Jotul Gas Nordic doesn't heat the room

[DavidS77]

Just had a Jotul Nordic gas stove installed, the smallest one. It replaced an old Scandia woodstove that would get the 12x20 family room too hot for comfort. But the Joutul is very disappointing. It won't get the room above 64 degrees when it's in the 20s outside and the thermostat for the rest of the house is at 60. The installer says it's because the room is just hard to heat - two exterior walls and the third side is a garage, over a crawl space, and not very good insulation. Still, the stove is advertised to heat "up to 600 square feet"; I can't believe it won't even get 230 sq. ft. comfortable. The installer has no more ideas; the dealer will give us credit towards an upgrade to an Allagash, two sizes larger. But we still have to pay the installer again to put in the new unit. We can't walk away or switch back to a woodstove because we're already out almost $1300 for installation of the Nordic and the gas line. Any suggestions? Any similar experience with the Nordic? Or the Allagash?

 

[stoveguy13]

are there high cielings in that room the stove is in. how is the stove vented? it is not ment to be a large heater. but at 20 degs outside i am not surpried the stove is having a hard time keeping up.

 

[DavidS77]

Normal 8-foot-high ceiling, direct-vented through the wall behind it. It will only get the room up to 66 when it's 40 degrees outside.

 

[jtp10181]

Did you get a blower kit on it? There is not much play with gas stoves. High flame, and normal gas pressure. You can't get anymore heat out of it than that. If you have two exterior poorly insulated 2x4 walls, and maybe not the best windows I can imagine a little gas stove is having a hard time. The dealer should have qualified the customer better and steered you towards a larger unit. If you get one that's a little too big you can always run it on low flames or just turn it off.

 

[stoveguy13]

can the room be closed off from the rest of the house? you may be losing heat to other parts of the house.

 

[Fire Bug]

Just had a Jotul Nordic gas stove installed, the smallest one. It replaced an old Scandia woodstove that would get the 12x20 family room too hot for comfort. But the Joutul is very disappointing. It won't get the room above 64 degrees when it's in the 20s outside and the thermostat for the rest of the house is at 60. The installer says it's because the room is just hard to heat - two exterior walls and the third side is a garage, over a crawl space, and not very good insulation. Still, the stove is advertised to heat "up to 600 square feet"; I can't believe it won't even get 230 sq. ft. comfortable. The installer has no more ideas; the dealer will give us credit towards an upgrade to an Allagash, two sizes larger. But we still have to pay the installer again to put in the new unit. We can't walk away or switch back to a woodstove because we're already out almost $1300 for installation of the Nordic and the gas line. Any suggestions? Any similar experience with the Nordic? Or the Allagash?

Hi David,
I would definitely go with the Allagash model stove, (or bigger if you can afford it). These stoves have a 50% turn down rate so, I really don't see how you can loose by going with a bigger BTU Stove.
I have purchase a Jotul DV Firelight Propane Gas stove a short time ago, and at first the heat output on this didn't seem to be the greatest. It is suppose to heat, I believe, up to 1800 sq. ft. It has all the options including the blower.
It wasn't until someone on this site, (I believe it was a guy called Mt. Stove Guy) asked me the lenght of my flue and if I adjusted an item on the stove called a," Exhaust Restrictor". This is close according to the length of your flue. In my case, it should be nearly closed fully, but not quite totally closed. I closed this up some and the stove heats great. We have it on a remote thermostat that cycles it on and off and it keeps our rec.room and our unheated laundry room toasty.
The rec. room is over 600sq. ft. and the laundry room is roughly 144 sq. ft.. The heat also finds its way into the upstairs living room which is 800 sq. ft. with 18' vaulted ceilings.
These square footage specifications are problably created under the most ideaistc conditions.
You can always turn the bigger stone down 50%, but you will have to push an undersized stove.
John

 

[Fire Bug]

David,
I don't know if this recall would involve your particular stove, but there is a recall on certain Lilliehammer and Nordic Gas Stoves.
You can view the Recall Notice on Jotuls Website or the Consumer Product Safety Commissions,(CPSC), website to view the details of the recall or simply contact your dealer.
John

 

[DavidS77]

Thanks for your replies. We got the estimate for the re-installation of the Allagash - $991 () including $241 for a fan which he strongly recommends. They seem to have us over a barrel. The only way out I can think of other than paying another $1341 for an adequate stove is to keep the little one and upgrade the insulation in the walls. I could do that myself. Is installing a fan something I could do myself?

 

[Fire Bug]

Thanks for your replies. We got the estimate for the re-installation of the Allagash - $991 () including $241 for a fan which he strongly recommends. They seem to have us over a barrel. The only way out I can think of other than paying another $1341 for an adequate stove is to keep the little one and upgrade the insulation in the walls. I could do that myself. Is installing a fan something I could do myself?

David,
You are right. They definitely have you over a barrel. $750.00 for the selling dealer to reinstal a stove he should have probably sold you in the first place. This is Highway Robbery at its finest. I think I would start looking for another dealer soon as this one gets done raping you.
The price of the fan isn't bad, but to swap out and reinstall the new stove, $750.00. (Time to become a stove dealer/installer).

 

[webbie]

Too bad you didn't come to Hearth.com way back before you bought. I think we would have steered you a bit bigger. There are a lot of factors at play - such as the exact output of the stove(s), the heat loss of the room (not just the size), how much heat flows to other rooms, etc.

I used an Allagash years ago in my home in a 12x25 area and it worked out fine. Not too large at all. Gas is much more controllable and gentle than wood stoves.

 

[DavidS77]

The installer is independent of the dealer, but he's the only one they use. Today he told me that the burner technology in the unit is old and newer ones are much better. The appearance of the fire is very unsatisfactory too - one big yellow flame in the middle and the rest are all blue and practically invisible. The Dealer tells me the old burners are the only one available on the Nordic. I have a call in to the Jotul factory rep but he hasn't gotten back to me.

 

[Fire Bug]

The installer is independent of the dealer, but he's the only one they use. Today he told me that the burner technology in the unit is old and newer ones are much better. The appearance of the fire is very unsatisfactory too - one big yellow flame in the middle and the rest are all blue and practically invisible. The Dealer tells me the old burners are the only one available on the Nordic. I have a call in to the Jotul factory rep but he hasn't gotten back to me.

David,
The installer might be an independent contractor but he should still be responsilbe to you and the dealer who uses him.
As far as the burners go, as I stated in my past posts, I believe the units always used the stainless steel cast iron type burners.
Make sure you ask your dealer if this Allagash you are getting ***** on, is not subject to the recall they had on these units concerning misalighnment of burners, and possible gas build up, that could cause possible exsplosion, (Look on Jotuls Website Home Page for details).
Also, if you get a "Blow Torch Noise" when the unit ignites let me know. They have a revamped burner skirt/pan to rectify this problem.
Have fun trying to get a Jotul Dealer Rep. to get back to you. Keep on their back!
John

 

[Fire Bug]

David,
The square footage heating estimates on these stoves are just that, estimates. They are no better than the EPA Fuel/Mileage Estimates on the window stickers of new cars.
Their are plenty of variables to these estimate numbers.
John

 

[BrotherBart]

If the stove is a Nordic DV instead of the Nordic DV II then the installer is correct. It uses the older style tube type burner instead of the flat stainless and cast DV II "Jotul Burner" which gives a more realistic flame pattern.

 

[billb3]

I would assume (very dangerous) up to 600 square feet would be a fairly well insulated 600 square feet.

240 square feet must have an awful lot of heat loss to only get half the performance.

a thousand dollars worth of insulation (if it is just insulation) would go a long way towards making a marginal stove work better.


Is there a reason why you didn't go with insulation improvements first ?

 

[Fire Bug]

David,
Sorry to give you the incorrect info. on the Product Safety Recall of the two Jotul Lp Gas Stoves. It's no the Nordic and the Allagash models that were recalled for possible miss aligned burners, but its the GF100 DV II Nordic QT model & the GF 200 DV II Lilliehammer Modlels. So you should have no problems with the Allagash.
Also, the price the dealer gave you on the Allagash upgrade really isn't too bad when you consider the price of the upgrade from the one stove to the other plus the purchase of the optional blower kit. They usually go for around $250.00 for the blower kit.
The dealer/installer should make the reinstall free of charge though and the dealer should still be responsible for the installer if it is the installer he recomends and uses.
The new Jotul burners give the units a more uniform, yellow, realistic flame that I think you will enjoy.
Good Luck,
John

 

[DavidS77]

If the stove is a Nordic DV instead of the Nordic DV II then the installer is correct. It uses the older style tube type burner instead of the flat stainless and cast DV II "Jotul Burner" which gives a more realistic flame pattern.

Many thanks for your replies, especially Brother Bart. They did give me a DV 100, not a DV 100 II! This although the II was what they had on display in the store, on Jotul's website and in the catalogue. No wonder it's inadequate.

The Jotul factory rep did call me back and apologized very nicely for taking two days to do so. He heard me out, and pretty much took the company line about the 600 square feet being for the best possible conditions and there being a lot of variability. However he seemed concerned when I told him about being given the DV 100 instead of the 100 II. He agreed to call the dealer for me. The result of that was, oddly enough, that the installer reduced his estimate by $150. That's something, but I really shouldn't have to pay anything for the installation of a replacement for a unit they should never have given me in the first place. I await further word from the dealer.