Stove Installation Opinions and Recommendations - Jotul F 100

[TravAndAlex]

Hi All. On the advice of a good friend who swears by the Hearth.com community, I'm asking for opinions and recommendations for the installation of a new wood stove (and my first wood stove).

I'll apologize in advance for a novel length first post.

Based on online reading, recommendations from shops and friends, we think the Jotel F 100 best fits our needs. We have a 5 year old ICF (insulated concrete form top to bottom) chalet style (cathedral living area) home located on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada (if you are not familiar with the area, this is one of the warmer zones in Canada with fairly low snowfall as the climate is tempered by the Gulf Stream). The main windows in the house are south facing so decent passive solar during the day. Heating is currently done with an electric hot water boiler with a concrete over-pour on the main level (with heating pipes) and in the basement floor. Inner dimensions are approximately 22x34. Upper floor (2 closed bedrooms and small bathroom) is approximately 1/2 of the floor space (cathedral ceilings 22ft high at peak inside) over living room and dining room space.

Hopefully that gives a reasonably complete description of what we're dealing with.

We want wood heat primarily as a backup to our electric heat (we were without power for 5 days after a storm in the summer this year). So we want to be able to survive a winter storm with a prolonged power outage (basic water boiling cooking and heating) and we want something that will be fun for evenings. Currently our boiler comes on for 2 hours in the early morning to heat the main floor and again for a couple hours late afternoon to maintain a comfortable temperature (this is sufficient so that we don't heat the basement floor or upper bedrooms). It would be great if we can avoid the 2 hour late afternoon power usage and replace with a log in a wood stove.

As space is at a premium, a small footprint stove is preferred. Also the high insulation factor of ICF, I think should mean that we maximize the output of a stove - again hopefully meaning a smaller stove will work. The looks of the Jotul F 100 (cast iron, legs, large glass area) are appealing.

In the attached pictures gallery our current plan is to remove the desk in the right hand corner of the living room (and replace with a storage shelf of some kind) and position the stove between the rightmost window on the tall wall and the large window to the left of it (29" between them). In that location, it is approximately 14 feet from floor to ceiling, with 2 feet of roof trusses and blown-in insulation above that. Roof angle is 45 degrees. Since it will be less than 10 feet to the peak of the roof (horizontal), I believe the exterior chimney will need to be approximately 12 feet high from the roof where it exits.

So... after all that... what is your opinion? Location, stove choice, installation, etc? Anything else us newbies should consider?

 

[oconnor]

Here is the first pic for those who didn't see the gallery link (http://imgur.com/a/6hfPA ), like me.

So stove is going flat against the wall, and not in the corner.

How far from the chimney do you figure the pendant light will be?

You could also put the stove in the corner and use offset elbows to get the connector pipe to the Class A chimney that will pass through the roof.

 

[TravAndAlex]

Pendant light is about 32" from the wall. Should be enough space? I put down some cardboard (with the stove shape marked on it) on the floor in the size of the hearth to get a feeling for it.

Elbows brings up another question... I'm thinking a strait vertical run is ideal?

For utilization of space, we think we'll get more out of the stove flat against the tall wall (between the windows), and thus some storage space in the corner where the desk currently is. We discussed kitty corner (where the desk is). Definitely don't want the pipe in front of either window when viewed straight on (windows are 19" from the corner). Also concerned that we won't end up with as much space with that setup... but nothing is decided yet.

If it helps to visualize, here is an outside view of that wall.

http://imgur.com/uAQLFB0

 

[oconnor]

I think you are fine running your flue straight up that wall between the windows. Question will be getting a cathedral ceiling support box that can deal with the two foot thick roof section on a 45 degree angle.

Any ideas out there guys and gals?

 

[TravAndAlex]

Here's an update for anyone interested. Stove finally installed today. I ended up making a granite hearth using a second hand piece of countertop purchased from Kijiji. Definitely the lowest-cost, highest quality solution I could come up with (and the angle grinder with a cheap diamond blade made short work of it). Put the stove in the corner and ran the pipe (more or less) strait up with a little jog to match the roof rafters. Installer was not crazy about the blown-in insulation in the ceiling. End result is clean and what we were hoping for. Ended up with Excel stove pipe, that my limited research tells me is quite good. Here's some pics:

[Hearth]( )



[Hearth 2](http://i.imgur.com/Orz2MI6.jpg)

[Inside](http://i.imgur.com/sanwSRy.jpg)

[Outside]( )

[First Burn](http://i.imgur.com/ZHum4kA.jpg)

 

[oconnor]

Looks good!

 

[huauqui]

Looks great