Hello all,
I have been using my 2020 Jotul F500 now for over a month and want to provide a review for anyone looking to purchase this stove. I also wanted to provide this review because I based my decisions off of the reviews I read and wanted to contribute to any others looking at this stove.
My background on stoves:
I started my wood stove experience with a Jotul wood stove. I cannot remember the model but it had a small firebox. It would burn real good for about 4 to 5 hours before having to reload it. I liked everything about that wood stove except for the size and burn time. The shop owner at that time talked me into it based on my house size. I wished I had gone bigger. I also got stuck one year burning wood that was not seasoned enough and that also made my life hard that winter (I learned from that mistake). This was an old farm house with terrible insulation and brick piers for a foundation. It was hard to keep heated due to its age and construction. This smaller Jotul would have probably been real good in a more insulated house at 1100 square feet.
New House/New Stove Purchase:
When I started shopping for wood stoves I really looked hard first at the Blaze King stove. I almost pulled the trigger on this stove. However, something inside me wanted to look at the Jotul wood stoves again before pulling the trigger on the Blaze King. I also received very positive feedback on here about the Blaze King. My biggest concern was burn time. This is what was really pulling me to the Blaze King. Once I went and looked at the Jotul F500, I could not walk away from it. I then did a ton of research and reviews for this stove and only found a small number of bad reviews. I went and looked at that stove 3 times and was worried to death about burn time. I kept sharing my concern with the dealer about this. He finally went and got the owner of the store and the owner has a Jotul F500 in his house. He told me out of all the stoves he carries this was the one he put in his house and loves it. So after talking my wife to death about the Blaze King versus the Jotul, I bought the Jotul. This was 3 months before completion of my house. I was worried the whole time that I would not like the Jotul because it would not burn for 12 hours or more. It was finally installed right after Christmas and I must say that I am very pleased with this stove. Right now I am averaging around 6 to 7 hours of burn time. However I have not had to load it all the way up yet and damp it all the way down. I have not needed to. When I get up in the morning my house is usually around 72 to 73 degrees. This stove gets my house to 76 degrees in about an hour and hotter when really going good (around 400 to 450 degrees). 350 degrees seems to be the hotspot for my house right now. The house holds that heat in for at least 8 hours before starting to drop back down. I am burning mostly white oak right now with a little bit of red oak mixed in. Wood is at 15 % moisture content.
My new house is a 1500 square foot ranch house that is completely bricked all the way around. It is a square shape and I had the brick hearth put in the middle of the house in the great room (kitchen/living area). I went with a Class A chimney instead of a brick flue lined chimney after discussion with my bricklayer and wood stove dealer (I am happy with that decision so far). I have around twenty feet of vertical pipe. The draft is great. So for all those considering a Jotul, if you have a new house that is well insulated, I highly recommend this stove. The stove is built really well and looks good in the middle of the house. I wanted a really good-looking stove due to the fact that it would be the center piece of the house. The Jotul checks that box all day long. I have already had compliments from visitors about this stove and they want to know more about it. I was so worried about about burn time but not anymore. This stove heats the house up nicely and puts off great heat. Since I telework now all the time, I am here to run the stove all day. I usually use 5 pieces of oak in the morning to get it going and add a log or two during the day when needed (every few hours or so). So far, 3 to 4 logs in the fire box is all I am needing to maintain the heat I want. My heat pump has not been on in 3 weeks. I did not get a fan with the stove. I have ceiling fans in the great room and master and cut those on to circulate the heat. I have also not emptied my ash pan based on comments from current owners on this website. This advice is also working well for me. I just clean out the box and start again. The only down side to this stove was the cost. It is not cheap but with a purchase like this cheaper for me was not better. Quality is what I was looking for and got that with this Jotul.
I hope this helps anyone else out there considering a Jotul F500 wood stove.
I have been using my 2020 Jotul F500 now for over a month and want to provide a review for anyone looking to purchase this stove. I also wanted to provide this review because I based my decisions off of the reviews I read and wanted to contribute to any others looking at this stove.
My background on stoves:
I started my wood stove experience with a Jotul wood stove. I cannot remember the model but it had a small firebox. It would burn real good for about 4 to 5 hours before having to reload it. I liked everything about that wood stove except for the size and burn time. The shop owner at that time talked me into it based on my house size. I wished I had gone bigger. I also got stuck one year burning wood that was not seasoned enough and that also made my life hard that winter (I learned from that mistake). This was an old farm house with terrible insulation and brick piers for a foundation. It was hard to keep heated due to its age and construction. This smaller Jotul would have probably been real good in a more insulated house at 1100 square feet.
New House/New Stove Purchase:
When I started shopping for wood stoves I really looked hard first at the Blaze King stove. I almost pulled the trigger on this stove. However, something inside me wanted to look at the Jotul wood stoves again before pulling the trigger on the Blaze King. I also received very positive feedback on here about the Blaze King. My biggest concern was burn time. This is what was really pulling me to the Blaze King. Once I went and looked at the Jotul F500, I could not walk away from it. I then did a ton of research and reviews for this stove and only found a small number of bad reviews. I went and looked at that stove 3 times and was worried to death about burn time. I kept sharing my concern with the dealer about this. He finally went and got the owner of the store and the owner has a Jotul F500 in his house. He told me out of all the stoves he carries this was the one he put in his house and loves it. So after talking my wife to death about the Blaze King versus the Jotul, I bought the Jotul. This was 3 months before completion of my house. I was worried the whole time that I would not like the Jotul because it would not burn for 12 hours or more. It was finally installed right after Christmas and I must say that I am very pleased with this stove. Right now I am averaging around 6 to 7 hours of burn time. However I have not had to load it all the way up yet and damp it all the way down. I have not needed to. When I get up in the morning my house is usually around 72 to 73 degrees. This stove gets my house to 76 degrees in about an hour and hotter when really going good (around 400 to 450 degrees). 350 degrees seems to be the hotspot for my house right now. The house holds that heat in for at least 8 hours before starting to drop back down. I am burning mostly white oak right now with a little bit of red oak mixed in. Wood is at 15 % moisture content.
My new house is a 1500 square foot ranch house that is completely bricked all the way around. It is a square shape and I had the brick hearth put in the middle of the house in the great room (kitchen/living area). I went with a Class A chimney instead of a brick flue lined chimney after discussion with my bricklayer and wood stove dealer (I am happy with that decision so far). I have around twenty feet of vertical pipe. The draft is great. So for all those considering a Jotul, if you have a new house that is well insulated, I highly recommend this stove. The stove is built really well and looks good in the middle of the house. I wanted a really good-looking stove due to the fact that it would be the center piece of the house. The Jotul checks that box all day long. I have already had compliments from visitors about this stove and they want to know more about it. I was so worried about about burn time but not anymore. This stove heats the house up nicely and puts off great heat. Since I telework now all the time, I am here to run the stove all day. I usually use 5 pieces of oak in the morning to get it going and add a log or two during the day when needed (every few hours or so). So far, 3 to 4 logs in the fire box is all I am needing to maintain the heat I want. My heat pump has not been on in 3 weeks. I did not get a fan with the stove. I have ceiling fans in the great room and master and cut those on to circulate the heat. I have also not emptied my ash pan based on comments from current owners on this website. This advice is also working well for me. I just clean out the box and start again. The only down side to this stove was the cost. It is not cheap but with a purchase like this cheaper for me was not better. Quality is what I was looking for and got that with this Jotul.
I hope this helps anyone else out there considering a Jotul F500 wood stove.
