Stove and hearth pad

[neilm]

Hello I think I have decided on a stove. I think I am going to get the Jotul Oslo. I like the look of this stove, but wish it had a right side open instead of a left side. My first question is will this stove be large enough to heat my house. My house is about 2600 sq ft. I plan on having this be a night and weekend stove to help offset the oil bill. However where I am living power loss is something that happens quite often for days at a time, so I want to make sure this will heat the entire house by itself.
Plus I live in Maine so our winters tend to be very cold (expect this year)

The second part to this question is the hearth pad. I want a pad that is level with my 3/4" flooring. The manual states that I need to have a R value of .5 for this. If I am correct I can use a 1/2 inch of micore 300 and a 1/4 tile to keep it very close to the same size as the floor. Does this make sense. I have never owned a stove before, and want to make sure everything is done correctly. Anything else I need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The oslo is a good choice, but your asking alot of that stove to heat that square footage. I would consider a Jotul Firelight or a Hearthstone Mansfield, or any stove in that size range. Stove matierial can play a part of your decision. i.e steel, cast iron or soapstone.
How open is the house?
How well insulated is the house?
How many windows are in the room that the stove is in?
How tall are the celings?
Is it a ranch or a multi story?

Your hearth pad sounds ok for .5 r value.

 

[babalu87]

The second part to this question is the hearth pad. I want a pad that is level with my 3/4" flooring. The manual states that I need to have a R value of .5 for this. If I am correct I can use a 1/2 inch of micore 300 and a 1/4 tile to keep it very close to the same size as the floor. Does this make sense. I have never owned a stove before, and want to make sure everything is done correctly. Anything else I need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

Put some plywood UNDER the MICORE300 and 1/2" cement board over it, then tile
You cant tile over micore and you really cant screw cement board to it, kinda flimsy stuff and would absorb all the water in the grout mix



I have the Morso 3610 and love it, you may want to check them out as well

 

[neilm]

Mountain Stove Guy,
To answer you questions

The house is very open, stove is in middle of the house near an 20X24 ell with catherdral ceilings. Fan will be installed.
The house will be very well insulated (new home)
The stove is not near any windows, but the first floor has 13 windows.
Ceilings are 9 feet.
The house is a 3 story colonial. 3rd story will be closed.

I was told to stay away from the firelight due to the back plates breaking. I do like the Hearthstone a lot, and so does my wife,
but I fell I am way to impatient of a person to wait 4 hours for the stove to heat. I am not sure if that would be a good choice or not.
Looks are a very important aspect for the stove as it is in a central location.

Thanks again!

 

[bruce]

are harman dealers around you? i have the tl 200 wood stove, its rated at 2900 sq ft, im heating 2200 sq ft raised ranch very easy, i know i could get more with fans and floor vents, the house hase electric heat and never gets a bill over 90$

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The mansfield only takes about a hour to be fully cranking, and you get heat while you wait through the glass. That partucular stove is a perfect cube, and would probably look the best centraly located. I have never had any customers that have been sorry for buying soapstone. Its wonderfull heat..

 

[neilm]

Well that would certainly help out the decision if it takes and hour or two compared to 4. How much of a differnce would there be between the Mansfield and the Heritage. My wife likes the seafoam color, and the side door could be helpful! I see the 55,000 btu compared to 80,000 btu, but just curious on your thoughts!
Thanks

 

[yukiginger]

I don't have a soapstone stove, but I'm with MountainGuy. Your house sounds nice (new, big, probably expensive). In a central location I would want something pretty, like a Hearthstone Mansfield. Don't know where you heard the 4 hour time, but maybe some other owners can chime in on that. I can't imagine you wouldn't start getting good heat in an hour, plus, your heat is going to last longer, so in the morning perhaps it's a degree or two warmer in the house compared to a steel or cast iron stove.

Either way I would definitely recommend you go with a stove with a 3 cu. ft. box or more. The cost difference between the large stoves and medium ones is so slight, that why not? If you get too warm open a door or two to that third level you mentioned.

Visit all your local dealers and see what they have. And who knows, you might end up burning it more than just nights and weekends. Large stoves can be loaded up and put off good heat all day while you're gone.

MarkG

 

[ChrisN]

Neil, I have an Oslo and it does a passable job of heating my 2300sf house. I have 9 ft ceilings as well. The stove is downstairs in the family room that has a cathedral ceiling the opens to a loft on the 2nd floor. The 2nd floor with 3 bedrooms and the main part of the first floor stay warm enough. We have a master bedroom suite on the first floor, at the far end of the house from the stove. Heat transfer to that area is almost non-exsistent. The main house will be in the low 70's and the bedroom area is in the mid-50's. Fortunately my adorable wife appreciates the fact that we have used about 50 gallons of heating oil this season and doesn't mind an extra blanket on our bed. I also make sure our portable space heater in the M. bath is turned on before her morning shower.... that bathroom has gotten down to an all-time low of 43 degrees... Brrrrrr. When I can bear to hire an HVAC guy, I'm going to rezone my heat so the master bedroom is on it's own zone. I do have to keep the stove cranking to achieve this, I estimate I burn about 150lbs of wood / day, and that is for Connecticut weather. If you're serious about heating strictly with wood you might want to consider a bit larger unit. Also be prepared to burn 5 to 7 cords per season.
Have fun!

Chris

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The mansfield doesnt have a side load because its designed to be loaded front to back. I dont think the mansfield comes in seafoam yet, it wouldnt suprise me if they release that soon. I think the heritage is to small for the entire house, its proably good for 1500-2000 sq/ft. Also the box is smaller and i get 4-6 hour burn times. The mansfield will get longer times so might be more user freindly. I burn a heritage in my home and love it. I think its the right tool for the job for my 1800 sq foot heating area. The semmetrical shape of the mansfield might be more pleasing for the center of a room, and there isnt a plug like in the heratige for a rear vent. Its all soapstone on the back.

 

[TheFlame]

Mountain Stove Guy,
To answer you questions

The house is very open, stove is in middle of the house near an 20X24 ell with catherdral ceilings. Fan will be installed.
The house will be very well insulated (new home)
The stove is not near any windows, but the first floor has 13 windows.
Ceilings are 9 feet.
The house is a 3 story colonial. 3rd story will be closed.

I was told to stay away from the firelight due to the back plates breaking. I do like the Hearthstone a lot, and so does my wife,
but I fell I am way to impatient of a person to wait 4 hours for the stove to heat. I am not sure if that would be a good choice or not.
Looks are a very important aspect for the stove as it is in a central location.

Thanks again!

Interestingly enough, I know somebody who has a Firelight and his bottom main plate cracked during his 4th season of use. Jotul warrantied the entire stove, but wrote him a letter that said the only way they could duplicate the issue in their test lab was by burning with the ash pan door open during startup and that you should not do that under any circumstances. This person did not burn with the ash pan door open to start, but did admit to leaving the side door open a bit on startup, so most likely that could cause the cracking as well.

I have an Oslo myself. My house is 2700 sqft, 9' ceilings on first floor (2 story colonial). If it is 32 or above outside, I can easily keep the first floor around 68-70 degrees, not sure what the upstairs gets to, but it is a few degrees colder. If it is 10 degrees outside, I can pretty much only maintain 66-67 degrees, and that's if I keep shoveling the wood through. I live in Southeastern PA.

The Firelight would probably be the better choice since you are borderline with the Oslo. Also, the right hand load door would be what you are looking for. Just be careful not to start it up using the ash pan door or the side load door and you'll be fine (according to Jotul).

I would absolutely buy another Jotul again.

 

[BTOP]

I am not familiar with the Oslo but I do own the Hearthstone Mansfield. Our house is about 2100 sq feet including the second story and located in Michigan. The stove is centrally located, and close to the staircase to the upstairs. The staircase can be closed or opened by a door. The Stove will heat the entire house, which is a 140 year old two storey farm house.(not very air tight as you can imagine). I burn the same way you will - evenings and weekends. The stove will produce heat thru the glass quite quickly and within about an hour be spreading heat thru the adjacent rooms. What I do is turn my LP furnace thermostat down while at work. When I get home at night I turn it up to 'preheat' the house while the wood stove is warming up. Then turn it back down. The stove is most efficient on the weekends when it is burning 24/7. This is my 3rd year burning it and am very pleased with its operation and would recommend it. The soapstone does a great job of retaining heat. The size of the stove 3.3 cu ft allows it to hold alot of wood. As far as a hearth pad, I believe the new owners manual state an 'R' factor of 1. When I bought mine 3 years ago it stated only a 3/8 thick non-combustionalbe surface. Hearth Classics makes a new Thermoshield Hearth Pad with an R factor of 1.2 and ones with even a greater R factor. Good luck.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Mountain Stove Guy,
To answer you questions

The house is very open, stove is in middle of the house near an 20X24 ell with catherdral ceilings. Fan will be installed.
The house will be very well insulated (new home)
The stove is not near any windows, but the first floor has 13 windows.
Ceilings are 9 feet.
The house is a 3 story colonial. 3rd story will be closed.

I was told to stay away from the firelight due to the back plates breaking. I do like the Hearthstone a lot, and so does my wife,
but I fell I am way to impatient of a person to wait 4 hours for the stove to heat. I am not sure if that would be a good choice or not.
Looks are a very important aspect for the stove as it is in a central location.

Thanks again!

Interestingly enough, I know somebody who has a Firelight and his bottom main plate cracked during his 4th season of use. Jotul warrantied the entire stove, but wrote him a letter that said the only way they could duplicate the issue in their test lab was by burning with the ash pan door open during startup and that you should not do that under any circumstances. This person did not burn with the ash pan door open to start, but did admit to leaving the side door open a bit on startup, so most likely that could cause the cracking as well.

I have an Oslo myself. My house is 2700 sqft, 9' ceilings on first floor (2 story colonial). If it is 32 or above outside, I can easily keep the first floor around 68-70 degrees, not sure what the upstairs gets to, but it is a few degrees colder. If it is 10 degrees outside, I can pretty much only maintain 66-67 degrees, and that's if I keep shoveling the wood through. I live in Southeastern PA.

The Firelight would probably be the better choice since you are borderline with the Oslo. Also, the right hand load door would be what you are looking for. Just be careful not to start it up using the ash pan door or the side load door and you'll be fine (according to Jotul).

I would absolutely buy another Jotul again.

The only time i have seen bottem plates crack in jotul stoves, is when the ash pan is used to start up the stove. The grate section gets super heated and expands into the relativly cool bottem. And whamo. I have never warrented a stove with a cracked bottem plate, and i dont know how you would crack it otherwise. The few times i have had this issue the customer admitted to using the ash door at startup, but in all the cases they accendently left them open for a full burn cycle. OOOOPS. For you people reading this, this is not unique to jotul, any cast stove can do that so be carefull!

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

When i read my last post its sounds like i was accusing your friend of lying, thats wasnt my intention. My inteniton was to warn the cast stove users out there that it can and DOES happen.

 

[TheFlame]

When i read my last post its sounds like i was accusing your friend of lying, thats wasnt my intention. My inteniton was to warn the cast stove users out there that it can and DOES happen.

Believe what you want to believe, but this person was well aware of the warning in the manual that said not to burn with the ash pan door open, and he never did.

Remember, this only happened in his 4th season of burning, not the first. I think it would have happened earlier if he was performing full throttle burns with the ash pan door open on a regular basis.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The hearthstone mansfield is avalible in seafoam this year. Thought you would like to know! they have 100 of them ready to ship.