Jotul F35 vs F55

[ajblack]

I'm trying to decide between a Jotul F35 and a Jotul F55 to replace a Napoleon Huntsville 1100 that is currently in my house. My house is around 2k square feet and well insulated in Southern NH. It's a cape with an addition, and the stove is located centrally on the first floor with a pretty open floorplan. We primarily heated with the Napoleon last year burning around 2.5 cords of wood and ~150 gallons of oil in our furnace. It seems like the F55 would be the "correct" size for our house given the square footage. I'm struggling though because last winter we did well with the Napoleon, which has a 1.7 cubic foot firebox and is closer to the F35 in size. In the middle of winter the room right in front of the stove would get into the mid 80s at the highest and the rooms farthest from the stove were around 70. I believe the BTU output for the Napoleon Huntville 1100 is around 55k BTUs (that may have been calculated differently back in the mid 1990s when it was built). The F35 is rated for 55k BTUs and the F55 is rated for 83k BTUs. The Napoleon keeps our entire house comfortable in the winter so maybe I have the best insulated house in the world or something? It seems like the F35 is a 1:1 replacement for our Napoleon but I feel kind of silly installing a stove that's rated for 1200 square feet in a 2000 square foot house. Any thoughts?

 

[begreen]

The Jotul F55 probably would work, with the benefit of longer burn times. You would probably burn half loads until outdoor temps dropped into the 20s or lower. For a more closely sized stove, take a look at the 2.0 cu ft Pacific Energy Alderlea T5.

 

[ajblack]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking. I was looking at the f55 primarily because it's one of the few 'big' stoves that will fit my existing thimble that's 39 inches off the hearth. The Napoleon heated the house well over last winter but I was loading it every couple hours during cold spells.

 

[Jfior1983]

I have the f45, and it seems that would be the right stove for you. It’s discontinued but you can still find it. The f55 is now recently discontinued as well.

 

[ajblack]

I can get an f55 locally at the moment, f45 I haven't been able to find any in stock, I've called around the dealers near me in NH. Is the F55 pretty manageable at smaller loads? My primary concern is overheating the room where the stove is. It's about 400 square feet with 7 foot ceilings. It's pretty open though so I get good airflow around the first floor and up the stairs

 

[Todd]

I’d probably go with the F55. The firebox is only slightly larger than the F45. When I had the F45 it had no problem burning 1/2 or 3/4 loads cleanly. I would expect the F55 to be similar.

Also where you live it might be worth a trip to Woodstock Soapstone to check out their stoves. A good radiant stove may be better for your open floor plan.