I was recently looking at purchasing a new Jotul F500 Oslo, but came across this used Jotul stove. Can anyone tell me about this stove from the pic and how efficient it is compared to the Oslo?
![[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/290/290102-6014e016fc0b9dbe15d8bff776b381d9.jpg?hash=3OrWRYUR9e "[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove")
help identify this Jotul stove
- Thread starter WarmitupKris
- Start date
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Looks like a Jotul F600 Firelight. It's rated higher BTU Input than the F500 Oslo.
Efficiencies are shown in the attached pages taken directly from the manuals...
![[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/1642434388636-webp.290090/ "[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove")
![[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/1642434327882-webp.290089/ "[Hearth.com] help identify this Jotul stove")
Efficiencies are shown in the attached pages taken directly from the manuals...
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Close, DAKSY! It's actually an old Firelight 12. I owned several, maybe even that one!
Very high build quality (it's Jotul), but it's an old and finnicky design, from the period when they were just figuring out how to design catalytic stoves. It has a few fatal flaws in the design, and repair parts are becoming insanely expensive, since it is many years since they ended production on that unit. If you want it for an occasional fire, and don't mind the high cost and time it might take to make it fully operational, then it may work for you. But if you plan to use it as a reliable heater, I'd flip it and look for something better.
This is the stove that taught me that high component quality does not equal reliable performance.
Very high build quality (it's Jotul), but it's an old and finnicky design, from the period when they were just figuring out how to design catalytic stoves. It has a few fatal flaws in the design, and repair parts are becoming insanely expensive, since it is many years since they ended production on that unit. If you want it for an occasional fire, and don't mind the high cost and time it might take to make it fully operational, then it may work for you. But if you plan to use it as a reliable heater, I'd flip it and look for something better.
This is the stove that taught me that high component quality does not equal reliable performance.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Oh, one more note. It is a quite beautiful stove, and the current F600 Firelight that DAKSY had called out is visually identical, and in fact used the same casting patterns for the exterior components. If you like the looks of that Firelight, you may want to look for a newer F600.
The Firelight 12 you have is a down-draft catalytic design, which was common at the time, but has since fallen out of favor. The F600 Firelight is a non-cat, technology that wasn't yet proven when they designed the Firelight12. Both catalytic and non-catalytic technologies work very well today, each with their own pros and cons, you will find countless debates on the subject if you search this forum.
Jotul makes great product, but their support is thru the dealers only, so your support will be as good or bad as your local dealer. In my case, the experience wasn't great, none of their local dealers were even familiar with the Firelight 12's, making their ability to support it even worse than my own.
The Firelight 12 you have is a down-draft catalytic design, which was common at the time, but has since fallen out of favor. The F600 Firelight is a non-cat, technology that wasn't yet proven when they designed the Firelight12. Both catalytic and non-catalytic technologies work very well today, each with their own pros and cons, you will find countless debates on the subject if you search this forum.
Jotul makes great product, but their support is thru the dealers only, so your support will be as good or bad as your local dealer. In my case, the experience wasn't great, none of their local dealers were even familiar with the Firelight 12's, making their ability to support it even worse than my own.
On The F-600 they changed the arches on the door on the later models, and uses a side door rather than a top loading door, which made the top load door non functional on the F-600. It’s no longer in production either. The Oslo is their biggest stove now, and I’m not sold on the design at all.
I’m sure you know these things Ashful, just adding a little for the OP.
I always wondered how the F600 became a Cat stove. And I thought it was a top loader as well. It was a Firelight12. Where they making both at the same time? Then the F12 was gone and it was F600. That was right around the time I was looking at the F500 V1. At the time I got afraid of the Cat. Still would not want a Cat.
The firelight 12 came first. It was replaced with the firelight F-600. They locked the top door and added a side door. The top door was no longer usable because the secondary combustion system and the baffle. It was a nice stove, but had its down sides too.
