Jotul Oslo - F500. Ten years in.

[jotul8e2]

Starting my 11th burning season with the Oslo. The story is short and simple: no repairs, no issues, no problems. Twenty five or so cords of white oak and hickory seasoned three years and a 30 foot insulated Excel flue have been a great combination. The glass always cleans with a damp paper towel. A good bead of coals left after eight hours, usually a few coals after 10 hours. There are some chips in the enamel, principally along the edge of the side door lip (I cannot keep from banging the tools into it), but mostly it still looks good.



Ten years, burned as quickly and completely as the wood. Philadelphia was playing Tampa Bay for the World Series. The Dark Knight was playing in theaters (Netflix had just started streaming, but few had the download speeds to make it practical). Bush was still president and John McCain imagined that he was campaigning for the job. It is all as cold and dead as the ashes.



The stove paid for itself about four years ago - as long as you do not count the cost of the chainsaw, files, Timberline sharpener, bar and chains, trip to the Urgent Care Clinic, tractor, splitter, gas/oil mix, maul, gloves, chaps....

No, there will never be a return on the dollar investment. But the feeling of a warm house in the coldest weeks of the winter, and an even warmer place to sit nearby and remember... what money can buy that?

Thank you, my many friends at Hearth.com, for the help, advice, and encouragement. It has meant more than you can ever know.

 

[Tar12]

I am glad you are enjoying it as that is what it is all about!

 

[begreen]

I remember when you got that beauty and left the Dutchwest behind, New house and new stove. Congratulations on your 10 yr anniversary. Have you replaced the gaskets yet? If not, they may be due.

 

[jotul8e2]

I Congratulations on your 10 yr anniversary. Have you replaced the gaskets yet? If not, they may be due.

I did the doors - side and front - and the ash pan last year. No cracks in anything I can see, not even missing cement.

 

[jetsam]

That's what it's all about. Good work, Oslo!

 

[xman23]

There's a lot of us Oslo burners here. My green enamel Jotul went on line in the winter of 2000 / 2001. It's in my cabin and runs weekends and a few full weeks each year. About 2 cords a year. Done nothing but door gaskets and the insulation blanket. Never did the front door gasket. But it doesn't get opened.

When you add up all the cost and time I don't think were saving much. But after all these years we still love the fire. We rarely use anything but the stove for heat. When we built the place, it was a hard sell to get my wife to agree on the stove and not the fireplace she wanted. She knew nothing about stoves. Now she is the stoves biggest fan.

 

[NateH]

This is a nice post. I have an Oslo that I hope to get running this year and maybe in several years I can share a similar story.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Nice! I think the return on investment is a no-brainer. My electric bill would be an additional $400-$500 a month at least 4 months out of the year.

So figure $2000 a year for electricity.

Stove mainence and sweeping if I paid someone to do it $150/year
I burn 6 cords, if I had to buy it that's $900/year

For me, I'm saving $800-$1000/ year easily...plus I cut my own wood and do my own maintenance. I think most of these stoves pay for themselves in 3-5 seasons. Plus factor in the fact that wood heat is just the best! I think they make a lot of economic sense.

Of course, location matters. In Wyoming, we start up the stove the beginning of October, and burn pretty solidly until April...plus a handful of cold days throughout the summer

 

[firefighterjake]

Nice! I think the return on investment is a no-brainer. My electric bill would be an additional $400-$500 a month at least 4 months out of the year.

So figure $2000 a year for electricity.

Stove mainence and sweeping if I paid someone to do it $150/year
I burn 6 cords, if I had to buy it that's $900/year

For me, I'm saving $800-$1000/ year easily...plus I cut my own wood and do my own maintenance. I think most of these stoves pay for themselves in 3-5 seasons. Plus factor in the fact that wood heat is just the best! I think they make a lot of economic sense.

Of course, location matters. In Wyoming, we start up the stove the beginning of October, and burn pretty solidly until April...plus a handful of cold days throughout the summer

I agree . . . at $2.89 a gallon for heating oil and using the last year when I was only using heating oil at a mere 600 gallons I would have an annual bill at $1,734.

Now I know there is the cost of the stove, chainsaw, splitter and gas . . . but I started out with a saw as a tool for use around the house and the ATV, truck and trailer I had already . . . so in reality only the stove, splitter and gas/oil/chains have been the additional costs . . . well and the time . . . but I have plenty of that to offer up.

Like Aaron I start burning in late September to early October and will not finish until April or May . . .

However, for me there's also the intangibles . . . sure the warmth of the woodstove, the beauty of the dancing flames, the pride that comes from putting in a few cord of seasoned wood into the shed . . . but for me the real moment where I am really happy to have that woodstove is when we lose power for a few hours . . . or a few days . . . at that point, nothing can compare to having a woodstove.

 

[Simonkenton]

That is a beautiful thing! I like it in the white enamel.

I got my Oslo three years ago. Love it and so does the girlfriend.

 

[firefighterjake]

Jotul8E2 . . . You joined a few months before me and no doubt purchased your Oslo before me . . . but other than that . . . same experience. I've replaced a couple of gaskets and the insulating blanket (just because it was cheap enough to do so). The Oslo is quite the rugged performer.

 

[jotul8e2]

Jake, Arron - re: return on investment.

All situations are more or less unique. You are in Maine and Wyoming respectively, where winters are long and seriously, seriously cold. I can easily appreciate your need for heat! But I am in Southwest Missouri, and can expect about 100 days per year of really cold weather. The shoulder seasons are long on both ends, and my house is a near super-insulated design. At current electric prices it would cost less than $800 to heat our house each winter using our heat pumps alone. Granted, that is low, even by local standards, but it makes the return on any new efficiency efforts very long indeed.

In fact, it is worse than that as I have resigned myself to using the heat pumps until daytime highs drop below 45 deg., which puts my maximum savings per year in the $500 range. The Oslo overheats the house at higher temperatures, even loaded just once a day. The one thing I would do differently if I could start over would be to add a lot of thermal mass behind the stove - like a solid concrete block wall front to back, from the basement up through the first and second floors.

Too soon old and too late smart.

 

[adrpga498]

I can't speak for the Oslo, I 'm on my17th year of the 2door model Castinef400. Just changed the door gaskits for the 1st time last week. This medium stove is a workhorse.I want to step up to f600 someday but the Castine keeps running like a tank. Cut fuel oil from 800 gallons a year to 150. Just had to chime in even though I'm not a member of the 500 club.

 

[vwmike]

Great post, always loved the looks of the Oslo especially in some of the enamel finishes they've offered over the years. I suspect your testament is why I rarely see used ones pop up for sale.

 

[Elle]

I"m on my sixth year with my Oslo, love it so far.

 

[rgram]

Blue black enamel still looks pretty darn good. Mine was installed in 1999. Replaced the side door gasket the blanket and just last season the handle assembly on the front door was seizing up so I replaced it.
It just keeps working Guess how much I paid for that stove back then.

 

[begreen]

Blue black enamel still looks pretty darn good. Mine was installed in 1999. Replaced the side door gasket the blanket and just last season the handle assembly on the front door was seizing up so I replaced it.
It just keeps working Guess how much I paid for that stove back then.

That's my favorite color and finish. I'm guessing $1795.

 

[rgram]

$1649 shipped plus $79 for the rear heat shield.i guess they’ve gone up since then.

 

[begreen]

$1649 shipped plus $79 for the rear heat shield.i guess they’ve gone up since then.

Ha, I was going to guess $1695 but raised it a hundred. Our blue black enameled Castine cost that much, 7 years later.

 

[rgram]

Ah, maybe I overpaid

 

[begreen]

Ah, maybe I overpaid

That sounds like a decent price for an enameled Oslo back then.

 

[rgram]

The price was good considering it was shipped from Ohio to NJ

 

[11ultra103]

I just picked up the Oslo Saturday. Hoping to get it in next weekend. Glad to hear good things about them!

 

[RSNovi]

I had a new Oslo installed in our new house. We went with the same blue-black, but with the rear heat shield. We take ownership of the house on Friday so I will be breaking it in then.