those with oslo's or castine's how big is your house (SQ FT) and are you happy with your stove

[DianeB]

As you can see we are torn between the two. I am in raised ranch, heating main floor of 1,100 no where for the heat to rise except for 8 ft ceiling. Open floor plan with kitchen, dining room and living room all open. the stove would be set on raised fireplace hearth. We are replacing a fisher momma bear. the rest of our main floor contains a long Hall with 3 bedrooms and bathroom off of the hall.

Our basement floor is finished with large TV room (was place for teenager hang out) and 4th bedroom, laundry room and bathroom. We use electric there when needed - empty nesters now so we generally stay on the main floor now. Basement part way underground so unheated, does not get below 45-50 even when 9 degrees outside.Anyone out there with 1,100 ft using an Oslo? If your space or larger are you happy with either your oslo or castine choice?

 

[begreen]

I had the Castine in a 2000 sq ft house in a milder climate. But our house is old and has a lot of glass area. The F400 was fine for heating down to about 25F outside. Colder than that and it had to be fed every few hours to keep the house warm. If you are planning using the stove 24/7, in your climate I would opt for the F500. You will get longer burn times with the larger firebox and will have the reserves necessary for the cold winter nights.

Just curious, have you considered installing an insert instead? If so, I would look at the Jotul Kennebec, Enviro Boston 1700, Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 and Hampton 300i. Not sure if they would fit without having the fireplace dimensions. But one would look very nice in that spot.

 

[stovelark]

Hi DianeB Agree with begreen would be great for any of those inserts (the Kennebec is akin to the Castine FS, the Rockland akin to the Oslo). Inserts do cost more they do have blowers, and a "finished" look over their free standing sisters. You have the setup that either stove will heat the prescribed area, however, the Oslo is a great 1000-2200 or so heater, on most days don't think it would be overkill. And on super cold days you would appreciate having the Oslo, whereas the Castine might struggle. Both stoves are good choices, I burned an Oslo for years before switching to Enviro. I sell Enviro so gotta use what I sell... Always go with what you can, you'll love any of those stoves, You'll find much easier and uses less wood/more heat than Momma Bear ate too! Good luck let us know what you go with (an Oslo Blue Black would indeed look at home on that hearth, that always was my favorite Jotul color..)

Stovelark
Enviro 1700 FS Kodiak
Enviro EF3 pellet stove FS
Enviro Empress A/C FPI (Guess I do like Enviro)

 

[Todd]

Would the stove sit out on the hearth enough so you could utilize the side loading door on the Oslo? I'd rather have that side loading option.

 

[begreen]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the Rockland insert is closer to the Firelight in size and the Kennebec closer to the Oslo.

 

[DianeB]

With 1,100 feet (thought I had 1,400 until I did the actual math) has meworried the Oslo would overheat the room and we would create creosote turning it down to level off the heat. Briefly thought about insert as it would look nice, but we try to heat the open space area plus the 3 bedrooms and bath so not sure it would create enough heat and we lose power a lot so would lose blower. The stove would sit on the hearth which is 6 feet long and 21 inches (not including the inside of the hearth) Would like the side door of the oslo to keep the front of the stone clean. Our Jotul dealer said he would not recommed the Jotul for our space because of creosote build up. I tend to want to trust him..He has been in the business for 30 years and could certainly be selling us a more expensive stove, but I think worried we would complain later. I Guess at 1,100 the oslo is almost double what we need. Our momma bear was rated for 1,500 and kept our house nice and warm, but I imagine we went through more wood than what we will go through with a new Jotul. The fisher would tend to over heat us and we would tamp it down and let it smoulder - that is what got us into trouble with one chimney fire about 15 years ago that cracked our liner and then the last fire last fall cracked the back fo the fisher where the outlet pipe goes out. fisher 33 years old so served us well. I know we have to relearn how to use a stove as the castine or oslo will be so different from what we used. Hoping we can get good draft with the castine as I understand that can be a problem, but our mason added insulation in the throat area putting in loose insulation between the liner and the masonry chimney.

 

[webby3650]

We heated about 1400 with an Oslo, it was a bit much though. We often had the kitchen window open, even on the coldest days. If you want to enjoy a great, clean burning fire, I'd go with the Castine.

 

[velvetfoot]

It would be nice if all mfrs. put the firebox size in their literature. I looked and couldn't find it (just curious).

 

[DianeB]

It would be nice if all mfrs. put the firebox size in their literature. I looked and couldn't find it (just curious).

I think I saw size calculation on hearth.com from someone who measured the Castine as 1.7. Does the firebox size correlate to the square footage needed to heat? Is this a better gauge than the btu's quoted by the mfg.?

 

[Shari]

We are very comfortably heating roughly 1500-1600 of our 1750 home with an Oslo in SE Wisconsin. (Kids are grown and gone so we close off one of the 3 bedrooms in the winter.)

 

[velvetfoot]

I think I saw size calculation on hearth.com from someone who measured the Castine as 1.7. Does the firebox size correlate to the square footage needed to heat? Is this a better gauge than the btu's quoted by the mfg.?

I'm not expert, but yes, I think firebox size is less subjective than the ft2 quotes by mfrs.

 

[firefighterjake]

1,800 square foot home (although my wife figures it to be larger) here in Maine with an Oslo . . . love it.

For your situation with a smaller home, of the two stoves, the Castine would perhaps be the better pick I would think.

 

[begreen]

The Castine is a good heater, but burn times will be less. If the chimney is one story and the stove is rear-vented, it may draft poorly in the shoulder seasons and spill smoke when the door is opened. Frankly neither stove is ideal unless the place is somewhat drafty and leaky. A Woodstock Keystone might be a better choice.

I'm curious how well the mama bear worked out. Did you have to burn smaller fires or just let it smolder when the temps were mild. How often did you burn in it?

 

[DianeB]

The Castine is a good heater, but burn times will be less. If the chimney is one story and the stove is rear-vented, it may draft poorly in the shoulder seasons and spill smoke when the door is opened. Frankly neither stove is ideal unless the place is somewhat drafty and leaky. A Woodstock Keystone might be a better choice.

I'm curious how well the mama bear worked out. Did you have to burn smaller fires or just let it smolder when the temps were mild. How often did you burn in it?

We thought the mama bear was working well but the way we used it created creosote - turned it down after stove got real hot and let it smolder. We had a fire or two in the chimney and did a total rebuild this year. The professional mason did add insulation between the brick and the liner before he capped it off at the top. We will also have a stainless liner - heard insulating helps draft...does it really??? The wood stove installer could add more height with the stainless - will be one story. We have no roof obstructions other than our own - we are in a wide open area, house sits on 4 acres. We burned 24/7 - but work so let the thing smolder all day long. Same at bed, burned it hot for about an hour and then let it smolder.

 

[Todd]

My small 1.4 cu ft fire box Keystone has no problem heating my main floor 1200 sq ft so if you like the side loading option on the Oslo but think it may be too big maybe consider the Keystone. It will hold a fire longer than either Jotul and the soapstone /cat combination will give you a nice even heat that's not over powering.

 

[DianeB]

My small 1.4 cu ft fire box Keystone has no problem heating my main floor 1200 sq ft so if you like the side loading option on the Oslo but think it may be too big maybe consider the Keystone. It will hold a fire longer than either Jotul and the soapstone /cat combination will give you a nice even heat that's not over powering.

what do the keystone's run price wise?

 

[Todd]

what do the keystone's run price wise?

$1879 is the current sale price but I heard they have one more refurbish returned Keystone that they will sell for a few hundred less.