"I have come across many favorable reviews about the Flameview's operation. However there is one very comprehensive youtube review that does not give the Flameview a good overall review. This review id dome by a dealer in Montana, Woody Chain. He seems very knowledgeable on stoves. He sells nearly every make available in North America and beyond (or so it seems). So I feel he is being objective in his review, and has lots to compare the Flameview to. In his series of videos, he takes apart a Flameview to see it from the inside. He points out some flaws in this relatively brand new unit.
Such as:
Gaps in the internal flue that directs the hot gasses around the oven. Where it seems that smoke could leak out into your home until the gaps become sealed with creasode.
Again, gaps around the oven hinges that would appear to allow smoke and gasses to leak out.
Painted steel interior of the oven that was already starting to rust before it ever had steaming food cooking in it. (As opposed to porcelain enamel or stainless steel as other brands have.)
Blower fan that is oppressively loud. And in the opinion of this dealer, is a design flaw that disrupts the thermo-dynamics of the stove by cooling a section of the flue, there by causing smoke to leak from the stove.
Glass that doesn't stay clean. Apparently the airwash causes you to burn through fuel too quickly, and doesn't work that great anyways.
Can anyone with a Flameview or other Margin stove give me some input on the points I raised earlier? My two biggest reservations are the potential smoke leakage problems and rust forming in the oven. I don't expect the stove to be perfect. For instance dirty glass is not that big of deal. A loud fan (as long as the whole this works) is not a big deal either.
I understand that all stoves leak a little smoke when they are new. I am not super picky. It is just alot of money to spend and I want to make the right choice.
Thank-you all for your input."
P.S. For some great answers to these questions, please see the Dec. 2, 2013 comment from Green Mommy posted on the "Purchasing a New Wood Cookstove" entry which is linked above. She has some great firsthand input that she has shared there.
Also, the Sept. 8, 2020 comment from Oldplaner below gives an excellent update.
Well, as you know I have a flame view, and dislike most everything about it. Except as mentioned before the venting.
ReplyDeleteI would advise against one.
Teri
Thanks, Teri. I directed CS to look at your earlier comments too because I thought that they were helpful. I appreciate your input.
DeleteTom from mo,I installed my flame view in 2009 i have 2300 sq ft this is all i heat with also heats my water have 80 gallon tank with pump that turns on when fan starts. i have a heat pump but do not turn on except when gone for a few days. will buy another flame view if this one fails. the only problem is it has some cracks in fire brick.witch i will replace this summer 2016. ps i burn about 3 to 4 cord of wood each year.
DeleteTom from mo,I installed my flame view in 2009 i have 2300 sq ft this is all i heat with also heats my water have 80 gallon tank with pump that turns on when fan starts. i have a heat pump but do not turn on except when gone for a few days. will buy another flame view if this one fails. the only problem is it has some cracks in fire brick.witch i will replace this summer 2016. ps i burn about 3 to 4 cord of wood each year.
DeleteJim, thank-you for posting my questions to the attention of all your members.
ReplyDeleteTeri, I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with your Flameview.
I have some questions for both of you regarding your respective stoves:
Do you have the optional mechanical draft control mechanism? If so, how well does it work?
Do you have the optional blower fan? If so, how well does it work? If not, how well does the stove radiate heat? I want to make sure I am able to distribute the heat through the house on a cold Canadian winter night.
Regarding domestic hot water, do you use the water jacket boiler or the coil? Can you briefly describe how your system opperates? Does it include a pump to circulate the water through the system?
Thank-you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Craig
Craig, here is our Margin Gem owners' perspective:
DeleteWe did not opt for the mechanical draft control mechanism, so I don't know how well it works. If I remember correctly, Daniel at Stoves and More Online told me that it would maintain the temperature of the stove within 75 degrees of where you set it as long as there was wood in the firebox.
We do not have the optional blower fan, but we are very impressed with how well the stove radiates heat. The Margin Gem throws more heat than our Jotul F3 CB, which I know is a small stove as far as heating stoves go, but it certainly heats much better than our Qualified Range did. Part of this is due to the larger size and greater surface area of the Margin Gem, and part of this is due to the 40 gallon hot water boiler emanating heat too.
You might consider one of the many top-of-the-stove non-electric fans to circulate the heat of the range. They would operate during a power outage, and the initial investment would be considerably smaller, depending on the model that you choose.
Because of the top feed options of the Margin Gem, I don't believe that a hot water coil is even an option. Therefore, we have the water jacket system.
Our hot water system is completely run by gravity except for the electric well pump which pumps water to our cistern on top of the hill behind the farmstead. It was important to me that the system would still operate in the same way during a power outage.
Our system is explained in detail with pictures in the October 2012 post entitled "In Hot Water, Part II" You can see pictures of a system with a pump by clicking on the link to Backyardchickens.com in the post "In Hot Water, Part III." Just scroll down through their thread to the pictures of the blue Oval cookstove.
If you have any further questions, please let me know. Hopefully Teri will see your questions, too.
Craig,
DeleteWhile I don't think that her stove is equipped with the features that you mentioned in your questions, you may want to visit www.homesteadingwife.com. Christina, the blog author has a Flameview and she has ten posts which feature her perspectives on using the stove.
Thanks for your response Jim. I will take that into consideration. And I will also check out the other links you suggested. Sorry for asking questions you have already addressed in other blog posts. Haven't been able to browse all blogs yet! Definitely leaning towards the Gem now. I will keep you posted on my decision and progress with the install.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that the the distance to combustibles at the rear of the stoves is drastically different. 6" with Gem and 14" with the Flameview. Big difference!
Thanks again!
Craig
I agree that eight inches is a huge difference. That is a lot of floor space! I was unaware of the differences in clearances. Good info.!
DeleteWe have had a Flameview since 2006. We live in Montana where there is very little hardwood available to burn. I believe these stoves were designed to burn hardwood. We use pine, so it doesn't get as hot to use the oven a whole lot. That is the biggest draw back for me, so I don't bake in it much.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the mechanical draft control mechanism is. I will need to further investigate this.
When we purchased ours we only received the stove. No manual, no instructions, no nothing. That was a bit frustrating.
I will tell you that it can heat us right out of the house. Depending on your square footage, you may want to consider a Gem instead. I choose the Flameview because it had the largest firebox of any stove made and because I could see the flame. The glass does get dirty, but all glass on wood stoves do. Again I feel that it's the pine we burn that makes it get dirty so quickly. All you do is wait for it to cool completely, spray the glass with water only and wipe it off with newspaper. It comes clean easily. You can use a bit of ash on the dampened newspaper to get the tough spots off.
We had to put A LOT of stove pipe on ours because of the peak of our roof and in order to get enough draft. We do have some smoke on the walls and things over time, but I feel you do with any woodstove. It's just time to scrub and paint! Past time, actually!
If I can answer any other questions, I'd be happy to.
Thanks for your reply LaVonne. That is disappointing to hear that your stove did not come with an instruction manual. My woodlot is a mix of soft and hardwoods. Thanks for sharing your experience with burning softwood only.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the mechanical draft control is a box with a bi-metal spring is set to a certain temperature. As the amount of wood/coals late in the night decreases, and the temperature of the stove drops, the bi-metal spring pulls a chain that opens a damper to let in more air, thereby maintaining a constant temperature all night long. Novel idea, however people have used wood cookstoves for many years without this auto damper. I have yet to hear feedback from someone has this option, so I don't know how well it works.
Craig
Subaru Cookstove, Boy do I wish Subaru made a wood cookstove, if it is anything like the vehicle I bet it would be great.
DeleteFirst off let me say thanks for your post, you have obviously found my post's http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/does-anyone-have-the-margin-flameview.113187/page-2#post-1516360 or my You Tubes online somewhere along the line. http://youtu.be/7Qzvilik5DU
My name is Woody Chain better know in many circles as "Woodstove Woody". I sold the Flameview Wood Cookstoves for many years and had lots of folks like the stove, but lots of folks that did not. We stand behind what products we recommend and unlike other dealers we put our money where our mouth is, if we recomend a stove and it is not what we say it is, we will take it back. I can honestly say we took back a few Flameviews. In fact I even gave credit to one fella who bought one from the competition and was not happy. After several attempts at resolving his issues and getting no reply, he contacted my company, Obadiah's Woodstoves. He called me and had some questions about the Flameview sitting in his garage that had just taken delivery of. I traded him a Kitchen Queen for his brand new Flameview and proceeded to take it apart to try and figure out what the heck some folks were so upset about. Mind you I was a Margin Stove Dealer at the time. Some folks claim I am bashing the competition which is simply not the case.
I am a professional firefighter, a engineer and a natural gear head who loves to take things apart and see what makes them tick. The firefighter part of me is the crazy part that makes me run towards smoke and flames, while everyone else is headed the opposite way. When you have 3 Flameview customers call you and report that the fire dept was at their home that day as their stove caught on fire, a guy like me naturally gets curious. So I traded Greg Nickerson for his Flameview cookstove and he delivered it to me and I delivered a brand new Kitchen Queen 480 to his home. He has been happy every since and history was about to be made, headlines read, "Internet Stove Dealer Gives Honest Stove Review!" This little stunt cost me my Margin Stove dealership as Margin told me to take down my videos, I replied "let me help you fix your stoves and then I'll take them down".
As these videos are all factual and honest, there is little that Margin Stoves can do about them. I am not slandering anyone. I risk my life as a vol firefighter for folks for free, why would I not risk my reputation and honor to protect folks from what I feel could be a bad decision?
Before I made the video, everywhere you went everyone said the Flameview was the best thing since slice bread, maybe folks were ashamed and did not want to admit the faults with the stove, certainly the other dealers would not, all except Gerry from Mealtime Stoves in Ont who I know also bought back at least one Flameview.
Now folks are more willing to talk, with that I say thank you! I pray you all are safe and enjoy whatever cookstove that you choose and you do so with full disclosure about what to expect from your purchase.
I have enjoyed this Blog, there is some good info here, although some of the installations pictures concerned me, I feel this Blog exhibits a genuine love for wood cookstoves, one of the passions I share, which is why I sponsor this website that is devoted to nothing but wood cookstoves and even has a fourm where folks can go and interact with other cookstove owners and get some honest feedback http://cookstoves.net/articles/ enjoy
Ahh, --truth! Thanks, and God bless....
DeleteJust started to use new style flameview heater 6 inch flue. Works well but not winter yet.
ReplyDeleteI have a flame view wood heater with no instructions in my apartment, i have no idea what all the levers and nobs are suposed to do and the thing spews smoke in the apartment. Any tips? Ive looked online, one video was helpful but not super useful and the online instructions i found are corrupt.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend contacting the Fenoffs at Stoves and More Online or Ed at antiquestoves.com and inquiring as to whether you might order just a paper copy of the instructions for the Flameview Heater. They will probably be quite a bit more spartan than what you hope for, but a lot of times dealers are willing to send copies of the instructions to stoves for a small fee.
DeleteI am SELLING my flame view I paid close to 5k for it, only for 2.5k if anyone is interested. I live in Northern Idaho, looking to get a different one.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, Charles. Would you mind sharing why you decided to get a different model stove? Will you be getting another cookstove, or just a heating stove?
DeleteHi, I'm interested in your stove please contact David 360 255 8297 and email tipi4me@yahoo.com thakyou
DeleteWe bought a Flameview wood cookstove Sept 2019 and used it all last winter, around 9 months. We burn Douglas fir and some Birch when the temps really dip here in the Okanagan. I've heated with wood since 1984 and had Quadra-fire and Valley Comfort and a couple other air tights over the years. I saw Woody's review of the Flameview and I believe they took some of his suggestions. I agree the instructions are vague in the hand written manual but we figured it out within a few days and enjoyed the stove very much. Lots of meals cooked on and in the stove as well as Thanksgiving turkey and large ham and scallops. Bread, cookies,cornbread all turned out well cooking with the local softwoods. We had the chimney cleaned today getting ready for the coming season and he sweep said there was ash in the chimney but no creosote build up. I cleaned the ash from the stove itself after work and other than ash it was looking good in there. Took me a half hour. The stove is our main heat source and we burned about 4.5 cords to heat our 1800 sq ft home.Our stove has all manual controls and I don't run a smoldering fire. We are happy with the stove
ReplyDeleteThank you, Oldplaner, for this excellent information. Glad to hear that you are satisfied and that you're getting so much good out of your stove. Feel free to comment on my blog often!
DeleteThanks Jim, I like your blog and plan to bookmark it and and do some reading, especially as the weather turns colder.I like old wood cookstoves too and am always looking for cool cast iron gadgets like hand cranked veggie slicers etc. Our stove doesn't have the removable rings like yours does but it seems a faster way of heating large pots. I was reading the tapioca and prune recipe and it is very similar to what we were served at my grandma's sister's house in SW Norway over 30 years ago.
DeleteHave had a Flameview for 10 years. Several +'s and -'s. On the negative side, lack of a manual even to explain purpose of knobs wasn't very helpful. Fan itself isn't that noisy but the sheet-metal panels all have resonant frequencies and insufficient screws to prevent vibration. Vibration can be controlled to some extent by adjusting fan speed but really... sheet metal attached around the edges only is like drum head. There's at least one part (probably frame) behind the rear cover sheet that's too close to the cover so cover can vibrate like hell against the frame. Next spring I'll take off the back and put fiberglass here and there to keep the parts separated.
ReplyDeleteThe thermostatic burn-control damper is pretty useless. The firebox has enough leaks to make slight movements of the damper ineffective. Too bad the firebox wasn't assembled with thermal cement.
Ash cleanout around oven is primitive. I don't like lifting a bit of ash out the top hatch a spoonful at a time. The cleanout should be where the ash falls to its lowest point, not at the TOP of the oven.
Changed out all firebricks 8 weeks ago. Thanks Woody Obediah for the video on how to disassemble the brick lining. Had 2 cracked bricks (not bad in 10 years I guess) but by replacing the lot every 10 years maybe I can avoid an annual repeat.
The pluses are a solidly built stove that heats our 1,900 sq ft house without any hassle. Nice looking stove but greater attention to design details would have made it even better.
Thank you for your input! This post sees a lot of traffic, and I want it to be as informational as possible.
Deletecolorado said...
ReplyDeletehelp i have a flameview wood stove with warming shelf and in need of the manual. can't find the sucker anywhere can some one on here email it to me please djmontowski@gmail.com thanks in advance
March 2, 2021 at 8:42 AM
We purchased a Margin Flameview Heater with black enamel glass top along with upper warming oven in 2013 for our 2700 sq foot ranch style lakeside home located in the mountains of British Columbia. We choose it for asthetic value and were pleasantly surprised at its functionality and quality. We don't use it as a cooktop as this is not recommended with the glass enamel top. We've never experienced smoke leaking, The fan is louder than desirable when on high but on low is quite acceptable although we seldom use it. During a prolonged power failure, several days it kept the main living area toasty warm and the 4 bedrooms at a nice sleeping temperature with doors left open. With power I simply leave my forced air heat pump fan on low and this keeps the entire cabin warm with the main area very comfortable and the rest cool but reasonable (remember this is 2700 sq ft)
ReplyDeleteWe've used it for 8 years now not extensively as a heat source but just because a wood fire heat feels so much better than any other heat source. After 8 years my only concern is some blemishes on the stove top. When I requested a new one they advised that they have discontinued the enamel top and recommend that I replaced it with either of their 2 options. I've decided to stay with what I've got for a few more years as the blemishes aren't that noticable.
From my personal experience this is a fantastic stove that I'd happily recommend. I'm in my 70's and over the years I've owned several other stoves with none comparing to this one. The Pacific with it's catalytic converter was more efficient but unable to produce as much heat.
If I ever buy another stove I will look 1st to Margin.
Thank you for your comment!
Delete