jotul 400 or 500

[woodywilson]

Hello everyone
Thought I was going plunk down the cash today for "THE STOVE" but got to thinking it through and want to feel more confident
about the decision so I now have till monday to finalize plans. Love the reveiws and looks of the 500 over the 400 but concerned with getting cooked
out

stats
House--1100 sq ft --stove in 20x20 L.R. with 8 ft celings-- fairly open to rest of home
crawl space
drafty windows
middle of the road with insulation

1. Is the 500 overkill for this application or can I move enough air around to keep room comfortable?
2 Is it possible to burn smaller fires consistently--what temp should stove go to on a long even burn ?
3 Any recommendations on other cast iron stoves(wife insists for looks) that fits my specs I am open to.
Any and all input is greatly appreciated ---THANX

 

[Later]

Our house was built in the mid 1800's and has a drafty stone foundation although it has good insulation and we just finished putting in new windows. We have a 17x24 living room and the 400 keeps it around 74 when it's 0 to 5 below. The oil furnace is mostly off when we burn, We don't push the stove keeping it about 450. Have a pedestal fan blowing cooler air into the room and the rest of the first floor stays in the low to mid 60's. Wanted the 500 but our hearth was too small. I think that the 500 would work well for you. As they say, you can always build a smaller fire.

 

[ansehnlich1]

It is my opinion the oslo is too much stove for your 1100 sq. ft.

Sure, you can try and build small fires, but you'll run the risk of burning the oslo too cool, thus creating creosote.

The oslo will sit there, a mass of cast iron, at 400 to 500 degrees, for 3 or 4 hours, maybe more.

se michigan, drafty windows, hmmm, maybe a factor, but I still think she's too much stove for 1100 sq. ft.

givin' you a bump so others weigh in on this...........

 

[begreen]

It does sound like the Oslo might be overkill. My thought is to get the Castine and deal with the drafty windows. In the least, seal up the leaks with Mortite for the winter.

But I have to ask, how is the stove going to be vented? The Castine like a robust drafting flue system.

 

[woodywilson]

14 foot of chimney straight up thru attic and out-- right at the peak of house


any thoughts on the PE T5 ?

 

[nelraq]

My house sounds similiar to yours. Mine is 1080 square feet - mid 1970's vintage with all new windows. My Kitchen , DR and LR are all in one room about 26' x 22'. The Oslo is on the end wall of the house. It wouldn't draft adequately with 14 ' of chimney straight up. It is now 19.5 feet tall and works great.

It does a very good job of heating the house without being "cooked out." The 'great room" will sometimes get up into the high 70's, with the BR's and bath
being in the low 70's.

I seriously considered the Castine; but am very glad that I went with the Oslo - I don't think the Castine would have done the job for me. Plus, the side door on the Oslo is a great feature!

 

[woodywilson]

Thanks for the input fellas
Going to go to bed and sleep on it

 

[begreen]

14 foot of chimney straight up thru attic and out-- right at the peak of house


any thoughts on the PE T5 ?

Yes, I would strongly consider this as an alternative, especially with the shorter flue. The T5 is less radiant than the Castine, with more mass and a softer warmth. We had the Castine before putting in the T6 and there is quite a difference in the way these two stoves heat. The T5 will give you longer burn times without cooking you out of the house, you'll be able to load N/S and the stove will be more comfortable with the 14' flue.

 

[M1Greg]

I think the 500 would be a little big for your setup. I just selected the 500 over the 400 for similar reasons of looks and side loading capibility for my 1700sf home with leaky windows.
LR with stove is 16 x 30' with 14' cathedral ceiling and I can cook myself out of the great room if I load the firebox fully. I ussually load box with 3 or 4 splits and run stove between 350 and 400'F ( I am skeptical of therm accuracy though.)
This gives me comfortable heat in the great room ~74'F and the back of the house is noticably cooler, low 60's. I have been experimenting with ceiling and box fans to move the heat to the back of the house.

Good luck with your decision!

Hello everyone
Thought I was going plunk down the cash today for "THE STOVE" but got to thinking it through and want to feel more confident
about the decision so I now have till monday to finalize plans. Love the reveiws and looks of the 500 over the 400 but concerned with getting cooked
out

stats
House--1100 sq ft --stove in 20x20 L.R. with 8 ft celings-- fairly open to rest of home
crawl space
drafty windows
middle of the road with insulation

1. Is the 500 overkill for this application or can I move enough air around to keep room comfortable?
2 Is it possible to burn smaller fires consistently--what temp should stove go to on a long even burn ?
3 Any recommendations on other cast iron stoves(wife insists for looks) that fits my specs I am open to.
Any and all input is greatly appreciated ---THANX

 

[kestrel]

We heat our 2300 sg. ft. farmhouse with a Castine. It typically keeps the house at about 67-68 in the dead of winter. The upstairs bedrooms stay cool but that's ok as I like it cool with heavy blankets on the bed. On the very coldest days it does struggle to heat that much space. I would have liked to install an Oslo but couldn't fit it in the old fireplace where the stove sits. I would think that an Oslo would blow you out of the house. I think a Castine could get pretty warm in 1100 sq. ft. although if its poorly insulated than maybe it would be appropriate. I can't imagine that it would be found wanting in that application. I used to have a 1300 sq. ft house with a large room with cathedral ceiling and heated it very nicely with a VC Intrepid II.

 

[dvellone]

stats
House--1100 sq ft --stove in 20x20 L.R. with 8 ft celings-- fairly open to rest of home
crawl space
drafty windows
middle of the road with insulation

your stats all add up to a lot of heat loss, and the 500 might better meet these demands during the deepest winter cold (don't know how cold your winters get there but winter temperatures will be main factor in selecting a stove) Depending on the depths of cold during your winters, and if you'll be heating exclusively with the stove you might want the larger firebox of the 500 for overnight burns and day-long burns while you're at work.

If your house was tightly insulated and draft free the 400 would serve you well, and as far as the long run goes that may be the route to take - address insulation, windows and crawl space (if the crawl walls aren't already insulated) and burn much less wood over the years to come. If that approach isn't possible and you don't foresee it anytime soon I'd go for the 500.

My 800 sq. foot house (2 story) with insulated crawl space and a heavily insulated floor and ceiling is heated with the 400 and though I can easily overheat the space when the winter temps are moderate (upper teens to freezing), its the deep cold when I appreciate the stove the most - no sub-zero stress and comfortable house in the am. One key for your situation would be to get that heat moving out of the LR to the rest of the house.

 

[woodywilson]

Hey y'all
First - I would like to thank everyone for their input was wondering if anyone has tried taking air above stove (at ceiling) and ducting it to other parts of house
with in line blower.maybe shake off a little heat along the way I know not efficient. I' m seeing the majority believe the 500 is a bit too much but man-- I like that stove-- going to look at the PE T5 Classic in M.Brown
layout that configuration-- but still trying to come up with solid reasoning to go with the 500. again thanx to everybody

 

[begreen]

Good success has been achieved by blowing to cold air at floor level, back toward the stove. Warm air will replace it. There must be dozens of threads on this here.

 

[gandrimp]

We bought a Castine a little less than a year ago. Our house is 2200 sqf, and the
castine heats the basement ( 1100 sqf ) very nicely and adds heat to the upstair ( 1100sqf ).
I think the castine would do you a good job.

 

[potter]

We have a Oslo in a moderately insulated, moderately leaky 1000 s.ft. house. It's in the basement though and provides our heat 24/7 unless we're out of town.
I will be glad to have it tonight as temps fall to 9 °F. I think it is more of a problem to have too little stove than too big. And I would not want to do without the side loading.

 

[firefighterjake]

Put me in the Oslo may be too much of a stove column . . . I would take a look at the Castine if you like the Jotul look.

 

[poltroon]

Remember that there's a tax credit for windows until the end of the year too, so investigating those options is worth doing. I've noticed that even in the same ambient temperature, that a drafty single pane window makes me feel very cold.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

14 foot of chimney straight up thru attic and out-- right at the peak of house


any thoughts on the PE T5 ?

I'm a fan

I'm burning a Spectrum Classic (same firebox, no cast iron shell).

I almost went with the Castine but decided the extra cost, maintenance (cast iron), and smaller firebox weren't worth it.

 

[woodywilson]

Leaning towards the PE T5-- having trouble locating 1 close enough to have by years end

Would like to have here for tax break of course and take advantage of time off for holidays to install
although going to need slight warm-up to melt snow off the roof.