New Jotul Oslo installed in cabin, just saying thanks to these forums

[Cabinfire]

I just installed a Jotul Oslo (replacing an old Efel that was worse for the wear (a hand-me-down from a neighbor a couple of decades ago), and wanted to post and say "Thanks" to the Hearth forums. Spent many a night reading up on stoves, pipes, pipe increasers (pipe goes from the 6" stove to the 8" chimney), installing, breaking-in etc. and everything helped me a great deal. We hauled the stove in out of state in the back of a pick-up, moved it in and installed it ourselves. Pretty proud moment to stand back and watch it burn for the first time. Just finished the second break in fire this evening and will do one more tomorrow morning. The gas-off was pretty intense (more so than I thought) and definitely had the door and window open to get that smell and smog-like air out of the house (even with it at 30 deg out).

The stove itself is a beauty, glad we went with the Oslo, just looks so darn good (even with the plain black cast iron finish, nothing fancy). It's so cold out we had to get it up and running ASAP so it's sitting on a temporary hearth right now - but in Summer I'll probably pull it off and be back here for advice on finishing a more permanent hearth.

Anyway, thanks for all the help, even if you didn't know it. This was the only place where I could get really spot-on information.

 

[begreen]

It is a beautiful stove. Hope you can post a picture of it burning in the cabin.

 

[Cabinfire]

If any other Oslo owners do read this and feel like commenting, are these two videos pretty accurate as far as how you load your stove?

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[Ctwoodtick]

When reloading the stove, I like the manuals direction to spread the coals evenly in firebox. This has worked better for me with my jotul insert than the method of raking the coals forward.

 

[Simonkenton]

You are welcome. I have given many good reviews on this stove her on the forum.
I like that video, but, what a nerd that guy is with the black gloves. Load that baby bare-handed like a mountain man!

It is a great stove, looks good and what a beautiful fire view. My fiancee loves the Oslo even more than I do and has become expert at lighting and running the Norwegian stove. She will turn off the tv, and get a glass of wine, and curl up before the Oslo on a rug, like a little dog.

The only complaint I have is, it is messy! Spills more ashes than any other stove I have had. Well, it is not perfect but it is pretty good.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Those gloves have saved us a lot of bad burns. Definitely a needed item.

 

[Cabinfire]

Thanks for all the info.

When reloading the stove, I like the manuals direction to spread the coals evenly in firebox. This has worked better for me with my jotul insert than the method of raking the coals forward.

Yes, I do the same.

You are welcome. I have given many good reviews on this stove her on the forum.
I like that video, but, what a nerd that guy is with the black gloves. Load that baby bare-handed like a mountain man!

It is a great stove, looks good and what a beautiful fire view. My fiancee loves the Oslo even more than I do and has become expert at lighting and running the Norwegian stove. She will turn off the tv, and get a glass of wine, and curl up before the Oslo on a rug, like a little dog.

The only complaint I have is, it is messy! Spills more ashes than any other stove I have had. Well, it is not perfect but it is pretty good.

Lol @ the gloves. I think they overemphasize the safety in these videos, probably for legal reasons.

I think loading from the front can produce a bit of mess, but loading from the side is my preferred way anyway and seems pretty clean so far. I use the front to set up the fire.

Those gloves have saved us a lot of bad burns. Definitely a needed item.

I use shorter gloves when the stove is really pumping, haven't got burned yet. I am up in the mountains and do sometimes use the mountain man technique.

 

[Simonkenton]

Oh, I also do not use the ash pan. It is a real mess and awkward to use, I have found it better just to let the fire go mostly out, and then scoop the ashes from the firebox into a metal bucket. We have an old soup ladle that works great for this.
The thing is, when you remove the ash pan, ashes will fall from the firebox down into the ash pan area. Then it will be difficult to put the ash pan back in place. So we just quit using it.


In April when burning season is over, we dump the ash pan out into the garden.

 

[ratsrepus]

I have had an Oslo going on 8 years now, so I consider myself well seasoned in its operation. First don't ever load through the front unless you want to clean up a giant mess every time. Second, some one said using the ash pan is messy!. Only if you over fill it and then walk to the door after drinking a fifth of Jack. I empty mine every other day, and never had any issues. Change out the insulation blanket every other years or so. And did I mention stock up with very well seasoned wood, cause it likes it, a lot of it. Nice looking well made stove.

 

[xman23]

I load from the side door. I have extra long gloves that go past the elbow. Used to get arm burns all the time.

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

Did I read this right? You have it venting into a 8 inch chimney? Wondering if this may be a problem, especially in the shoulder seasons when draft may not be as strong?

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I like the ash pan. The key I've found is to open the ash pan door and give the ash pan a bit of a shaking action before fully pulling it out . . . this levels out most of the ash to keep it from spilling all over the hearth. Before replacing the ash pan I take my flat bottomed fireplace shovel and scoop out any ash that may have fallen behind the ash pan. Honestly, I think the ash pan is one of the most useful features with this stove.

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I empty my ash pan twice a week during the heart of heating season . . . this time of year I cut that down to doing it once a week.

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Not quite sure why anyone would need to change the insulation blanket every other year. I went nine years before changing mine and only opted to do so after figuring it was pretty used up. One does need to be careful when cleaning above the baffle and use "kid gloves" when handling the baffle material since it can tear pretty easily.

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Video 1: Well I typically let the coals burn down more than he did . . . and I don't use the front door for reloads as it tends to make more of a mess with ash spillage. Sometimes I use gloves, sometimes not -- but never anything that goes up to my elbows. I tend to rake the coals smooth vs. pulling them to the front . . . mostly because the ash tends to build up on the right side of the stove due to me loading the wood from the side door. I also tend to use smaller wood on the bottom so it catches on fire easier with larger wood on top and then if there is room more wood on top of the larger splits. I also never give anyone the goofy thumbs-up after reloading the stove.

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Video 2: I never wear safety glasses while lighting my stove. Never felt there was a special danger in objects flying through the air and striking me in the eye. I do however wear my prescription glasses since if I didn't wear these I would be liable to be putting a tablet, cat, book, etc. into the firebox instead of a split or a round. I also find things work better when there is a bed of ash/coals. Newspaper and kindling are OK . . . kindling and a chunk of Super Cedar however is the cat's meow . . . or cat's butt . . . whichever colorful catchphrase you prefer to use. I do the top down fire, but it's different -- I don't bother with the Lincoln Log stack since this just takes up valuable space. Instead I have larger splits on bottom, smaller splits on top, kindling and a chunk of Super Cedar. I find that keeping the side door ajar until the flue temp comes up helps a lot . . . speaking of which, I really rely on my thermometers -- especially the flue thermometer. Also, once again, I never have given anyone the thumbs up after lighting the stove . . . if I did someone would be liable to think I was having a stroke and was thinking I was the Fonz.

 

[begreen]

Have any of you Oslo owners tried letting the ashpan fill up and just shovel off the grate? I did this with the Castine and the stove seemed to burn better and longer. My theory at the time was that the fire burned better with a layer of insulation (the ash bed) under the coals.

 

[firefighterjake]

Have any of you Oslo owners tried letting the ashpan fill up and just shovel off the grate? I did this with the Castine and the stove seemed to burn better and longer. My theory at the time was that the fire burned better with a layer of insulation (the ash bed) under the coals.

Nope . . . but when I pull my ash pan I nearly always leave a nice layer of ash above the grate since also feel it makes for a better burn. Seems like whenever I don't have a bed of ash the fire always takes longer to get established, to the point where I don't need to monitor it.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

Have any of you Oslo owners tried letting the ashpan fill up and just shovel off the grate? I did this with the Castine and the stove seemed to burn better and longer. My theory at the time was that the fire burned better with a layer of insulation (the ash bed) under the coals.

Seems that I've seen a few Oslo owners say that they do this - hopefully they will jump in here.

 

[ratsrepus]

I dont like shoveling ashes out of the stove into a pan, your going to get dust flying around no mater how careful you are. You can maintain an ash bed in the stove when you dump the ash pan, just don't rake em down. The trick is to kept it emptied before it fills up and you lose half of them pulling the pan out. every other day for me, no big deal

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I let the ash fill the pan on my VC stoves. There are epa holes on the bottom of my stove and just in case the ash pan door has a leak the layer of ash will help seal things up. I will dump it when the ash starts to spill out the front doors on reloads. It is a messy job but I feel the control is better. On the flip side, in warmer weather (shoulder seasons) I will keep a cleaner box.

 

[Rearscreen]

Have any of you Oslo owners tried letting the ashpan fill up and just shovel off the grate? I did this with the Castine and the stove seemed to burn better and longer. My theory at the time was that the fire burned better with a layer of insulation (the ash bed) under the coals.

Yup, that's exactly what my girlfriend ended up doing with her 5 year ownership of the Oslo. It stayed hotter longer and solved the ashes falling behind the pan problem which prevented the ashpan from going back in all of the way.

 

[begreen]

After the first year that is the only way I would run the Castine.

 

[jotul8e2]

Yup, that's exactly what my girlfriend ended up doing with her 5 year ownership of the Oslo. It stayed hotter longer and solved the ashes falling behind the pan problem which prevented the ashpan from going back in all of the way.

Exactly my experience, only the complete opposite. I can tell the ash pan is full because the stove slows down. Shoveling ashes directly out of the stove distributes them evenly, but widely. And the ashes-behind-the-pan "problem" is trifling - 1,2,3,4 passes along the back with the ash shovel and it is clean. About 10 seconds, maybe a bit less, and I do not even have to look in there.

For mess, it is hard to beat my Englander.

 

[begreen]

Exactly my experience, only the complete opposite. I can tell the ash pan is full because the stove slows down.

It sounds like the fire is getting less air when the pan is full of ash. I kept the boost air clear even with a good ash bed. Another thing to check is the ash pan door gasket seal as a possible source for an air leak.

 

[jotul8e2]

It sounds like the fire is getting less air when the pan is full of ash. I kept the boost air clear even with a good ash bed. Another thing to check is the ash pan door gasket seal as a possible source for an air leak.

Yes, the doghouse can get blocked. However, I noticed early on that the air wash circulation was across the top, down the front, then up the back. With ashes underneath the coals or wood it appears to interrupt this flow from the front to the back. creating more turbulance. This likely is more or less the case depending upon one's draft - mine is strong enough to counter the 600 cfm range hood in the next room.

In any event, the difference is subtle. But my totally un-objective and unscientific observations have convinced me that it is real. And I am absolutely standing firm on this. Unless I am wrong.

 

[xman23]

I used to clean all the ash out of the stove. Now I leave a small pile of the chunkey ash. The cold stove does start up better. I think it helps keeping things off the floor for better air flow. And those charcoal chunks are just waiting to light up. I find that reburning the ash makes it less fluffy.

 

[semipro]

It sounds like the fire is getting less air when the pan is full of ash. I kept the boost air clear even with a good ash bed. Another thing to check is the ash pan door gasket seal as a possible source for an air leak.

A full ash pan does seem to decrease the inlet air. I empty mine for this reason. I rarely have trouble with an 8-hour restart.from coals though I do agree the coals are better maintained when the ashpan if full.

 

[Simonkenton]

"Have any of you Oslo owners tried letting the ashpan fill up and just shovel off the grate? I did this with the Castine and the stove seemed to burn better and longer. My theory at the time was that the fire burned better with a layer of insulation (the ash bed) under the coals."

Yes that is how I use my Oslo.