Jotul Oslo or Morso 3610

[kjklosek]

After struggling last year with the Jotul Nordic, I am looking to get a larger stove for this year.

The stove will be in my living room which is about 750 sq.ft. Plus there is another 600 sq.feet down the hall, kind of L shaped.

Block walls, no insulation. House gets cold around the perimeter due to slab and block.

The Nordic was able to just keep up but I was loading every 2 hours. Did not help heat the back of the house.

Having looked at the Castine, I am not convinced the firebox is big enough for overnight burns.

I can get a pretty decent deal on the Jotul Oslo but the Morso is about $300.00 more.

Having seen both, the Morso seems to have a slightly smaller firebox than the Jotul.

I would like to do this once, so who has either of these stoves and can help with a little advice?

Thanks again.

J.P.

 

[begreen]

Word - insulate

But the Oslo will work for overnight burns.

 

[G-rott]

BeGreen nailed this one... Insulate!

I own the Morso 2110 and am very happy with it. The oslo or the 3610 will do well for you.

I bought my Morso based on it's fit and finish, my local dealer, and its style compaired to other stoves.

Good luck,

Garett

ps did I mention insulation?

 

[senorFrog]

I was looking at both and went with the oslo because the it was less expensive and the delaer was closer. I have it a family room, an addition, which has cathederal ceilings, concrete slab, four sky lights, seven casement windows, two doors. The adjacent room is the kitchen & breakfast nook which has is built over a crawl space, old stone foundation and old windows, no wall insulation, minimal insulation in the ceiling. The oslo does just fine. It would do better if I widened the door between the two rooms.

Could you trade in your nordic on the oslo?

The 3610 looks like a fine stove too. I really like the clean scandinavian lines.

 

[chad3]

I have a Oslo and was going to get the Castine but the dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse. My house is 1400 sf and it gets very toasty at times with the Oslo. I think that the Castine would give plenty of heat and should be able to restart the fire from coals left over in the mornings. I would at least wait till someone with the Castine chimes in on this post (could you revise the title to ask for them as well?).
Good luck and let us know what you choose.
chad

 

[kjklosek]

Word - insulate

But the Oslo will work for overnight burns.

As much as I would like to insulate, it is just not really feasible. I would have to re-frame the block walls in order to get a decent r-value.

How long have you been using the Castine?

J.P.

 

[kjklosek]

I was looking at both and went with the oslo because the it was less expensive and the delaer was closer. I have it a family room, an addition, which has cathederal ceilings, concrete slab, four sky lights, seven casement windows, two doors. The adjacent room is the kitchen & breakfast nook which has is built over a crawl space, old stone foundation and old windows, no wall insulation, minimal insulation in the ceiling. The oslo does just fine. It would do better if I widened the door between the two rooms.

Could you trade in your nordic on the oslo?

The 3610 looks like a fine stove too. I really like the clean scandinavian lines.

I sold the Nordic and just want to be sure of being able to get a stove that requires less loading. Longer burns and coals in the morning to help get everything going again.

The Oslo firebox looks to be about 2 cubic feet, the Castine about 1.5 cubic feet as compared to the Nordics 1 cubic foot.

I'm sure the Castine would work for heating but I also want it to carry through the night which I am not sure this stove will do.

J.P.

 

[begreen]

Word - insulate

But the Oslo will work for overnight burns.

As much as I would like to insulate, it is just not really feasible. I would have to re-frame the block walls in order to get a decent r-value.

How long have you been using the Castine?

J.P.

How about blowing in insulation in the walls or attaching rigid foam to the exterior and stuccoing over it? It will make a world of difference.

Re Jotul: I've had the Castine for one season, it went in last year about this time.

 

[kjklosek]

Word - insulate

But the Oslo will work for overnight burns.

As much as I would like to insulate, it is just not really feasible. I would have to re-frame the block walls in order to get a decent r-value.

How long have you been using the Castine?

J.P.

How about blowing in insulation in the walls or attaching rigid foam to the exterior and stuccoing over it? It will make a world of difference.

Re Jotul: I've had the Castine for one season, it went in last year about this time.

It would require removing the drywall from the inside and re-framing since the walls only have 3/4" furring strips and drywall. Outside is 3/4" furring and vinyl. So either way is lots of work and $$$.

We plan on renovating in a few years so I am just looking to get by for a little bit.

I do agree that insulation is key. Also needs to be done properly.

Thanks for the thoughts.

By the way how many square feet are you heating?

What is your average burn time with your wood?

Thanks again.

J.P.

 

[titan]

I've always liked the look of the 3610.

 

[begreen]

Got it JP. Best to do it right, I agree.

I am heating 2000 sq ft in a mild climate. My max burn time getting meaningful heat out of the stove is 4-6 hrs. It will hold hot coals a couple hours longer. My thought is the Oslo or Morso 3610 would be better sized for your climate and heat loss. Both are good stoves. You would do well with either one.

As to heating the back of the house, try this. Put a fan in the hallway, pointing towards the living room and run it on low. You can use a box or table fan as a test.

 

[kjklosek]

Got it JP. Best to do it right, I agree.

Yes, the Morso is also a fine stove. I am heating 2000 sq ft in a mild climate. My max burn time getting meaningful heat out of the stove is 4-6 hrs. It will hold hot coals a couple hours longer. My thought is the Oslo or Morso 3610 would be better sized for your climate and heat loss.

As to heating the back of the house, try this. Put a fan in the hallway, pointing towards the living room and run it on low. You can use a box or table fan as a test.

Thanks for the help.

J.P.

 

[titan]

Just out of curiosity,what is an average wintertime temperature in Va.?

 

[kjklosek]

I've always liked the look of the 3610.

I like the 3610 as well, but my wife is not too keen on it.

I am pretty certain now that it will be the Jotul.

J.P.

 

[titan]

You can't really go wrong with either stove IMO....both companies have been making them long enough to know what workswhat doesn't.

 

[kjklosek]

Last year in February we had night time temps in the twenties and teens sometimes. Daytime in the thirties.

Really doesn't get cold until January and February.

However we have electric baseboard heat and it is just perfectly awful and expensive. Plus the power goes out about once or twice a month as well.

Not as cold as where you live but cold enough to warrant a good heating stove.

J.P.

 

[senorFrog]

I sold the Nordic and just want to be sure of being able to get a stove that requires less loading. Longer burns and coals in the morning to help get everything going again.

Go with the Oslo then. You'll def have coals and longer burns. The side door alone is worth it.

 

[babalu87]

The 3610 will give 8+ hour burns with hardwood, it has a side door as well

 

[kjklosek]

The 3610 will give 8+ hour burns with hardwood, it has a side door as well

How does that handle work?

It seemed a little finicky, especially with the double doors.

Of course with experience, I'm sure it won't really matter.

J.P.

 

[babalu87]

Handle isnt finicky once you take the spring off
The spring is there so you wont leave it on the door and have it get hot. Every 3610 owner I know has taken that spring off and left it off. Stove looks "cleaner" with the handle off.

 

[senorFrog]

I forgot to mention that with the oslo's side door I open the front door maybe once a month.

A defect in the oslo's design is the front lip is too short, allowing ash to become trapped between the lip and the door. When you do open the door it will spill out. It can make a big mess and I hate big messes.

Additionally, the ash pan is too small. You'll have to empty daily if burning 24x7. I'm going to give this a try this year: (broken link removed)

I had a local metal shop make a plug to go where the grate goes. Thereby, preventing ash from spilling into the ash pan.

Good luck & let us know. I think either will perform fine.

PS - You might take look at PE too, they have a loyal following and it's a brand I wish I took hard look at when I was shopping around.

 

[kjklosek]

I forgot to mention that with the oslo's side door I open the front door maybe once a month.

A defect in the oslo's design is the front lip is too short, allowing ash to become trapped between the lip and the door. When you do open the door it will spill out. It can make a big mess and I hate big messes.

Additionally, the ash pan is too small. You'll have to empty daily if burning 24x7. I'm going to give this a try this year: (broken link removed)

I had a local metal shop make a plug to go where the grate goes. Thereby, preventing ash from spilling into the ash pan.

Good luck & let us know. I think either will perform fine.

PS - You might take look at PE too, they have a loyal following and it's a brand I wish I took hard look at when I was shopping around.

Jotul, Morso, Scan and Hearthstone are the only brands my local stove dealer carries. If I could look at the PE I would. But I like to see the thing in person before I would buy it.

This dealer sells more Jotuls than any other stove in his inventory. He has been dealing with them for 30 years and give pretty good service.

I liked the Nordic I had. It could throw out some heat for such a small stove. However I see now that burn times seem to be exaggerated by the manufacturers, and even in ideal conditions it would be hard to get their listed burn times.

I am looking foreward to being warm this winter. And not from lugging and splitting wood.

J.P.

 

[senorFrog]

I liked the Nordic I had. It could throw out some heat for such a small stove. However I see now that burn times seem to be exaggerated by the manufacturers, and even in ideal conditions it would be hard to get their listed burn times.

I am looking foreward to being warm this winter. And not from lugging and splitting wood.

I hear you man. They all lie about the burn times. Even with my marginal draft issue, which is due to a short stack, I got overnight burns. The stove was about 200-250 in the AM. Easy enough to start back up from the coals. I hope to do better this year as I added an exhausto fan to fix the marginal draft issue. Without it, I couldn't damper down to more than 1/2.

Do a search on my name. A couple interesting threads about the oslo and some good responses too.

 

[kjklosek]

Handle isnt finicky once you take the spring off
The spring is there so you wont leave it on the door and have it get hot. Every 3610 owner I know has taken that spring off and left it off. Stove looks "cleaner" with the handle off.

Are you using the side door a lot or the double front doors?

The ash pans looked a little small and awkward to remove. How often are you emptying?

I like the look of the Morso, but can't figure out why they put the ash pan set up inside the firebox and, it seems, diminish the size of the firebox.

I guess to keep the overall look?

J.P.

 

[babalu87]

I can get two solid days worth of burning out of the ash pans at the very least. I empty them maybe three times a week when the season is in full swing. I have had four fires this year and havent emptied them yet.
They are alot bigger than you may think and the stove burns better if you leave some ash on top of the grates as well.
It comes with a tool to remove them while they are hot though I just used gloves for a while before I figured out that the tool was for ash pan removal.

I load a new fire from the front doors and re-load from the side door. Ash pans have to be part of a firebox, its A LOT better than no ash pans.