Picking the Right stove: Jotul F500 or Woodstock Ideal Steel

BlackGreyhounds said:

Thanks! Clearly I'm no expert! Please ignore me.

Click to expand...

Check out the Woodstock progress Hybrid..........truly a heating beast with good control and awesome looks. I speak from experience.

here is another vote for the F600 if you can make it work. the 500 will be too small, it is barely enough for my 2100 sq foot cape in southern NH. and the Ideal steel, my opinion on that, its fricken ugly. might as well put a blaze king in your living room

A (insulated) liner will be very beneficial: Much better draft, easier to clean, less creosote accumulation, added protection in case of a chimney fire. A 6" liner has an area of 28 sq-inches, your current flue has 96. That large of a difference will have a big impact on your draft.

Key damper does not hurt to put in although I don't think you will have problems with excessive draft. That's not a really tall flue and you will have two 90 turns in there that will slow draft.

Hi Joe, In your case with the flue height you have and the fact that you and your wife like the Oslo, it sounds like a great choice. You sound like you'll be happy with the heat it provides which is aplenty providing you give it good dry seasoned wood. The fact that you seem to like the one your other family has and are familiar with its operation already is a plus as well. The Oslo will provide many hours of warm comfort and is a Jotul, it goes to work everyday, no fuss, no muss. The concern I would have is the chimney, an 8 x 12 isn't ideal, it might be workable, but a liner would be optimal. Great stove, great company. Blue black enamel is my favorite color.. good luck.

Joe13 said:

Okay, so I have another question here:


My chimney is 8x12 masonry, un-lined at this point. It is also about 23-25ft tall. I know their is talk about lining it, which I really don't want to have to do, but I am wondering if I need a key damper put in to help alleviate any excessive draft. Or do you guys think that the it will be okay? I think I will need to see how it burns then add it after since I don't know the exact conditions, but I wanted to get more ideas now. Also, how beneficial is the liner? it seems like it will be a expensive install.

Click to expand...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but the largest problem with a masonry 8x12 flue is you will never heat it. The new stoves run at cool pipe temps. No need for a key damper, just the opposite. You may never realize the potential of the stove as the draft may never become strong enough to operate the stove as designed.

Is the 8 x 12 the inside or outside of the clay lining?

The f500 will do your whole house. My house is only 1yr old and is 3200 square feet. My Oslo does the job well. Model insulation works great. I could not recommend the jotul more

BrotherBart said:

The flues are going to be 7X11 inside diameter. Pretty standard and I have two of them. I tried it without lining them and stove performance for both stoves and ease of cleaning is like day and night after I went ahead and lined them.

Click to expand...

Were you able to get the liner in without busting the clay out? Mine is the same size and the chimney run was really wavy with a couple joints pushing too far in. I had to use a digging iron on some of the joints. The liner fit but the installer had a rough time.

If the chimney is on the outside of the building envelope as seen in the photo, your 8x12 (I'm assuming that is nominal sizing) flue won't "technically" meet code for any stove with a 6" flue connector. You're only "allowed" a flue that is twice the area of the flue connector unless the chimney is within the building envelope. That doesn't mean it wouldn't work, heck, most building inspectors even pass it! It just may not work optimally and you may have a lot of particulate condensation to contend with. In any case, an insulated stainless steel liner would definitely provide better draft performance.

I will tell you from ample experience that 6" round insulated liners are NOT easy to get down a nice tall 7x11 ID flue; if you decide to go for it, you'll most likely want to order it ovalized to 5" and with a matching ovalized two-part tee for at the thimble.

Also keep in mind that stove pipe dampers are against manufacturer specification in most EPA-certified stoves, and in your case will most certainly not be needed. And if your construction is tight, then don't forget an outside air kit!

Happy hunting.