Jotul F118 owners. I have a Q.

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Lynch

Member
Dec 13, 2010
192
northern maine
I have found a good used 118 and it is 3 years old.
i have only seen one pic of it so far , he promises me that it is in excellent condition.
he is asking 900 with a hearth pad of some kind, he is suppose to send me pics of that.
it is about 2 1/2 hours drive away so, if i get down there and see it is not what he had claimed i will back out of the deal for sure.

i got him to drop to 850 for both.
does this seem like a good deal to you guys?
i was quoted 1684 for a new one at local shop.


and for those of you burning with this stove what length of wood are you burning in it.
I know it will take 24 inch but I'm thinking I'll buy mine cut to 20 inches or 18.
 
When you look for it, look for cracks in the cast iron and evidence of overfireing. I couldn't tell you if it's a good deal or not.

Matt
 
$1684 is exactly what we paid for a new one from a shop, so if it's in good condition that sounds like a good deal to me. Of course with the tax credit it's like getting 30% off a new one...

We have been burning everything from 24" down to 16" due to having a bunch pre-cut for a different stove. It really is a deep stove. Ours likes very long but fairly small splits except for overnight when we put the big chunks in. Also it puts out a TON of heat off the sides so if you are planning an alcove type installation I'd think you'd miss a lot of the heat.
 
now what does alcove install mean?

it will be installed with the side to the wall with heat shields on both the stove and wall to get the 12.5 inches of clearance.

it would just stick out to much in the room with the back to the wall.
 
Besides looking for cracks on the inside as well as the outside, look for any warpage or misalignment in the secondary rack.
 
That's higher than they go for around here. There was one listed on our local Craigslist on Dec 30, asking $650. Looks like the posting was just removed, so it may have sold.
 
Alcove installation is when the stove is set back into an opening. Most of the heat on this stove seems to come off the sides, so if both sides were blocked you'd miss a lot of the heat.

Ours is in a 1000 sq foot living/kitchen/dining room with high ceilings and keeps that space at 80 degrees just burning small fires, I'm really happy with it.
 
[quote author="stek" date="1294629236"]Alcove installation is when the stove is set back into an opening. Most of the heat on this stove seems to come off the sides, so if both sides were blocked you'd miss a lot of the heat.quote]




ok i see now
one side will be facing the wall but the other will be facing the living room.
 
stek
do you have a damper on your?
 
I do, we get some pretty high winds that come up the hill in front of the house, so we put the damper in to be able to control the draft just in case. Haven't had much in the way of storms yet this winter to try it out (knock wood) and don't use it in normal operation but it's good to know it's there just in case.
 
one other thing Stek


you said your heating 1000sqft,
ill be heating about 700 with this stove, with a 12 foot cieling in the living room.
and if i use the forced air fan on my furnace to try and move heat to the down stairts that would make it closer to 1300sqft.

but even if i dont use the forced air fan it should be managable dont you think?
my home is not the greatest on insulation but i dont think its that bad either.

so.... i think it shouldnt be a problem but looking for some of your thoughts.
 
oh yeah,
we like it pretty warm too.
used to living in a 1600 sqft home with a big stove basement and one in the kitchen too.
we would keep temps at 75 or so if its alittle on the warm side that would be ok.
the less oil burned the better.
 
I think this stove should be able to handle that kind of space no problem. It's been cooking us out of the house. Our temps are fairly mild though, usually stays just above freezing at night and mid 40s during the day in the winter. The only negative I would say is that we haven't been able to get a true overnight burn yet, the best I've gotten is about 6 hours. Though with burning mixed size pieces we rarely truly pack it. We picked this stove because it had to fit in an odd space (long and narrow) and this was the best option I could find given where we had to put it. Overall I'm happy with it so far.
 
yeah it gets alot colder up here where i am
hasnt be to bad this year but year befor last wwas really cold.
had a pretty good couple weeks it didnt get above 0 and was -20's at night
 
I used to have one, and didn't have a good experience with it. Looking at your situation, square footage, insulation, location, I would recommend a bigger stove.
 
Random thoughts . . .

If you were just heating 900 square feet you might be OK with this woodstove . . . but when you add in the moderate insulation, living in The County (I assume since you mention Northern Maine), 12-foot ceilings and wanting to possibly heat up to 1,300 square feet . . . well, quite honestly I'm not as sure this stove would work as well . . . of course I say this without any prior experience with the 118 so you have to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Size of the wood . . . if you do go this route I think you would be wise to cut the wood a bit shorter . . . I try to cut my wood about 4 inches shorter than the max . . . things just work better and the wood fits better . . . which is good since often wood with nubs and twists mean you don't always have the luxury of neatly stacking all the wood into the firebox . . . and when the wood you've just put on the hot coals has ignited it's nice to be able to put in wood and not spend a lot of time re-arranging things or pulling out a split that is just a wee bit too long. Besides, four inches doesn't make that much of a difference. . . .
 
yeah thats what i was thinking about the wood length , it will take 24 inch so i was thinking of just getting it cut to 20 or less.


as far as my sqft. goes my upstairs is only about 700 sqft maybe alittle more (750ish on the higher side).
and would only be trying to help move some heat down to the basement with the hot air furnace fan, and that would put me more in the 1300 range.
and from what one of you told me useing the fan to move warm air to the basement may not work that well.
but its got to do something.
the hot air return is about 5 feet from where the stove will sit
i figured if i close the vent in the living room where the stove will be and the one in the kitchen. and open the three vents in the basementt that i have closed right now.
with getting the colder air of the basemnt to move around that it should help.

maybe right maybe wrong but theres only one way to find out.
take alittle advice and give it a try.
 
yeah firefightjake

when i say northern maine i mean northern maine
like 2 1/2 hours due north of you.
have you heard of Caribou. im 15 mins North East of there.
30 mins from the big city of Presque Isle.
 
well, i have heard from one 118 owner is there any more out there???
 
Lynch said:
well, i have heard from one 118 owner is there any more out there???

I'm a Jotul fan, but am extremely skeptical about buying an EPA stove used. Tightness matters, and 'rebuilding' by caulking warped plate can only get you so far. In my view, there's simply too much risk associated with trying to guess the extent of abuse a used unit may have seen against the savings from not having to buy new.

And at least one F 118 seller thinks that January is a seller's market. The link below to goes to an ebay listing for an F118 that is currently listed for $1100 - after going unsold a few months ago with a starting bid of $250.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Jotul-F-118-CB-...873?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa737f7b9

Actual mileage may vary, but I'd be leary of fooling with a used unit. Particularly if the seller thinks he's got you over a barrel due to it being the dead of winter.

I do love the looks on the F 118's though, and understand your dilemma. I'm still toying with picking one of these things up.
 
yeah i dont have to have onee right now, it probally wont be installed untill spring or i may even wait till fall time
 
Lynch said:
yeah firefightjake

when i say northern maine i mean northern maine
like 2 1/2 hours due north of you.
have you heard of Caribou. im 15 mins North East of there.
30 mins from the big city of Presque Isle.

Which town? I wouldn't say I'm frequently in The County . . . but I have trailered the sleds up there before and love riding the ATVs up that way . . . and have a good friend who used to live in Washburn . . . I think he lives in Perham now.
 
Lynch said:
yeah thats what i was thinking about the wood length , it will take 24 inch so i was thinking of just getting it cut to 20 or less.


as far as my sqft. goes my upstairs is only about 700 sqft maybe alittle more (750ish on the higher side).
and would only be trying to help move some heat down to the basement with the hot air furnace fan, and that would put me more in the 1300 range.
and from what one of you told me useing the fan to move warm air to the basement may not work that well.
but its got to do something.
the hot air return is about 5 feet from where the stove will sit
i figured if i close the vent in the living room where the stove will be and the one in the kitchen. and open the three vents in the basementt that i have closed right now.
with getting the colder air of the basemnt to move around that it should help.

maybe right maybe wrong but theres only one way to find out.
take alittle advice and give it a try.

I may have missed it . . . is the downstairs basement finished and used or unfinished and simply a basement area (i.e. where the furnace is located, storage, etc.)?

The reason I ask is that if this is an unfinished area and you are simply concerned about maintaining enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing then you might be OK . . . I know my crawlspace (well technically it's a crawl space although in reality it's higher than a crawl space, but lower than a full sized basement -- I have to hunch over but my wife can stand up without hitting her head on any stringers) is not heated except for any residual heat that may come off the domestic hot water and it does not get below freezing.
 
about 2/3 of the basment is finished, but rarely used.
there is a full bath and a couple rooms and hall way then the furnace room is not finished with hot water heater and the big ol fuel tank.
 
stek said:
I do, we get some pretty high winds that come up the hill in front of the house, so we put the damper in to be able to control the draft just in case. Haven't had much in the way of storms yet this winter to try it out (knock wood) and don't use it in normal operation but it's good to know it's there just in case.

How do you like your F118??? Thanx Jeff
 
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