Specifications

[hamsey]

Looking at replacing our Hearthstone Clydesdale with a Jotul Oslo. After comparing specifications I am a little concerned the Oslo will be too small. Looking at the test results the Clydes heat output in 60000BTU and the Oslo is 34700BTU. With that said the clyde does a nice job of heating the house but due to a "chimney issue" we are looking to replace it. We have a lintel height of 27" so the stove need to be under that so we can park some of it in the fireplace. Want to go with a freestanding stove so we can build in some restrictions to calm down our excessive draft. Oslo will fit perfect with the short leg kit but I am worried about heating the house and do not want to go backwards.

Wife is ready to kill me but the clyde might do it first. Get extremely angry every time I light it that I am almost at the point of not doing it. Don't bother in the AM anymore. Only thing that is keeping me sane at the moment is I have to only put one or two logs on at a time every 30 minutes or so to prevent the charcoal issue we are having. My wife is not willing to do that and that is not how it is suppose to be done. Should have kept the fireplace if I want to constantly feed the fire.

So will this be a step backwards? We would be getting the blower kit with the Oslo if that makes any difference.

Edit: Just looked at the Jotul Rockland specs and that rates at 35900BTU's and that struggled warming the house below freezing. This could be due to losing lots of heat up the chimney due to the excessive draft but I am not sure.

 

[TheRambler]

What is wrong with the clydesdale, and what is this"chimney issue"? You can get several stoves that are comperable to the clydesdale but it's sounding like you have another issue that needs to be addressed to make any stove you put there work effectively.

Having to reload every 30 minutes? We definitely need more info to help you.

 

[fossil]

Does the chimney have a properly sized stainless steel liner attached to the stove and running the length of the chimney to daylight with properly sealed support closure at the top, and do you have a block-off plate installed in the top of the fireplace firebox above the wood stove? Or is this some sort of "slammer" installation where the stove is just shoved in there with little or no flue connecting up into the existing chimney flue? Rick

 

[hamsey]

Excessive draft. Been talking to Hearthstone and am told that I have a chimney issue and not a stove issue. Did the one thing they recommended but to no avail. hoping that a freestanding stove rear exit and tee will slow down the draft.

Because of the excessive draft I am getting lousy burn times and charcoal. Not a wood issue because I went as far as oven baking my wood (190* 3 - 4 hours) to drive out any moisture.

 

[hamsey]

No slammer install. 6"Ø S.S. Liner one shot from stove to cap. Roxul at the top and roxul above the block off plate. Sweep came out and put a reducer at the cap bringing it from 6"Ø to 5"Ø as recommended by Hearthstone. Did not help.

 

[TheRambler]

How tall is your flue from stove top to the top of the flue?

Reducing the flue size can actually increase draft. Going bigger would slow it down more. I would think anyway.

 

[hamsey]

How tall is your flue from stove top to the top of the flue?

22-24' Interior chimney Cold & windy part of the State.

 

[TheRambler]

Have you tried increasing the flue size? Restricting it down to 5in would make it pull harder. Taller and smaller make it stronger, shorter and wider make it weaker

 

[hamsey]

Dealer wanted to go down to 5"Ø but my sweep is not willing to do it. If something should happen I could be liable because it is/was not installed per manufacturer specs. Hearthstone would not sign off on this also.

 

[TheRambler]

"Sweep came out and put a reducer at the cap bringing it from 6"Ø to 5"Ø as recommended by Hearthstone. Did not help."

Thought you said you already had tour sweep take it down to 5in...

In anycase, like i said, going bigger would help, not smaller

 

[bholler]

Have you tried increasing the flue size? Restricting it down to 5in would make it pull harder. Taller and smaller make it stronger, shorter and wider make it weaker

That is not really true 5" would have more velocity but less volume but by restricting the top only it creates a bottle neck at the top and slows things down. Bigger flue the whole way would slow it down to but would be expensive to just try. I don't know the stove but cant you just restrict the intake air and have you checked the gaskets? Before pulling it out i would get another opinion for sure

 

[begreen]

Don't go by marketing. Manufacturers report output differently on their websites. This gets confusing because they are not reporting all to a same reference standard. Just a guess but it sounds like the Oslo spec quoted is EPA testing vs the Clydesdale's number being peak output. If you look in the Clydesdale manual you will note that the specifications list max cordwood output at 60K BTUs. Jotul lists the max output of the F500 at 70K BTUs. They are both about the same sized stove. The freestander will put more heat into the room and less into the surrounding masonry.

 

[Grisu]

We have a lintel height of 27" so the stove need to be under that so we can park some of it in the fireplace. Want to go with a freestanding stove so we can build in some restrictions to calm down our excessive draft. Oslo will fit perfect with the short leg kit but I am worried about heating the house and do not want to go backwards.

Most members clearly prefer side-loading the Oslo versus using the front-door. Would that still be possible the way you want to install it? Will you have enough clearance to the mantel or will the whole stove be in the fireplace?

 

[hamsey]

Still up in the air about how far to put it into fireplace. Installer at first mentioned half way until I told him about the blower, then he mentioned leave it out three quarters. Just beat the mantel clearance by a quarter inch. I can always raise it if I am not comfortable. As far as ash and chunks coming out the front door this happens with the clyde every time so we are use to it. I do a clean up everyday and have nice fire gloves.

 

[begreen]

If you can have it 3/4s out tof the fireplace that should be enough room to swing the side door open enough to side load. That's preferable with the Oslo.

 

[hamsey]

Going to leave it out enough so we can use the side door. Another question: Will the Oslo cool off faster than the clyde? Clyde has the soapstone firebricks and being parked into the fireplace with roxul between it and the fireplace. Oslo will have no roxul insulation so I am not sure.

Edit: Wife asked about putting the cast iron fireback back in the fireplace. Thoughts? I work for a metal fabricator and when we owned our condo I had them fabricate a stainless steel 3 sided surround to fit inside the fireplace due to me cracking the faux bricks. That put some nice heat out into the room. Not sure if this would be detrimental to the Oslo. Just want to get as many of those BTU's as I can. I will have the blower on the Oslo.

 

[fire_man]

That is not really true 5" would have more velocity but less volume but by restricting the top only it creates a bottle neck at the top and slows things down. Bigger flue the whole way would slow it down to but would be expensive to just try. I don't know the stove but cant you just restrict the intake air and have you checked the gaskets? Before pulling it out i would get another opinion for sure

This sounds correct to me - a smaller diameter flue (the whole way) would make it pull harder. The dealer has it backwards. The sweep (and bholler) are right.

The part I don't understand is: how does feeding the stove every 30 minutes with 2 splits prevent a coaling problem? I guess that way you are burning it more like a fireplace (with more air around the load) and you force a small amount of wood to burn down quickly.

What is your split size? I would think smaller splits would coal less.

I remember a very similar thread (excessive draft causing coaling problem) a while back and the cure was a damper. The reducer you installed at the top seems like the right approach. I know it's an insert, but can the flue be choked closer to the stove?

 

[hamsey]

Fire

That is the way I have to burn so I do not get my charcoal buildup. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/overdraft.139167/page-2#post-1871191As told to me from Hearthstone. At the end of the day I have excessive draft and need to address it. Only way I now how is to introduce some restrictions. Installing from what is specified is out of the question. Rear vent and a tee will give me some restrictions. Is it enough I cannot answer right now. In the Jotul manual it says to put in a butterfly damper if you have excessive draft. With these two restrictions and possibly the reducer at the top is enough to calm down my draft.

 

[fire_man]

This is kind of ON-Topic:

A certified chimney sweep informed me that in the United States, stoves are required to have a 6" minimum outlet to be UL listed. Jotul has had to specially fit US stoves with a 6" outlet rather than their standard 5" outlet which they use in all other countries.

What is that all about - why would UL listing demand a 6" outlet if the manufacturer tests their stoves with a different design?

 

[bholler]

A certified chimney sweep informed me that in the United States, stoves are required to have a 6" minimum outlet to be UL listed.

I am not positive but i think that is wrong

 

[fire_man]

He spoke with Jotul technical department in Maine and that's what they told him.

 

[begreen]

This is kind of ON-Topic:

A certified chimney sweep informed me that in the United States, stoves are required to have a 6" minimum outlet to be UL listed. Jotul has had to specially fit US stoves with a 6" outlet rather than their standard 5" outlet which they use in all other countries.

What is that all about - why would UL listing demand a 6" outlet if the manufacturer tests their stoves with a different design?

Only the smaller Jotuls use the 125mm flue collar (4.9") in Europe. Larger models like the F500 have a 150mm flue collar (5.91"). I just confirmed this in the F100 and F500 European docs.

 

[Hogwildz]

Feeding any stove 2 splits every 1/2 hr is going to create coals.
Why are you adding 2 splits every 1/2 hour? How long are you getting out of a full load without tossing more splits on?
22'-24' is not overly tall, and don't understand the claim of overdrafting.
I have 27' or double wall rigid insulated and while I have a strong draft, it doesn't overdraft.

I don't think baking wood in an overn for 4 hours is going to dry it much. Maybe on the outside, but have you checked a fresh split to determine moisture content?
Have you tried buying some kiln dried wood and seeing how that performs?

Not sure the stove or the stack is to blame.
I would get some true dry wood and try some experimentation first.
There are many on here that thought their wood was dry, having coaling issues, and it ended up being the wood, operation of the stove, &/or impatience between loads.
If it ends up not being the stove or the flue, changing the stove ain't going to change the problem.

 

[fire_man]

It would make sense as Hogwildz points out that the wood is to blame - especially since adding the restriction at the top did nothing to improve the problem. That is a red flag to me.

I assume by a "coaling problem" the OP means the stove burns down to a big load of dead coals that don't turn to ash - he did mention charcoal.

I had coaling issues with my Fireview and it definitely turned out to be unseasoned wood. Once I got a couple years ahead, it was never a problem again.

It would be a shame to switch stoves and end up with the same problem

 

[brad wilton]

I have a 30ft liner next to a lake with some good winds never had problem.check to make sure your gaskets on door are good dollar test it and check moisture in wood if wood is being burnt that fast try bigger splits