Jotul Castine 400 Installation

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.

n0042827

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Sep 24, 2006
21
if you have any input I'd appreciate it.... here is my concern/qustion

I installed a brand new Jotul Castine 400 wood burning stove over the
summer. It is a corner installation with a rear heatsheild,
bottom heatsheild and double wall stove pipe. According to the
instructions my clearance from the side walls is 11", I have about
12 and half inches of clearance. I have been running the stove around
500 degrees and the sheetrock on the side walls are getting
very hot. I am concerned that when winter comes and I run it closer to
800 degrees that it won't be safe? Is it possible I am
misinterpreted the installation instructions?
Thanks for your help
 
800 degrees I guess you don't plan to have that stove long. Hot to me is 600 to 650 I would never try to run a constant 800 degrees
I target the 500 to 650 range over that is overfiring your stove
 
If you have proper clearances, its not a problem. Your hand can take about 140* temps, it take 3 times that to catch the wall on fire.
 
elkimmeg said:
800 degrees I guess you don't plan to have that stove long. Hot to me is 600 to 650 I would never try to run a constant 800 degrees
I target the 500 to 650 range over that is overfiring your stove

I agree with that Elk. 800 and up temps are what have put that firebox crack in the Sierra that I am nursing until I get a new stove.

Six fifty is as high as she goes from now on. And the OP's manual will tell him that the Jotul is most efficient at 450 to 600 or so.
 
Slim is this a corner installation or alcove?

My walls in a corner installation are about 13" away at the corner and are warm to the touch, but I don't think they're over 110 degrees with the stove running at 550. But I'll know better once I get the handy surface temp detector from Harbor Freight. If you can comfortably leave your hand on the wall, then it is most likely ok. I don't plan on running my stove over 650 even if it wants to go hotter. 800 is really hot, even for a Jotul.
 
I need to restate my comment, if you have proper clearances its not a problem running your stove at manuactures stated temp range. My point is, if the wall is hot to the touch, thats ok, wood combusts at 500*. You cant touch it when its even remotely close to that temperture.
 
elkimmeg said:
800 degrees I guess you don't plan to have that stove long. Hot to me is 600 to 650 I would never try to run a constant 800 degrees
I target the 500 to 650 range over that is overfiring your stove
 
BeGreen said:
Slim is this a corner installation or alcove?

My walls in a corner installation are about 13" away at the corner and are warm to the touch, but I don't think they're over 110 degrees with the stove running at 550. But I'll know better once I get the handy surface temp detector from Harbor Freight. If you can comfortably leave your hand on the wall, then it is most likely ok. I don't plan on running my stove over 650 even if it wants to go hotter. 800 is really hot, even for a Jotul.


you have a Jotul Castine 400? How long have you had it? I've heard only great things about them.

it is a corner insallation.. I have the rear heatsheild and the directions said that I could be as close as 11 inches if I had double wall stove pipe. I am 12 and a half inches from the side walls. I just got concerned when I was going through the break in process (because it is new) the walls got hot. I was starting to think maybe a read the instructions wrong. It appears that everyone is in agreement that I shouldn't be running it much above 600 degrees.

Thanks for you help
 
Our F400 is new also. We've had about 6 fires in it now, but the temps are warm again so we won't be burning this week.

We're learning the stove too, but ours seems to project most of the heat forward. However, I haven't really loaded her up and had a long burn going. It goes up to 600 pretty easily so this will bear watching. Our F3CB could go much hotter due to strong draft and I put a draft damper in it for better regulation. MSG is betting I'll need one for the Castine as well. We have about 19 ft. of stack on the stove.

I'm watching sidewall temps, but so far there's been nothing to get excited about. Eventually I plan on covering the drywall with something like tile or stone, for aesthetics, but have too much going on at the moment.
 
They were supposed to deliver the cleanout tee last Wed., but that was in error. Now we're looking at this coming Wed.

I loosened all the screws on the pipe and managed to reduce the downslope quite a bit. That made an immediate improvement. There's little smoke coming out of the door on startup now. And that's at 50 degrees outside temp. When the new tee arrives I'll make sure it's uphill all the way. So far we're very happy with the stove, but haven't had cold enough weather to let it really perform.
 
My Castine is a corner install with the heat shield also. It is spec'd at 11" i am at 12". I run the stove from 500-650 usually. My wall feels hot once and a while, but when checked with a infared temp gauge, i don't think it has ever gone over 160.
 
pfmg said:
My Castine is a corner install with the heat shield also. It is spec'd at 11" i am at 12". I run the stove from 500-650 usually. My wall feels hot once and a while, but when checked with a infared temp gauge, i don't think it has ever gone over 160.

thanks for the information.... I think I will purchase and infrared temperture gauge myself. How long have you had the stove and how do you like it?
 
I have a similar issue with my newly installed Jotul Oslo 500. I have a corner install. I am running single wall pipe 19 inches of the 5/8 sheetrock wall. I also have the rear heatshield. The top corners of the stove are 15+ inches away from the sheetrock. The walls are definitely hot to the touch. I am well beyond the Jotul requirements. It is unexpected that there would be so much heat projected to the sides like that. I'll have to get a surface thermometer.
 
For what it is worth... Late this past summer I installed a Jotul Castine. It is a corner installation in my finished off basement connected to a masonry chimney. It has taken me quite a bit of time to learn how to use and control it to get the right temperatures. I had an old franklin stove before that burned completely different. I tend to run it around 400-500 degrees that seems to be the spot it likes to idle at. It seems to burn clean at that temperature since I do not have any smoke coming out of the chimney, just heat waves. My stack temperature about 12 inches off the stove is around 350 degrees. Usually I run it with the air control at 25 percent or a little less. It can easily hit 600 degrees plus. That gets a little too exciting for me. The wall temperature at the corner of the stove is about 120 degrees and does not seem to go up from that. The stove is about 12 inches off the wall. (The wall is protected) I can achieve an over night burn fairly easily. At around 11:30p I put a couple of large elm splits in and let them get going and set the air intake to 25 percent. In the morning I have red coals and I can easily relite the fire. Hope some of this info helps.

Mike
 
During our cold snap I ran the Castine 24/7 and pushed the stove to stay at 500-650. A couple times the temps reached as high as 700. The stove ran well and the corner wall temps never got so hot that I couldn't hold my hand against them. It might sting at first, but I am guessing it was below 130 degrees on the sheetrock at the highest temps. The stove is operating similarly to Mike's report, so no need to repeat. I've stopped worrying about it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.