I have a Jotul Allagash 3DVII that was installed by the previous house owner in 2000. It works fine but does not heat the space quickly because it has no blower. I looked at a new Jotul GF200 Lillihammer ($2300 installed) then found out I could get a blower kit installed on the Allagash for about $400. I saw that Jotul offers an extended 25-year warranty on its new stoves -- which is far longer than my own life expectancy at age 64! I cannot decide whether to get the new stove, or just put the blower on the old one. Any recommendations or feedback on whether a 20-year-old stove could last another 10-15 years, or what might wear out on the old stove and not be replaceable? Many thanks!
Jotul Allagash life expectancy
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If you have the know how, pull everything out of the firebox & take a look at the insides.
If there is rust in the firebox, sand it & paint it with hi temp paint..
If the logs look like they're ready to start crumbling from the heat, you might want
to see if a replacement set is available & get it now. In the future it might NOT be.
Look closely at the burner. If you have a tube burner, & it fails, a good welder can fabricate a new one.
If you have the stainless steel pan burner, it can also fail & it used to have a lifetime warranty, IIRC.
A gas valve can last 20+ years & is not that hard to change out if it fails.
Thermocouples & thermopiles are readily available, but having a couple of each
on hand is probably a good idea. Gaskets are also readily available.
That Allagash is a good stove & should last a another decade or more, if it's maintained.
I wouldn't buy the Lillehammer, as it has no heat exchanger & is a smaller unit than the Allagash.
If you need warmed air moved around, ceiling fans or box fans are a lot less than $400 & will do
what you want quite adequately.
Hope this helped.
If there is rust in the firebox, sand it & paint it with hi temp paint..
If the logs look like they're ready to start crumbling from the heat, you might want
to see if a replacement set is available & get it now. In the future it might NOT be.
Look closely at the burner. If you have a tube burner, & it fails, a good welder can fabricate a new one.
If you have the stainless steel pan burner, it can also fail & it used to have a lifetime warranty, IIRC.
A gas valve can last 20+ years & is not that hard to change out if it fails.
Thermocouples & thermopiles are readily available, but having a couple of each
on hand is probably a good idea. Gaskets are also readily available.
That Allagash is a good stove & should last a another decade or more, if it's maintained.
I wouldn't buy the Lillehammer, as it has no heat exchanger & is a smaller unit than the Allagash.
If you need warmed air moved around, ceiling fans or box fans are a lot less than $400 & will do
what you want quite adequately.
Hope this helped.
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