getting best burn from Jotul3 CB, disappointing thus far

If you are only getting to 350 then you really aren't getting much heat.

Can you describe your pipe and chimney? How tall? Is there a damper in your stove pipe or anything like that which might obstruct flow?

Tell us about your wood. How long since cut, was it green or dry, what kind, and where do you store it?

you need dry wood. once you have that you will see a world of difference. this is a really simple-to-operate stove. (and you are right, your stove is undersized for your space).

Englishteacher said:

Now in my third year of trying to coax adequate heat from my Jotul3 CB for my 1900 square foot, cathedral ceiling, open floor plan, well insulated house. I can't seem to get the stove hot enough to radiate anything near what my old rolled steel stove seemed to do, let alone circulate. I realize the stove may be undersized for the space. I'm using stove top fans, ceiling fans, my home's heating circulation fans. The hottest I can get the stove top is 550 no matter what I try, typically it's @350. I've got a tall double-lined pipe chimney with a strong draft. Is that where all the heat is going? The one thing that seems to burn the stove hotter is if I shut down the primary air control lever and open the start-up lever thingy, something the salesman told me never to use (the manual talks about the possibility of it causing over firing, which right now is something that seems near impossible given what this stove has done thus far)but it does create the best burn. It's the only time I've been able to get a secondary burn. I stopped up at the dealer to ask, she seemed less informed than I, which is saying something. All she asked was if I were using seasoned enough wood which I believe I am and the stove seems to burn through rather quickly. Am I expecting too much from a small stove? yet from all I hear from salespeople and owners is that this stove, although small, should be able to really whale. I'm disappointed at this point and would appreciate any thoughts or advice about what I should realistically be able to expect from this stove and these different strategies I've been trying.

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I've involuntarily become something of an expert at coaxing maximum heat out of a small stove using less than perfectly seasoned wood.

So here's a couple things that should help. First, split the wood down more. You don't say what size splits you're using, but the smaller the stuff you put in the stove, the hotter a fire you'll get. Double that if your wood isn't really seasoned dry.

Second, what kind of wood are you using? Some woods burn hotter than others. You'll never get your maximum heat from red maple, for instance, but beech will really give it up.

Third, build looser fires. Air plus (dry) wood surface is what creates heat. The smaller your splits and the looser they're piled in the stove, the more heat you'll get out of them. There's a price, though, for doing that, which is that you'll burn more wood. But if you're "understoved," as I am, that's what you have to live with if you want to stay warm.

Last, or maybe first, don't be too quick to turn down the primary air. Let 'er rip for a while and see where you get to. Each stove and each wood supply combine to produce a different "sweet spot."

Also, you may need to take longer to build up the fire and the heat more gradually. A smoldering fire in a box stuffed full of big splits is going to stay a smoldering fire. Get a good rapid fire going with really small splits, then add more stuff gradually so you're not stifling the fire.

There's no way around it, it's a PITA to get good enough heat out of a too-small stove.

And what I've learned most of all is that you really, really have to know your wood-- what kind it is, how fast it ignites, how dry it is, how much heat it gives out. I've become a devotee of black birch and beech, both of which burn really hot, significantly more than rock maple or red oak. In my tiny firebox, red maple just takes up space. I also make ample use of medium kindling-- 1 and 2-inch strips of barn siding plus bags of super-dry pine I get from my local Aubuchon.

Try a load of bundled wood from home depot or the local grocery store - it is super dry and will tell you if the issue is wood or the stove setup.

Did you look at the specs before purchasing the stove? I have roughly the same floor plan: 2,000 sq ft and catherdral ceiling. My pipe runs up to the 20 ft ceiling. Your stove is a couple sizes smaller than the Oslo we purchased. The Oslo has been heating the entire house since Oct/Nov without help from the furnace. I think your stove is definately too small to heat your entire house efficiently.

Englishteacher said:

Thanks for the helpful advice. I suspected some of the things you mention. I'll try buying some of that firewood at the grocery store and see how it burns,if it doesn't kill me to pay what they want for a few pieces of wood wrapped in plastic

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Yeah you're kind of stuck there...I saw bundles at home depot the other day for somewhere around $13.00. I'd grin and bear it if you can, a stove load of that stuff will be very telling. If you still can't get the stove to cruise over 400 for a couple/few hours on a bundle, there is something missing from your setup. It is discouraging that you are going through wood fast AND burning cool temps.

What are your loading patterns like? Any chance you tend to load a log or two at a time on top of coals from the last fire, and just kind of feed the stove a split or two as needed throughout the day? Your stove is certainly undersized, but it sounds like you can get quite a bit more out of it than you currently are.

logger said:

Did you look at the specs before purchasing the stove? I have roughly the same floor plan: 2,000 sq ft and catherdral ceiling. My pipe runs up to the 20 ft ceiling. Your stove is a couple sizes smaller than the Oslo we purchased. The Oslo has been heating the entire house since Oct/Nov without help from the furnace. I think your stove is definately too small to heat your entire house efficiently.

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It may be true that your stove in undersized, as a couple of people have mentioned, but it should still get hot. You have been running this stove for three years. Do you buy new wood each year? Try some wood you are sure is dry and see how it works.

Don't touch the air until you get the stove top thermometer at least to 400 to 500F and all the wood is burning and charred with grey edges. Then reduce the air a little at a time.

I wanted to add with a cathedral ceiling you will definitely want to run them in reverse to push the warm air back down. By home heating circulation do you mean you have a furnace and that you are using the that duct system for circulation? Maybe you are having more energy losses using it than not, by picking up cold air/losing heat in the return process.

meathead said:

Englishteacher said:

Thanks for the helpful advice. I suspected some of the things you mention. I'll try buying some of that firewood at the grocery store and see how it burns,if it doesn't kill me to pay what they want for a few pieces of wood wrapped in plastic

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Yeah you're kind of stuck there...I saw bundles at home depot the other day for somewhere around $13.00. I'd grin and bear it if you can, a stove load of that stuff will be very telling. If you still can't get the stove to cruise over 400 for a couple/few hours on a bundle, there is something missing from your setup. It is discouraging that you are going through wood fast AND burning cool temps.

What are your loading patterns like? Any chance you tend to load a log or two at a time on top of coals from the last fire, and just kind of feed the stove a split or two as needed throughout the day? Your stove is certainly undersized, but it sounds like you can get quite a bit more out of it than you currently are.

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I don't know if the original poster has a Giant Supermarket near by, but they have been running a special on their wood. $3.99 a bundle. When I was experimenting with the Intrepid I saw this and bought 8 bundles just to see if my issue was wood.

$3.99 isn't as painful as some of the bundle pricing you see.

i agree seems really under stoved, but get it hot. i love this stove but my house is only 900 sq ft and it heats my whole house so much so i have to close bedroom door at night because it gets to warm. mayby look to for some fake sawdust logs they burn clean and hot.

wish i knew what to tell ya, a lot of people on here have this stove and love it me included. maybe try and sell it and recoup some money and try something bigger. i did a ton of research before i bought my jotul and it seemed like best stove i could buy with easy use and set up.

I agree with the others, first and foremost, your stove is too small. Even if you get it running up to normal temps, it will never adequately heat your home in your climate with your size home. I can say that with reasonable confidence because I have about the same size stove and live much further south than you. My home is about 850 square feet and I have been pushing my stove a little harder than usual these last several days when it was near the single digits temps at night and only in the twenties during the day. You need a bigger stove.

If you can, tough it out and go bigger later. You should be able to sell that stove quite easily. Used Jotul F3CBs are hot sellers. No pun intended.

Very sorry your having trouble. I was just getting ready to post how much I love this stove. Tomorrow will be a full 7 days of burning, 24/7. Unbelievable heater. I've had two 8 hour over night burns, others were 6-7 hours. Just add some small kindling and back up and running. My 1,750 sq foot house has never been this warm. It's 70-72 degrees in the back hallway when I get up in the morning. I caught my wife starting to complain about it being too warm in the house ! haha She is always freezing. I saw the thread about the top plate not fitting right and causing a problem. check that out and check the rear air port. I'll attach a photo of it. If those two things are fine, it's your wood or draft. After reading your post I went out and grabbed two splits of ash I cut in October. It was terrible. I had the main air open wide and the glass got all foggy, and the temp wouldn't reach 400. I think the large coal bed was the only thing that kept it going.
With dry wood, I can't walk away from the stove after I load it. It takes off and goes like hell. Then I start turning down the air. secondary burns, 400 degrees seams to be the magic number. I'll attach some photos. Try some supper dry wood for a couple loads. If your still having a problem, I would call around and find someone that works on these stoves and have they come out to the house and find out what the problem is. It will heat your 1900 sq foot home just fine. Good luck

BeGreen said:

Englishteacher said:

BeGreen talked about how if all these things fail it might be a stove setup issue of some kind and referred me to a much earlier post re Jotul 3 CB gasket setup for the top piece. Everything looks OK to my untrained eye but I used one of those laser pointing temperature measuring gizmos my neighbor has and measured stove temps all around the stove exterior. The right top and side of the stove show a temperature difference of about 70 degrees from the left top and side sometimes hotter sometimes cooler

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The first thing to try is known, dry wood that is not too large for the stove. Get the store bought stuff and give it a try.

If that makes no difference, then I would look at the installation. It may not be the same issue, but the symptom of uneven top temps sounds similar to what my stove did at first. If the store wood doesn't improve burning, can you post some good side shots of the stove top?

The other thing might be leakage at the flue collar. If the knockout was made large, this may be leaking.

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Giant Supermarket. $3.99 a bundle.

My BIL up in Maine has an F3Cb ( his is under sized also) every time I visit...... I'll give that little stove a go.
The only difference in operating my F500 and his dF3Cb is the air control is (upper right.)
I'll load her up, slide the air control all the way open and usually within 20-25 minutes I have an inferno (500-600 range)
and then it's time to slide the air control down about 70-80% and she'll cruise around 500-550.

Let us know how you make out using store bought wood........Busted up pallets or untreated lumber scraps work good also.



WoodButcher

Woodbutcher.....................You said you let the stove run up to 550 or so. After you begin to slide back the air, approximatly how long do you get stove top temps over 400?

Based on Jotuls specs the F3 is rated to heat 1,300 square feet of house with 8 foot ceilings. The high ceilings require 40% more heating capacity, even with good insulation and ceiling fans. So we're talking about 800 square feet with cathedral ceiling as the reasonable expectation with the F3.

I've had the F3 for over 4 years now and it puts out a fantastic amount of heat for it's size. I'm heating 800 square feet of uninsulated basement with 8 foot ceilings. I have a 29 foot tall venting system. I have had the entire stove apart more than once and it is extremely well made and has a very uncomplicated design. Outside of the fact that the stove is very undersized for your house, I can only come up with two reasons that stove wouldn't be able to heat to it's full capacity: 1. Not enough air and 2. Unprepared firewood. I know you mentioned losing heat to a strong draft, but that normally causes stoves to overfire and get too hot.

As for air, the stove itself has the 3 air inlets: The square holes in the air lever that let in air in the square holes in the dentils above the door, the startup air wheel in the door and the secondary air inlet in the back that Gizmo was so kind to photograph and post. These air inlets are not prone to failure, but more to being blocked and even that is very uncommon. If they are not blocked, I have heard of stoves underperforming in houses that are so airtight the stove is not able to get enough air for proper combustion. A good test for this is to make sure that all air ventilating appliances in the house are turned off. Fans, clothes dryers, bathroom fans, heating systems, etc. Then leave some windows open and see what you get.

Next is the unprepared firewood. This would mean wood that has not been split and seasoned to the Jotul specifications. From their web site: http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotul...-and-good-advice/Seasoned-woodheating-advice/ and I summarize for you here: Wood that has been cut three inches shorter than the firebox width or length. No more than six inches measured at the largest cross sectional dimension with a range of sizes from 3 to 6 inches. Smaller pieces are best for kindling or restarting a fire on a coal bed for instant ignition. Firewood seasons when it is cut and split to the right size because in log form the moisture is held in by the bark. When buying wood ask when the wood was cut, split and properly stacked to get an idea of how ready it is for burning. Experienced woodburners like to get their wood in the early spring so they can manage the drying process themselves. The wood needs to be below 20% moisture content. To achieve that stack the wood in a single row where the sun and wind can dry it. Most wood can be ready for use if split and stacked in the spring, but if you live in a damp climate or are using a dense wood like red oak it takes much longer to dry. I will add that to ensure the wood is really prepared for burning, it should be dried at least 12 months. Two years is best.

Most wood sellers claim the wood is seasoned because they cut it down to logs in the early spring, but it's not because they don't split it until early fall or until just before they deliver it to you. So the wood is not suitable for the current heating season.

So, it did take me quite a while to do the research and write this up while minding my two toddlers, but I did it because I feel very strongly that the stove is not suitable for your situation with the size of your heating area and the very common unprepared firewood. I feel much less strongly that there is a manifest problem with the stove. If I were in your situation I would post the F3 on craigslist, buy the F500 Oslo in February when Jotul puts them on sale and buy 4 cords of firewood to stack now for next winter and maybe more for the following winter. I would also take the tax credit on the F500 Oslo and venting system if the government goes by the date placed in service and not by the purchase date.

Yes, you are expecting too much from this stove. You are in the F 500 or 600 ranges, seriously. I am running an F 400 Castine for my 1,100 sq. ft. and it is perfectly sized. No big deal as the F3CB holds its value and you can get a great deal on a larger stove in a couple of months.