Jotul Castine update

[Kevin Dolan]

Have been using this new stove for about 4 months and wanted to share a few observations with this crew:
- having switched from a big old timer which gobbled wood to the Jotul, I was dumbfounded in how different they are to operate - log size, air control and understanding or lack of , secondary combustion. It takes time and patience to get the hang of BUT this forum has been great for knowledge and concise, usually, information - thanks to all
- If there is one common thread through most of what I read it is - SEASONED Wood. It seems to be a prerequisite for burning any of these new stoves. Fortuntley I have around six years of good hardwood under cover ranging from two years to six years cut
- I have no trouble getting a good fire going with some paper and some good kindling and learned on the forum how to get an ash bed established and then add more to get the fire I want. Before we could not see the fire and had to open door to see other than hearing flames, now we can see through glass and use thermometers to track fire progress
- Burn times really interest me and I have found some great info here on the forum that has helped me. My ideal is to get the fire prepped for around 10pm then off to bed and up at 6am to a bed of coals to restart for the day. That is an 8 hour burn and according to the Jotul manual, is probably the max to expect. I had not been getting that until I realised I needed to put on some larger pieces - 8inches max diameter, then I had burn times ( bed of coals ready to restart) of 8 - 10 hours, so I am still experimenting
- I chuckle with the jargon on this site. The one term I had trouble with was splits, I at first could not grasp the term - call me stupid, but now understand the meaning. Most of my splits were for the big stove and averaged around 12 - 15 inches diameter so now am looking to split and chainsaw to lenght for the Jotul which from reading here seem to be a max of 16 inches in lenght and between 2 - 8 inches in diameter - is this best??
So to sum up my thoughts on this stove - I am very pleased with it for my situation. Have not really had a winter of really cold to test but am getting a greater understanding of how this stove works.
Appreciate any comments on above.
Kevin

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the update Kevin. I think you would be fine with longer splits in the Castine. This is an E/W burner so 18-20" long splits should be fine. But yes, you will need to reduce those big splits down to the 4-8" range, with a smattering of 3" splits. I only used smaller splits for starters in our F400.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Hey Kevin, welcome to the site. It took me a few years to finally get the combination I was looking for too, I burn in a stove one model larger than yours, the Oslo. As BeGreen said, it will accept up to 20" splits and if done right, will get up to 10 hrs with a nice bed of coals for the morning start up. Weather conditions and my schedule would predetermine my night before the bedtime load up. In colder weather I am able to use all oak, mixing larger 6-7 inch splits and rounds along with smaller pieces in order to fill the firebox. Now that this winter is behind us you can look forward to what should be a more typical winter coming up, then you can work on your skills.

 

[DianeB]

We have a 1,500 open floor plan ranch - do you think the oslo would be too big of a stove for us, I am looking for an overnight burn and the F3 and even Castine seem to have too small a fire box. We will have to learn how to use the new stoves after using a fisher for 33 years. Don't have a powered splitter - looking at the manual "smart splitter" for sweden, something a woman could use. Anyone here familiar with this splitter?

 

[BrowningBAR]

We have a 1,500 open floor plan ranch - do you think the oslo would be too big of a stove for us, I am looking for an overnight burn and the F3 and even Castine seem to have too small a fire box. We will have to learn how to use the new stoves after using a fisher for 33 years. Don't have a powered splitter - looking at the manual "smart splitter" for sweden, something a woman could use. Anyone here familiar with this splitter?

Based on the snow and mountains in your avatar, I'm guessing you have decently cold winters. I think the Oslo would be fine. Will you occasionally over heat the place? Maybe. But, I would rather be occasionally too warm, than too cold. Longer burn times are always welcome come mid-to-late winter when the 'fun' of wood burning begins to wear thin.

 

[begreen]

Agreed, I would go for the Oslo if the goal is reliable overnight burns. In the Northeast for a 1500 sq ft house this is not too big.

 

[Woody Stover]

[quote="Kevin Dolan, post: 1108581, member: 22371"I have around six years of good hardwood under cover ranging from two years to six years cut[/quote]Cut and split?

then I had burn times ( bed of coals ready to restart) of 8 - 10 hours, so I am still experimenting...Have not really had a winter of really cold to test but am getting a greater understanding of how this stove works.

That will be the test; How long will the stove burn when you have the air open more to get the heat you need? Not sure how big an area you have to heat, how tight it is etc. but with some high-BTU wood and your improving skills, I would think you will be OK.