Jotul F100 burn temperature

[cweger]

Hello all,

This is my first post, and my first wood stove ever. We recently purchased and had installed a new Jotul F100 wood stove from a local dealer.

Using dry wood, we have not been able to get the stove temperature (measured on the top of the stove or on the stovepipe) above about 325 degrees.

The F100 manual says it should be burned in at a temperature of 400 degrees.

I called the dealer, and they told me that a temperature of 250 - 300 degrees is normal for this stove, because "the airwash system doesn't work as well as on bigger stoves."

I'm worried about running this stove at or below 300 constantly. The dealer says this is not a problem, but I'd like a second opinion. Can anyone please advise?

Thanks!
-Chuck

 

[BrotherBart]

The air wash on the F100 works just fine. One problem you may have is that the pretty "lattice" pattern on the top of the stove makes it pretty much impossible to get an actual temperature since a magnetic thermometer has no place to sit that doesn't have cooling air circulating through the indentions under it. I ended up putting the thermo on a flat surface on the side of the stove.

Also be sure that after you get the fire going good to slowly lower the intake air. The stove temperature will rise as the fire uses more of the pre-heated secondary combustion air instead of the cooler room air that comes in through the primary inlet on the front.

The F100 is a good little heater. With a great view of the fire. And once it is up to temp it will burn anything off the glass that gets on it during start-up.

 

[cweger]

BrotherBart,

Thanks for the quick reply. Much better than Jotul, who, when I phoned them to ask where I could send an email with my question, replied "we don't have email." (!!)

Anyway, I've tried the thermometer on the stovepipe and on the top of the stove, but not on the side. I'll give that a try and see what happens.

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[SHH_150]

My F100 generally runs about 450F at the top front and about 600 to 650F on the top back. This is with the damper wide open. And of course, it varies based on the quality of wood being burned.

 

[sweetheat]

My temp guage is the magnetic type on the pipe about half way up. I can get up to 600 - 800 degree with air wide open. A good little heater. With air half closed I'll see temps around 400 to 600. sweetheat

 

[dvellone]

I had the thermometer on the stove-top, and burning well seasoned hardwood had no problem reading 400+ temps. smaller splits work well with this stove enabling you to stack the fire wood a bit and get good airflow around the splits. It's a little powerhouse of a wood stove.

 

[wayneg]

I've had the F100 for about 5 years, and have a standard bi-metallic strip thermometer (with the magnetic back) on the top (left rear) of the stove. I adjust the airflow to see 400 - 600 degF on the thermometer, which is what the user's manual recommends for the stove top temp. I have no problem getting this range of temp with dry wood. I have noticed that visable smoke from my chimney disappears right around 400 degF so I think the user's manual info (and the accuracy of my cheapo thermometer) is spot on.

 

[argus66]

how is it heating the house or room?

 

[wayneg]

We have our F100 in our living/family room, which is about 300 square feet. It does fine heating that space. If we also open the three bedroom doors (which are on the same level) and it's less than 20 degF or so outside our gas furnace will start to kick on occasionally to satisfy the thermostat. In my opinion the F100 is a capable little heater for one large room or a small house, but really not suited to heat an entire larger house all by itself.