Castine v. Oslo

Hi all,

I was looking for some input into my stove selection process. I was looking for a heavy, cast-iron non-cat wood stove, and have decided I like the Jotuls. I have gotten install quotes for both the Castine (400) and Oslo (500), and the difference in price between the two is really negligible. So now I need to decide which one that I want to go with. I have searched the forums and realize that there are a bunch of threads asking this exact question, but since every situation is a little different, I'd figure I'd just start a new thread. I hope this is ok and not a frowned-upon practice.

I have about 1700 sq feet of living area, in two levels. About 800 sq feet is in a finished basement (where the woodstove will be located) and about 900 sq feet is upstairs (where the bedrooms are located). The room that the stove will be in is a little small, (about 600 sq. ft). The stove will be located close (within 3 ft.) to the stairs going up. I will have an external double-walled chimney that runs about 25 feet up, with two bends (one through the exterior wall, and one around the soffet).

The stove will not be a primary heater, but I'd like to be able to heat my entire house if needed in the event of a prolonged power outage. I also want to be able to sit in the living room with the stove without getting cooked or without having to open up all the windows. I prefer the look of the Oslo, and I like the option of a side door, but I worry that I will be spending a little extra money on a stove that will be overkill for my needs, and I will end up using more wood that I need to keeping the bigger stove burning hot.

Any input would be appreciated. Oh, and I live in east central Iowa, so we do get some pretty cold nights.

Thanks for the help, this is a great community you have here.

-Marcus

Its a finished basement that has one largish room that is used as a living room, and this is where the stove will be located. There is another small room that isn't used much in the winter and a storage room that won't be heated at all in the winter (aside from keeping it above freezing). The rest of the living area is upstairs (kitchen, dining room, bedrooms). The house is currently heated by a forced-air natural gas 70,000 btu furnace. The house is fairly well insulated. There is an intake for the furnace in the living room, so I would be able to just run the blower on the unit and circulate the air through out the house, and I suspect that a lot of it will rise straight up the stairs.

I've read that the Castine is a little more draft sensitive than the Oslo, but I was hoping I'd have a tall enough stack that this wouldn't be much of an issue. I was disappointed to learn that I needed the extra bend around the soffet, apparently I wouldn't need that if I enclosed the flue, but I only have so much money in the budget right now. That may be a next year's project.

Thanks for the input

Well, currently the soffit is too narrow for the pipe + clearances, so a chunk would need to be taken out of it and I wasn't sure how that would affect the integrity of the roof. If it would significantly hamper the draw of the flue I can go through the soffit, but I was hoping to have the elbows on it for a year or two until I could completely enclose the flue (and put new siding on the house).

Whichever stove I get will be fitted with a top exit because of the location of the stove in the room. The pipe will go straight up about 3 feet from the stove, then over and through the external wall. The furnace and hot water heater are also both in the basement. I also have a sub-slab depressurization system to remediate a radon problem, but I don't know what (if any) effect that has on the pressure in the room (although I suspect that it certainly wouldn't work as well if I had low pressure in the living area).

Thanks for your help. Are you happy with your Castine? (if that's your stove in your avatar)

I was think of going with the air kit, mostly because of the previous radon problem.

Now I just need to decide which is the more likely outcome: (A) get the Castine and wish I'd gone bigger, or (B) get the Oslo and wish I'd gone smaller.

Thanks for the help

Thanks for the feedback JO, aside from the climate, it sounds like your situation is very similar to mine.
When I look at some of the rooms that people have Oslos installed in (like eightpilot's recent beautiful installation), I think, wow, my room is half that size. I don't have high ceilings, and the recliner at the far end of my room is still only about 15 feet away from where the stove will be located.

I have read a few discussions where people have said "I really should have gone for the Oslo" or "I really should have gone for the Firelight," but I haven't seen many posts where people have lamented buying a stove that was too large.

But, I think the 400 is probably my best bet. If the SHTF and I need to survive off the F 400, I would... I may need to sleep in the basement on the coldest days, but in reality this is just a space heater. If I am serious about heating with wood, I know the best option for my situation would be to install two stoves, one upstairs and one downstairs.

Thanks for all the input, I'm trying to make the most informed decision I can. I am not new to wood burning, but this is the first time that I have had to install a new unit.

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.

-Marcus

Thanks for all the responses.

I will mostly just be burning what grows on my property, so it will be a mix of walnut, hickory, and oak year round.
Seems like the Castine should provide plenty of heat for my application.

OK, one additional, probably dumb, question.

I have decided to go with the Castine. I am planning on adding an outide air kit, but I would prefer that this is something that I add after the stove is installed. Is there any reason that I would need to order the outside air kit with the stove, or should I be fine ordering it and installing it several months later (I don't know if the stove itself is any different).

Thanks

Great, thanks for the help.

Well, I haven't made any official decision yet (i.e. nothing has been ordered)
When I started this thread I was hoping people were going to say "You really need to get the Oslo," because that was the one that initially caught my eye. But I want to make sure I am making a sensible, rational decision.

And while I am still thinking about what to order, is the enamel finish worth the extra money?
I like the look of a flat black stove, or at least I like the look on a new one. The old painted ones tend to look very old, whereas the old enamel ones seem to hold their appearances better (but I may have seen a limited, non-representative sample). It'll cost me a few hundred extra, which will make this hurt a little more up front, but over the life of the stove it really isn't much.

Thoughts?