Jotul f3cb to big for a 400sq foot room ?

[thetooth]

I have a L shaped ranch with a addition on the short part of the L . Right now we have a fireplace but we would like to put a Jotul f3cb inside the fireplace the stove would sit flush inside the existing fireplace it would not jut out . I am not planning to heat the whole house with this stove just this room and what ever flows into the adjoining room through a open 36" wide door opening .

Do you think this stove will heat us out of the room ? I expect to loose some heat to the brick fireplace and the room has a faster heat loss then the rest of the house ( 1500 sq feet total )

thanks for your help and opinions

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the forums. The way the intended setup is described, I don't think so, especially if there is no block-off plate involved. By placing the stove deep in the fireplace most of it's heat is going to get trapped in the smoke chamber above the stove or up the flue. If this is an exterior flue it will lose a whole lot of heat to the masonry. With a liner installed and an insulated block-off plate you can get a lot more heat.

If the goal is to actually get some heat from the stove then install a block off plate at the lintel level and a bit lower at the back so that there is less trapped heat. Better yet, move the stove at least 50% out of the fireplace opening and extend the hearth. Then you will start getting some heat. Don't worry about it being too much. You can put a simple 12" table or box fan on the floor just outside of the room. Run it on low speed and blow the cooler house air into the stove room. That will start a convective flow that will keep the room comfortable and the hot air will be pulled into the adjoining room.

 

[thetooth]

Thanks for the tip about the box fan . I do plan to put a block off plate and some rock wool to close off the existing we are running a 6" round up a 11" square chimney . The stove shop originally showed us a F400 castine which I thought was to large and the F100 would get lost in the fireplace (36x28 ) .

Thanks for the insight

 

[thetooth]

I should mention to that right now there is a Heatalator in the fire box with 4 openings around the firebox 2 high and 2 low so we are hoping that some of the heat from the new stove will still come out of those top openings .

 

[begreen]

If you are intending to use this for heating, I would get the Castine. It won't produce more heat unless you want it too and will burn nicely with just a few medium splits. During fall and spring you can run the Castine on less wood. But, loaded up it will provide much longer burn times. I've owned both models and the Castine is a much nicer stove to operate.

 

[thetooth]

Thanks for the heads up . My Uncle just bought a castine last year and put it in his 600 sq family room he has been very happy with it , he told us it may be a little much for our 400 sq room . Thanks for your help and the welcome to the forum I have read quite a few helpful threads , I will mention this to the wife .

 

[begreen]

With the fan trick you'll be heating a larger area than just the 400 sq ft. How large is the adjoining room and how does that room connect to the rest of the house?

The Castine has about a 1.7 cu ft firebox. It's not a large stove. The stove size doesn't really define average heat output. It determines the maximum "potential". The actual heat output varies over a wide range depending on outside temps, how much fuel the stove if fed, wood species and how much heat is lost up the flue, to surrounding masonry or walls and windows.

 

[thetooth]

The addition is connected by a 36" wide door opening to a 20x20 room then there is a hall way and the bedrooms and bathrooms . I think I could fit the castine with the short leg kit i will have to go over this info with the sales man .

Thanks

 

[dafattkidd]

Hey tooth, Welcome to the hearth. This is a really helpful place. Hope you can find the information you're looking for.

Here are a couple of common issues we see here with people in similar situations as you:

Often people begin to dabble in wood burning and end up really loving it. So usually we advise people to get a larger stove to allow you to have that option if you'd like. You can always build a smaller fire in a larger firebox. It is often that people purchase a smaller stove saying, "I'm just going to burn a little bit, and it's going to be so much better than what we have now so, I'll get the smaller one. It will be fine." Then we fall in love with wood heat, and wish we had purchased the larger stove.

This happens a lot. It happened to me (sort of), and a lot of other members here on the forum. I'm not saying you need to buy a huge stove, I'm just saying this is a common thing that we see. Wood burning for whatever reason is addicting, and we don't fully know what we're in for until we're actually doing it.

So good luck. 1,500 sf is a very reasonable space to heat with a woodstove. You're in good hands here. As BeGreen said I wouldn't be too concerned with the size of the room because the heat will move out of that room with the fan trick. With 1,500 sf you're usually better off going with something that is 2 cf or more. Have you considered an insert?

 

[thetooth]

Thanks for the info . We looked at the inserts but we both prefer the look of the stand alone stove . Our thought is to try this stove ( either the f3 or f400 ) and see how it goes . If it's to much we will move it to the main house in a year or 2 and get a smaller stove for the addition , and if it's just right we will leave it and maybe get a similar stove for the main house . It's difficult to figure what the heat is going to do .

the original fireplace would take the chill out of the addition but it would take quite a bit of wood . I am a little concerned wether i can get the castine to fit even with the short leg kit 1 brochure says it takes off 2 1/4" another says 2 3/4 " if it's the latter it will fit .

thanks for the insight

 

[BrotherBart]

Down the road if you aren't getting the heat out of the fireplace a couple of small "personal" fans on each side aimed into the fireplace will move a lot of heat out into the room. Won't make the F3 burn any longer but will get you more useable heat out of it.

My experience has been about three or four hours max between reloads with the stove packed to the gills. That is down to just enough coals for a reload and room to repack it. The F100 actually gives the same burn times because of the square firebox and level baffle being easier to pack.

I would love to have a three cubic foot version of the F100. It is a sweet little stove. With a shoe box size firebox.

 

[thetooth]

Thanks for the info on the firebox size . I thought the f100 was quite a bit smaller . The dealer did not have one in stock to see in person . We are going to head back to the dealer some time next week to verify our measurements to see what will fit best .

Those burn times are alot better then the existing fireplace i could go through a nice pile of wood in a couple of hours with minimal heat coming back to the room .

 

[zzr7ky]

I have ~350 square feet in the main room with a larger stove. I also have a friend with the Jotul f3cb in a similar room. It is Ok, but we would both go bigger to get better burn time and a bit more heat.

 

[leeave96]

Have you thought about an insert for the fireplace? Jotul makes a 450 Kennebec (sp?)

It would be a flush fit and the internal blower would help move heat around without the need for floor fans.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[thetooth]

We looked at the inserts , but the wife likes the look of the stand alone stoves . We also like the option of maybe one day moving the stove to a different part of the house . I wouldn't mind one but she wins on this decision !

 

[thetooth]

I have ~350 square feet in the main room with a larger stove. I also have a friend with the Jotul f3cb in a similar room. It is Ok, but we would both go bigger to get better burn time and a bit more heat.

Thanks for the heads up . We talked about it last night and I made the mistake of showing the wife a Hearthstone now my wallet is mad ! We are headed back to the stove shop Saturday to talk everything over again with the salesman . I really appreciate all the info on this site .

thanks

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum tooth.

BeGreen has nailed it once more! I will add that moving the air with the small fan sitting on the floor that the fan should run only on low speed. You will be amazed at how much air this will move into the other area of the house. Don't forget, blow cool air into the stove room.

I'd also not worry too much about the stove being too big. If it is too big all you'd have to do would be to not fill it completely. If it is too small....

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

It's too bad the opening from the addition to the main house is only 36", the larger stove could probably do more work for you with the use of the fans as BeGreen said.

 

[thetooth]

It's too bad the opening from the addition to the main house is only 36", the larger stove could probably do more work for you with the use of the fans as BeGreen said.

Yeah , eventually we are going to cut a large window in that wall for a pass through from the kitchen to the living space but that is a bit down the road when we finally do the kitchen . that's my main concern having the heat trapped and building up the living room . Right now with the fireplace after a few good loads of wood the room just gets warm not hot , but I have to burn quite a bit of wood to reach that comfort

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

heat loss galore with the fireplace...when the stove arrives and gets installed, it will be like night and day compared to the fireplace. You used to drive a Ford Pinto, now you drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee

 

[thetooth]

heat loss galore with the fireplace...when the stove arrives and gets installed, it will be like night and day compared to the fireplace. You used to drive a Ford Pinto, now you drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee

Yeah we bought the place a few years ago with the fireplace and every fall we talk about putting in a woodstove , finally going to happen this year ! looking forward to it .

 

[thetooth]

Stopped at the dealer today to go over the information that I learned from this site as well as my Uncle's opinion of his F400 . We decided to go with the F3cb in blue/black , dimension wise it's going to fit the best and with the currant house layout it will work the best for our currant needs . thanks for your help and opinions . Stove should be installed in early October i will post some photos when it arrives .

We also decided to sit the stove on the hearth so it will be a rear vent with a tee running up the existing flue 6" pipe . I lucked out when i was there one of the warehouse guys has this same stove and got to talk to him for 15 minutes about his likes and dislikes . He is pretty pleased with the output and burn times .

thanks