1200 sqft wooden house from the 50s, f100 or f400?

[Jepd]

Hello from Norway - home of Jotul.
I bought a two story 1200sqft house and am looking for a new stove, it will be placed in a 150 sqft room that connects to the whole first floor 600sqft. The house is not well insulated. The wife and I want either the f100 or f400 white stove. We have doubts wether the f100 can create enough heat on cold days 10 degrees Fahrenheit and wind, and we have doubt if the f400 will burn us out of our relatively small living room. Our primary couch is about 6 feet from the stove. What do you guys think? The stove will be supplemented by an electric heat pump(when necessary), and will mostly run weekends and evening/nights.

 

[Todd]

I’d definitely go with the F400. You can always build a smaller fire in it when you don’t need the heat. You may even be ok with an F500 if your insulation is poor.

Also just wondering if they sell the Jotul F45 or F55 over there? Love my F45 but maybe it’s just sold over here. We can’t get the F100 or F400 here anymore because of the stricter 2020 EPA regs.

 

[Todd]

Also placing a fan on the floor blowing the denser cold air into the stove room should help push the warm air out into the rest of the house.

 

[EbS-P]

6’ from a ripping F400 it’s gets hot. I don’t like the smaller F100 as the burn times are just too short. You can make smaller fires in the 400. You don’t need to the highest BTU firewood either. How big is the rooms the stove is going in and how does that room connect to to the rest of the house. 5 hours is a realistic burn time on the F400

I like my F400 a lot. Unsuccessfully Tried to buy a second. It’s simple and easy to clean. I would only choose it if you can top vent. Rear vent spills too much smoke into the room.

Knowing what I know now I would chose a cast iron jacketed stove over the all cast iron.

Don’t ever open the ash door while burning no matter how tempting it is.

 

[Jepd]

Jøtul does not sell f45-55 models here. The reason i was worried about overheating is that the f400 has a minimum effect of 3.9 kW, compared to 2,7 kW for the f100. But how is the heat from the f400 at minimum effect? (without soothing everything up). Is it still very hot? The old fire-stove which is now removed was massive, but i never lit it. I would mostly run it at low heat while being in the same room, it would rarely need to heat the whole house, i like sleeping in a semi-cold room.

I fire with spruce/pine and birch.

 

[begreen]

150 sq ft is a small room. The F400 or almost any woodstove will overwhelm the room quickly unless heat can easily escape the room into the rest of the house. A small fan on the floor, in the adjacent room, blowing cool air into the stove room can help even out the temperature. How large is the opening between the rooms?

The F400 and F100 are both radiant heaters and fully loaded they put out strong heat. The F400 in particular can get quite hot with a full load of wood. Stove temperatures of 345ºC are not uncommon. It will run on smaller loads efficiently which will put out less heat. As the coals die down adding just 2-3 logs will produce a steady heat and a 235ºC stovetop.

 

[EbS-P]

Jøtul does not sell f45-55 models here. The reason i was worried about overheating is that the f400 has a minimum effect of 3.9 kW, compared to 2,7 kW for the f100. But how is the heat from the f400 at minimum effect? (without soothing everything up). Is it still very hot? The old fire-stove which is now removed was massive, but i never lit it. I would mostly run it at low heat while being in the same room, it would rarely need to heat the whole house, i like sleeping in a semi-cold room.

I can from a cold start put two splits on the bottom some short pieces from to back and then a good pile of kindling and light top down and get a nice clean 60 minute fire. The key is less wood.

150 sq ft is a small room. The F400 or almost any woodstove will overwhelm the room quickly unless heat can easily escape the room into the rest of the house. A small fan on the floor, in the adjacent room, blowing cool air into the stove room can help even out the temperature. How large is the opening between the rooms?

The F400 and F100 are both radiant heaters and fully loaded they put out strong heat. The F400 in particular can get quite hot with a full load of wood. Stove temperatures of 345ºC are not uncommon. It will run on smaller loads efficiently which will put out less heat. As the coals die down adding just 2-3 logs will produce a steady heat and a 235ºC stovetop.

I missed the 150 sq ft. room. That’s small for a cast iron stove. Sure all cast iron really what you want?

 

[Jepd]

There are 3 openings to adjecent rooms, 2 x 3feet and one larger 5 feet opening. So do everyone think the f100 will be to small?

 

[Jepd]

I just now checked the old stove specs and it was a "Trolla 820" 10 kW, and then again they had an outside toilet and no other heating sources. I do have other electric heating sources if needed and inside toilet .

 

[Jepd]

Cast iron is the thing here. I have lived in 3 houses, all have been with older jøtul cast iron ovens. 602 and F3, its been great but i want a better view of the flames, i have very rarely been to hot.

 

[begreen]

There are 3 openings to adjecent rooms, 2 x 3feet and one larger 5 feet opening. So do everyone think the f100 will be to small?

I think the F100 might disappoint, especially in very cold weather. The burn time is short and so is the wood size. The F3CB would be better. If a big fire view is desired, it's hard to beat the F400. The main thing will be to get the heat circulating out of this room. If you can post a sketch we can offer suggestions.

 

[EbS-P]

If you’ve had the F3 you know what it will be like. The F400 is a slightly bigger, simpler design.

 

[Jepd]

There is a heat-pump/airconditioner in the adjacent room, with the large opening (5feet x 7feet), it has a "stovemode" (made for norway aparantly...).. In stove mode it just circulates the heat from the stove, so maybe that would work well with the f400. The doors can be opened to the whole house basically. Also lots of windows in all rooms!

 

[Jepd]

Allright, it is getting late here (10.30 pm). Thank you to everyone here for contributing i really appreciate it, you are awesome. I am leaning towards the f400 i must say, better to hot than not hot enough i would say. I will let you guys know how this goes.

 

[begreen]

Our F400 in blue-black enamel was the best looking stove to grace our hearth. If you can move the heat I think it will work out for you.