So I finally got my Jotul wood stove installed, didn't go anything like I planned.

[geoffm24]

After having had my Oct 2nd installation rained out the chimney guys showed up to install my lightly used Jotul F500 into my fireplace. I had gone with the F500 because of the reventing and the low clearance height of my fireplace opening. I ordered and installed a Jotul short leg kit so she was ready to go, so I thought. Shortly after they showed up they were looking at the stove, then the opening, then the hearth, then the stove again. ""It won't fit", was what came out of their mouths. My heart sunk. As you know getting chimney guys out in Oct can be tough so the wheels started turning as I did not want them to leave and come back in a month for a different stove. I quickly pulled up the Jotul website and went over the models with the head chimney guy. Do to the short hearth depth, lower fireplace opening height and modest fireplace depth the only one that would work was the F100. So I hopped in my truck and drove 25 minutes to the store as they cleaned the chimney and ran the liner. I arrived at the store to see the stove and this thing looks TINY compared to my big beautiful Oslo, oh well. The guys though her in the truck and I was home 1 hour after leaving. The F100 is now installed and the F500 is sadly on CL and I'm working on my second break in fire. We had originally gone the route of the wood burning stove for the atmosphere and to have something more efficient then an open fireplace and we only really need it to warm the family room and kitchen. The Oslo was probably 2-3 sizes too big but I loved the idea of overnight burns and 20" logs. The chimney guy seemed to think the Oslo would have roasted us out of the family room but who knows. The worst part now is cutting all my longer wood down to fit the F100.

(broken image removed)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Todd]

It looks great, too bad the Olso didn't fit. What about the Castine, too big as well?

 

[geoffm24]

It looks great, too bad the Olso didn't fit. What about the Castine, too big as well?

The Castline is too tall to fit in the fireplace and too deep to sit on the hearth with the rear vent in use. The Oslo is actually one of the least deep Jotuls but was still 2 inches to deep for the rear vent on the hearth and too tall at the corners, due to the arch, to fit in the fireplace.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

It looks great! And hey, once you're done chopping your longer logs up, you'll have plenty of kindling! I love the look of brick hearths.

~Rose

 

[scottgen20]

Congrats on the new stove.. I know how you feel.. I wound up with an F100 due to the size of my firebox, as well.. It's been a great little stove and it puts out a lot of heat.. Biggest issue, as you mentioned, is cutting down wood to the correct size. This year I emailed all of the guys selling wood on Craigslist asking for smaller splits. I found someone who delivered me splits that for the most part are less than 16".

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Congratulations on the new stove even if it came about through an odd situation. For heating mainly that room you will probably be quite satisfied.

As for cutting the wood, we too faced that situation when putting in the Fireview. So I threw together a sawbuck and had the wife help. She would put a piece on the sawbuck and I would cut it. We had some we just cut the ends off and some we cut in half. It all worked out well as we burned the short pieces during the fall of the year. It was just a lot of work, but I'd do it again.

 

[tickbitty]

Looks great and congrats on the quick thinking solution and willingness to do it!

 

[geoffm24]

Well I sold the Oslo tonight and I must admit it was tough to see her go. I will say thus F100 does a wonderful job of heating the area it is in and is even keeping the downstairs as warm as 72 degrees even with 40 degree overnight temps. Sadly there is not even a remote hint of coals in the morning when we get up but I knew that going in.

 

[goldfishcastle]

We love our F100. Enjoy!

 

[gibson]

I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Most important it is the right stove for your application, so it'll run good. We love our stove the most when we sit in front of it with a beverage. That is independent of stove size last time I checked. Be Well.

 

[clr8ter]

How much did you sell the Oslo for? We bought one from CL last year, about 3 yrs old for $1200. Nice stove. I have yet to keep a fire in it overnight. Haven't really tried yet, but the overnite burns are exaggerated a little, I think. And, yeah, it CAN AND DOES roast out the room it's in....but, we love it.

 

[firefighterjake]

How much did you sell the Oslo for? We bought one from CL last year, about 3 yrs old for $1200. Nice stove. I have yet to keep a fire in it overnight. Haven't really tried yet, but the overnite burns are exaggerated a little, I think. And, yeah, it CAN AND DOES roast out the room it's in....but, we love it.

Oh I don't know about the overnight burns . . . went to bed last night at 8:30 p.m. (for some reason I was pretty tired) . . . dumb cat Calvin Coolidge woke me up at 4:30 a.m. with his caterwauling as if there was some really cute Persian cat out back that wanted him (even though he is fixed) . . . in any case I raked up the coals, threw on some kindling and three large splits and in minutes I was up and running . . . temp in the house had dipped some, but was at 68 degrees F. I'm pretty happy with the overnight burns.

 

[thewoodlands]

[quote author="geoffm24" date="1286730416"]

You could build something like this so you could cut your wood down.



zap

 

[Fsappo]

leave it to Zap.

 

[clr8ter]

Yeah, FFJake, I've had about the same.....maybe I'm under the wrong impression about what an overnight burn is......"overnight" is different things to different people. Also, I have been hesitant to really stuff it and go to bed. Still getting the hang of it. I will now add a little and go to bed, or leave the house, if it's running nice, but to really load it and go to bed.......that's different.

 

[CALJREICH]

You couldn't move the stove forward and run stovepipe out and up the chimney? bummer

 

[r_d_gard]

Zap

Well, now I've seen it all. The epitome of efficency for any home burner.

I would never, ever, thought to have created that to shorten splits.

That's great.

 

[leeave96]

Very nice looking stove and install.

When I bought my Woodstock Keystone, I found myself with a lot of wood that was longer than 16 inches and I have been re-sawing my firewood - it's almost like re-cutting my firewood!

But - the 16 inch rounds are easier to split and that lengh wood is easy to handle going into a hot stove, so I like it. I'll be more careful with future loads.

For your overnight burns, I find that if I use rounds vs splits, the wood lasts much longer. I think the Oslo would definately cook you out of that room. My Keystone is not that much larger than your F100 and it will make everyone sweat in my living room.

Another thing about overnight burns. It would be nice to bank the stove and have it hold the room temp until morning, but in my case, my Keystone (so far) can give steady heat on a full load for about 4 hrs before falling in temperature. One of the first stoves I looked at was a beautiful Quadra-Fire Isle Royle. That stove looked to me like it would hold a ton of wood, but in the end I feared it would roast us pretty quickly. The overnight burn I expect (and get) with my Keystone is one that leaves me with a bed of coals in the morning such that I don't have to strike a match to get the fire going again for the day. I expect that if you have an ash bed and bank your stove with rounds you will have enough coals to get a fire going the next morning.

Good luck

Bill

 

[fishingpol]

I have the F-100 also. I was looking towards a F3 but due to fireplace size, just a tad big. The F-100 does not have the longest burn time and requires somewhat frequent loading. 3 splits and she is running at 550 and we are toasty. Anything bigger would be overkill in my living room. When it is running, mostly evenings and weekends, my boiler is napping as the F-100 keeps the house warm enough. Usually just over two 5 gallon buckets is enough wood for a whole day.

I did put in a s/s liner down the clay flue and it runs fantastic now. I expect less wood consumption and the secondary combustion is great. Some posters here require a bigger stove for the space they are heating. This one happens to fit the bill for us.

I bring the wood inside in 5 gallon buckets that are 14" deep. If the split sticks out, I cut it in half on the band saw with a 1/2" blade. I'm glad to see another Nordic owner here, I hope it serves you well. I like that it is also not a beast to move around.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

enjoy the jotul, we have really enjoyed ours. my wife was against it at first, because she thought the windows were too small, she kept saying that all wood stove windows looked like micro wave ovens. now she really misses it when it is not running, it is part of the family now. we have a two story family room, which I thought was bad because the heat rises, however now I think it is ideal because the room gets hot, but not overly, and the heat circulates throughout the house pretty well, with the bedrooms a little cooler, which is a good thing because my wife is going through the hot flash stage and often needs the windows open during the night.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

You could build something like this so you could cut your wood down.



zap

14.25 inches?

WB

 

[clr8ter]

Yeah, that's a good point........why stuff it INTO the fireplace? Mine would have never fit in a million years, (the back of stove is flush with front of opening), but I wouldn't want it to. Being outside the fireplace probably makes for better air circulation anyhow.

 

[homebrewz]

That is a nice looking hearth, it would be a shame to take a jackhammer to it and I understand after having come that far not having the heart to tear stuff apart. I particularly like the look of the arch. Though, perhaps next summer if you find you really want a bigger stove you could modify it.

 

[firefighterjake]

enjoy the jotul, we have really enjoyed ours. my wife was against it at first, because she thought the windows were too small, she kept saying that all wood stove windows looked like micro wave ovens. now she really misses it when it is not running, it is part of the family now. we have a two story family room, which I thought was bad because the heat rises, however now I think it is ideal because the room gets hot, but not overly, and the heat circulates throughout the house pretty well, with the bedrooms a little cooler, which is a good thing because my wife is going through the hot flash stage and often needs the windows open during the night.

I'm guessing your wife doesn't read your postings at hearth.com.