Looking to Ditch the Jotul #4, Need a Push...

[Caoimhin]

Like ctlovell, I'm looking to replace my Jotul Combifire #4. I'm thinking of an Englander Model 30, but here's my dilemma: the Combifire has problems, but it works. I'm concerned that a new stove will actually be a step in the wrong direction. In short, I'm looking for assurance from y'all that I'm not making a colossal error.

Here are my problems with the Combifire:

1. 3-4 hour burn times. My kids are out of diapers and sleep through the night now. I would like to be able to go 8 hours without having to feed the fire; I'm too old for this $*^&
2. Warped door. When it gets hot, gaps show up around the door, allowing too much air in. If a burning log touches the door, it warps enough that the door pops open a little. Not safe or efficient.
3. Efficiency. The damn thing's as old as me. It'd be nice not to burn so much $$$/wood...

Here's what's right about the Combifire:

1. Familiarity. I know how to start a fire in it. I know how to damp it down. There's a comfort level there...
2. Hot. It gets the old farmhouse nice and toasty nice and quick (no soapstone for me, though I appreciate them). Stand within six feet of the thing when it's raging, and your eyebrows will go up in a puff of ill-smelling smoke...
3. Cool. It's as ugly a thing as the 70's could squeeze out, though this doesn't carry a whole hell of a lot of weight in this decision.

So the last thing I want is to invest in a new stove, only to have it be a pain to start and run, and to have it not be able to heat my house as well or as quickly as the Combifire. The Englander should do it, but I'm just looking for a push over the edge.

Can anyone help me out of being a wuss on this?

Thanks.

 

[Jags]

Cowboy up! You named several reasons to step up to the NC30. I am betting that as far as getting familiar with a stove, that one is probably gonna be a piece of cake. Its a very straight forward appliance with a heck of a following of very satisfied users. Its a great bang for your buck kinda stove.

Make sure you account for the increase in size when it comes to the hearth and other clearances.

Edit: and warping door??? YIKES!!

 

[Chettt]

You'll like the modern epa stove. Wait for a spring sale.

 

[Todd]

Sounds like the old stove has some safety issues. Get rid of it before something bad happens.

 

[begreen]

Too bad, the Combifire was a decent heater, but with a warped door, it's a liability. Any new stove will take a bit of time to learn. Once you have it down, it becomes an easy routine. Before getting the big Englander it would be good to know a bit more about the house size and area size being heated. The 30NC gets good reviews, but from the owner's reports, it likes to burn large hot fires.

Is the woodstove the sole source of heat, year round or is there backup heat? How large is the house in sq ft and how open is the floorplan or room where the stove will be?

 

[Caoimhin]

The house is a 140-year old, somewhat leaky farmhouse (attic was r-12, just added layer of r-30 fiberglass). It's got a main house and kitchen ell, half of which is an unheated workshop. The main house has livingroom, bathroom, parlor, upstairs has two bedrooms, small room at the top of the stairs.

So, the main house is about 1,400 sf, with the kitchen adding another 200sf. We close off the parlor, and the upstairs tends to be warm enough via conduction and convection (we've got some fans around, and the previous owner cut a 1 ft sq hole in the ceiling above the stove, for example).

Last year, we only burned 175 gallons of oil (thermostat set to go off when we'd sleep through the stove's 1am feeding). Shooting for 0 gallons this year. We've gone through about 6 cords per year for the last ten years, being real frugal with the wood. This is around the Moosehead Lake area in Maine (-28 degrees was our coldest night, as I recall).

Too bad, the Combifire was a decent heater, but with a warped door, it's a liability. Any new stove will take a bit of time to learn. Once you have it down, it becomes an easy routine. Before getting the big Englander it would be good to know a bit more about the house size and area size being heated. The 30NC gets good reviews, but from the owner's reports, it likes to burn large hot fires.

Is the woodstove the sole source of heat, year round or is there backup heat? How large is the house in sq ft and how open is the floorplan or room where the stove will be?

 

[BrotherBart]

If you get the 30, and spend about the same amount of time getting used to running it that you did with the Jotul, you will be a happy camper. Get the blower for it to distribute the air around the joint. People talk about blowing air back toward the stove but the blower pulls air back to the stove so we don't have a bunch of fans on the floor to trip over.

You will probably use about the same amount of wood the first year while you get used to the stove. You will keep trying to run it like the old stove for a while but eventually you will cut your wood consumption considerably.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the 30NC will fit right in. There are some good instructions on how to run it in another thread posted by BrotherBart. You should be pretty toasty and get some much longer burns with that big puppy.

 

[VTSR5]

...and kitchen ell, half of which is an unheated workshop...

Sounds like an ideal location for a used Jotul Combifire in semi-retirement.

 

[ansehnlich1]

hey what kind of chimney do you have the Jotul hooked up to?

 

[Caoimhin]

It's a "metalbestos" type metal chimney (I forget the brand) that I had installed when we moved in. The Combifire was originally vented out the same chimney as the oil furnace, but now it has its own.

hey what kind of chimney do you have the Jotul hooked up to?

 

[daleeper]

In short, I'm looking for assurance from y'all that I'm not making a colossal error.

Here are my problems with the Combifire:


2. Warped door. When it gets hot, gaps show up around the door, allowing too much air in. If a burning log touches the door, it warps enough that the door pops open a little. Not safe or efficient.

Can anyone help me out of being a wuss on this?

Thanks.

The error will be in not making some sort of change here. Please either get the door fixed, or move on to another stove. How can you have confidence in a stove that has a door leaking like that.

You say yourself that it is not safe, what other reasoning trumps that? The reasons you listed for not changing are pitiful in comparison.

 

[firefighterjake]

First off, "y'all" . . . are you really posting from Greenville, Maine?

Second, that wasn't you that took the dip for the free Black Frog Skinny Dip sandwich, right?

OK, time to be serious. I think you've already all but convinced yourself that you're ready to move out of the '70s . . . so yes, it's time to pack away your bell bottoms until the fashion comes back, put away those BeeGee records you've secretly been playing late at night and send in your "Combifire for sale" ad into Uncle Henrys where someone will no doubt buy your stove.

I cannot tell you much about that particular stove except to say that it seems like it's a very reliable and popular stove for folks who want a real workhorse of a stove without all of the fancy name recognition or Yuppie mystique. Folks here report that this stove puts out plenty of heat in a very efficient manner (read . . . less wood consumption, long burn times.)

If nothing else I would be concerned about the warped door and in my mind this would be the major "tip factor" in deciding whether or not it was time to retire the Combifire (or at the very least buy a new door). Safety to me is truly the most important factor in making this decision . . . so consider yourself "pushed."

 

[Caoimhin]

A few minutes south of Moosehead (a full Yankee; just throwing in the "y'alls" for fun). No skinny dipping for me -- if I'm going to freeze me arse off, it'll be wading in a trout stream.

The door popping thing, by the way, doesn't involve the door flopping open and flames shooting out into my living room. The latch uncatches, and a tiny gap opens around the door; just enough to shorten the burn time, and I do realize that sparks can fly.... Of course, I literally sleep in the living room in order to feed the thing at 1am. If something's going to catch fire, it'll probably be me.

Getting a 500 lb beast from the Home Depot in Bangor is the next hurdle (into the car, out of the car, into the house, etc.)...

First off, "y'all" . . . are you really posting from Greenville, Maine?

Second, that wasn't you that took the dip for the free Black Frog Skinny Dip sandwich, right?

OK, time to be serious. I think you've already all but convinced yourself that you're ready to move out of the '70s . . . so yes, it's time to pack away your bell bottoms until the fashion comes back, put away those BeeGee records you've secretly been playing late at night and send in your "Combifire for sale" ad into Uncle Henrys where someone will no doubt buy your stove.

I cannot tell you much about that particular stove except to say that it seems like it's a very reliable and popular stove for folks who want a real workhorse of a stove without all of the fancy name recognition or Yuppie mystique. Folks here report that this stove puts out plenty of heat in a very efficient manner (read . . . less wood consumption, long burn times.)

If nothing else I would be concerned about the warped door and in my mind this would be the major "tip factor" in deciding whether or not it was time to retire the Combifire (or at the very least buy a new door). Safety to me is truly the most important factor in making this decision . . . so consider yourself "pushed."

 

[BrotherBart]

Taking off the door and the bricks will take 120 or so pounds off of the load. It's still a heavy sucker even after that. The words "car" and "30-NC" do not fit in the same sentence.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Taking off the door and the bricks will take 120 or so pounds off of the load. It's still a heavy sucker even after that. The words "car" and "30-NC" do not fit in the same sentence.

Hey BB, what's the difference between the "NC" and the "NCL" ???

 

[firefighterjake]

Taking off the door and the bricks will take 120 or so pounds off of the load. It's still a heavy sucker even after that. The words "car" and "30-NC" do not fit in the same sentence.

Hey BB, what's the difference between the "NC" and the "NCL" ???

One letter -- "L"? Sorry . . . couldn't help myself.