Jotul 602f CB

[makettle]

Hello all,

I just joined the forum. My husband and I are considering purchasing a Jotul wood stove, model 602fcb, to heat our 200 sq. ft. cabin. Upon seeing an actual model I noticed it does not have an ashpan and the chamber size is small. We plan on eventually living year round in this cabin so I would like to know if the lack of an ashpan will cause problems such as difficulty cleaning or having to time cleaning the stove to prevent ash build up. Will the small chamber size make regulating night time temps difficult because of shorter banking time?

Was this model was designed for occassional use such as a vacation home or cabin. Can it be used to daily heating? A buying decison rests on this information. I would like to hearing from someone who has used this stove.

MaKettle

 

[oregonrider]

It is an excellent little stove but you are going to be feeding it every hour or so. Boy 200 sf thats small! What part of the country? roben.

 

[BrotherBart]

The 602 will be about all of the stove that space can handle floor space and heat wise anyway. You will get two to three hour burns with good hardwood but if the place is insulated well it should hold the heat. Actually floor space and clearance wise the F100 might be a better bet and that little dude throws a bunch of radiant heat from the front glass for a quick warm-up. I know, I burn one in my basement office where I need heat fast in the morning.

BB- Who grew up with the Ma and Pa Kettle movies and who thinks Marjorie Main was the coolest old gal that ever lived.

PS: Ash pans are highly over-rated. Just push the live coals to one side of the stove and scoop out the three scoops of ashes the little stove will render up. On the two stoves I have with ash pans I let'em fill up and forget they are there.

 

[makettle]

Oops! I can't do math. The correct cabin sq. footage is 336ft., 14 x 24. We are building a cabin in Missouri in the bootheel. We keep a running website of our progress. If interested visit (broken link removed).

So if I understand, the Jotul ashes are not a problem due to small amount produced. That's nice to know. I was remembering the days of cleaning out a wood stove sized for a 2 story house. But, will there still be any live coals left by morning?

The cabin will be well insulated. Fotunately that part of Missouri rarely gets really cold so the stove may work for our needs, not like the cold winters in WV. I love the beauty of the state but not the winters. So now I live in Tennessee.

Thanks for the real-life input. The sales person said basically the same thing and he is a customer hisself.
By the way, I loved Ma and Pa Kettle as a kid myself. I hope to find their movies to rent.

Makettle

 

[begreen]

Heating such a small space with wood over a long period of time is a challenge for any stove. The 602 will throw out a surprising amount of heat, though only for a couple hours. My guess is you'll be opening windows regularly and yet chilly in the middle of the night. The lack of an ashpan is not a big deal. The stove is very easy to clean out. But you'll need to do it one shovelful at a time.

Where is the cabin located?

 

[makettle]

It is in the bootheel of Missouri, sorry but we are keeping the location to ourselves. It takes about 4 hours to get there from outside Memphis Tennessee. The truck knows the way by now and get drive itself. The propery has very little dirt. It is mostly rock. When the road was cut through the trees it looked as if gravel/large rock had been put down. It was nice, no mud.

Our next door neighbors have had the same garden for over 20 years and they state they still find rocks in the garden bed.

Makettle

 

[titan]

Makettle, I enjoyed touring your website...I feel relaxed just from looking at your little getaway.I wonder if a very small catylityc stove is available for your cabin to give a longer,slower burn without roasting you out of the place?

 

[begreen]

No problem, I didn't need to know the exact location, just the climate zone. Does the cabin have electricity? If yes, I'd probably just use a baseboard electric heater.

 

[makettle]

Glad you liked the tour. I have to give my husband the credit. He wouldn't let me touch the site. Tell me about a catylityc stove. I am not familiar with that type.

Makettle

 

[makettle]

Sorry I missed the post asking about electric? Currently, we have only a small solar panel, a rechargeable battery and 2 bulbs that hang from the ceiling. We hope to eventually use solar.

Makettle

 

[BrotherBart]

Just looked at the website. Love the cabin.

 

[makettle]

We like it too. We are currently working inside on the bathroom. Once we have some progress to show, we'll post some new photographs. It has two lofts. One large one for sleeping and a smaller one for storage. We got the plans from http://www.countryplans.com/. It is almost the smallest homeplan they sell. If you're not familiar with the site, it is also a great place to view what others have done.

Makettle

 

[titan]

Well a cat. stove can run cleaner at lower stove temps for a longer duration of time than a non-cat stove by virtue of its catylityc combuster being able to burn the gasses and smoke given off by a less aggressive fire.That was a mouthful!.....At least that's how I understand it based on my experience burning cats and non-cats.

 

[makettle]

Ah, so they are more efficient producing less ash and more heat. Well, this was my husband's project so I asked him about this. He checked into it and found they are made as small as we need and require some maintenace.

Makettle

 

[begreen]

Sorry I missed the post asking about electric? Currently, we have only a small solar panel, a rechargeable battery and 2 bulbs that hang from the ceiling. We hope to eventually use solar.

Makettle

The 602 will work, probably with a window open most of the time. We could heat a 2000 sq ft farmhouse down to about 40 degrees outside temps with an older one. It's a respectable little heater. A cat stove will burn longer, it uses a catalytic element to burn waste gases from the wood. They are very efficient. But the smallest is a Vermont Castings Intrepid. This is a great small stove, but again, it's probably too much heat. Worth considering though if you're planning an addition.

How well insulated will the cabin be? Are the floors going to be insulated? If yes, how will you be preventing vermin from getting into the insulation?

PS: all stoves need some maintenance. once you are used to a cat stove it isn't that big a deal.

 

[makettle]

Correction: They are NOT made as small as we need. Sorry.

Makettle

 

[makettle]

I don't have the R-value but the walls are 2x4s and the roof 2x6s. The local weather is very similar to that of Memphis Tenn., hot in the summer and reasonable in the winter. Sorry I can't be more acurrate. I know we worked on the cain until mid to late December. We could probably have worked then if we had had insulated clothing.

We are going to insulate the floor as well but we have not got that far yet. As for keeping the critters out, we are not sure how. Any suggestions? It is a battle to keep them out. Since the doors and windows went in they have been controllable but I do wonder about winter.

Makettle

 

[begreen]

For sure the mice will play while you are away. Best thing is to minimize floor penetrations and flash them well. Given the small size of the floor you might want to consider screening the underside of the joists with galvanized hardware cloth once the insulation is done.

 

[titan]

I used to work with a fellow who lived for a time in an old hunting cabin on his property.No power,just kerosene lanterns and a woodstove.He told me stories of how he would trap the fieldmice in this cabin.....He'd setup coffee cans{with some water in 'em} with rulers leaning up against 'em as one-way gang-planks.He said he used to giggle to himself at night every time he heard a SPLASH.

 

[makettle]

I'll pass the info along to my hubby contractor. I am for anything to keep them out. Every trip to the cabin requires a look around checking for new signs of nests, holes, droppings or other signs of critter life.

This summer past as were were building, before the metal roof was put on, I watch as hundreds of wasps flew around from one piece of lumber to another looking for a place to build. The most entertaining event involved two wasps in particular. Now this cabin is huge next to a small wasp but one of the two followed the other and tackled the other several times while in mid air. Of course they both fell to the cabin floor and fought. Then they flew away and repeated this again.

Building our cabin was like a call to every living thing in the location. They all wanted a home. We fought birds, mice, roaches, wasps and flies.

Makettle

 

[makettle]

Oh I like the mouse trap. I'll have to remember that.

Makettle

 

[makettle]

Thanks to all who responded to my post regarding the Jotul stove chamber size and ashpan. The advice given was as expected.

Makettle

 

[begreen]

You definitely don't want to get to that stage if at all possible. If they start nesting, pooping and peeing in the walls you will never get the smell out. And if there is wiring in the walls, the insulation will become nesting material for sure. Best to stop them aggressively before they make your casa their casa.

 

[makettle]

I agree. We'll be looking into methods to take care of that problem.

Makettle

 

[chad3]

How about looking into one of the woodburning stoves from the boats that someone posted on here a few days/week ago. They seem like a decent stove with the ability to heat a small area. As a side, one of them had an oven on the side of it that would help with the food without running the solar down lots.
Just my .02
chad

found it:
http://www.marinestove.com/codinfo.htm
There are others as well in the site.