Questions on using a Jøtul F 55 Carrabassett

[Dave52]

Hi there forum folk, I'm a long time browser and this forum helped me decide, with what was available from local suppliers, to replace an early 1970's Earth Stove (the emissions easily visible from the space station) with a new Carrabasset. I've been using it for 6 weeks now, run though about a cord of ponderosa pine and aspen.

Some major differences. With the Earth Stove, I could burn anything that would fit through the door. With the Jotul, it has to be split, or smaller than 6" diam. I've figured out how to load and burn it so that it the glass stays clean. Burns much hotter, keeps the house nice and warm (its 5ºF right now outside, 74º inside) and I'm a happy customer.

However, with the Earth Stove, I could burn that thing continuously and only have to remove the ash every 10 days. With the Jotul, its every other day, and much of what I pull out - 3 gallons in 48 hours - is charcoal. What am I doing wrong, or is this just the nature of the beast?

I try to fill it up with wood in the morning, burn it at 450-500 for 4-5 hours, rake the coals forward, add more wood, burn it hot again for 4-5 hours, repeat, fill it with wood for the night, its pretty much out in the morning, just a pile of charcoal.

Seems like a lot of coals - and its to the point that if I try for 3 days w/o emptying it, it starts to hinder the amount of wood I can put in.

Anything I could do better?

 

[Jsd245]

I also installed the f55 this year and I've seen what you're seeing as well. I basically started pulling all the coals forward and letting them burn down with the air full on before reloading . That seems to keep me from getting that very this bed of coals. I'm burning primarily oak so I'm not sure if other woods would act the same. The stove throws tons of heat, I'm heating my entire 2800 sq ft house. Temperatures have dropped as low as 12 degrees here and it's no problem keeping the rooms furthest away from the stove at 75 . I'm rarely burning it with a full load. I was surprised how well it heats. I wouldn't call my set up ideal- the stove sits in a large fireplace at one end of the house. Though I do have a pretty open floor plan and a large central staircase which helps.

One benefit of the stoves propensity to hold coals is that I never have to restart the stove. I rake up the coals and throw some wood in and 5 minutes later it's blazing. I've gone as long as 12 hours between loading with no problem.

 

[Dave52]

Thats what I'm doing as well, however it can take a few hours for them to burn down, and the stove cools. With the 10F to -10F temps we have right now, I'd as soon keep it going pretty hot. I can do that by adding a few small pieces every hour or so right at the front. But in any event, 48 hours later, there's 3 gallons of charcoal and ash.

Eh, I'm sifting the charcoal from the ash, putting it all in a contractor trash bag, and I can use that in my garden or something.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

I would keep the air control just a tad more open than you usually do. I get the same thing with my Quad and I see the same thing you are talking about with our F55 at the shop. As Jsd suggested get a good toolset with a good ash rake and pull that stuff forward. You'd be surprised how a dead "looking" bed of coals can come right back to life in the morning with some good airflow. What you are experiencing is relatively normal from my experience with EPA stoves that get choked way down though.

 

[begreen]

Eh, I'm sifting the charcoal from the ash, putting it all in a contractor trash bag, and I can use that in my garden or something.

I put charcoal and ash into the garden. No sifting. Both have benefits for the soil.

 

[jzinckgra]

Another f55 burner here. Still learning the stove. Can't wait to finish what pine I have. Pine may burn hot and fire quickly but leaves almost no coals. I've woken up a few times having to restart the fire from scratch. Looking forward to burning oak as we head towards the heart of winter.

 

[Dave52]

Begreen, at my altitude, its a pretty short growing season, so I have a fleet of 50-odd X 7 gallon containers that grow my peppers - start 'em early indoors and bring 'em in when the first frost hits. I was thinking of using the charcoal in those. I usually just fling what ever ash and charcoal I produce any which way out on the lawn, in the flower and veggie beds, etc. But with the quantity I'm generating now, I figure its worthwhile sifting it out and saving it.

The only oak I can find around here is scrub oak, Quercus gambelii, and its rare to find any with a trunk thats larger than 4" in diameter. Aspen and pine are everywhere.

 

[VT F55]

I'm burning hardwood and when I close down the primary air at night I do end up with a pretty large coal bed in the morning with stovetop temps hovering around 250-300*F. If I rake the coals forward, throw a medium size split on top and open up the primary air I get stove top temps of ~500*F and an awesome secondary show in the back of the firebox. With a split on top, coals burn down more quickly and the stove throws off more heat than if I just rake the coals forward and open up the primary air. Repeat as needed until your coal bed is reduced to ash and enough coals for a restart. For me this can be a time consuming process if I need to get a load of wood in for the day before I head out the door so I generally try and avoid the situation by: 1) reducing the amount of wood I put in the stove on "warmer" nights; 2) burn with the primary air opened ~1/4 (I get higher peak temperatures, but the coal bed is much smaller in the morning); or 3) wake up in the middle of the night and open up the primary air. Option 3 is not ideal, but I'm up at some point during the night with one of my kids anyway!

FYI -I heat ~1800 sq ft burning 24/7 and I only empty ash from this stove once a week at most.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Dave52, if you ever make it up to Denver I have a decent hardwood connect for a decent price. A few U-Haul loads etc. could keep you pretty happy through the winter. I'm burning some Black Locust, Black Walnut and White Ash tonight and the difference is paramount vs. pine. I love pine for when I'm there to start the fire and feed it but when it's time for bed or I'm about to leave for work the hardwood get's loaded up. Hardwood is pretty tough to find in our state when it comes down to it.

 

[Dave52]

Thanks for the offer, rmt high !

I have a friend who builds timber frame custom homes, and he gets raw material from the Amish in Ohio, semi-loads of pre-cut oak beams. I can collect some of the bits and pieces after he's cut them to size. With my old Earth Stove, I could fit some of it (the pieces I could lift) in, and they'd burn beautifully for 24 hours. But I tried to split some of that the other day with my spiffy new electric log splitter, and, well, you can shear off the bolts on an electric log splitter - who knew?

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Hah, I believe it. my mother used to get railroad end cuts off the ties from when they cut them to size before they creosote them. That stuff was LEGIT. Unfortunately these days that stuff is like 425 a cord and just not worth it. Sounds like you might need a tractor ran splitter for that stuff! CO has been F'in cold lately, keep warm