Full circle, back to a Jotul 602

[sesmith]

Back in 1979, my future wife and I lived in a crappy little trailer that we heated with a Jotul 602. Loved that stove. It was a green enamel one we bought new, and I have fond memories of the 2 of us and the dog, huddled next to that stove while nursing a a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. We bought our first house in 1982, and heated that one with a much larger stove. It was a sheet steel Woodsaver, a work horse that lived in the unfinished cellar. Eventually, we installed a geo system, and the wood stove went unused the last 7 or so years we lived there.

Last year we sold that house, after living there 37 years, and moved to South Carolina, a place we should never need a wood stove. We did keep a 33 acre land parcel that we own in central NY, and put a log cabin on wheels there last year. It's just shy of 400 sq ft and we will be alternating our summer time between the cabin and a boat on the Great Lakes.

So stroke of luck. After some searching last winter, I found a used Jotul 602 N (CB) down in SC. Very nice stove and little used. So the heating season has begun in our little off grid cabin in central NY, and we're having a blast watching the fire in the wood stove. Forgot how much I liked sitting and zoning out watching a wood stove. Looks like it will be a perfect fit for the cabin, though our heating season will be fairly short. Once the leaves are off the trees, we're heading south!

 

[begreen]

Should work out fine for a chill chaser. Especially if the place is cold on arrival.

 

[sesmith]

Yes, it should be fine for that. Once the place comes up to temp, the wood walls hold the heat for a while. The original 602 had more room inside for wood, and you could probably keep a fire going longer, but not really an issue for our use. This one does burn cleaner.

 

[Todd]

Nice looking setup. I really like my little 602 CB, it had no problem heating our 600sq ft log cabin 24/7 throughout last winter. It also surprised me on its burn times and leaving enough coals for relighting in the morning.

 

[peakbagger]

I knew many folks who survived through Maine winters in poorly insulated homes with Jotul 602s. They were the lowest cost efficient stove out there and they were imported into Portland Maine by Krista Associates so there was dealer support. I think they would occasionally have seconds that were damaged in the import process that made their way into the local market. The only issue is that when burned really hard, the burn plates do burn out and need replacement. I know a couple of folks that would cut new ones out of whatever steel they had around. The steel plates would warp and not last as long as the factory replacements but better than nothing. If the plates were gone, they could experience cracking in the outer castings. I have seen a few of those over the years. Once the outer casting cracks it wasn't worth fixing them