Jotul vs. pacific energy

[Thorndale]

Hi, I am new here and was wondering if you could help me out? We are about to purchase a wood insert for our house. We are interest in jotul but our supplier seems to be pushing pacific energy. I read on these forums that they are both very good inserts. But every time I inquire about a jotul they have negative comments. So could you tell me if there is truth to these 2 comments.

1. The draw is not good in a jotul
2. The glass gets dirty often.

Now we like the rockland but it may be too big for our space. Is the quality of kennebec 450 the same as the rockland? I thought I read negative reviews on the kennebec.

That leads to last issue the size. We live in a 2 storey house with an addition off the back which is were the fireplace is. This room is about 500 sq ft. There is a 5 ft opening into this room with 2 steps leading down. The ceilings are vaulted, about 10 ft high. It has a crawl space so it is cool. But we did sprayfoam insulate the entire room. The main floor is very open concept which which is 600 sq ft. So would a rockland emit too much heat??

I think that covers it. thanks for any input.

 

[Swedishchef]

Welcome to the forums!!

Draft (draw) is dependent on a few factors. Stove manufacturers do not make stoves that don't have a good draft. People install stoves with less-than-desirable chimney setups that result in poor draft (chimney stack is too short, outside chimney (like mine), too many bends/offsets/elbows.

JOtul make an awesome stove. I think your dealer is slightly biased for whatever his/her reasons.

Personally I an unfamiliar with any of those inserts, however, someone will likely chime in shortly.

Are you expecting to heat your entire house or just the main floor? If you're heating 1100 sq ft, I think Rockland would heat it nicely.

Andrew

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

I just purchased a used jotul 450 off the hearth here. installed with new liner and replaced the blower fan. It is a good looking insert and in my experience so far not a real big heater. I have it in a 12'x 12' room that is open to a Foyer entrance. The stove operates beautiful and is perfect for my application, as I just wanted to use my fireplace with out the heat of house escaping. I have it installed in an exterior chimney/fireplace. So if you have an interior fireplace, I would suspect it would provide more heat. the Draft is fine in this insert with my new liner.
If you really want a heater I would go bigger in the Jotul line. For me the 450 does what I wanted to do.

 

[RSNovi]

My parents have a Jotul 450 and it is a great heater.

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

If I where looking to buy a new insert. My considerations Would be more along the lines of the largest firebox I could fit in my existing fireplace. The 450 I have holds 3-4 splits. I can load more but that would put the fire near the glass and smoke up the glass.

 

[arbutus]

I had the largest PE stove in my previous house, and it heated the whole thing very well - I have no complaints.
I have no experience to offer on the Jotul.

 

[2PistolPacker]

If I where looking to buy a new insert. My considerations Would be more along the lines of the largest firebox I could fit in my existing fireplace.

I am new to heating my home with wood and I never really researched Jotul inserts, but my final decision rested with putting in a great quality unit with the biggest firebox I could fit in there. That research lead me to the PE Summit.

 

[Thorndale]

Thanks for everyone's quick responses.

Andrew, it would be nice if we could keep the first floor nice and warm. But we don't plan on using it as our main heat source. I was wondering if the heat will kind of stay trapped in the family room since it is a few feet lower than the main house. But we do have ceiling fan... Thanks for clearing up the issue about draw. Our chimney is very tall, a few feet above the peak of the roof and I believe there is one bend going up.

So if we went with the bigger size insert and we didn't want too much heat we could build smaller fires in it without a loss in its performance? Maybe just a loss in efficiency? Sorry if these are silly questions...I am totally new to this.

 

[Dix]

1. The draw is not good in a jotul
2. The glass gets dirty often.

1. The draw is not good in a jotul

That's a wheel barrow full of manure that needs to be dumped.

2. The glass gets dirty often

Your glass gets dirty because of wet / unseasoned firewood, poor burning techniques, or a bad install.

Welcome to the forums !

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the dealer has concerns about draft. If the chimney is short the Jotul will probably perform poorer and the result might be dirty glass. The Jotul needs a bit more chimney, say 15-16ft to start drawing well and the Summit about 12ft. I think this is mostly due to the shorter secondary intake manifold on the PE.

How tall is the chimney that the insert will connect to?

As far as moving the heat, if you have a ceiling fan in the stove room that will help. If not, a fan on low speed placed in the adjacent room area blowing down low into the stove room will greatly assist heat distribution. The displaced cooler air will be replaced with warm air from the stove room.

 

[Thorndale]

I measured the chimney to be 12-13ft from the top to where it meets the roof, which is the lowest point of our roof. Does any portion from below the roof line contribute to the height if there is one Bend?

 

[Knots]

When I was looking, I narrowed it down to those two. I don't think you can go wrong with either. I went with an F55 Jotul because I didn't want an ash pan and I liked the door latch mechanism.

 

[Swedishchef]

I measured the chimney to be 12-13ft from the top to where it meets the roof, which is the lowest point of our roof. Does any portion from below the roof line contribute to the height if there is one Bend?

Normally when you consider a chimney height, you count from where the stove pipe begins to where the chimney ends. That entire system is what contributes to your draft.

Andrew

 

[begreen]

I measured the chimney to be 12-13ft from the top to where it meets the roof, which is the lowest point of our roof. Does any portion from below the roof line contribute to the height if there is one Bend?

That sounds like the issue the dealer was concerned about. Seems like you are going to need an easy breathing stove to get good performance. If you like the look of the Jotul better, consider getting the PE Alderlea T5 insert? It has the same firebox as the Pacific, but with an attractive cast iron front.

 

[Swedishchef]

I measured the chimney to be 12-13ft from the top to where it meets the roof, which is the lowest point of our roof. Does any portion from below the roof line contribute to the height if there is one Bend?

Do you mean 12-13ft from the top of the chimney to the roofline? if that is the case, you have a 20++ ft chimney and it should draft anything...

Andrew

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I read on these forums that they are both very good inserts.

You have? Where?

 

[Thorndale]

My mistake, there is no bend and the chimney height is 17-18 ft. So the draw should be fine. But the Alderlea t5 insert does look nice as well.

Bigg_redd, I read a review on the Rockland on this site and the reviewer gave it 5 stars...and there was a similar thread about different brands of inserts and someone commented that there were all very well built inserts and you can't go wrong with either one....Why? What do you think?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Why? What do you think?

My parents have a 550 Rockland. Here are some things I don't like about it. 1) It's not a big stove. It's Jotul's biggest insert (or was 3 years ago) and is marketed as a big stove, but it's not. 2) It's a flush mount. That means if the power goes out you have no heat. I realize there's lots of flush mounts on the market and I hate them all. Flush mounting is driven by aesthetics, not performance. 3) They are very expensive for a mid-size stove that doesn't throw near the heat the big stoves throw.

There's a huge thread here somewhere about someone wrestling with a 550. Read it before you decide.

 

[Thorndale]

My parents have a 550 Rockland. Here are some things I don't like about it. 1) It's not a big stove. It's Jotul's biggest insert (or was 3 years ago) and is marketed as a big stove, but it's not. 2) It's a flush mount. That means if the power goes out you have no heat. I realize there's lots of flush mounts on the market and I hate them all. Flush mounting is driven by aesthetics, not performance. 3) They are very expensive for a mid-size stove that doesn't throw near the heat the big stoves throw.

There's a huge thread here somewhere about someone wrestling with a 550. Read it before you decide.

Thanks for the info, I reviewed the threads and it seems like some people love them but others have big issues with them which sounds awful...why can't you use the rockland if the power goes out? That's the best part about having a wood stove.

I know the flush mounts are not the best stoves but our hearth is 12 inches deep and I would like to have the smallest hearth pad. The rockland is not a big stove but it fits our space perfectly, I was actually surprised that a so called large stove would fit our fireplace. The alderlea t5 is nice but it will extend out by 10 inches. We are not using this as our main heat source but if the power goes out it would be nice to be able to use it. I am just waiting for the quote...maybe that will be the deciding factor.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Without the blower running my parents 550 throws almost no heat. PE inserts radiate heat quite nicely without a blower.

 

[Knots]

I take back my comments above. I thought you were talking stoves, not inserts.

 

[pigc]

I'm also looking at those two manufacturers. You may want to check out P.E's new Neo 2.5 for your hearth situation. I'm trying to decide between that and the Rockland. Some of the old forums when the Rockland first came out people thought they had nearly a 3.0 cu. ft. firebox but is only 2.08. I like the wide viewing glass on it though and will take a 24" log and seems to be solidly built with a company that's been around forever. Good luck!

 

[drewsome]

Having owned a Rockland, I concur that without the fan, it's not going to throw off much heat. A true wood burning stove is much better is that's your goal.

If you can fit the Rockland, I'd get it over the 450. You'll read many complaints about people not getting enough heat and rarely read about people getting too much. Plus, you can always reduce too much heat by controlling the air. Also, larger firebox increases odds of getting an overnight burn. Cold starts on cold mornings suck.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I thought you were talking stoves, not inserts

Inserts are stoves

Rockland first came out people thought they had nearly a 3.0 cu. ft. firebox but is only 2.08.

It might be 2.08 CF but being so shallow I think it holds less wood than my Spectrum Classic.

A true wood burning stove is much better is that's your goal.

Don't let the 550 Rockland fool you - many inserts radiate heat just fine without a blower.

 

[Soundchasm]

Having owned the 550 for a few years, my initial conclusion is I'll never buy another insert again under any circumstances. I can throw 4 splits in the downstairs freestanding beast and be looking at 80 degree temps shortly with a window open. The same amount of wood upstairs will make the area near the 550 warm. So in my view, the 79 Nashua is more efficient because I get twice the heat out of it for the same wood. The Rockland probably has better particulate emissions rating. Could a more skilled operator than I do much better in the same circumstances? I'd hope so and I hope he shows up to teach me as soon as possible!!