Woodstock Ideal Steel or Jotul F55?

Before buying a Jotul, try to call them with a technical question. If you are able to even find their phone number, which is unpublished, and call them, you will reach a receptionist who tells you they don’t take calls from customers. You must call your dealer.

Ask what you’re supposed to do if you have a problem with your local dealer, and you’ll get a response that amounts to, “tough chit.”

Jotul needs to change their outdated customer service model, before being considered a viable option, when Englander, BK, Woodstock, and several others are doing such a great job with customer support.

Ashful said:

Before buying a Jotul, try to call them with a technical question. If you are able to even find their phone number, which is unpublished, and call them, you will reach a receptionist who tells you they don’t take calls from customers. You must call your dealer.

Ask what you’re supposed to do if you have a problem with your local dealer, and you’ll get a response that amounts to, “tough chit.”

Jotul needs to change their outdated customer service model, before being considered a viable option, when Englander, BK, Woodstock, and several others are doing such a great job with customer support.

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Indeed....that type of customer service model is outdated. Maybe they will come around.

F55 vs IS is a no brainer in MY opinion. A30 vs IS are on par and would require close inspection on both stoves to see if it fits your needs as there are differences with these stoves.

Newburnerwisconsin said:

The Heritage is no slouch. We run ours six to seven months out of the year. 80 to 90% of our heat comes from that stove. We also have a Lennox lp furnace that runs when the temps dip into the single low teens and single digits. It's a good stove. We need something bigger for our application. Hearthstone has been good to us. I can't complain. I can cut unlimited amounts of wood but for full time burning, we definitely need to look at something much bigger. 3 ft firebox. Etc.

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I already wrote my piece but then I saw You had a heritage. I have an apple to apple comparison.

I had a hearthstone pheonix before- same box as your heritage. I switched to the ashford and it can put out more heat, for longer than the pheonix. I burn a little less wood too, despite the bigger box. Again 2000sq house, very leaky. It does well here 95% of the time. Would love to try a princess, but wife doesn't like the look of them. I dont either. Other than looks I think they are the perfect metal stove.

Not trying to sell you a stove. Won't go as far as to say it will heat your house 24-7, you are far north and I have No idea of your setup.

Again, no experience or info on the IS, but I will say they look to have very good customer service. Can't go wrong with either I think.

Newburnerwisconsin said:

That's not bad for a non cat stove IMO. I have to reload every 4 hours. I think would happy with a 8 or 9 hour cycle. You don't have to buy a combustors and only one set of gaskets to worry about so that's something I need to
consider.

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I guess it depends on how one measures the burn time. I used to get antsy once it came off cruise and was at 400 and putting out less heat for a few hours. I wanted to get the next load in ASAP. Now I just say - that's the best you can get out of a load of oak in a stove like that and I let it run its cycle. 400 for a few hours with a pile of coals is still pretty good. If I want more I would either need a bigger stove or a cat stove I guess. I'm satisfied with what I have.

Newburnerwisconsin said:

View attachment 223497
I think you are right Rearscreen. It will be Woodstock or Blaze King. I just want to make sure I can get parts for the stove without any problems. My wife will probably settle all this and make me get the Progress Hybrid! It looks like her Heritage.

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PH is a side loader. That might be an issue u your install. It was with mine wouldn't work well.

That said you can't go wrong with the Bk, ph or is. All good stoves w good customer service. IS is significantly cheaper than the other 2 last time I looked. I wouldnt worry is there is a short term shortage of combustors- won't need a new one for a few years!

Newburnerwisconsin said:

That's a very good question on the Ideal Steel. I want a stove that can go 10 hours before I have to refill it. Not have just burning coals. I like the F55. It's very simple and has a stainless steel baffle with a lifetime warranty. I also like the Ideal Steel. Woodstock is having a big problem sourcing combustors right now so I am keeping a eye on that as well. If the Ideal Steel stove top is say 100 degrees at say 11 hours then is it really worth having the cat? You are going to be refilling the stove anyway in a cold climate like mine. (Central Wisconsin) Ideal owners please comment. Especially if you live in a very cold climate.

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The IS wil not be down to 100 degrees after 11 hours. My stove top is usually around the 300 mark with the combuster area temp still in the active 500+ zone when waking up or arriving home after work. (12+ hours) I can have it higher but my heating needs don't require it. When set up for requiring good heat the top is mid 400s, the cat will be between 1200 and 1300, and the stove face over the door where the cat is located will be around the low 700s. I say give it the 6 month trial! Its hard to describe how a cat will have lower overall output temps but heat a home better. It just has a longer heat output duration than the peak and glide of a non-cat.

Ashful said:

This is not true. In fact, I’m violating your made-up rule x2. Cite your source, please.

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Personal experience!

Newburnerwisconsin said:

View attachment 223497

I think you are right Rearscreen. It will be Woodstock or Blaze King. I just want to make sure I can get parts for the stove without any problems. My wife will probably settle all this and make me get the Progress Hybrid! It looks like her Heritage.

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The ph is a good looking stove but smaller and with less control of the burn rate. It has a much shorter burn time than the is and a weird shaped cat. Side loader only which can be a great thing if your hearth can accommodate it. See, the Woodstock stoves have a very sloped firebox roof so to load them full you really have to load them east/west which is tough from the front.

For max burn times you always load them to the roof! That requires good burn rate control so that you can slowly meter that heat out. The ph will not turn down as low as the is.

My top three for a home heater are a bk 30/princess, the Woodstock is, and then the ph/fireview/keystone. Then probably drop to a gas or pellet stove. Once you’ve used a nice cat stove it’s really hard to imagine going back to the peaky burn cycles of a noncat.

Maybe a wood furnace in the basement? Bah, I’m sure you can make a cat stove work.

If my only reason for buying a stove was for longevity of burn a BK would be the choice hands down. However, I like looking at a fire on the PH (the slope back accentuates that with EZ secondary viewing), radiant not convective heat, and most importantly cooking. I assume the IS was evolved from the PH and is better in some respects namely as mentioned the temp control. Yeah I load my PH more often but I get to pet the cat. I "think" she likes that.

When I see the excitement of a forum member install their first BK and then they light their first fire and their response is (now this is boring) that says it all.

Mark8 said:

When I see the excitement of a forum member install their first BK and then they light their first fire and their response is (now this is boring) that says it all.

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Could you elaborate, please? Can't tell if this is positive or something else?

I love watching the fire. I can see the benefits of wringing every last bit of heat out of a load. Just curious what your thoughts are.

ED 3000 said:

Could you elaborate, please? Can't tell if this is positive or something else?

I love watching the fire. I can see the benefits of wringing every last bit of heat out of a load. Just curious what your thoughts are.

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For me personally, if I'm going to install a fireplace in my house I want to be able to see a beautiful fire, if not I might as well just install a central heating unit. I don't want to spend that kind of money on a fireplace that's boring, it better be beautiful with a flame show if it's going in my living room. Just the way I am leaning.

Rearscreen said:

If my only reason for buying a stove was for longevity of burn a BK would be the choice hands down. However, I like looking at a fire on the PH (the slope back accentuates that with EZ secondary viewing), radiant not convective heat, and most importantly cooking.

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I can have all the flame show and radiant heat (thru the looking glass) off my Ashford 30's, as I did off my Jotuls, or your PH. I just turn it up, and voila... flames! Then, when I want a long burn, I turn it down beyond where any other stove can go.

Mark8 said:

For me personally, if I'm going to install a fireplace in my house I want to be able to see a beautiful fire, if not I might as well just install a central heating unit. I don't want to spend that kind of money on a fireplace that's boring, it better be beautiful with a flame show if it's going in my living room. Just the way I am leaning.

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Thanks, I hear you. I'd agree generally, but I have all the free wood I'll ever need, and I'd actually love a wood fired boiler in the cellar, if it wasn't so expensive and complicated. Maybe one day...

The fire show is aesthetically very valuable to me as well. The 24 hour burn times I hear about appeals to my practical side.