Castine v. Oslo

[PitPat]

Hi all,

I was looking for some input into my stove selection process. I was looking for a heavy, cast-iron non-cat wood stove, and have decided I like the Jotuls. I have gotten install quotes for both the Castine (400) and Oslo (500), and the difference in price between the two is really negligible. So now I need to decide which one that I want to go with. I have searched the forums and realize that there are a bunch of threads asking this exact question, but since every situation is a little different, I'd figure I'd just start a new thread. I hope this is ok and not a frowned-upon practice.

I have about 1700 sq feet of living area, in two levels. About 800 sq feet is in a finished basement (where the woodstove will be located) and about 900 sq feet is upstairs (where the bedrooms are located). The room that the stove will be in is a little small, (about 600 sq. ft). The stove will be located close (within 3 ft.) to the stairs going up. I will have an external double-walled chimney that runs about 25 feet up, with two bends (one through the exterior wall, and one around the soffet).

The stove will not be a primary heater, but I'd like to be able to heat my entire house if needed in the event of a prolonged power outage. I also want to be able to sit in the living room with the stove without getting cooked or without having to open up all the windows. I prefer the look of the Oslo, and I like the option of a side door, but I worry that I will be spending a little extra money on a stove that will be overkill for my needs, and I will end up using more wood that I need to keeping the bigger stove burning hot.

Any input would be appreciated. Oh, and I live in east central Iowa, so we do get some pretty cold nights.

Thanks for the help, this is a great community you have here.

-Marcus

 

[begreen]

Welcome Marcus. I think you'd be ok with the Castine, but this is a tough call due in part to the layout of the house and the fact that the Castine can be more draft sensitive. The combination of basement install, exterior chimney and multiple elbows could work against you with this stove. But then there is the question of the Oslo being a bit too larger. My guess is that it will be ok, though you may be making shorter fires if it is not very cold outside.

It sounds like the 1st floor is the basement with the living room, is this correct? What else is there, kitchen, dining room? Is the floorplan open or closed off by doors separating the rooms? I'm trying to get an idea what the heating load is for the house. How is the place heated now? How much fuel did you consume last year to heat the place? If you have your January heating bill, that would be helpful too.

 

[PitPat]

Its a finished basement that has one largish room that is used as a living room, and this is where the stove will be located. There is another small room that isn't used much in the winter and a storage room that won't be heated at all in the winter (aside from keeping it above freezing). The rest of the living area is upstairs (kitchen, dining room, bedrooms). The house is currently heated by a forced-air natural gas 70,000 btu furnace. The house is fairly well insulated. There is an intake for the furnace in the living room, so I would be able to just run the blower on the unit and circulate the air through out the house, and I suspect that a lot of it will rise straight up the stairs.

I've read that the Castine is a little more draft sensitive than the Oslo, but I was hoping I'd have a tall enough stack that this wouldn't be much of an issue. I was disappointed to learn that I needed the extra bend around the soffet, apparently I wouldn't need that if I enclosed the flue, but I only have so much money in the budget right now. That may be a next year's project.

Thanks for the input

 

[begreen]

A taller stack will help somewhat, but mostly after it's warmed up. If you get the Castine for sure you will want to connect it top exit. Another thing that can affect draft are competing appliances in the basement. For example, the furnace, bathroom fans, a dryer and a gas HW heater. This can be mitigated with an outside air kit.

PS: Why can't a flue be installed through a soffit?

 

[PitPat]

Well, currently the soffit is too narrow for the pipe + clearances, so a chunk would need to be taken out of it and I wasn't sure how that would affect the integrity of the roof. If it would significantly hamper the draw of the flue I can go through the soffit, but I was hoping to have the elbows on it for a year or two until I could completely enclose the flue (and put new siding on the house).

Whichever stove I get will be fitted with a top exit because of the location of the stove in the room. The pipe will go straight up about 3 feet from the stove, then over and through the external wall. The furnace and hot water heater are also both in the basement. I also have a sub-slab depressurization system to remediate a radon problem, but I don't know what (if any) effect that has on the pressure in the room (although I suspect that it certainly wouldn't work as well if I had low pressure in the living area).

Thanks for your help. Are you happy with your Castine? (if that's your stove in your avatar)

 

[begreen]

OK, sounds like you have a working plan. Given the setup I would put an OAK on the stove.

That would be the F3CB in the avatar. Don't ask...

We had the Castine for 2 seasons. It's a well made stove that's easy to operate over a wide range of temps. The fit and finish on the enameled versions is excellent. For our normal temps the stove did well. But the Castine was a bit undersized for our old farmhouse when it got cold. Then one cold snap the power went out - for a week. The Castine carried the house, but just barely and only with frequent feedings. (We have softwood here.) I got a great offer to pick up a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 late last winter and that is what is installed now. The Castine is in the garage waiting until fall to sell.

 

[PitPat]

I was think of going with the air kit, mostly because of the previous radon problem.

Now I just need to decide which is the more likely outcome: (A) get the Castine and wish I'd gone bigger, or (B) get the Oslo and wish I'd gone smaller.

Thanks for the help

 

[JotulOwner]

I have a Castine. It is an excellent stove. The winters here are tempered by the Ocean, but it does get cold. I have a 1500 sf house (two levels) and the stove is in a 300 sf room on the lower level which easily reaches 85 degrees F in cold weather (often with one window partially open). The rest of the house warms to varing degrees (lowest about 72). My chimney has a 90 degree bend about three feet above the stove which connects into a tee outside which connects to a pipe inside an enclosed chase that runs vertically about 20 feet (through the soffit above the ridge of the roof). I liked the Oslo for the same reasons you did, but I chose the Castine because I didn't want a stove that heated too much. I was told that it is not good have a larger stove that is not operated at proper temperature.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the posting JO, that is exactly my concern for PitPat. This is an area heater first and foremost. They could be 72 upstairs with the downstairs sitting at 85. Of course, some folks think those temps are just about right, but not for me.

Another alternative would be to get a small soapstone stove. With more thermal mass and the large stone surface, it can work well sometimes in this type of application.

 

[PitPat]

Thanks for the feedback JO, aside from the climate, it sounds like your situation is very similar to mine.
When I look at some of the rooms that people have Oslos installed in (like eightpilot's recent beautiful installation), I think, wow, my room is half that size. I don't have high ceilings, and the recliner at the far end of my room is still only about 15 feet away from where the stove will be located.

I have read a few discussions where people have said "I really should have gone for the Oslo" or "I really should have gone for the Firelight," but I haven't seen many posts where people have lamented buying a stove that was too large.

But, I think the 400 is probably my best bet. If the SHTF and I need to survive off the F 400, I would... I may need to sleep in the basement on the coldest days, but in reality this is just a space heater. If I am serious about heating with wood, I know the best option for my situation would be to install two stoves, one upstairs and one downstairs.

Thanks for all the input, I'm trying to make the most informed decision I can. I am not new to wood burning, but this is the first time that I have had to install a new unit.

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.

-Marcus

 

[begreen]

I often sat within 5 feet of the F400 and was not too hot at all. It's not like a glowing red hot machine. If you stock and burn wood according to the season - poplar, hemlock and pine for fall and spring and save the hardwood for when it gets below say 30, you should be comfortable. One nice thing with the Castine is that it will purr along happily at 400-450 degrees. Or you can stoke it with good hardwood and take it up to 650 if the outdoor temps require it.

 

[mmichaud]

I have a Castine in my basement. I too had to decide between the Castine and the Olso. My basement is roughly 1000 square feet with half of it finished off. The basement has no insulation and the upstairs of the 1950's house is not much better. The stove will easily keep the basement at 75 degrees and the upstairs at 65 on a 10 degree day. I would rather run the stove hotter than have too small of a fire in it. Usually I try to keep the stove top temperature at 500 degrees but it usually ends up at 600 degrees with the damper 1/4 open. Over the last two years my chimney has been clean at the end of the year so I must be doing something right. So in the end I am glad that I chose the Castine.

 

[eightpilot]

"""I have read a few discussions where people have said "I really should have gone for the Oslo" or "I really should have gone for the Firelight," but I haven't seen many posts where people have lamented buying a stove that was too large."""

That was my reasoning for going with the Oslo. Remember though, I do have a 22ft ceiling with a ton of cubic ft. of airspace. Not to mention 18 windows in my greatroom alone. I think the Castine will be a perfect fit for you... 8

 

[PitPat]

Thanks for all the responses.

I will mostly just be burning what grows on my property, so it will be a mix of walnut, hickory, and oak year round.
Seems like the Castine should provide plenty of heat for my application.

 

[begreen]

Be sure the wood is nice and dry. The stove will get cranky and not put out much heat if it's not.

 

[PitPat]

OK, one additional, probably dumb, question.

I have decided to go with the Castine. I am planning on adding an outide air kit, but I would prefer that this is something that I add after the stove is installed. Is there any reason that I would need to order the outside air kit with the stove, or should I be fine ordering it and installing it several months later (I don't know if the stove itself is any different).

Thanks

 

[begreen]

Not a bad question at all. The OAK can be retrofitted. There is no difference in the stove.

 

[eightpilot]

I would try it without the OAK and see how it does. You can alway connect it up later. 8

 

[PitPat]

Great, thanks for the help.

 

[JBinKC]

I wish I could have interjected earlier but in your case I would have leaned toward the Oslo. Why? That side door would likely help cut down on the ash spills and eventual dust formation in the house, the longer burn times and the slight oversizing would be a safety net if it got bitterly cold. But I am not going to qualm with you about the looks of a Castine.

 

[begreen]

Good points JB. It would be my first choice for this house too, especially with a basement install.

 

[PitPat]

Well, I haven't made any official decision yet (i.e. nothing has been ordered)
When I started this thread I was hoping people were going to say "You really need to get the Oslo," because that was the one that initially caught my eye. But I want to make sure I am making a sensible, rational decision.

 

[PitPat]

And while I am still thinking about what to order, is the enamel finish worth the extra money?
I like the look of a flat black stove, or at least I like the look on a new one. The old painted ones tend to look very old, whereas the old enamel ones seem to hold their appearances better (but I may have seen a limited, non-representative sample). It'll cost me a few hundred extra, which will make this hurt a little more up front, but over the life of the stove it really isn't much.

Thoughts?

 

[begreen]

The tough call is because of the 2 story arrangement. It's hard to determine without seeing a floorplan for each floor and knowing the house better. Either stove will heat the home. If the heat can migrate easily upstairs then the Oslo should work. But if your concern is primarily about overheating downstairs then you might be better with the F400 unless you use the furnace fan to alleviate basement overheating. OTOH, f the house naturally convects like ours does, then the Oslo should work quite well. It's hard to know what your comfort level will end up being. You may be fine with a 75 degree livingroom and a 65 degree kitchen. This is pretty much an individual thing.

My bias is because the Oslo drafts better and is more convenient. Once you've used the alternative, you grow to appreciate not having logs try to fall out the front door if they aren't stacked quite right. This can happen when loading a hot stove and the last split is a bit too big to fit without some adjustment.

 

[begreen]

I love the blue-black Jotul enamel. It is much tougher than majolica porcelain enamels and stands up well. Year after year it will stay looking sharp with just a wipe now and then. Go for it, you won't regret it.