Jotul guys: Anyone have the F600? How do you like your stove? Any problems/issues? Burning full-time or weekends? How many sq. ft and climate are you in? Thank you very much for your time everyone.
Jotul F600
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This is the end (hopefully soon) of our eighth season with our F600, heating 2100 sq.ft. We use it for at least 95% of our heat, and usually have three fires a day of varying sizes depending on outdoor temp. Furnace is likely to come on (set at 68*) in the morning hours if it's single digits or below outside.
I've had to replace the top baffle plates a coupla years back (120$ if I remember correctly) because they became warped and it looks like I will need to do it again for next season. Other than that, no problems.
The blue/black enamel is the way to go in my opinion.
I've had to replace the top baffle plates a coupla years back (120$ if I remember correctly) because they became warped and it looks like I will need to do it again for next season. Other than that, no problems.
The blue/black enamel is the way to go in my opinion.
Thank you for your response. It looks like a great looking stove. I know the wife would approve. I like the side load door as well. Is there adirons to keep the logs from rolling on the glass?
There are several past threads on the F600 that you may find helpful. Try a search for more info.
It's a popular stove in the NE and Quebec. Members @Nick Mystic , @schortie , @CentralVAWoodHeat , @fraxinus are burning in them.
How is that happening...running the stove hot, trying to keep up in cold weather? What stove top temps do you run?
Would the baffle plates be covered under the Jotul warranty? I was reading thier warranty and the baffle has lifetime warranty. How is that happening that those plates keep warping? Any ideas?
I don't think they're under warranty. I'm not sure why it's happening. Don't think our stove has seen any temps above 550 and I'm sure she can run hotter. There are two plates on either side and the seam between them starts to separate and the divide just keeps growing. The blanket sits over the plates and the stove burns fine. It is odd though. The second batch of plates we got were made from different material than the first. It seems a bit more "boardy" than the first, seeming all metal, plates.
We don't use the side door as much as I thought we would. Dunno about others, but I have a heck of a time loading a full stove through that side door. I almost always load from the front doors- gasp! I also load n/s 99% of the time - double gasp! I know it's not the norm, but it works great for us, and has been for years.
We're a happy F600 family. We have a two furnace house, so one is set back to 60, the other we turn on in the morning to help get up to "warm".
The rest of the time, it is the stove exclusively, unless we get a real cold snap. The F600 keeps our post and beam section (~1200 sf--with too much glass and too little insulation) comfy (67-68) through all but the coldest days. Some heat moves to the back section, but the furnace will cycle occasionally.
The cast iron plates/burn tube assembly is not very robust. So far I have replaced the plates once, and then the burn tube assembly, but the stove I started with had been overfired, so the problems may have started before I got my hands on it. Replacing the plates/blanket is trivial; the burn tube assembly requires pulling the top off the stove (If you look at threads I have started, I documented the burn tube swap...) I think the cast plates are just a little to light to do the job--we have not run our stove over 500. mostly this year it has been small and frequent loads with biobricks running around 300-350..
There is a thread here where someone replaced the cast plates with fire brick and stainless tubing--I thought it was a good idea too.
But the good outweighs these niggles--the side loading is a godsend (no ash spilling out the front door), the ash pan is nice, and best of all, it's a Jotul!
The rest of the time, it is the stove exclusively, unless we get a real cold snap. The F600 keeps our post and beam section (~1200 sf--with too much glass and too little insulation) comfy (67-68) through all but the coldest days. Some heat moves to the back section, but the furnace will cycle occasionally.
The cast iron plates/burn tube assembly is not very robust. So far I have replaced the plates once, and then the burn tube assembly, but the stove I started with had been overfired, so the problems may have started before I got my hands on it. Replacing the plates/blanket is trivial; the burn tube assembly requires pulling the top off the stove (If you look at threads I have started, I documented the burn tube swap...) I think the cast plates are just a little to light to do the job--we have not run our stove over 500. mostly this year it has been small and frequent loads with biobricks running around 300-350..
There is a thread here where someone replaced the cast plates with fire brick and stainless tubing--I thought it was a good idea too.
But the good outweighs these niggles--the side loading is a godsend (no ash spilling out the front door), the ash pan is nice, and best of all, it's a Jotul!
Happy to hear you like your F600. Its a beautiful stove. I really like the side door on it just like my heatrthstone. I load almost all the time with the side door. I know Inwill miss that if I buy the F55 or PE T6. I am not sure about the burn tubes not being very robust as I will running the stove pretty much full time 5 months out of the year. Thanks for you info and to everyone else who responded.
Keep in mind the f55 is designed to be loaded north south so I'm not sure you will miss a side loader. Also the baffle is a one piece stainless unit and from the looks of it I cant ever see it really failing.
CentralVAWoodHeat
Minister of Fire
We have had an F600 for about two years now, replacing an F400. 2200 square foot house roughly with 10 foot ceilings and an open floor plan. The stove is our primary heat source almost 100 percent of the time.
Given the Central VA climate, it heats the house very well until it gets into the low 20s. Then my useable heat burn times go from 6-8 hours to about 4-6. It will easily hold enough coals to restart for 8-10 hours.
I really like the stove but would never consider loading it from the front because of ash fly and fearing it wouldn’t latch totally because of how the latch pretty much sits in a pile of ash. The ash pan is also way too small for the size of the stove.
Other than that, it looks good, is easy to clean and maintain, and puts out good heat as long as you feed it DRY wood.
Given the Central VA climate, it heats the house very well until it gets into the low 20s. Then my useable heat burn times go from 6-8 hours to about 4-6. It will easily hold enough coals to restart for 8-10 hours.
I really like the stove but would never consider loading it from the front because of ash fly and fearing it wouldn’t latch totally because of how the latch pretty much sits in a pile of ash. The ash pan is also way too small for the size of the stove.
Other than that, it looks good, is easy to clean and maintain, and puts out good heat as long as you feed it DRY wood.
I have the Jotul 500 and I agree with CentralVAWoodHeat. The ash pans on the Jotul stoves are way too small and for those with arthritis, hard to use. A side opening one similar to the ones on the United States Stove Company Wonderluxe heaters would be far better.Then all of us could both load the stove and empty the ash pan from the same side while sitting in the chair.
