Jotul F3 Install and damper?

[bosully76]

Happy New Year all,

Last year at this time I was deciding on a stove. Newby at burning and collecting wood.
I decided on a Jotul F3 in my recently renovated 1500 sq foot cape-cod style house. Stove is in the family room and house has open floor plan on main floor. 3 bedrooms on the 2nd floor.
I seeked advice on a couple of occasions last year and was extremely pleased with every-ones opinions. I was tight with clearances bc of space
and decided on the F3. I must say it does a fine job heating the house but like the warnings I received you have to feed it 2-3 hours.
I find the stove easy to use and I am happy with the purchase. My wife learned to use it when we lost power in November for a week which
worked out perfectly. It has not been the coldest of winters, but I am proud to say I have not turned the heat on yet. Only my basement is heated.

My flue pipe was installed and extends through the 2nd floor to the attic and to the roof. About 25'. When I choke the stove all the way I find the fire
roaring at times and I rarely get a secondary burn. Too much draft I believe. With a small firebox is it worth installing a damper? Been burning maple which was split in May.

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I would try a damper, though it seems odd that you are not seeing much secondary burn. Is the little startup air port always closed?

 

[bosully76]

BEGREEN,
I open both ports when starting a fire and then I shut the bottom one after 5 minutes and then close the top one halfway at 450.
At 500 I close off top all the way.

 

[begreen]

That sounds about right. The secondaries should be firing away at that point.

 

[DAKSY]

+1 on the damper. At 25 feet, you're about 3 feet higher than
I'd run that 3CB WITHOUT a damper. You may be over-drafting
& not allowing the secondaries to do any good. Are you seeing
smoke out of the chimney top?

 

[raybonz]

+1 on what the others said and Bosully very nice looking hearth, stove and install!

Ray

 

[fishingpol]

Subscribing to this one. I'm at 25' insulated interior chimney with a damper in the snout of the tee. I haven't used the damper much as the weather has not been that cold. I'll be curious if it helps retain more heat.

That is a nice install you have there.

edit: Have you tried to close the primary down a little earlier? I notice a hotter burn if I close the primary down when the wood is well on its' way/borderline raging.

 

[bosully76]

I appreciate the feedback folks. Daksy, When the stove is cruising at 550 you do not see smoke at the chimney.
Fishingpol, I try to turn the primary down within 10-15 minutes. Fishingpol, what kind of burn times do you get?
Thanks guys.

 

[fishingpol]

Somewhere about the same burn times as you. I do wonder if closing the damper down will slow the burn a little.

I tend to pick the maple out of the stacks and save the oak for the cold days, which have been few and far between. I am still learning this stove, and I did install a damper but just have not really used it yet. Still waiting for winter I guess.

 

[f3cbboy]

install looks great. i have about 20' of triple wall outside of the house(no chase) and when i get it burning hot about 400, i shut her down some and then in a bit shut her down all the way. my secondaries kick in for a while. maybe that extra couple of feet make the difference and a damper would do you good. it also has been very moderate temps outside, its only gonna draft harder when it gets colder.

 

[bosully76]

f3cbboy, Hope all is well and I appreciate all of your advice last season. We are having a lot of fun with the stove and it kicks out a lot of heat.
I will continue to burn as is and I guess make a decision for next year. I do feel like I am going through a bit more wood then expected.

 

[begreen]

Give the damper a try. The F3CB breathes pretty easily. We had ours on an 11ft flue and it burned well.

Note that the secondary burn on this stove is not long. f3cbboy, what are you seeing? I remember it being approx. 30minutes, but it's been a while.

 

[fishingpol]

Here is an update for me. The outside temps really dropped today. I re-filled the stove after work and closed the in-line damper not quite halfway. I worked the primary air half down to closed. The secondaries lit off and lasted close to one hour. The cruising temp are usually 450* - 500*. Tonight after 2 reloads with 2 maple splits each time the stove top was 550* - 575*. Beautiful.

There is not doubt closing the damper a bit slowed the air going up the stack and letting more heat into the room. It is about 12* outside here now and the stove is cruising nicely. I've been waiting for a cold day to really get a sense of how this stove heats. Dry wood is a good part of the equation. I am always learning something here.

 

[begreen]

Very nice. That sounds like you are getting the stove dialed in nicely.

 

[f3cbboy]

my secondaries burn i gues for about 1/2 hour. i never pay attention to it too much, but what i do notice is the rise in stove temp. it goes up to over 500*, but rarely over 600* but it does go up there. i sut the air back at this point to a littlen more than half way and it puts out good heat for about 2.5 hrs.

 

[thetooth]

I have a new F3cb also . I have been running mine close to 600 with the damper all the way shut and nice secondaries . My chimney is about 12'-0" , so far the longest secondary burn almost a 45 minutes I am loading every 2 - 3 hours . I have had some coals in the stove in the morning not enough for a quick start but better then a cold start . It has been heating my home well the boiler only kicks on in the overnite hours once the stove cools down ,

 

[thetooth]

I do notice a 50-75 degree difference in the stove temp . If the thermometer is on the right it reads about 550 and on the left just over 600 . Any one else notice that ?