Hi all, first post, be gentle. 
Heated with wood most of my life, most recently in our last house (Oxford, CT.) where we bought a Jotul F600 Firelight in 2003 and installed it in an existing hearth pad. House was 1800sf and the stove did an excellent job. My only issues were the air control lever grew sticky over the years...mostly when the stove was hot. When it was cold it would slide back & forth easily. I'm guessing something had warped a bit. Last winter I noticed some type of air leak somewhere on the left top front side. The stove would whistle from the air leak when I had it going but banked down. Our burn times went down quite a bit as well. I mentioned this to our chimney sweep when he cleaned the chimney for us prior to the sale of our house. He thought that was likely some type of crack and not an easy or cheap fix
The house we moved to is 2100sf, 4br, 2.5ba, two stories (no cathedral ceilings). It has a hearthpad and 6" thimble centrally located. There is currently an old TempCoal stove there which I am using because the previous owner guaranteed once I tried coal I'd never go back to wood. So far not impressed but also learning/realizing that burning coal is quite different from burning wood. That said we are now planning to replace the coal stove with a wood one over next Summer. I will begin putting up wood after the Christmas holidays.
I had assumed that I would likely just get another Jotul Firelight but I want to see what's changed & get some recommendations if possible. I believe I paid around $1500 for my Firelight (matte black) back in 2003. I love soapstone but think it's a bit overpriced. I prefer non-catalytic& cast iron. Because of where the stove is going in the room I can't do a right side door. I need front, top, or left side loading. Thanks !
Heated with wood most of my life, most recently in our last house (Oxford, CT.) where we bought a Jotul F600 Firelight in 2003 and installed it in an existing hearth pad. House was 1800sf and the stove did an excellent job. My only issues were the air control lever grew sticky over the years...mostly when the stove was hot. When it was cold it would slide back & forth easily. I'm guessing something had warped a bit. Last winter I noticed some type of air leak somewhere on the left top front side. The stove would whistle from the air leak when I had it going but banked down. Our burn times went down quite a bit as well. I mentioned this to our chimney sweep when he cleaned the chimney for us prior to the sale of our house. He thought that was likely some type of crack and not an easy or cheap fix
The house we moved to is 2100sf, 4br, 2.5ba, two stories (no cathedral ceilings). It has a hearthpad and 6" thimble centrally located. There is currently an old TempCoal stove there which I am using because the previous owner guaranteed once I tried coal I'd never go back to wood. So far not impressed but also learning/realizing that burning coal is quite different from burning wood. That said we are now planning to replace the coal stove with a wood one over next Summer. I will begin putting up wood after the Christmas holidays.
I had assumed that I would likely just get another Jotul Firelight but I want to see what's changed & get some recommendations if possible. I believe I paid around $1500 for my Firelight (matte black) back in 2003. I love soapstone but think it's a bit overpriced. I prefer non-catalytic& cast iron. Because of where the stove is going in the room I can't do a right side door. I need front, top, or left side loading. Thanks !
