Jotul F 500 Oslo vs Jotul F 600 Firelight

[patrolman467]

I am trying to decide between the Oslo and the Firelight. The concern that I have with the Oslo is the ash spilling out the front door every time you open it. The concern that I have for the Firelight is the removable door handle. If you have a Firelight, where do you keep the handle? Does it get annoying having to find the handle to open the door? If I had a fire going and I wanted to open the doors and attach the screen what would I have to do, use gloves to open the doors? Does ash spill out the Firelight front door like on the Oslo? I like the size and the looks of the Firelight better, but I am just concerned about the door handle. Were any of you the have the Firelight concerned about this when you bought it and then after you got it going it turn out not to be a big deal? Either stove would work in my house, so the size issue isn't a big deal. I guess it comes down to ash spillage, looks, and the removable handle. I appreciate any opinions that would help make my decision easier.

 

[begreen]

Most folks use the side door to load these stoves and do not have the ash spilling issue. However a person posted a while back that they mitigated the front ash spill by placing I think a length of rope gasket in the groove just behind the doors and that it helped. The door handle can be kept under the stove or with the hearth tools (poker, shovel). Gloves are always a good idea when loading a stove.

 

[wendell]

My Morso has a removable handle and I just set it on the floor next to the stove (but it also has a hook underneath where it is supposed to go but that is too much work).

When I was deciding on my 2nd stove, I talked to two Jotul dealers. One said they had stopped carrying th eFirelight as they had a lot of problem with cracks. The other dealer said they had never had a problem.

We ended up going with the Oslo as I just didn't like the obstruction the double doors create.

 

[fraxinus]

Yes, ash will spill out when you open the Firelight's front doors. As BeGreen wrote, though, you really don't need to open them at all - mine remained closed for all of last winter. Fires can be started, wood added, ashes removed and the glass cleaned when necessary from the side loading door.

The removable opener for the front doors is basically a large Allen wrench with a wooden handle. It's only plus I can see is that it makes for a very secure latching system. It's awkward to use because it has to fit the socket just right and takes one and a half turns, meaning you have to remove the business end from the socket and reinsert it, to fully engage or disengage the latch. It's also potentially pretty easy to close the doors without properly compressing the gaskets. With the large glass area, using the stove with a screen had no appeal at all for me. I have my doubts about doing this anyway - you'd certainly lose a great deal of efficiency with totally unrestricted air from the open doors.

 

[patrolman467]

So from what I'm hearing, ash will spill out from both the Oslo and Firelight front doors? If this is correct then that will negate this concern. With the Oslo, how easy is it to remove the front door to use the firescreen? Can the firescreen still be used if you decided not to take the front door off, but just open it fully to the side? It may just come down to looks. It seems like the Firelight has more detail and design to it and the Oslo has a better view through the glass. I'm also going to get a blower for the stove. I know most people say it is better to just by a cheap fan, but I'd rather have it and possibly do both. Where does the air blow out from? I'm hoping it will blow toward the front because I need to push air into another room directly in front of the stove. Thanks.

 

[wendell]

Everyone on here who has bought the firescreen uses it once or twice and then never again. I would save your money and skip it..

 

[ansehnlich1]

I thought the open door with the screen on my Oslo would be a great thing. I used that screen maybe 2x and then sold it. I use my Oslo for heat, and you don't get the best heat with the front door wide open. Plus, you stand to get a greater chance of smoke smell in the room with the front door open.

Now, that being said, yes, I do think you can operated the Oslo with the screen without having to take off the front door.

I had a Vermont Castings stove that had handle like the Firelight, it was no big deal.

There's my $.02

 

[begreen]

I'm going to have to agree with the crowd. Many of us bought the screen accessory, but after trying it out, we never used it again. This option is overrated IMHO.

That said, perhaps consider a Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 or a Quadrafire Cumberland gap instead. The Alderlea has a deep firebox, front load only without the ash spill issue. There is a screen option for it. There is a blower option for the stove too that is quiet and thermostatically operated. The Cumberland Gap is similar to the Oslo, with right side door loading instead.

 

[patrolman467]

I'm really liking this Pacific Energy Alderlea T5. I think it is even available now or not far from now in a black enamel. Does anyone have experience with the chimneysweeponline.com business? They will ship to me for around $330. Are they reputable?

 

[begreen]

That's where my stove came from. They are first rate folks.

 

[BrotherBart]

I have a new Firelight screen still in the Jotul box. If you buy the stove I will send it to you for ten bucks plus the postage. That will be around eight bucks for each of the two times you ever use the thing. Exactly how many times I have used the one for the F3 in five years.

 

[Green Energy]

I have an Oslo and am very happy with it. But the Firelight has a larger firebox and therefore better length burn time. So I would recommend the Firelight if you do lot of overnight burns. I just could not fit it on my hearth install because of the flue discharge height. The Olso has a short leg kit that allows me to get down to about 26.5" high rear discharge. I love my Oslo even if I only have coals in the morning.

Forget the screen. The glass door gives you all the light of the fire and ambiance you need. The light show with the secondaries is amazing.

GE

 

[Dexter]

I have a Jotul Firelight CB which I use exclusively to heat approximately 2000 s.f. of well insulated house near boulder CO. I've burned it eleven years. I use the FRONT doors more often than the side. On the rare occasion that I add wood to a hot fire, I will use the side door for safety and to prevent smoke spillage. Yes, the separate handle takes some getting use to. My handle lives on the wood carrier. 'Never lost it. (In my old version, the same handle operates the side and the front doors.)

IMO, this stove likes large, full-cycle burns for best efficiency. I usually let it cool to 200 degrees or lower, and rebuild a new fire. I burn north-south wood orientation, so I cut my wood (lodgepole pine) just under 16". With a partial throttling of air, you can keep it cruising for long (flaming) burns in the 375 to 500 degree range (corner top thermometer placement.) Throttle it down a bit more, and you can get it to hold hot coals overnight -- That's lighting a new fire at 9 PM throttling it down (mostly, but not completely, at this altitude) at 10 or 10:30, and having coals hot enough to relight new pine at 6 or even 7 AM. Overnight burns with pine are easily done.

The only ash that comes out the front occurs if you open the door suddenly. Then the door creates a little vortex and it can suck out some ash. Ash does not pile up against the doors when I burn "north south". BTW I don't have the fire-screen for open door viewing.

My biggest complaint is the size of the ash tray. In cold wx, burning big, full cycle fires, 24-7, I have to empty the tray daily.

Regards,

Dexter

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

The blower: When I bought my Oslo I asked the dealer about buying the blower. He could have told me to pony up the extra money and buy the blower and he would have made a little more money, but instead he said most folks don't buy the Oslo with a blower and are pretty happy . . . more over he said if I wanted to install one after burning for a few months I could easily buy it and install it on to the stove. Save your money . . . try the fan "trick" if you really find you need to move the heat around the home better. Trust me . . . I'm in Maine and I don't need the blower.

The screen: I was tempted to buy a screen too . . . I thought to myself, "Gee whiz, wouldn't that be cool to have a woodstove that is like a fireplace in my living room" but the folks here who have been suckered . . . I mean who thought the same as me . . . said they used it a few times and stopped. Now, having experienced the great view of the fire and the intensity of a good secondary burn I have realized that with the large glass in the front I get a good visual show, I can still hear the crackling and snapping of the fire . . . plus I've getting good heat and not letting it all go up my chimney like I would with the screen in place. Save your money . . . buy the screen after a year if you feel as though you really can't live without a screen.

Ash in the front: As mentioned folks have partially solved this issue with a rope gasket or even L-channel . . . or you can simply live with the ashes spilling out . . . or do as most folks and use the side door and avoid the issue altogether. To me the ash falling out of the front is a very small price to pay for an excellent stove.

Handle: I would see this as a non-issue . . . to me worrying about losing this handle is like asking folks if they have any issues losing their hearth gloves or poker . . . you get in the habit of always keeping your stove tools in the same spot . . . as long as you're not using the handle as a chew toy for your dog you should be OK.

 

[patrolman467]

Does anyone know the firebox size for the Oslo vs the Firelight?

 

[begreen]

~2.2 cu ft vs ~3 cu ft.

 

[wendell]

I just measured the Oslo the other day and it was 2.4 if you measure to the top of the baffle in the back. I measured the Firelight a while back and don't remember the exact number but it was over 3.

 

[begreen]

Methinks the usable firebox size is more important. How much wood can you put on the top of the baffle?

 

[wendell]

Possibly a little PUI? I MEANT, the bottom of the baffle. Of course, i believe you knew that. ;-)

 

[begreen]

Yeah, just jerking your chain a little. There doesn't seem to be any published specs from Jotul on firebox capacity so I tend to measure a little conservatively. 2.2 seems to be the accepted number, but it isn't the maximum. But then again, it's impossible to pack a stove to the maximum. If you did there would be no air passage for combustion.