Morso 3440 vs. Jotul F100, Particularly Burn Time

[EdoMor]

Hey There,

So I've been weighing my options between these two well-known small size stoves. Here's our situation:

We live in a longish farm house with a studio barn attached. The studio barn (our glass workshop) is heated with a cigar-box black bear Jotul. Heats wonderfully. 2x6 insulation there however, which is better than the 2x4 circa 1970s insulation in the farmhouse walls. The farmhouse has two superflu chimneys and we've opened the space almost entirely, so that heat moves pretty freely across it. (See pictures below) About 1100 sq ft + 300 ft upstairs.

On one side of the farmhouse is the kitchen, where we have an interesting Shaker wood stove, basically a 2 ft long box. Heats quickly, starts in minutes, and I can get it to burn through the night and start easily after 6-8 hours. It heats the house pretty well by itself but leaves some cold spots on the opposite side when it gets real chilly. And when it gets real cold, the house is cold by morning.

So the plan is to burn on either one side of the house or the other, depending on the stove we feel like using, and burn both stoves if it gets really cold.

We had a used Hearthstone soapstone stove in the other chimney, the old kind with a small window. Took forever to start and wouldn't always burn through the night. We'd like to replace it with something on the small side, because its in the center of the living room and aesthetically nothing much wider than 20" will work. Big window is key. So we're thinking of Jotul F100 or the Morso 3400 line.

Main concern is that neither of them will make it through the night, being so small. The F100, in particular -- dealers say 5-7 hrs. A friend of ours has one and it doesn't always get through.

Being that these two stoves are pretty much the same size, is there any reason to expect the Morso to burn longer? I guess the smaller window might help, as well as the ash pan. We're not averse to burning a mix of wood bricks and wood also, especially if that'll help get a longer burn. Don't need more than 8 hours, since we work out of the house -- just need it to burn well through 6-8 hrs tops.
Any other stove out there at around $2000 or less that could work? We also like the Harman Oakleaf for its longer burn time, but at 25" wide it really is a bit big for the space we have.

Thanks,
Edo

 

[begreen]

Welcome Edo. Of the two, the Morso will probably burn a bit longer. However, both stoves will be hard pressed to burn through the night, especially during colder weather when you need more heat. I would avoid the Oakwood. It's downdraft design can be finicky to operate and it prefers to be run hot. For this space I would consider the Jotul Castine F400 or the Morso 3610.

For longer burn times you will need more fuel capacity. I would recommend you look at stoves with at least 1.5-2 cu ft capacity. Some stoves to consider are: Woodstock Keystone or Fireview, BlazeKing Sirocco 20, Englander 13NC, Lopi Endeavor and Pacific Energy Super 27 or Neo 1.6 (or their value line TrueNorth TN19). Of these stoves the Englander and True North are under $1000. A Super27 will be around $1700 and the others will be higher. A couple fancier stoves that will do the job, but will cost more are the BlazeKing Ashford 20, Jotul Greenville 45 and the Pacific Energy Alderlea T5.

 

[EdoMor]

Hmm, sounds like good advice. Was just talking to my friend with an F100 yesterday and he complained about the small firebox.