Doubt between Jotul F400 and the F500

[Mireillevdw]

I have the possibility to buy a F400 of 2007, but it's in a very good condition.
The seller wants 1300€ for it.
But I think maybe we have to wait for a good offer for a F500. I am leaning towards a F500 because it's slightly bigger than the F400 and the sidedoor is a handy option. It's for heating a livingroom and kitchen that are 35 m2 together and we hope it can heat maybe more than that.
Here some pictures of the F400.
I hope you can advise us what to do.

 

[DAKSY]

How are you going to vent it?
There have been issues with the F400 back-puffing a lot
of smoke when the install isn't straight up from the vertical flue collar.

 

[Mireillevdw]

There's a slight bend in our chimney flue.
The draft in our chimney is good. We now have an F12 that we have to squeeze constantly.

 

[EbS-P]

That price seems high. I passed on a similar F400 that was selling for 1000 us$.

I have 75 m2 down to -2c with my F400. Top vent is best.

F500 may be too big for the space. Just some thoughts.

Evan

 

[Mireillevdw]

That price seems high. I passed on a similar F400 that was selling for 1000 us$.

I hear 75 m2 down to -2c with my F400. Top vent is best.

F500 may be too big for the space. Just some thoughts.

Evan

I also saw another 1 (ivoire enamel) that also looks very good. They ask 1000€ for it, but it's 1 hour farther away then the black one.

 

[EbS-P]

There's a slight bend in our chimney flue.
The draft in our chimney is good. We now have an F12 that we have to squeeze constantly.

The F12 isn’t heating well enough. It’s a pretty big stove. Is it In good shape? Rated Btu output of the F12 is more than the F400.

Both 400 and 500 will need dry wood. Split and stacked 2 years. One of its pine. I like the baffle on the 400 better. Ivory is my choice. I drove 3 hours to look at one then back home without it as it needed repainted.

Both will want minimum of 4.5m of flue height.

 

[bigealta]

I paid $1,400 US for the same blue/black model you posted, mine was in like new condition. That was before covid. Prices here have gone way up since then here in East Coast USA. Can not even find any for sale. Mine has heated my cape house and is doing well even at 16F and 25mph winds. (950 sq ft. 1st floor, 800 sq 2nd floor that is closed off by a door at staircase. Usually 10 degrees colder upstairs when the door is mostly closed.) House built in 40's with block walls and almost no insulation.
Mine is rear vented with maybe only 16ft chimney so not ideal, and can release some smoke sometimes when opening door, but it's pretty avoidable with proper loading and timing.

 

[bigealta]

I have the room to change to top vent, but the smoke issue has become so minor now that i’de rather have it a bit more out of the fireplace to heat better.

 

[begreen]

35 sq mtrs is not a large area. The F400 would be sufficient unless this is in a poorly insulated area with stone walls. I agree that the price for the black one is too high. 1300€ is close to what the stove cost new in 2007. A more reasonable price for it would be around 700€.

The F400 is a good heater and easy to run with sufficient draft. We had one on a 6 mtr. straight up flue, but vented rear exit and it worked well. I had to connect it rear exit to an elbow in order to meet the clearance requirements for our corner installation.

 

[bigealta]

That stove in 2019 new was $3,000 US plus tax for the Blue Black enamel. Less for the flat black.

 

[begreen]

That stove in 2019 new was $3,000 US plus tax for the Blue Black enamel. Less for the flat black.

Fine, that is new and 12 yrs later, though locally it went for $2400. When we bought our blue-black enamel F400 in 2006 it was $1649.

 

[bigealta]

Fine, that is new and 12 yrs later, though locally it went for $2400. When we bought our blue-black enamel F400 in 2006 it was $1649.

Yeah, The Flat Black was about $2,400 plus $150+tax here. in 2019

i'm not trying to push the f400, just providing the info i faced 2 years ago when making decision to buy that used model and finish. For me it was less than 1/2 price of new, in about the same condition as new, had no wait time (new was 3 week wait). And i needed to replace my broken jotul 3. I think i'de prefer a north south loader, but i'm still happy with this stove in my not to extreme climate.

 

[begreen]

The difference may have been that I usually check and buy stove prices in summer. Peak season pricing can be whatever the market will bear. I got our F400 on a hot day in early Sept. when no one was stopping in at the stove shop. They had a floor model blue-black enameled one and I bought it in 5 minutes.

 

[Mireillevdw]

The F12 isn’t heating well enough. It’s a pretty big stove. Is it In good shape? Rated Btu output of the F12 is more than the F400.

Both 400 and 500 will need dry wood. Split and stacked 2 years. One of its pine. I like the baffle on the 400 better. Ivory is my choice. I drove 3 hours to look at one then back home without it as it needed repainted.

Both will want minimum of 4.5m of flue height.

I think you didn't understand me. We constantly need to set the aircontrol on the left, because otherwise it will be to hot. 😉

We have dry wood (beech and oak) split and stacked 2 years.

Our flue height is almost 8 meters.😊

 

[EbS-P]

F400 is very simple to clean and the baffle is very strong. F500 has tubes and and a more fragile baffle board (I think old ones may have had insulation and or a cast baffle).

At 8m, I would add a damper in the stove pipe if you don’t have one.

 

[Mireillevdw]

I forgot to mention: we are planning for next winter to install a central heating system on wood next to the woodstove. 😉

 

[Mireillevdw]

F400 is very simple to clean and the baffle is very strong. F500 has tubes and and a more fragile baffle board (I think old ones may have had insulation and or a cast baffle).

At 8m, I would add a damper in the stove pipe if you don’t have one.

But it's shorter than 8 meters. 😉

 

[bigealta]

Hmm seems like some lost in translation going on here. Do you want the f400 or 500 to provide less heat? or just a more simple stove to use? or something else?

 

[Mireillevdw]

Hmm seems like some lost in translation going on here. Do you want the f400 or 500 to provide less heat? or just a more simple stove to use? or something else?

We now have a F12, but we'll need to set the aircontrol constantly left, because otherwise it will get to hot in our livingroom.

We think that Jotul is a great stove, but we want a woodburner that will heat less than the F12, but enough to keep the livingroom and the kitchen a nice temperature. The sidedoor on the F500 is a nice feature, but a F500 is also slightly bigger, what makes it more easy with logs that sometimes are 55 cm's.
I am afraid that I will regret that I didn't wait for a fine F500 offer.

 

[Mireillevdw]

And here's a F500 that is for sale, but the inside doesn't look very good, I think......

 

[bigealta]

21.5 inches not gonna fit well in the f400........ 20" Max., 18" is best.

 

[EbS-P]

And here's a F500 that is for sale, but the inside doesn't look very good, I think......

View attachment 291240 View attachment 291241

Pictures do not look terrible. Looks dirty. I would want to see the condition of the tubes and baffle.

 

[Mireillevdw]

Pictures do not look terrible. Looks dirty. I would want to see the condition of the tubes and baffle.

I've send the seller a message that I can't assess it's condition correctly, because it's not clean enough. They ask 1900€ and I think this price is way to high for it's condition.