Help Me Find a Top Load stove

[whammo18]

Recently I purchased a home that has a Consolidated Dutchwest stove. Post Insurance company inspection I was told that my stove does not have enough clearance and I will be dropped from my insurance if I don't fix the issue. I'm debating between unhooking until I have the funds to fix the issue or fix the issue and bite the bullet. Ofcourse after strangling my incompetent home inspector and hopefully sticking him with the bill. Never the less, my parents have always had wood burning stoves. My parents have a Jotul Top loader stove with a pedal that opens the top. Does anyone know the model of the unit I speak of. Doesn't look like Jotul makes them anymore but I would love to locate one.

Jotul - F400CB Castine

This picture looks similar to the stove I am speaking of only it is black. If anyone has any information or where I might find one I would be very happy. Lets get rid of the Dutchwest. I'd consider a trade.

Sincerely,

Mark

 

[begreen]

That is the old style Castine Mark. Where do you live? Maybe Carpneil still has his for sale?

What clearances are too tight for the CDW stove? Perhaps this can be resolved with a non-combustible heat barrier behind the stove? Can you take a picture of the current install and post it?

 

[restorer]

That is the old style Castine Mark. Where do you live? Maybe Carpneil still has his for sale?

What clearances are too tight for the CDW stove? Perhaps this can be resolved with a non-combustible heat barrier behind the stove? Can you take a picture of the current install and post it?

Welcome to the forum.

I'm with you BG. Solve the clearance issues with either moving the stove, or adding heat shields, or baffles on the walls. More importantly, get a copy of the installation requirements from the manufacturer and compare them to the install. If they meet the manufacturer's requirements, send the insurance company the information and ask them where the problem is. They may be using a standard that is different than the manufacturers, meaning they didn't do their job. As the summer is coming on, you have some time to correct the problems before firing the stove.

 

[begreen]

I'm not familiar with a Jotul top-loader. I didn't know they made one. Please bring a camera the next time you are at your folks and take a picture. I'd love to see it. The foot pedal operated top sounds sweet.

 

[HarryBack]

That is the old style Castine Mark. Where do you live? Maybe Carpneil still has his for sale?

What clearances are too tight for the CDW stove? Perhaps this can be resolved with a non-combustible heat barrier behind the stove? Can you take a picture of the current install and post it?

Welcome to the forum.

I'm with you BG. Solve the clearance issues with either moving the stove, or adding heat shields, or baffles on the walls. More importantly, get a copy of the installation requirements from the manufacturer and compare them to the install. If they meet the manufacturer's requirements, send the insurance company the information and ask them where the problem is. They may be using a standard that is different than the manufacturers, meaning they didn't do their job. As the summer is coming on, you have some time to correct the problems before firing the stove.

The insurance company using vague standards for clearance isnt very uncommon either. I agree...get the specs, find out if its REALLY non-compliant, and approach from there. If its compliant, youve won. Unfortunately, if its non-compliant, the insurance company wont like you rectifyiing the issue by modifying the stove or making it compliant in such a way not specifically specified by the manufacturer. Even after these changes, it'll be tough to convince them.

 

[carpniels]

HI whammo,

sorry to hear you have a problem with the insurance company. Luckily, the heating season is over so you have 5 months to fix things.

Indeed, like some others said, get a copy of the manual and see what the clearances need to be. Sometimes just upgrading your piping from single to doublewall will do the trick. Otherwise heatshields can be bought and installed. Wall shields work too but are ugly. Another solution is to use 2 45 degree elbows right below the ceiling to move the stove further away from the wall it is too close to.

Apart from those, all you can do is get another stove. Unfortunately, I sold mine last month. Jotuls are great stoves, but make sure you size them properly. Nothing worse than a stove that does not produce the heat you need. Also, you will have plenty of choice to find a stove that meets your install criteria. I actually bought the Jotul Castine because it met the clearances of my chimney install. Also my current stove (Quadrafire Isle Royale) meets those. A stove I bought without reading the manual did not (big mistake). Get the stove used and you can save a bundle.

Good luck

carpniels

 

[senorFrog]

Was a permit pulled when the stove was installed? Before spending a lot of $$$ on a new stove make sure that the one you have REALLY is non-compliant.

Some insurance companies have really complicated forms that make no sense and do not reflect the code. Some have very simple ones. An option may be to shop around for another insurance company.

Re the jotul castine, they are a great stove, have excellent clearances when installed with a rear heat shield but the draft is finicky. If you have to change out your stove pipe to double wall, that will cost some $$$ too.

PLEASE post a pic of your current install. Even if you take it with a cell phone camera and email it to yourself.

 

[elkimmeg]

Be green had it right I think we can come up with a NFPA approved clearance reduction enclosure well shield, that will satisfy your insurance co.
We need pictures of your existing setup mesurements and your stove model number to refference your owner's manual.
At that point we can advise possible solutions

Welcome to the Hearth

 

[erikdhafaB]

The Jotul Firelight was their largest stove: top loading with the pedal mechanism and catalytic. The non-cats replaced all Jotul models sometime in the 1990's. It was a competitor to the largest real ;-P Vermont Castings' Defiant in heating capacity and top loading.
Those cat Firelights are still in use; you may find one on the used market. Reports from users were that it was built like a tank, but the pedal mechanism was clunky. Good idea for loading with an armful of wood. What happened ?

I have that Jotul. Firelight Model 12 Cat, made in 1996, top loader with the foot pedal. I guess they couldn't get the top loading to work with the burn tubes when they went non-cat, the new ones are front and side loading (they still have a fake top loading door cast into the top of the stove - but it doesn't open)

 

[begreen]

Cool! Thanks for the posting and picture .5a. Nice looking stove. How has it performed for you?

 

[erikdhafaB]

I just bought the house last summer, and didn't have much seasoned wood (and after buying a house, no money to purchase wood!), so my experience with it has been limited. You could say that I burned 24/7 this winter, but that would mean I burned for the 24 days that it was actually cold / for 7 hours at a time (I am in Charlotte NC, and we didn't get below the upper teens this year, and a half a day with snow).
I am very impressed with the amount of heat it puts out for the amount of wood it burns, with no visible smoke from the chimney. It kept my open-plan ground floor in the upper 60s or lower 70s, and the upstairs a few degrees cooler on loads of 3 smallish splits of oak at a time. The last load for the night was usually 2 oak splits and a larger round of mystery wood left by the previous owner (seemed to burn well, but threw off sparks like the 4th of july, so the top loading worked great with it as the sparks would not get out the front of the stove toward the carpet or furniture), and would still have a good bed of coals in the morning. I haven't worked up the nerve to really load it up for a true overnight burn yet. I am also trying to get a feel for the best time to engage the cat, which I have been meaning to ask about here, but don't want to hijack this post to do. So I guess the answer to BeGreen's question is that I think that it has performed great. My opinion must be taken with a grain of salt though, due to my limited use so far, and because I have no real basis of comparison to other modern stoves. It certainly works a hell of a lot better than the 70s steel step-top my parents had in the basement. Oh, and the previous owner had never had the chimney cleaned in the 10 years that he lived there ( ' just burned a hot fire regularly' ), so I had a chimney sweep come out to inspect it before I burned anything. He said it didn't need cleaning, so I guess the cat really burns clean.

If this is the same stove that your parents have,Whammo, perhaps you could pass along some useage tips from them to me...

 

[titan]

A lot of insurance brokers don't know their head from their a$$.My first house came with a Newmac Woodchief stove.It sat in the basement, up off of the floor on a couple 2x4's.My broker looks at it and says" O.K.-looks code to me".Scary!