Finally finished my Jøtul Castine install/refurb!

[Allagash350]

Hey everyone, I wanted to make a post about my install and how it nearly kicked my butt, and also to thank everyone for all of the information I got from this site and old threads. Such a wealth of helpful info here, it’s a great site with great members.

My wife and I bought our house in may of 2016, and it had a Jøtul Castine propane stove. We used it occasionally and it would heat the house up nicely (split level, stove is in den downstairs) but used a ton of propane. I had always wanted a woodstove and had a lot of wood I had been hoarding from tree jobs I had done.

Anyways the dealer wanted like 3500 for a new castine installed with 6 inch flex liner. And with a new baby it just wasn’t in the budget.

In January I found a guy with a castine looking to trade for a propane stove, he had just bought a house and didn’t want it.
It was in decent shape I would say, no signs of over firing no cracks etc. We traded straight up, I think he got the better deal overall but I was happy.

I took the entire thing apart aside from anything cemented in place, and cleaned it and gave it a more thorough inspection. I replaced all the gaskets on the stove and felt much better about getting a used stove.

Then I ordered the double wall smooth interior liner and an insulation kit and cut out the damper of the fireplace. Fun job.

Let me just say YouTube makes things seem way easier than they are sometimes!
Part of the problem was it was January in Maine and I was working alone, while contending with a snowy roof and 25 foot liner.
I couldn’t get it the first day I tried, and quit after an hour or so. The second day I got it down the chimney but couldn’t make the connection, so I called it a day and put insulation on top of the chimney and in the liner so it wouldn’t suck the heat out of the house.

Anyways I fought this thing for another almost full day and couldn’t connect the stove due to the tight space, angle, and the t I got. The weight of the liner made it hard to hook it up or put the cap on to hold the weight.
In retrospect I would have put the cap on and cut the liner from the bottom, but I was rushing and had an irritated wife telling me I never should have traded the stove blah blah. In her defense we did lose power during a blizzard with a tree that landed on the house, but I had to plow my roads, so I digress.

Anyways winter got really busy with plowing and I was really fed up, so I figured I would pay someone to do it finally.

But I couldn’t get anyone to even return my calls
Let alone look at it.
Went through summer and early fall and obviously none of them would do the job now if they wouldn’t in the spring/summer. Maybe it’s a liability thing, maybe it’s money I don’t know.

Oh did I mention I had a 35 gallon trash can with a ratchet strap over the top of the chimney and liner for 8 months? That went over real good.

So then we lost power for almost a week and had to stay at my dads, and that was the final straw. Had to get it done.
So I bought a different connector (and a generator) ss 90 and that worked, got everything buttoned up and trimmed the excess etc.

Now it is 21 degrees and the upstairs is 72, downstairs is 75. My wife is happy, my dog is happy, and I am really proud. It is running as it should and as I get more comfortable operating it I will increase the load for overnight burns.
But great secondary burn and it seems pretty efficient. Wood I am burning is about 11 percent and smaller length splits that I got from someone moving who had a intrepid 2 so I am getting 2-3 hour burn cycles with only a couple splits in it.

Once I get into my red oak that is 18-20 inches and 2 years seasoned I am anxious to see the burn times.
Anyways as you can tell from my post I had a lot to learn, but this site gave me the confidence to do it, and do it right. So thank you again, and here are a couple pics from tonight.
Glad to be a member here

 

[beermann]

Hey everyone, I wanted to make a post about my install and how it nearly kicked my butt, and also to thank everyone for all of the information I got from this site and old threads. Such a wealth of helpful info here, it’s a great site with great members.

My wife and I bought our house in may of 2016, and it had a Jøtul Castine propane stove. We used it occasionally and it would heat the house up nicely (split level, stove is in den downstairs) but used a ton of propane. I had always wanted a woodstove and had a lot of wood I had been hoarding from tree jobs I had done.

Anyways the dealer wanted like 3500 for a new castine installed with 6 inch flex liner. And with a new baby it just wasn’t in the budget.

In January I found a guy with a castine looking to trade for a propane stove, he had just bought a house and didn’t want it.
It was in decent shape I would say, no signs of over firing no cracks etc. We traded straight up, I think he got the better deal overall but I was happy.

I took the entire thing apart aside from anything cemented in place, and cleaned it and gave it a more thorough inspection. I replaced all the gaskets on the stove and felt much better about getting a used stove.

Then I ordered the double wall smooth interior liner and an insulation kit and cut out the damper of the fireplace. Fun job.

Let me just say YouTube makes things seem way easier than they are sometimes!
Part of the problem was it was January in Maine and I was working alone, while contending with a snowy roof and 25 foot liner.
I couldn’t get it the first day I tried, and quit after an hour or so. The second day I got it down the chimney but couldn’t make the connection, so I called it a day and put insulation on top of the chimney and in the liner so it wouldn’t suck the heat out of the house.

Anyways I fought this thing for another almost full day and couldn’t connect the stove due to the tight space, angle, and the t I got. The weight of the liner made it hard to hook it up or put the cap on to hold the weight.
In retrospect I would have put the cap on and cut the liner from the bottom, but I was rushing and had an irritated wife telling me I never should have traded the stove blah blah. In her defense we did lose power during a blizzard with a tree that landed on the house, but I had to plow my roads, so I digress.

Anyways winter got really busy with plowing and I was really fed up, so I figured I would pay someone to do it finally.

But I couldn’t get anyone to even return my calls
Let alone look at it.
Went through summer and early fall and obviously none of them would do the job now if they wouldn’t in the spring/summer. Maybe it’s a liability thing, maybe it’s money I don’t know.

Oh did I mention I had a 35 gallon trash can with a ratchet strap over the top of the chimney and liner for 8 months? That went over real good.

So then we lost power for almost a week and had to stay at my dads, and that was the final straw. Had to get it done.
So I bought a different connector (and a generator) ss 90 and that worked, got everything buttoned up and trimmed the excess etc.

Now it is 21 degrees and the upstairs is 72, downstairs is 75. My wife is happy, my dog is happy, and I am really proud. It is running as it should and as I get more comfortable operating it I will increase the load for overnight burns.
But great secondary burn and it seems pretty efficient. Wood I am burning is about 11 percent and smaller length splits that I got from someone moving who had a intrepid 2 so I am getting 2-3 hour burn cycles with only a couple splits in it.

Once I get into my red oak that is 18-20 inches and 2 years seasoned I am anxious to see the burn times.
Anyways as you can tell from my post I had a lot to learn, but this site gave me the confidence to do it, and do it right. So thank you again, and here are a couple pics from tonight.
Glad to be a member here


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View attachment 216673

Great job. I installed mine last month and it kicked my ass upside down and sideways. Happy to see you Got it all done.

 

[Allagash350]

Hah thanks! It seemed like it would be/ should be easier than it was.
I still need to make a block off plate and center the stove a bit more but so far so good.
Do you also have a castine? How have you liked it so far?

 

[ddddddden]

Oh did I mention I had a 35 gallon trash can with a ratchet strap over the top of the chimney and liner for 8 months? That went over real good. . .

Sounds like something I would do.

Then I ordered the double wall smooth interior liner and an insulation kit and cut out the damper of the fireplace. Fun job.

Watch that double-wall liner. I've read several horror stories about the inner wall peeling off.

My chimneys have 7X11 inside diameter tiles in them and I had to go with a 5.5" un-insulated liners to get'em in there. Were it me I would use something like the Flex King HD that Chimney Liner Depot sells. Several other vendors like Woodland Direct sell essentially the same thing. No pimping for Chimney Liner Depot. I have had good luck with them, Hart's Hearth, Woodland Direct and several other vendors. Rockford seems to be well thought of here too though I had bad experiences with them years ago. Maybe they were just getting started.

Stay very far away from the two ply "smooth wall" liners. Or stop by and pick up the 21' one I threw off the roof into the woods in 2007. Well, less the six foot piece I cut off of it two years ago to stuff into the top of the meat smoker.

Congrats on a job well done! Looks great!
IMO, the Castine is one of the prettiest stoves out there.

p.s. My stove is off-center too. I left it that way. Gives better access to the back of the stove and flue for any maintenance.