castine input

[dvellone]

I'm a bit apprehensive about the castine having read through the reviews here many of which pointed out it's fickle draft. Is it worth its potential draft issues as a 24/7 heater?

 

[JBinKC]

I think part of the problem why the Castine gets its bad rap for draft is it is the most widely held narrow profile stove. If you have to put your firewood very close to the glass wouldn't it be more prone to smoking on startup than a stove where you can put the firewood farther away from the glass? Unfortunately, there is not a large pool of medium and large size narrow profile stoves on the market and there is not a large ownership of other models of narrow profile stoves. Hearthstone has a few models and I know Todd got rid of a Homestead.

I'll be honest with the Castine I have to improvise to start a fire from scratch to get no smoke spillage a requirement for me. It is not a stove where you can light a fire, open the door set it and forget it. It really has two air controls. The ashpan and the air control lever and in total it is a 10-20 minute process to start a fire and you have to be always present until you have the ashpan knob totally turned and tight. Once a bed of coals is established though the Castine is a breeze to keep in operation with the air control lever.

 

[dvellone]

I think part of the problem why the Castine gets its bad rap for draft is it is the most widely held narrow profile stove. If you have to put your firewood very close to the glass wouldn't it be more prone to smoking on startup than a stove where you can put the firewood farther away from the glass? Unfortunately, there is not a large pool of medium and large size narrow profile stoves on the market and there is not a large ownership of other models of narrow profile stoves. Hearthstone has a few models and I know Todd got rid of a Homestead.

I'll be honest with the Castine I have to improvise to start a fire from scratch to get no smoke spillage a requirement for me. It is not a stove where you can light a fire, open the door set it and forget it. It really has two air controls. The ashpan and the air control lever and in total it is a 10-20 minute process to start a fire and you have to be always present until you have the ashpan knob totally turned and tight. Once a bed of coals is established though the Castine is a breeze to keep in operation with the air control lever.

Thanks for the reply...

so if starting a fire is really the only issue, then as a 24/7 burner there isn't much issue at all since once my stove running full time come oct./nov. it's rarely left to go out. Right? I've seen many reviews stating that well seasoned and very dry wood is critical. That would lead me to assume that the stove itself may possibly have a draft issue. My nordic 100 also requires well seasoned wood but I assumed that it was because of the tiny firebox and the inability to build a deep and large bed of coals. But then I haven't heard the same complaint about the 3cb and it's firebox is marginally larger than the nordic. Stepping up to the castine's sized box I wouldn't think it would be too great an issue (of course other than inefficiency and creosote build up). I used to burn a large dutchwest and in a pinch I could throw on less than seasoned wood without a problem as long as I had a good bed of coals.

 

[Noah]

Once the fire is going you shouldn't have any draft issues if you have a proper chimney. I don't however like using the ash pan door to start a fire, instead I just leave the loading door cracked until it's going. Leaving the ash pan open creates an inferno that resembles a blacksmiths kiln and could easily ruin the stove.

I haven't really had any issues with mine but I haven't used it enough yet. When it's colder out I'm guessing it will draft even better because of the increased pressure difference.

 

[JBinKC]

You don't leave the ashpan open when you start a fire. You regulate the airflow on how tight you close it. When you start a fire within 5-10 minutes the ashpan lever arm is typically a fully locked position. Overfire? The hottest temperature the stovetop ever got in 4 years is 550 F and I typically run it in the mid to upper 300s.

 

[dvellone]

I have to leave the door open a bit on my nordic when starting a fire otherwise there's little draft to get the fire burning well. That doesn't seem to be an unusual procedure to me, but how about the comments I've heard about the wood needing to be extremely well seasoned? I'm usually burning hardwood (hard maple, yellow birch, beech) that's seasoned for at least one year. Does this stove have a draft issue that causes problems if the firewood has any dampness to it? The last thing I need in a 24/7 burner is a stove that has extremely fickle requirements.

 

[JBinKC]

You will be fine with that wood. The only major issue I haven't been able to master with the Castine is the ash spillovers and potential dust. I wish the stove also had a slightly raised side door to prevent such occurrence. I am not sure what you rank highest in looking for a stove but if fire viewing the secondary burns isn't the highest priority I will admit it and would probably opt for a Woodstock Keystone. It is a side loader, it burns about 1/4 less wood and has that unique styling like a Castine.

 

[dvellone]

You will be fine with that wood. The only major issue I haven't been able to master with the Castine is the ash spillovers and potential dust. I wish the stove also had a slightly raised side door to prevent such occurrence. I am not sure what you rank highest in looking for a stove but if fire viewing the secondary burns isn't the highest priority I will admit it and would probably opt for a Woodstock Keystone. It is a side loader, it burns about 1/4 less wood and has that unique styling like a Castine.

I'll second that side door! Having heated with wood for over 20 years I just can't figure the reasoning behind the front load. I'll admit the front view really is a great way to monitor the burn but if I had to give up one or the other - side load and no glass or front load and glass- I wouldn't hesitate to give up the glass. My brother has an oslo I believe and he says that he never has need to open the front door and in fact cleans the glass from the side door when he needs to. My nordic spills ash terribly and has no ash drawer so the castine should be an improvement in that regard.

 

[BrotherBart]

Where did anybody say anything about "extremely" seasoned?

 

[fossil]

Where did anybody say anything about "extremely" seasoned?

It's on like every other page of my favorite Cajun cookbook. %-P Rick

 

[btj1031]

I got my castine last year. I agree that its a little finicky with the draft, but I would also agree that 1) a properly sized chimney and 2) well seasoned wood help immensely. I know my chimney needs to be improved with a liner - its over-sized now. Also, in April when I got to the two year old wood, the burning improved big time. But, if you're around to feed it every 5 or 6 hours, you will have no problem whatsoever, even with an imperfect chimney and adequately seasoned wood. I also agree that side loading is an advantage, but in my fireplace setup, the larger stove and side door wouldn't work, so the castine it was. No regrets.

 

[dvellone]

Where did anybody say anything about "extremely" seasoned?

There were about 4 reviews that mentioned that very dry wood was critical to the stove's performance. Since we all try to get our wood in well in advance of the heating season but sometimes might fall a bit short with some of the supply here or there, and still make out ok without too much issue, I'm guessing that if any moisture is an issue with the stoves draft ability it could be considered extreme. I put up mostly hard maple in the summer for not the coming fall but the next. Sometimes I'll need to supplement by cutting some more supply the spring before my heating season. This stuff definitely has some moisture in it come winter, yet my old dutchwest would burn it fine. But my nordic just chokes and stalls on it. When it's -15 out and I'm tending my stove like it's a newborn with colic... that's extreme :ahhh:

 

[begreen]

I think at least some of those reviews point out that all Jotuls (and I suspect other stoves as well) prefer dry wood. I should point out that I've burned less than perfect wood in the F3CB and the first season in the Castine. In both stoves, the wood burned, but secondary combustion was slow to start or non-existent. The result was low heat output for the capacity of the stove. This is not a flaw of the stove, but of the operator.

 

[johnnywarm]

The castine i just got looks like it will do what i need it to do just fine.Pellet stoves are very finicky about what pellets you are using. it sounds like you need to burn what the stove's where meant to burn----seasoned wood----.


You don't put 87 octane in a Ferrari.the jotul's are a top shelf stoves ;-)