Hi, Looking for some help.
I currently have a 14 year old firelight model 12 which needs to be rebuilt. The rebuild will cost $1000.00
for parts which include 1 door glass, the rear burn plate, the inner back plate, both log retainers, the ash door handle knob, the catalyst chamber, catalyst chamber cover and the catalyst combustor along with all the necessary gaskets.
I am hoping to repair the cat chamber, Has anyone ever done this, I hope I can as the chamber cost about $250.00, and I could reduce my cost by almost that if I can repair it.
My second option is to replace the current stove with a newer, better one.
The new stove would need to fit where the current one is, and have no bigger footprint unless the clearance requirements are less. Current footprint is 29 wide x 26 1/2" depth. It requires 12" clearance from the rear corners of the top to the walls and 16 " from the pipe outlet to the walls. It is a corner installation.
It uses a 6" flue.
Because the stove sets in a corner I would prefer a top loader as the current one since side loading would appear to be awkward. I would entertain a front loader but again I believe that would be messy.
I would like to get away from the catalyst combustor type as they get expensive too.
My current stove is just adequate during the coldest days of winter.
In my jotul manual it says that the Firelight 12 is rated between 10,500 and 32,500 BTUs per hour. I think I would go larger if I could. Also these ratings are from 1997, are current stove rating calculated the same.
I would entertain a soapstone as I hear they give off heat forever. No steel, I tried that and the heat curve is too steep for my liking.
My firebox is approx. 20" x 10" x 12" which I think is about 1.4 cu ft.
Now some background:
We live in a very old house pre. 1750, The room that the stove is located in is 30' by 15' with a 7 ' ceiling with a 12-6 pitch attic above and a dirt cellar below.
The stove is located in the southwest corner of the room directly opposite an entryway into the main house in the northeast corner. There is a large double paned window (5' x4') midway on the west wall of the room. there are 2 2-8 double paned, double hung windows midway on the east wall. There is also an stairwell upto the second floor of the main house. The floor is carpeted, except for the hearth area for the stove.
During late fall and late spring we generally start a fire in the morning and let it go out, just to take the morning chill out of the room. When the days start getting colder we generally run the stove 24-7, loading it as needed and running it 3/4 open with a full load and the cat engaged. In the evening, about 10:00 pm I load it up, let it get going good, engage the cat and damper it down almost all the way. The next morning the room temp is about 60-64 when I open it up at about 7:00 am. At that point it is in need of fuel. I load it up and start over. I generally feed it hourly, keeping it hot and full.
The room does not have any other heat source except for what enters the room through the entryway.
We keep a curtain covering the stairwell as we don't want all the heat to go upstairs. If we did not have the curtain up, the upstairs would go up to 90 degrees. We generally keep the room between 70 and 78 during the winter.
We burn between 3 -4 cords of seasoned hardwood each year with a burn season starting around Oct 1 and running until the end of May.
Thanks in advance for any help/ opinions.
John
I currently have a 14 year old firelight model 12 which needs to be rebuilt. The rebuild will cost $1000.00
for parts which include 1 door glass, the rear burn plate, the inner back plate, both log retainers, the ash door handle knob, the catalyst chamber, catalyst chamber cover and the catalyst combustor along with all the necessary gaskets.
I am hoping to repair the cat chamber, Has anyone ever done this, I hope I can as the chamber cost about $250.00, and I could reduce my cost by almost that if I can repair it.
My second option is to replace the current stove with a newer, better one.
The new stove would need to fit where the current one is, and have no bigger footprint unless the clearance requirements are less. Current footprint is 29 wide x 26 1/2" depth. It requires 12" clearance from the rear corners of the top to the walls and 16 " from the pipe outlet to the walls. It is a corner installation.
It uses a 6" flue.
Because the stove sets in a corner I would prefer a top loader as the current one since side loading would appear to be awkward. I would entertain a front loader but again I believe that would be messy.
I would like to get away from the catalyst combustor type as they get expensive too.
My current stove is just adequate during the coldest days of winter.
In my jotul manual it says that the Firelight 12 is rated between 10,500 and 32,500 BTUs per hour. I think I would go larger if I could. Also these ratings are from 1997, are current stove rating calculated the same.
I would entertain a soapstone as I hear they give off heat forever. No steel, I tried that and the heat curve is too steep for my liking.
My firebox is approx. 20" x 10" x 12" which I think is about 1.4 cu ft.
Now some background:
We live in a very old house pre. 1750, The room that the stove is located in is 30' by 15' with a 7 ' ceiling with a 12-6 pitch attic above and a dirt cellar below.
The stove is located in the southwest corner of the room directly opposite an entryway into the main house in the northeast corner. There is a large double paned window (5' x4') midway on the west wall of the room. there are 2 2-8 double paned, double hung windows midway on the east wall. There is also an stairwell upto the second floor of the main house. The floor is carpeted, except for the hearth area for the stove.
During late fall and late spring we generally start a fire in the morning and let it go out, just to take the morning chill out of the room. When the days start getting colder we generally run the stove 24-7, loading it as needed and running it 3/4 open with a full load and the cat engaged. In the evening, about 10:00 pm I load it up, let it get going good, engage the cat and damper it down almost all the way. The next morning the room temp is about 60-64 when I open it up at about 7:00 am. At that point it is in need of fuel. I load it up and start over. I generally feed it hourly, keeping it hot and full.
The room does not have any other heat source except for what enters the room through the entryway.
We keep a curtain covering the stairwell as we don't want all the heat to go upstairs. If we did not have the curtain up, the upstairs would go up to 90 degrees. We generally keep the room between 70 and 78 during the winter.
We burn between 3 -4 cords of seasoned hardwood each year with a burn season starting around Oct 1 and running until the end of May.
Thanks in advance for any help/ opinions.
John
