New here, so bear with me...and I thank anyone in advance who has the patience and temerity to read through and respond to my grueling list of questions.
I'm looking for advice before installing a new (to me) Jotul F3, rear vent into an existing fireplace opening (or possibly top vent, up higher in the masonry chimney).
I've found at least 3 different manuals for apparently the same stove model, all differing in installation advice/clearances/efficiency/etc. Or maybe I just think it's the same stove model? The numbers and letters are baffling to me, even after reviewing Jotul's identification graphics. (The plaque on the back of my stove simply identifies it as an F3, but it has a curved door handle, so it looks to me like an F3 CB as shown in the identification graphic.)
Couple/few questions:
1. Can someone clear up for me whether the F 3 and the F 3 CB are in fact the same model? When I go to the Jotul old stove owner manual page (on Jotul's US site), there is no link to a manual for the F 3, just for the F 3 CB... But on the company's UK site, there is a manual for the F 3. Then, somewhere else entirely, I found a manual for "Jotul F3 USA." Super confusing.
2. Trying to determine whether it's better to install rear vent or top vent. I have an existing fireplace opening that is 26.5" high. One version of the manual indicated the F 3 could be installed into an opening 25.5" high. Of course, that's the manual I read BEFORE I bought the stove. BUT...the guy who sold me the stove gave me a poorly printed copy of the manual he clearly found on the internet...a different version, for an F 3 CB (which may or may not be the actual stove model he was selling me...?), indicating that 28.5" clearance was needed! When I got the stove home, I discovered that neither of these is actually the case (measuring tape anyone?...duh...). In fact, in order to use my 26.5" high fireplace opening, I'd have to go VERY SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD (we're talking well under an inch) before angling back up, as the top of the rear vent flue is perhaps 27" from the ground. Is this (angling down and then back up) possible? Is it advisable? Would doing this negatively impact draw?
3. If the above scenario is not feasible, I'll have to do one of two things: get a set of Jotul's short legs OR top vent instead. In this case, I'd abandon the idea of using the existing fireplace opening altogether and instead extend a double-walled pipe indoors for 6-7 feet, then go into the wall (which is brick masonry, with an unlined masonry chimney just behind it) 8" from the ceiling. Is it better, from an efficiency/heating standpoint to have stovepipe inside the room, rather than going directly from the stove into the chimney? Does having an indoor pipe add significant heat to the room? Are there compelling reasons NOT to do this? Seems like chimney/pipe cleaning would be more complex...? What about draw...is it affected by this consideration?
4. I have a masonry hearth pad thingy (build into, and essentially at the level of, the surrounding pine floor -- see attached photo), that may have been adequate for the fireplace but is JUST big enough to accommodate the footprint of my new stove. Given my height constraints, how do I achieve adequate floor protection WITHOUT raising the stove up any higher? And if I end up having to install Jotul's short feet on the stove in order to use my existing fireplace opening, will I need a higher degree of protection, and if so, how do I achieve that? The different manuals don't agree on the point of floor protection. In the (F 3, not F 3 CB) manual I found on jotul.co.uk, it reads: "Jøtul F 3 has a heat shield underneath which protects the floor from radiation. The product can therefore be placed directly on a wooden floor that is covered by a metal plate or other suitable, non-inflammable material. The recommended minimum thickness is 0,9 mm." provided the bottom heat shield is in place (is the heat shield the ash pan, or is it a separate part?). But in another version of the manual, it says "floor protection under the Jotul F 3 must be any non-combustible material with an insulative R Value of 1.1." Nowhere in either manual does it mention how the amount/type of floor protection needed might differ if one were to swap out the tall feet for the short feet. And how the heck do I know if a given material, or set of layered materials, gives an R Value of 1.1? Is a simple steel sheet adequate, and if so, how thick, and does it need a sublayer of something else? I think sheet steel would look best...
5. What exactly am I protecting my floor from? Just embers? Or combustion via overheating? I know this is pretty basic, but it's damnably difficult to find reliable information in these days of mostly plagiarized internet drivel. I suspect someone on here can explain this, and many other things, to me in 5 minutes, whereas an internet search only leaves me gnashing my teeth and tearing my hair.
6. Does R value of a material change if that material is compacted -- say I use some squishable material of the proper R value (or higher), like an inch thick layer of kaowool, but put a metal plate on top of it, thereby reducing its thickness to 1/4" or less?
7. In the photos, you'll see that there is a wooden mantel-like projection above the stove. It protrudes from the wall 3" and is 8" above the top of the stove. In the event that I can't get proper clearance, either from the stovetop itself or the indoor stovepipe (if I opt for top venting), is there some (not horribly ugly) way I can protect the wood? Sheet of steel? Sheet of steel offset a distance from the wood (that is, with an airspace behind it)? I have the ability to cut and weld sheet steel, so that's not a problem... I do realize I may have to pull the stove out a bit more from the brick wall/fireplace in order to get more clearance between stove/pipe and mantel...which then probably puts my stove feet on wood...complicating things further. But I think I can deal with all that, if I understand the basics (as above).
8. Are there compelling reasons NOT to use flexible chimney pipe? My masonry chimney is unlined, and flexible seems like the easiest thing to install. I simply don't have the cash to pay someone to do the install, so it's on me.
I'm looking for advice before installing a new (to me) Jotul F3, rear vent into an existing fireplace opening (or possibly top vent, up higher in the masonry chimney).
I've found at least 3 different manuals for apparently the same stove model, all differing in installation advice/clearances/efficiency/etc. Or maybe I just think it's the same stove model? The numbers and letters are baffling to me, even after reviewing Jotul's identification graphics. (The plaque on the back of my stove simply identifies it as an F3, but it has a curved door handle, so it looks to me like an F3 CB as shown in the identification graphic.)
Couple/few questions:
1. Can someone clear up for me whether the F 3 and the F 3 CB are in fact the same model? When I go to the Jotul old stove owner manual page (on Jotul's US site), there is no link to a manual for the F 3, just for the F 3 CB... But on the company's UK site, there is a manual for the F 3. Then, somewhere else entirely, I found a manual for "Jotul F3 USA." Super confusing.
2. Trying to determine whether it's better to install rear vent or top vent. I have an existing fireplace opening that is 26.5" high. One version of the manual indicated the F 3 could be installed into an opening 25.5" high. Of course, that's the manual I read BEFORE I bought the stove. BUT...the guy who sold me the stove gave me a poorly printed copy of the manual he clearly found on the internet...a different version, for an F 3 CB (which may or may not be the actual stove model he was selling me...?), indicating that 28.5" clearance was needed! When I got the stove home, I discovered that neither of these is actually the case (measuring tape anyone?...duh...). In fact, in order to use my 26.5" high fireplace opening, I'd have to go VERY SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD (we're talking well under an inch) before angling back up, as the top of the rear vent flue is perhaps 27" from the ground. Is this (angling down and then back up) possible? Is it advisable? Would doing this negatively impact draw?
3. If the above scenario is not feasible, I'll have to do one of two things: get a set of Jotul's short legs OR top vent instead. In this case, I'd abandon the idea of using the existing fireplace opening altogether and instead extend a double-walled pipe indoors for 6-7 feet, then go into the wall (which is brick masonry, with an unlined masonry chimney just behind it) 8" from the ceiling. Is it better, from an efficiency/heating standpoint to have stovepipe inside the room, rather than going directly from the stove into the chimney? Does having an indoor pipe add significant heat to the room? Are there compelling reasons NOT to do this? Seems like chimney/pipe cleaning would be more complex...? What about draw...is it affected by this consideration?
4. I have a masonry hearth pad thingy (build into, and essentially at the level of, the surrounding pine floor -- see attached photo), that may have been adequate for the fireplace but is JUST big enough to accommodate the footprint of my new stove. Given my height constraints, how do I achieve adequate floor protection WITHOUT raising the stove up any higher? And if I end up having to install Jotul's short feet on the stove in order to use my existing fireplace opening, will I need a higher degree of protection, and if so, how do I achieve that? The different manuals don't agree on the point of floor protection. In the (F 3, not F 3 CB) manual I found on jotul.co.uk, it reads: "Jøtul F 3 has a heat shield underneath which protects the floor from radiation. The product can therefore be placed directly on a wooden floor that is covered by a metal plate or other suitable, non-inflammable material. The recommended minimum thickness is 0,9 mm." provided the bottom heat shield is in place (is the heat shield the ash pan, or is it a separate part?). But in another version of the manual, it says "floor protection under the Jotul F 3 must be any non-combustible material with an insulative R Value of 1.1." Nowhere in either manual does it mention how the amount/type of floor protection needed might differ if one were to swap out the tall feet for the short feet. And how the heck do I know if a given material, or set of layered materials, gives an R Value of 1.1? Is a simple steel sheet adequate, and if so, how thick, and does it need a sublayer of something else? I think sheet steel would look best...
5. What exactly am I protecting my floor from? Just embers? Or combustion via overheating? I know this is pretty basic, but it's damnably difficult to find reliable information in these days of mostly plagiarized internet drivel. I suspect someone on here can explain this, and many other things, to me in 5 minutes, whereas an internet search only leaves me gnashing my teeth and tearing my hair.
6. Does R value of a material change if that material is compacted -- say I use some squishable material of the proper R value (or higher), like an inch thick layer of kaowool, but put a metal plate on top of it, thereby reducing its thickness to 1/4" or less?
7. In the photos, you'll see that there is a wooden mantel-like projection above the stove. It protrudes from the wall 3" and is 8" above the top of the stove. In the event that I can't get proper clearance, either from the stovetop itself or the indoor stovepipe (if I opt for top venting), is there some (not horribly ugly) way I can protect the wood? Sheet of steel? Sheet of steel offset a distance from the wood (that is, with an airspace behind it)? I have the ability to cut and weld sheet steel, so that's not a problem... I do realize I may have to pull the stove out a bit more from the brick wall/fireplace in order to get more clearance between stove/pipe and mantel...which then probably puts my stove feet on wood...complicating things further. But I think I can deal with all that, if I understand the basics (as above).
8. Are there compelling reasons NOT to use flexible chimney pipe? My masonry chimney is unlined, and flexible seems like the easiest thing to install. I simply don't have the cash to pay someone to do the install, so it's on me.
