Jotul F55 best option for rear vent?

[Macargonian]

Last year we moved into a large drafty old house. 4000 square feet. 2.5 floors. We have electric boiler for rads. Too expensive to use. We bought a Enviro M55 pellet stove. It didn't do a very good job and is expensive to run. So we are off pellets and off rads.

Before you ask, I have already bought and stacked 8 cords of wood. We hope to be ready for this year.

Anyhow, because of the way our chimeny is we would have to have some serious and destructive work to vent through it. Instead we want to expand on the hole the pellet stove left in the chimney and run it outside the house. It is not ideal, but it is all my partner is willing to do because we don't want to do any more damage to this beautiful old four square, historic house.

So we need a rear venting stove. I am thinking Jotul F55 because I think it is the most powerful Jotul. Is there a more powerful rear venting stove? We fought tooth and nail with a pellet stove, space heaters and rads last year and were always around 15C or 60F. This year we want to be warm. Hot even.

Every professional we encounter says insert. They won't even talk to us about stoves. We don't want that. We don't want a blower. The blower died on our M55. We want simple and reliable.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

[begreen]

There is little to gain in this situation by using the pellet stove hole. The wall is going to need to be opened up between the studs anyway for a proper 6" chimney installation so patch up the old hole and make a new hole about 3-4' above the stove top. That will open a lot more choices for you with top exit stoves. The F55 is still a fine choice, but there are good, less expensive options in this size stove if cost is paramount. The chimney installation will be considerable, perhaps as much or more than the cost of the stove depending on height.

As for a blower, think it over. A stove is an area heater. Without a blower how will the hot air off the stove circulate? In a 4 square this could mean one hot room and all the others are cool. Note that a wood stove blower is just for convecting the heat and is not essential for operation. If the power goes out the stove will still work fine. (A pellet stove typically has 2 blowers for combustion and convection.)

Also, don't dismiss inserts out of hand. There are inserts that heat ok during a power outage. Just avoid flush inserts if you want to have a heater that is not fully dependent on the blower. An insert installation will probably cost less than a freestanding stove install.

 

[begreen]

One more thought. The Enviro M55 puts out a lot of heat and that is a steady output. A wood stove's heat output is going to be more cyclical. It could be that you folks will still be cold in areas of the house outside of the stove room. If the house is leaky and drafty, then sealing up those leaks will have the fastest and most satisfying payback.

 

[Macargonian]

One more thought. The Enviro M55 puts out a lot of heat and that is a steady output. A wood stove's heat output is going to be more cyclical. It could be that you folks will still be cold in areas of the house outside of the stove room. If the house is leaky and drafty, then sealing up those leaks will have the fastest and most satisfying payback.

We had to replace the blower on the M55. I think we just got a bum model. It did not keep the room warm, let alone the house.

We did use painters tape around all of the windows and the storm windows were on. Also, blackout curtains. We also closed off the sunroom, dining room and office downstairs. That left the living room and kitchen and neither were warm. We had to run a space heater in the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

We have a huge list of things to do to prepare for winter. Caulking all the windows is up there on the list

 

[Macargonian]

I didn't respond to your first one because I just saw it. Silly me. Thabks for all the info.

Just to be clear, they blew through the chimney for the pellet stove. We want the stove in the same place and we don't want to blow the top off our chimney. So that is why we were thinking the jotul and a rear venting. We would love to have more options, but without taking the top of the chimney I dont see another option.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Would you be against a mason removing the top so he can insert a liner, then reinstalling the top? With bricks, you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Macargonian]

Would you be against a mason removing the top so he can insert a liner, then reinstalling the top? With bricks, you can have your cake and eat it too.

No. I wouldn't. It might be hard to convince my husband...

 

[Zack R]

I second @EatenByLimestone 's suggestion. You'll be happier in the long run to have a proper wood stove vented through a liner all the way up the masonry chimney. It will look better, draft better and have less creosote since the liner will be warmer. Since there is already a hole in the brick perhaps it could be modified as as access port for the chimney cleanout.

 

[begreen]

No. I wouldn't. It might be hard to convince my husband...

Tell hubby you want it done right. The current rig does nothing for resale value and looks silly at best. If he has questions, put him on here.

 

[timfromohio]

Last year we moved into a large drafty old house. 4000 square feet. 2.5 floors. We have electric boiler for rads. Too expensive to use. We bought a Enviro M55 pellet stove. It didn't do a very good job and is expensive to run. So we are off pellets and off rads.

Before you ask, I have already bought and stacked 8 cords of wood. We hope to be ready for this year.

Anyhow, because of the way our chimeny is we would have to have some serious and destructive work to vent through it. Instead we want to expand on the hole the pellet stove left in the chimney and run it outside the house. It is not ideal, but it is all my partner is willing to do because we don't want to do any more damage to this beautiful old four square, historic house.

So we need a rear venting stove. I am thinking Jotul F55 because I think it is the most powerful Jotul. Is there a more powerful rear venting stove? We fought tooth and nail with a pellet stove, space heaters and rads last year and were always around 15C or 60F. This year we want to be warm. Hot even.

Every professional we encounter says insert. They won't even talk to us about stoves. We don't want that. We don't want a blower. The blower died on our M55. We want simple and reliable.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

You might also consider Quadrafires. I have an Explorer2 that is rear-vented. They also make an Explorer3 which is larger:

(broken link removed)

 

[Macargonian]

He is starting to come around. I guess if we do that we are not limited to a rear venting. We have a large fireplace and could go up. Now we are back to too many options!!

First we have to find a mason, I guess.

Thanks for all the responses. My husband broke his shoulder after my last response. That is why it took me so long to respond.

 

[bholler]

He is starting to come around. I guess if we do that we are not limited to a rear venting. We have a large fireplace and could go up. Now we are back to too many options!!

First we have to find a mason, I guess.

Thanks for all the responses. My husband broke his shoulder after my last response. That is why it took me so long to respond.

Are you expecting to be able to heat that whole house with one wood stove?

 

[Macargonian]

We would love to be able to. I think we will need a second one on the second floor. We wanted to wait one year to see how it goes. We might just use our pellet stove upstairs. We dont know yet. I hate pellets, so maybe not.

We aren't expecting to be warm. We just want the whole house to be at a level where pipes don't freeze. About a min of 60F. We understand space heaters may be required.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Rereading the first post, you have an electric boiler? Can you change to a different fuel? Say propane, oil, or natural gas?

 

[Macargonian]

If only we had natural gas. It is not an option here. Oil is expensive and with the Carbon Tax it is just going to increase. The previous owner switched it to electric to save money though also said in a bad year it can cost $14,000/year to heat Hence why I want to heat with wood.

On very very cold nights we run the rads on low just to make sure pipes don't freeze. Also, I stay up all night because our boiler gets overpressured and I have to bleed it everyon 1.5 hours. It is a mess, but I am not paying to fix it.

 

[Highbeam]

Just trying to imagine 14000$ per year. Wow.

 

[Macargonian]

Just trying to imagine 14000$ per year. Wow.

It is insane. Before we moved here I lived in Toronto, in a much smaller house, but I never paid more than 100/month to heat the house. In November it wasn't very cold here and we only had the rads on a couple of times down low. We got a $650.00 electric bill. I had never seen a bill like that. At the same time we were using a bag of pellets a day so that was another 200+.

When we looked at the place it was one of the coldest days of the year and it was really warm in the house. I guess that is how your bill gets that high.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you are trying to heat a leaky barn. Would it be possible to zone off part of the house and close that section for winter without freezing pipes? If not you are going to need a lot of fully seasoned wood on hand in order to carry a good portion of the heating load.

 

[Highbeam]

We could actually estimate the amount of wood needed to replace 14000 dollars of 100% efficient electric resistance boilers. I bet it's a lot of wood!