Found the limit of my stove?

[Slow1]

Are you guys burning 4-5 full loads or just throwing a couple more splits in to keep the temp up? I don't think I ever loaded my stove 5 times in one day, maybe 4 times once in awhile but they weren't full loads. I thought I was burning pretty hot (.75-1.25) with 3 full loads of Locust or Oak per day and that's enough heat to keep my 1800 sq ft above 70 when the outside temps are in the single digits. If the wife and daughter didn't complain so much I'd do two loads and keep the place in the mid 60's. Some people get a little greedy with wood heat and try to get it as hot as possible, I become a lazy slug if it gets too hot.

I only load it full most of the time these days (today being an exception). I figure it is easy enough to tone it back for the most part and why open the door any more often than I have to? I admire your ability to heat that much space to 70 so easily. I take that as proof that I have more to learn and improve and/or my fuel has room for improvement. Two good things to know - I may yet to max out the potential eh?

 

[Todd]

Are you guys burning 4-5 full loads or just throwing a couple more splits in to keep the temp up? I don't think I ever loaded my stove 5 times in one day, maybe 4 times once in awhile but they weren't full loads. I thought I was burning pretty hot (.75-1.25) with 3 full loads of Locust or Oak per day and that's enough heat to keep my 1800 sq ft above 70 when the outside temps are in the single digits. If the wife and daughter didn't complain so much I'd do two loads and keep the place in the mid 60's. Some people get a little greedy with wood heat and try to get it as hot as possible, I become a lazy slug if it gets too hot.

I only load it full most of the time these days (today being an exception). I figure it is easy enough to tone it back for the most part and why open the door any more often than I have to? I admire your ability to heat that much space to 70 so easily. I take that as proof that I have more to learn and improve and/or my fuel has room for improvement. Two good things to know - I may yet to max out the potential eh?

I think I'm a little spoiled with this bone dry Locust I'm burning, it makes a big difference along with continuing improvements in tightening up my house with new windows, doors and insulation.

 

[rdust]

So my conclusion is that for extended single digit periods of time (near zero nights) I'm going to have to be sure and have the house good and warm before bed (duh) and may well have to either accept the central heat kicking in or plan to feed the stove every 4-4.5 hours with the wood I'm burning now. Perhaps once I am burning wood that fills the box better (all this is a bit on the short side) I will do better, also having less punk and unknown "mixed hardwood" would help too.

4-5 hours of meaningful heat from stove with a firebox of the fireview isn't bad when it's single digit cold imo. I think when it gets cold a CAT stove is going to burn about the same as a non CAT stove with a equal sized firebox. They sure shine when it's warmer out since you can dial it way down and not create a bunch of soot though.

We keep the furnace on 70* here and before I go to bed I usually have the lower level around 75* with about a 8-10* degree difference in our rooms upstairs when I go to bed. When I get up around 7 the furnace is usually just coming on or has ran a few minutes. If I'm tired and load up around 10 pm the furnace will usually run about an hour or so before I reload in the morning when it's in the low teens.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Mmmmmmmmm...... inside temps too cold for me!

Shari

Everyone has their own preferences. Before the stove we kept the house at 63max during short periods of the day, then went down to 58 at night and piled blankets high on the bed if necessary. Perhaps it's the Norse blood in me I don't like being too hot. Although I have to admit I do like to hang out near the stove during the day where it is often 70+ and whatever the air temp is registering the radiant heat feels good.

I feel it is important to note the temps since someone else intending to try and stretch this stove in a similar climate in a home like mine can't expect 75* throughout 2400sqft unless they have some amazing insulation in their house. Then again, I've heard that those foam and concrete houses can be "heated with a candle" - dunno about that claim but I'd like to see one. I'm in a 2x4 frame home built reasonable tight but I didn't do it myself so I know it isn't as good as it could be - contractors just do it 'good enough' eh?

Funny! I'm like you, I much prefer a cooler house and warm sweaters. Which is a good thing since I'm very much under-stoved for the climate and the house. But I'm far happier with mid-60s in my living spaces and get uncomfortable when it's up to 70 or so. For one thing, it makes going outside much less of a shock when it's really cold out if your own internal thermostat is already revved up.

My 2nd floor is unheated except for what comes up through the ceiling from the stove downstairs, and that's fine with me. I've got good attic insulation, which keeps the 2nd floor bedrooms from ever getting super-cold. Even when we had a few days of -20 overnight last year, it was perfectly fine for sleeping. I wouldn't lie around in my negligee and eat bon-bons up there during the winter, but I've always preferred to have a cold nose and a toasty warm body under heaps of covers for sleeping, so I'm happy.

Each to his/her own makes the world go 'round, but it's another reason why those estimates of how many square feet you can heat with a particular stove are close to useless.

 

[Rich L]

Well, either I found the limit of my stove, or I wimped/chickened out last week.

Here is the setup - my folks were visiting for the holiday week. I've been heating exclusively with the stove all winter as long as we were in town (i.e. not having someone come house sit to feed the stove). So far we've had some cold nights in the teens and touched in the single digits. I'm heating somewhere between 2200 and 2400 sq ft with a stove officially rated for 1600 sq ft. My insulation is perhaps a bit better than "normal average" but I have no idea what that really is so... whatever. House is only 10 years old and has been upgraded so it isn't half bad. We like to have the house in the mid 60's during the day and for my family I've had the thermostats (multiple zones) set to 55 as the backup temp and never gotten close to it.

While the folks were here we had one day where the temps dropped to 9* in the evening, then down to 3* that night. That night before going to bed I decided I didn't want my parents to get cold so I set the thermostats to 59 and 60 (down/upstairs zones) this was partially due to the fact they were in the room that gets the least amount of heat from the stove. Went to bed at about 9p after loading the stove full and having it running good and hot. House temps were only about 62 at the time since we had been out for the evening and I missed a load opportunity as the temps were falling. Ug. Went to bed early because I've been ill. Fun week. Anyway, woke up at 3:30a (see ill statement) and central heat was on, stove was ready for a load (of course - was running it hot) so I loaded it up full. Got up again at 7:30 and thermostats still had same temp but central heat wasn't running at that moment - (outside temp was 9.3* at that time), loaded stove up and an hour later house was warming up - got up to comfortable without having to change central heat thermostat. Was a 5 load day for the fireview though which was a first for me.

So my conclusion is that for extended single digit periods of time (near zero nights) I'm going to have to be sure and have the house good and warm before bed (duh) and may well have to either accept the central heat kicking in or plan to feed the stove every 4-4.5 hours with the wood I'm burning now. Perhaps once I am burning wood that fills the box better (all this is a bit on the short side) I will do better, also having less punk and unknown "mixed hardwood" would help too.

Thought I'd share this 'reality' with folks. I know others are looking to take their Fireview to the extremes and want to know what those may be. I wouldn't take my one experience as gospel (either good or bad) but as a single data point to ponder and build on. Anyone want more specific data let me know what you are interested in as I might just have it in my logs (don't want to clutter up the post with unwanted data).

With the area your heating I think the Mansfield would have served you better.I found the Fireview to be too small for my similar area and returned it.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Well, either I found the limit of my stove, or I wimped/chickened out last week.

Here is the setup - my folks were visiting for the holiday week. I've been heating exclusively with the stove all winter as long as we were in town (i.e. not having someone come house sit to feed the stove). So far we've had some cold nights in the teens and touched in the single digits. I'm heating somewhere between 2200 and 2400 sq ft with a stove officially rated for 1600 sq ft.

Thought I'd share this 'reality' with folks. I know others are looking to take their Fireview to the extremes and want to know what those may be. I wouldn't take my one experience as gospel (either good or bad) but as a single data point to ponder and build on. Anyone want more specific data let me know what you are interested in as I might just have it in my logs (don't want to clutter up the post with unwanted data).

Why?

You put that stove in, right?

Why not? Old stove was a 40Kbtu/hr stove, this one is 55Kbtu/hr, all other ratings in terms of heat output also are higher for the fireview. Last winter I found that when the old stove was burning it kept the house about where we wanted it so I figure this one could do it too and it does. I know it's ratings well - look up my old posts. I put the comment in my original post so nobody would jump down my throat with that statement like it was news to me. I also am doing my best to point out that we are happy with mid 60's during the day. In fact we stop loading as often and dial it back when temps get above that in the house as they did today. It was above freezing outside so I let the stove die down to clean glass and remove ashes, no hurry to get it up to full burn, just put a few bits in to maintain coals as I am finding myself too lazy to light from scratch anymore. Don't misunderstand my original post as a complaint or any sort of put down - it is merely a factual report of what happened. I may learn my fuel can be improved or my style of burning can be optimized and next single digit temps I may find I don't kick in the central heat... this is, after all, my first season with this stove and I've barely burned a cord of wood in it!

I dunno. . . I could split all my firewood with a hatchet too. . .

 

[Slow1]

I'm heating somewhere between 2200 and 2400 sq ft with a stove officially rated for 1600 sq ft.

Why?

You put that stove in, right?

Why not? Old stove was a 40Kbtu/hr stove, this one is 55Kbtu/hr, all other ratings in terms of heat output also are higher for the fireview. Last winter I found that when the old stove was burning it kept the house about where we wanted it so I figure this one could do it too and it does. ...

I dunno. . . I could split all my firewood with a hatchet too. . .

(edited quoted quotes to reduce length)

I don't think the hatchet analogy fits very well since very few would believe it would meet your needs for even a small fraction of your splitting needs. However, this stove fully meets at least 90% of my heating needs with very little tending or trouble and appears to do so very efficiently (i.e. less heat up the flue that I've experienced in my limited past). So why not be happy with it?

IF I had put in a much larger stove, particularly a non-cat stove then in order to burn efficiently and not have to feed it frequently my understanding is that I'd have to run it hot for at least a decent part of the burn cycle. This very likely would overheat our space (by our definition) - over 70 and the wife starts complaining. Unhappy wife, unhappy life eh?

Looks like I've threadjacked my own posting here... oh well, that's fine. I appreciate the discussion. I have always felt the sqft heating rating is somewhat vague and perhaps close to useless for the purpose of buying a stove. Perhaps for comparing stoves from a particular manufacturer it can help you figure out one from another, but other than that they have little value to me. Your climate and individual preferences as well as the way your home is built (quality and layout) play such a significant role in how much space you can heat with a space heater like this how can anyone say?

To anyone reading this that is considering the Fireview for 2000+ sqft keep in mind that I'm still new at burning this stove and probably have not really hit the limits of what it can do. I'll keep posting these experiences as I find them interesting to read when others post them about their stoves/situations. I will always try my best to be objective and factual in my reports - just the way it is so that others can make their own call on what they want to do with the information/data. I generally have more data points available - just ask if you want them.

And just to be clear - I LOVE this stove and recommend it to anyone who feels it will meet their needs. It is very easy to operate, keeps coals for a very long time after the useful 'burn time' has expired and stays warm during that time too. I appreciate the craftsmanship and support of the company that treats customers with respect.