hearth members tell me about the jotul f3 cb

Probably the coldest it gets here is around 30 more or less. And my house is less than 1000 sq ft. upstairs. Wouldn't the stove stay pretty hot even after it burns out?

Thanks

Todd said:

I think it's a great deal if the insides of the stove are ok. Maybe the soot will wipe off with a little elbow grease, don't know.

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How do I know if the insides are ok? Is there something specific I should look for? It looked ok to me. And he seems like a pretty reliable person.

micri said:

Probably the coldest it gets here is around 30 more or less. And my house is less than 1000 sq ft. upstairs. Wouldn't the stove stay pretty hot even after it burns out?

Thanks

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I've already noticed that the heat of my Jotul...hangs onto that heat for hours after the fire is out.

micri said:

Probably the coldest it gets here is around 30 more or less. And my house is less than 1000 sq ft. upstairs. Wouldn't the stove stay pretty hot even after it burns out?

Thanks

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Yes . . . one advantage of having a big ol' hunk of metal sitting in your house. It can grow cool relatively quickly though depending on how tightly insulated and/or how drafty the house is . . .

micri said:

How do I know if the insides are ok? Is there something specific I should look for? It looked ok to me. And he seems like a pretty reliable person.

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Look on the inside for warped cast iron or cracks. I'd also like to know what caused that soot build up on the outside? Maybe burning with the door open or a leaky door gasket? Still a good deal, all that pipe is just about worth the total price.

I wonder if the soot above the door was caused by using the optional door screen and a combination of poor draft/wet wood?

It is an easy stove to run. I stepped up from the F-100 Nordic and I am very pleased. It does have size limitations, but it does put out some good heat.

I got the stove today and there is an emissions compliance sticker that says 1990. The serial # is 17742. How can I tell when the stove was manufactured? Is there another place that I can find how old the Jotul F3 CB is?

Thanks

HI mi/ridge great price for that green F3 if its in good condition, matte black used 600-800 is reasonable, prob is in good condition too Jotuls built to last the 3 series has been around since the 80's colors come and go green enamel was big in late 90's to early 2000's. The F3 is a smallish but very substantial heater (weight 268 lbs) in that the burnbox is only around 1.3 cft. The brochures say 18" pieces of wood, but with the door opening of about 15-16" 16 inch pieces are ideal. Top or rear venting (or side if you knock out at "3") and it comes with a rear h/s. Clearances aren't great unless you use doublewall pipe- then reasonable. All in all very venerable stove, imported from Norway to Gorham ME and sold via dealers. Matte Black new around 1650 MSRP enamels about 400 more MSRP. Wouldn't hesitate to get an F3 for about 200-1000 sq ft (New England) down in KY prob more of a 1500 sqft heater burn times average 5-7 hrs.

Enviro EF3 FS pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro 1700 Kodiak FS wood

Mi that emissions sticker means 1990 EPA phase II testing was met nothing to do with age of stove- serial no. sounds reasonable for 8-9 year old stove it was high 20 thousands when I last sold Jotul (3 years ago) The F3 CB (cleanburn) came out around 1997-98. It was a cat model prior to that. It has the one piece sec baffle in the top versus air tubes, an open ashgrate design, and the air start switch in the middle of the front door. Single sliding air control upper right on front face, curved steel handle with wooden knob.
Nothing beats looking at the stove- if the stove was not used properly, the insides will say, bowing of the ashgrate or sec burn bowing up (this indicates someone ran with ash door open- had wet wood, and opening ash door gets it going however that is very detrimental to stove). Good luck with it, Jotul makes great stoves... still very well logistically supported too.

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS Pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro 1700 Kodiak FS wood

stovelark said:

Mi that emissions sticker means 1990 EPA phase II testing was met nothing to do with age of stove- serial no. sounds reasonable for 8-9 year old stove it was high 20 thousands when I last sold Jotul (3 years ago) The F3 CB (cleanburn) came out around 1997-98. It was a cat model prior to that. It has the one piece sec baffle in the top versus air tubes, an open ashgrate design, and the air start switch in the middle of the front door. Single sliding air control upper right on front face, curved steel handle with wooden knob.
Nothing beats looking at the stove- if the stove was not used properly, the insides will say, bowing of the ashgrate or sec burn bowing up (this indicates someone ran with ash door open- had wet wood, and opening ash door gets it going however that is very detrimental to stove). Good luck with it, Jotul makes great stoves... still very well logistically supported too.

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS Pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro 1700 Kodiak FS wood

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Hi Stovelark,

I'm in Southern Oregon, so the winters get to about 30 at the lowest. The person I bought it from said it was 7 years old. There is some discoloration to the enamel on the front, there's soot that I'm not sure how to remove. I'm guessing it's not that the enamel was removed but I'm afraid to use chemicals on it. And on the top there is some dulling to the enamel, as if someone put a pot of something and it boiled over and marred it.

Any thoughts on safe cleaning?

Thank you

Hi Micrl- good buy on the 3. For enamels you can clean most soot/creosote staining off with Rutland hearth/glass cleaner or even smooth top stove cleaner (the white or blue paste-like cleaner). Nothing abrasive obviously light coats of that cleaner, taken off with paper towels and buffed/polished. No scraping it will mar the finish. For the top its prob messed up beyond repair for wood stoves, a trivet should always be used with a steamer/pot etc etc. And on enamel stoves I'd say not to use steamers at all- the trivets can have self adhesive gasket (like 3/4" self adhesive used for glass gasketing) put on the bottom of the trivet feet or even on the bottom of a steamer if no trivet is used if you have to have that steamer on your stove. Any direct contact with enameled cast will mar the finish- For my enameled stoves I don't put the thermometer on the stove- I run it on the chimney conn pipe (keeping in mind its about 100-120 degrees cooler on the outside of the stove pipe than most tops of stoves when reading stovetop temp). If you have a non enameled stove, it being painted black no biggie for steamer or thermometer just a coat of new paint at the end of the stove season. Hopefully the top is just stained with calcium from water spillage, if so the hearth and glass cleaner will take it off and not damage the stove. Remember no scraping enamel, no abrasive scotchbrite, or steel wool. Hope this helps.

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro 1700 Kodiak FS wood (hoping for a brown enamel Boston 1700 FS if it ever becomes avail)

We installed a F3 in our cabin in 2009 and love it. We are in northern VT and have plenty of cold to work with. As mentioned earlier the F3 doesn't effectively do 10hour burns etc. like larger stoves but it is perfect for our 1200 sq feet. I can get a solid 8 hours of burn from it by stacking it on a good bed of coals and cutting the air and that will leave me with enough embers in the morning to restart the fire. Plus, I usually get up to piss in the middle of the night and just throw a log in, it takes 10 seconds.....

Overall, great stove and the perfect size for us.

begreen said:

The F3CB and the Morso 2110 are perfect stoves for folks that can get up to pee in the middle of the night, and can go right back to sleep. I definitely am not one that can do that. Once I'm up, I usually stay up.

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Would you say this is a good second stove for supplemental heat on really cold days/nights in winter? I found a model described as "White Jotul 3 Model 3TDIC-2 "1990" " in my area for $750 including 20 feet of external double wall SS pipe. Claims only 100 hours of use. Pics look like its in good condition. Any thoughts?

begreen said:

Yes for the stoves I mentioned. However, the 3TDIC was an earlier attempt at making a compliant stove. I haven't owned one, but the word here is that this model wasn't Jotul's most successful design.

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Thanks for the reply--I'm glad I asked.