it will last out our lives. Thanks Flamestead for the clarification and the review of the lineup. Still not sure why the IS is cheaper than the smaller AS. I did just notice that the bottom of the line IS comes with fire brick rather than soapstone liner. That's probably it.
