Jotul F45 in place of Grandpa Fisher?

[Pkg Man]

Hello
I have a ~1600+ square foot cabin, (2 stories, moderately insulated, 8 foot ceiling, single pane windows-going to add storms) in North GA that I currently heat with a Fisher Grandpa. It’s the primary heat source. Mini split used only when it’s not very cold. It’s more than adequate for the space but considering replacing it with a modern stove as I’d like to reduce wood consumption and have a fire view.

I currently have a Jotul 400 in my main house (got a lot of good advice from folks here before I bought it) and quite happy with it so I’m partial to Jotuls and considering the F45.

Would the F45 Greenville be a good replacement for the Fisher and what kind of savings on wood consumption could I expect from it or other modern stoves? I know what I use with the F400 but it’s hard to compare wood usage in two different houses, and I’m not sure the F400 would be adequate size for the cabin.

Thanks

 

[MongoMongoson]

How often are you at the cabin? You said you have a main house. If the cabin is occasional use, I would stick with the Fisher personally. If you are there often or all the time in cold weather, that is different.

I guess that doesn't get you the fire view you want, but that Fisher sure can warm a cold place up fast.

 

[EbS-P]

It’s not an apples to apples swap. I would be more concerned about minimum burn rate than max heat output.

Read the manual through carefully. For the cleaning procedure. Back must come off the stove

I like my F400 too but not sure I would choose jotul again with their current offerings. Others to check out. Pacific energy makes great looking and functioning stoves. Drolet has great value. There are plenty of happy F45 users. Just understand it’s not as simple to clean as the F400

 

[Todd]

It’s not an apples to apples swap. I would be more concerned about minimum burn rate than max heat output.

Read the manual through carefully. For the cleaning procedure. Back must come off the stove

I like my F400 too but not sure I would choose jotul again with their current offerings. Others to check out. Pacific energy makes great looking and functioning stoves. Drolet has great value. There are plenty of happy F45 users. Just understand it’s not as simple to clean as the F400

I have seen you mention having to take the top off to clean a few times now. I’ve had mine for 3 years and never had to take the top off. Either remove the stove pipe from the flue collar or you can remove the flue collar to access the top of the baffle to vacuum. Every time I’ve done this there is minimal fly ash above the baffle. Only time you would need to remove the top is if you need to remove a warped baffle manifold. And the way this stove is built you would have to seriously overfire continuously for that to happen. If the stove was pushed back into a tight fireplace I could see it being a pain and maybe before sliding it in remove the bolts that hold down the top for easier cleaning.

To the OP, if your cabin is used often you will see some firewood savings with a newer stove. The Fisher is probably oversized for your cabin in Georgia, I would think the F45 should suffice.

 

[Pkg Man]

Thanks.

The Fisher does do a great job of heating a 40 degree cabin up quickly, but consumes a lot of wood in the process. Wish it was a single-door, 6 inch flue mama or popa bear Fisher. I’ve got the mammoth one with the 8 inch.

I’m recently retired and up there about half the time, especially during winter, so went through a lot of wood this winter. I’d never spent that much time there before so wood consumption wasn’t an issue. Maybe I should try adding a baffle first and see if that reduces my wood consumption.

 

[Pkg Man]

I have seen you mention having to take the top off to clean a few times now. I’ve had mine for 3 years and never had to take the top off. Either remove the stove pipe from the flue collar or you can remove the flue collar to access the top of the baffle to vacuum. Every time I’ve done this there is minimal fly ash above the baffle. Only time you would need to remove the top is if you need to remove a warped baffle manifold. And the way this stove is built you would have to seriously overfire continuously for that to happen. If the stove was pushed back into a tight fireplace I could see it being a pain and maybe before sliding it in remove the bolts that hold down the top for easier cleaning.

To the OP, if your cabin is used often you will see some firewood savings with a newer stove. The Fisher is probably oversized for your cabin in Georgia, I would think the F45 should suffice.

Thanks. Yes it’s definitely oversized. One of the smaller, single door Fishers would have been sufficient.

How much wood savings could I expect with a new stove? 10% or more like 20%? I might try adding a baffle first to see if that helps.

Thanks

 

[Pkg Man]

It’s not an apples to apples swap. I would be more concerned about minimum burn rate than max heat output.

Read the manual through carefully. For the cleaning procedure. Back must come off the stove

I like my F400 too but not sure I would choose jotul again with their current offerings. Others to check out. Pacific energy makes great looking and functioning stoves. Drolet has great value. There are plenty of happy F45 users. Just understand it’s not as simple to clean as the F400

Thanks.

 

[Todd]

I think the general rule of firewood savings from a pre epa stove to a new epa stove is around 30%.

It’s probably a good idea to try a baffle first before dishing out $3k for a new stove. Problem is you still won’t have a fire view and for the baffle to work you would still have to fill that Fisher’s large firebox mostly full to get it it hot enough to get the secondary burn to work which may cook you out of your cabin.

 

[Pkg Man]

Thanks. That’s a pretty significant difference

 

[begreen]

If the cabin is usually cold and needs a quick warm up, the Fisher will be better because it has unshielded sides. This makes it a highly radiant stove. The F45 is mostly convective. The cast iron jacket on the stove absorbs a lot of heat. For a replacement with an EPA stove I would consider an unshielded stove like the Drolet Austral III.

 

[Pkg Man]

Just to update this old post I decided to go with a Pacific Energy T5.

Very pleased with the stove so far. Glass stays very clean. As was mentioned it does take longer to heat a cold cabin than the Fisher it replaced, but I had decided to move here and can use mini splits so it’s worth it for the fire view and increased efficiency over the old stove.

Thanks to all who commented

 

[begreen]

Congratulations. If the stove is run 24/7, then the slower warmup probably will not be noticeable. The mass of the stove still releases heat after the fire has died down.

 

[stoveliker]

Pic ? 😜

 

[Pkg Man]

Congratulations. If the stove is run 24/7, then the slower warmup probably will not be noticeable. The mass of the stove still releases heat after the fire has died down.

Thanks. Yeah I noticed that it was still throwing off a fair amount of heat in the morning, and I didn’t even load it up before bed

Do folks normally use the ash pan or just scoop out of the firebox?

 

[EbS-P]

I like my ash pan and use it. But I let the firebox fill up with a couple inches then let it keep compressing the ash. When in need more space I stir some of the compressed ash down the grate. I can go a long time without emptying the pan. Think weeks.

 

[Pkg Man]

Cool
Thanks

 

[EbS-P]

Cool
Thanks

Buts that’s with mostly yellow pine. I really like our southern pine.

 

[bigealta]

i love the ash pan in the f400. i use it all the time. Others never use it.

 

[stoveliker]

I.have an ashpan (in a different stove) but have never used it. I scoop.

 

[weee123]

I’ve never used the ash pan. My stove holds far too much for the tiny ash pan to be worth fussing with. It’s easier to just scoop it out

 

[begreen]

I used the ash pan once on our T6. Now I let the firebox bottom fill up with ash. Burning doug fir it only needs cleaning twice a year. The ash pan was cleaned and now makes a dandy bun warmer.