Jotul F500 V3 (2020) vs BK Ashford 30 for coastal California?

[david_finlayson]

We live in an 1800 sqft., 1-story open concept house under the California red woods (near Santa Cruz, CA). The weather here is mild year round but our lot is under the forest trees and stays chilly and damp much of the year. We are looking to replace a ZC fireplace with a wood burning stove. The fireplace is in a purpose-built alcove about 6' wide and 3' deep it would be no problem opening up the space to the ceiling (it is just framing and drywall). We are discussing with a wood stove and fireplace contractor ripping out the existing fireplace and opening up the space as an alcove for a wood stove. We don't have any hard restrictions pushing the stove forward into the living area, but the alcove space already exists and there is already a stove pipe through the ceiling for the existing fireplace. I mention this just because we were advised to look at convective stoves.

We want a stove that will heat our house up so we don't have to run the propane furnace as often (or at all?). We also want it to look nice both burning and just sitting there, it is the centerpiece of our house.

The fireplace store recommended two stoves that would fit the alcove:

1. A Blaze King Ashford 30 (brown enamel) with fan and OAK: $4522
2. A F500 Oslo CF (brown enamel), Rear heat shield, blower: $5353

I was going to go with the BK, considering all the positive comments I've read about the brand, but I was worried about two things:

1. Will it operate properly in our mild climate without filling the house with fumes? Our "winters" are always 30+ degrees.
2. Can we operate it so we can see flames in the evening? I requested the Oslo quote after learning that BK stoves spend most of their life as hot black boxes.

I don't have much wood stove experience, so thought I would throw this out there to get some thoughts from you all.

 

[Highbeam]

We live in an 1800 sqft., 1-story open concept house under the California red woods (near Santa Cruz, CA). The weather here is mild year round but our lot is under the forest trees and stays chilly and damp much of the year. We are looking to replace a ZC fireplace with a wood burning stove. The fireplace is in a purpose-built alcove about 6' wide and 3' deep it would be no problem opening up the space to the ceiling (it is just framing and drywall). We are discussing with a wood stove and fireplace contractor ripping out the existing fireplace and opening up the space as an alcove for a wood stove. We don't have any hard restrictions pushing the stove forward into the living area, but the alcove space already exists and there is already a stove pipe through the ceiling for the existing fireplace. I mention this just because we were advised to look at convective stoves.

We want a stove that will heat our house up so we don't have to run the propane furnace as often (or at all?). We also want it to look nice both burning and just sitting there, it is the centerpiece of our house.

The fireplace store recommended two stoves that would fit the alcove:

1. A Blaze King Ashford 30 (brown enamel) with fan and OAK: $4522
2. A F500 Oslo CF (brown enamel), Rear heat shield, blower: $5353

I was going to go with the BK, considering all the positive comments I've read about the brand, but I was worried about two things:

1. Will it operate properly in our mild climate without filling the house with fumes? Our "winters" are always 30+ degrees.
2. Can we operate it so we can see flames in the evening? I requested the Oslo quote after learning that BK stoves spend most of their life as hot black boxes.

I don't have much wood stove experience, so thought I would throw this out there to get some thoughts from you all.

I live up in WA and most of the very long "winter" we are also above freezing. I'm also in a 1700 SF home and have a BK princess.

1) Are you worried about BK in general stinking up your house or ashford model specifically? I can tell you that my BK princess model was installed per the manual on a 12' chimney and I have to be pretty careful to avoid smoke spilling through the open door if there is already a fire burning. When the door is closed there is no smoke spillage, no stink. The princess model is not known for stinking during the burn.
2) You can certainly operate a BK with flames anytime you want by opening the intake controls. This is an efficient stove though which means that visible flames mean higher output so you might get hot! Most of the time, my BK is a hot black box with orange glow inside. This is where the BK is happiest with highest efficiency, lowest emissions, and longest burn times.

The new jotul has the catalyst now right? So you're just choosing between cat stoves. Nobody has had the new jotul cat stoves long enough to really develop a history but the brand is pretty well respected.

 

[begreen]

The main concern with either stove when burning with outdoor temps around 50F will be draft. The stove should have at least 16' of straight-up flue and of course, fully seasoned firewood. The BK with thermostatic control will be better with the normal daily winter temp swing from 40 to 60, but with a dark glass unless turned up. An alternative to consider would be a good heat pump or the non-cat F45.

 

[bholler]

I personally would avoid the v3 for now. It is a brand new design with no bypass on the cat which is a questionable decision at best. Highbeam is right there isn't allot of feed back on it yet. But the feedback I have heard was not good

 

[SpaceBus]

I personally would avoid the v3 for now. It is a brand new design with no bypass on the cat which is a questionable decision at best. Highbeam is right there isn't allot of feed back on it yet. But the feedback I have heard was not good

A few folks on here like their V3, but that's hardly indicative of all owners.

 

[david_finlayson]

Thank you for the thoughts. I appreciate it.

 

[bholler]

A few folks on here like their V3, but that's hardly indicative of all owners.

I don't remember seeing that I will have to look it up

 

[Mech e]

If you want a centerpiece type stove and enjoy the flames I would go with a Pacific Energy stove. The glass will stay clean and no cat maintenance to deal with.

 

[Diabel]

Vermont castings encore comes to mind.....if looks are most important.

 

[bholler]

Vermont castings encore comes to mind.....if looks are most important.

But not if function is lol

 

[Diabel]

But not if function is lol

100% agree. But wood stove geeks love to tinker with their stoves and VC is perfect for tinkering.