Gas stove with similar styling to the Jotul F500?

[trevarthan]

I live within city limits. My house has a natural gas furnace that I use in the evenings and mornings as "fill" heat. It's old though, circa 1981ish, and pretty inefficient, though I'm not sure exactly how inefficient. It's a 10 ton model.

I've got this beautiful Jotul F500, and I made a cool custom hearth for it:


Jotul Oslo F500 Wood Stove by Trevarthan, on Flickr

I've been using that stove as my primary heat source during the day for two years. Works great, but it's a pain to lug wood up from the backyard, through the basement, up the stairs to the first floor. Also, the wood particulate gets everywhere. I know I'm being a big baby. Winter doesn't last very long in Tennessee and it doesn't get very cold, but I'm the kind of guy who is always looking to improve things. I have a hard time leaving it alone if I see an obvious improvement that CAN be made.

I bought the Jotul because I enjoy having a backup heat source that doesn't rely on electricity or the city. It saves a bit of money each month too, but I think I more than make up for it in manual labor. I've been wondering for a while if I'm crazy and I just need to get a gas stove instead.

Why a stove at all? It's an old medium sized 1920s house. Plaster walls with no insulation. The ceiling and floor have insulation, but it's not a modern home by any means. The original windows have storms, and while ugly, I dare not remove them. Most of the glazing is in need of replacement on the old windows. I'm slowly working through that backlog of work. But anyway, the living room is usually uncomfortably cold in the winter, so it's nice to have a fire. I like fire. It's kind of a luxury these days.

The gas line is right beside the masonry chimney, so I figure installation would be about as straight forward as it could be. Drill either up from the basement where the furnace is, or through the chimney. (probably up since it's easier)

I know the gas hearth stoves are probably less efficient than even my old 1980s gas furnace (65% is what I'm seeing on the Jotul site). So I'm not expecting operating costs to be cheaper. Just more convenient.

My problem is... man... the gas units just aren't as attractive. The Jotul GF 400 BV Sebago looks ideal. Nearly the same stats as my F500, and it says it doesn't require electricity to operate: (broken link removed to http://jotul.com/us/products/stoves/f-400-series/jotul-gf-400-bv-sebago)

(broken image removed)

But that "nautical" styling just looks... ugh... over the top, to me. Too busy and frilly. Is there a gas stove out there that is as attractive as the F500? I know, first world problems. Try not to take this thread too seriously, please. I'm just curious and looking for ideals in a non-ideal world.

 

[DAKSY]

What about the GF 600 DVII Firelight? Looks like the F600 & it'll be 40K BTU instead of 32K like the Sebago...

 

[trevarthan]

Well, I only see one image of it on the website:

(broken image removed)

Pretty hard to tell from one image. Are there more somewhere? It also says it has a blower and doesn't say it does not require electricity, so that's a concern.

 

[trevarthan]

Also, it says the Sebago BV is
BTU Range:
40,000 High 20,000 Low

I'm not sure what BV stands for there though. I assume it's a regular chimney, but I could be wrong. Not sure if direct vent models would work with a regular chimney.

 

[DAKSY]

The GF 600 has a standing pilot - no electricity required unless you have a blower added.
BV = B-Vent. It uses combustion air from inside the home & relies on natural draft to
exhaust the byproducts of combustion.
DV = Direct Vent & draws combustion air in from outside your home
& exhausts to the outside.
Either BV (one liner) or DV (2 co-linear liners) use your chimney as a means to get to the outside of your home.
There ARE some issues with BV units when the natural drafting is not ideal, Ie. when the inside
& outside temperatures are close to the same value, natural drafting doesn't always initiate properly.
There are safety features to shut the units down & prevent CO infiltration into your home.
DV units almost NEVER have this issue.

If you Google Jotul GF 600 Pictures, there are more shots of the unit available...

 

[trevarthan]

Sorry for the delay in replying. It's been busy around here.

I would need a new chimney for the DV units, right? But I could re-use my existing stainless liner with the BV models?

I have a two story chimney, so that would be quite expensive to re-line with a DV double liner.

The problem with the Jotul GF 600 is that it's only a DV model. There's no BV option.

 

[jotulguy]

The gf-500 was just recently released. Below should be picture of it at this years trade show. It is 40,000 btu with a 70% turn down. The reason for the high turn down is because you can completely shut off the front burner.

 

[SouthernMaineWayne]

Sorry for the delay in replying. It's been busy around here.

I would need a new chimney for the DV units, right? But I could re-use my existing stainless liner with the BV models?

I have a two story chimney, so that would be quite expensive to re-line with a DV double liner.

The problem with the Jotul GF 600 is that it's only a DV model. There's no BV option.

It's not that expensive. Gas uses aluminum liners not stainless. DV pipe from the stove to a masonry adapter, then a 4" liner to your DV cap. Use the masonry flue for combustion air.