Upgrade

[Flashback87]

I'm thinking about upgrading my stove and seeing if anyone can offer some insight.

I jumped into this loving my open fireplace but annoyed with how much wood I consumed. I saw someone that had a hearth mounted stove in a fireplace and i thought that looked nice so I started shopping around.

Since I've never burned in a stove before and really have never experienced one, I wasn't comfortable going all in on an expensive one. A local shop had a true north tn20, I liked the price so I went with that.

I've had it now for 3 years and I have been pleased. I have a 1900 sqft ranch with a pretty open floor plan. It's in the fireplace in the center of the home. It keeps that area nice with temps low to mid 70s and the bedrooms in the low 60s. Don't need to turn my heat on (hot water steam heat) unless it's in the teens or below and then I just turn it on at night.

A local shop has a jotul f55 so I am trying to determine if I'm going to see a noticeable difference with the heat it produces if I switch. Since I can rear mount the flue with the jotul, the stove will stick out of the fireplace more (current stove sticks out about halfway) but I am not sure how much more heat that will give me. Plus the bigger firebox on the jotul would give more burn time I am assuming. Currently, I get flames for about 2-3 hrs on the true north. Once the flames stop the temp in my room will start dropping unless i open up the air and keep raking coals to front. I do this a lot but not an option overnight obviously. It will get around 69-70° in that area and I will reload. When I wake up that area is 65-66°.

On super cold day (like now) I will do 4 loads a day. On warmer days I will do 3 loads. I have no issues keeping the coals in the truenorth and relighting but it is not super warm after an overnight burn so not sure how well it retains heat.

So, will I see a big difference with the Jotul or i am expecting too much?

Im just hoping to get a little more heat for longer but that may be unrealistic.

Again, my current setup is really the only experience I have had with a wood stove so I may be a little ignorant.

Thanks!

 

[bigealta]

Sorry i don't know anything about the true north stove. How big is the firebox in it?
Sure others here will chime in

 

[Todd]

A larger stove with a larger firebox sticking more into the room should give you better results.

 

[Flashback87]

Sorry i don't know anything about the true north stove. How big is the firebox in it?
Sure others here will chime in

2 cubic ft

 

[bigealta]

The f55 is listed at just under3 so that's a big difference in fuel load.

 

[bigealta]

Are you buying wood or do you have access to "free" wood, trees?

If you want more heat from a woodstove you will typically need more fuel. So with the f55 you will have a bigger box to load with more fuel. Your house should get more heat and longer burns, but that will require burning more wood. If that's fine then you just have to ask yourself is it worth it? In cold stretches like this the answer is probably Yes. But if it's only a few days or a week or 2 a winter then it might be more of a question mark?

I mostly heat my house with a jotul f400, and if i had your set up and could not get enough out of the tn20, i'd make the f55 my new stove.

I don't buy wood and enjoy cutting, splitting, stacking lot's of wood in my back yard. If you don't really like that then that's something to consider. If you buy wood, you should still buy it at least a year early which means a large amount of stacked wood somewhere in your yard.

 

[Flashback87]

Are you buying wood or do you have access to "free" wood, trees?

If you want more heat from a woodstove you will typically need more fuel. So with the f55 you will have a bigger box to load with more fuel. Your house should get more heat and longer burns, but that will require burning more wood. If that's fine then you just have to ask yourself is it worth it? In cold stretches like this the answer is probably Yes. But if it's only a few days or a week or 2 a winter then it might be more of a question mark?

I mostly heat my house with a jotul f400, and if i had your set up and could not get enough out of the tn20, i'd make the f55 my new stove.

I don't buy wood and enjoy cutting, splitting, stacking lot's of wood in my back yard. If you don't really like that then that's something to consider. If you buy wood, you should still buy it at least a year early which means a large amount of stacked wood somewhere in your yard.

I source ny own wood and like you it's more of a hobby. Love the exercise and being outside cutting splitting and stacking.

I have a lot of wood and I just don't feel like I'm getting the most out of it. Of course, that is magnified over the past couple days with these temps.

Again, the tn20 does pretty good but I feel with all the wood I have I should be baking in my house even in these cold temps. But, that may be unrealistic? It's 5° out today and the room where my stove is at 74° but as u get away from that it gets colder. Have my heat set at 62° and the thermostat is near the bedrooms away from the stove. House is basically a rectangle with stove in the middle and bedrooms at the end. Heat will come when I leave the house and cant tend to the stove. I'm not sure if the f55 would be any different though.

I have baseboard steam heat fed by natural gas so it's not the end of the world if it comes on. Natural gas is pretty cheap but it's just an annoyance when I hear the furnace kick on... lol.

On warmer days it will get too hot with the tn20.

I just done want to invest the money and be disappointed with the outcome.

I know no one can really answer that but any insight is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[stoveliker]

How tall is your flue from stove top to chimney cap?

Do you have a flue probe thermometer?

 

[Flashback87]

How tall is your flue from stove top to chimney cap?

Do you have a flue probe thermometer?

it's probably right at the minimum... 14-15 ft, not very tall. Its 10.25 feet from stove through attic to roof peak. Never measurured how tall the chimney is that sticks out my roof plus the cap. Its seens to draft well though. No flue probe as the liner is in my existing chimney. I put a block off plate in and can hit the flue with my infrared laser to check the temp where it goes in the block off plate. I dontbthinknthats 18 inches above the stove though. May be a little less.

 

[stoveliker]

Okay. Then it's unlikely too much heat goes up the flue being the cause of not getting enough heat in the room.

 

[Flashback87]

Okay. Then it's unlikely too much heat goes up the flue being the cause of not getting enough heat in the room.

I'm getting heat in the room but I'm sure some is getting stuck in the existing firebox. I have a blower which helps and it definitely warms up the room. I wake up and its about 66 in that area of the house. After my first load its in the low 70s.

I'm just thinking with bigger stove and being farther out on the hearth I will see more heat but I know that will be hard to quantify on the internet.

 

[EbS-P]

I'm thinking about upgrading my stove and seeing if anyone can offer some insight.

I jumped into this loving my open fireplace but annoyed with how much wood I consumed. I saw someone that had a hearth mounted stove in a fireplace and i thought that looked nice so I started shopping around.

Since I've never burned in a stove before and really have never experienced one, I wasn't comfortable going all in on an expensive one. A local shop had a true north tn20, I liked the price so I went with that.

I've had it now for 3 years and I have been pleased. I have a 1900 sqft ranch with a pretty open floor plan. It's in the fireplace in the center of the home. It keeps that area nice with temps low to mid 70s and the bedrooms in the low 60s. Don't need to turn my heat on (hot water steam heat) unless it's in the teens or below and then I just turn it on at night.

A local shop has a jotul f55 so I am trying to determine if I'm going to see a noticeable difference with the heat it produces if I switch. Since I can rear mount the flue with the jotul, the stove will stick out of the fireplace more (current stove sticks out about halfway) but I am not sure how much more heat that will give me. Plus the bigger firebox on the jotul would give more burn time I am assuming. Currently, I get flames for about 2-3 hrs on the true north. Once the flames stop the temp in my room will start dropping unless i open up the air and keep raking coals to front. I do this a lot but not an option overnight obviously. It will get around 69-70° in that area and I will reload. When I wake up that area is 65-66°.

On super cold day (like now) I will do 4 loads a day. On warmer days I will do 3 loads. I have no issues keeping the coals in the truenorth and relighting but it is not super warm after an overnight burn so not sure how well it retains heat.

So, will I see a big difference with the Jotul or i am expecting too much?

Im just hoping to get a little more heat for longer but that may be unrealistic.

Again, my current setup is really the only experience I have had with a wood stove so I may be a little ignorant.

Thanks!

Show us a picture how it’s installed. I have an F400. I run a blower on thr floor blowing up the back. I have an insulated block off plate too. This one is completely silent at speed 4 or lower.

https://a.co/d/gKupTSy

 

[bigealta]

How dry is your wood? The easiest way to get more heat out of any existing set up is to burn better wood. Dryer is the most important. Burning Soft vs hard wood has benefits and places for each type. Figuring out what works best for you with what you have is a learning process. This cold snap should help you see what you need to do to get the most out of what you have.

Note stove top temps, what type and dryness of each load is, when you reload on big coals vs small coals, burn durations, fan vs no fan, location of fan, etc.

 

[Flashback87]

Show us a picture how it’s installed. I have an F400. I run a blower on thr floor blowing up the back. I have an insulated block off plate too. This one is completely silent at speed 4 or lower.

https://a.co/d/gKupTSy

Here's 2. Blower is attached in the back. I have it plugged into a "smart plug" so I can just turn it on with my phone because it was a pain to reach around the back. Its a variable speed with dial. I have it on medium unless the stove seems like its overfiring I will put on high. Pleased with how quiet it is.

 

[Flashback87]

How dry is your wood? The easiest way to get more heat out of any existing set up is to burn better wood. Dryer is the most important. Burning Soft vs hard wood has benefits and places for each type. Figuring out what works best for you with what you have is a learning process. This cold snap should help you see what you need to do to get the most out of what you have.

Note stove top temps, what type and dryness of each load is, when you reload on big coals vs small coals, burn durations, fan vs no fan, location of fan, etc.

Wood seems dry. Do I check every piece.... no, but at random. Will make sure wood is at room temp, split and check with moisture meter. I have 10 make shift sheds in the back yard that hold about a cord each and then a bunch more on pallets that is seasoning. I dont put in shed until its been seasoning for 1-2 years. I've been scouring for wood for about 5 years and amassed a lot... lol.

Burning hardwood. Lots of red oak, locust, ash and some hickory. Have a lot of cherry but use that for milder weather.

Check stove top temp with infrared even though there is a magnet guage on it. Will let it get a little above 700° when really cold.

 

[EbS-P]

Here's 2. Blower is attached in the back. I have it plugged into a "smart plug" so I can just turn it on with my phone because it was a pain to reach around the back. It’s a variable speed with dial. I have it on medium unless the stove seems like it’s overfiring I will put on high. Pleased with how quiet it is.

do you have a block off plate. A quick look at the EPA test reports shows the F55 v2 tested at 80k BTUs per hour on high. That’s WAY high. 6kgs per hour! The TN was like 30k.

How are you determining overfire temps?

 

[bigealta]

That looks like a big and open room. I don't think that stove will cook you out.

"I feel with all the wood I have I should be baking in my house even in these cold temps. But, that may be unrealistic? It's 5° out today and the room where my stove is at 74°" _ Definitely not with it 5F outside.... I'd say 74F Interior temp is very reasonable with 5F outside.

Hmm sounds like you are running the stove well and getting it to give you what it's able to. Sure you can go bigger, but seems the tn20 is doing a decent job even if it is a bit undersized.

Kind of a tough call still.

 

[EbS-P]

I have a good supply of southern yellow pine. It burns fast coals fast and very little ash. I may have to load every 3-4 hours but when I want to push a stove hard that’s what I use.

 

[Flashback87]

do you have a block off plate. A quick look at the EPA test reports shows the F55 v2 tested at 80k BTUs per hour on high. That’s WAY high. 6kgs per hour! The TN was like 30k.

How are you determining overfire temps?

Yes, i have a block off plate with rockwool behind it.

I will push it to 750° when its super cold. Its slipped past that but rarely. I don't think I'm overfiring. Unfortunately, I'm sure as you know one really cant find any actual numbers for overfiring but just don't turn it red.

 

[Flashback87]

That looks like a big and open room. I don't think that stove will cook you out.

"I feel with all the wood I have I should be baking in my house even in these cold temps. But, that may be unrealistic? It's 5° out today and the room where my stove is at 74°" _ Definitely not with it 5F outside.... I'd say 74F Interior temp is very reasonable with 5F outside.

Hmm sounds like you are running the stove well and getting it to give you what it's able to. Sure you can go bigger, but seems the tn20 is doing a decent job even if it is a bit undersized.

Kind of a tough call still.

I appreciate this! I'm probably just expecting too much.

Again, I had no experience with a wood stove and didn't really know anyone with one, but you hear/read about stoves just pushing ridiculous amounts of heat. But, obviously there are a ton of variables with that.

Does the tn20 heat my house? Yes, especially when I can be there all day to feed it so I might just be looking for some mystical stove that doesn't exist... lol.

 

[bigealta]

There is no doubt a bigger stove will kick out more heat and longer burn times. It's just a matter of how much more you want or need and the cost to get that.

 

[bigealta]

You can always keep your eye open for any sales on bigger stoves at the end of season or maybe over the summer.

When i changed out mu jotul 3 to the next bigger size the f400, there was a substantial increase in heat output, and convenience
It took longer splits and more of them. It also had an ashtray that i love and use all the time (others don't use theirs). It also has a larger window and is more efficient with it's secondary burners.

You may find similar benefits with a larger stove whether it is an f55 or a different option.

 

[EbS-P]

How many hours a year do you need the bigger stove? If it’s less than 100 hours I have a hard time spending money to replace something that working well. 99.5% of the time.

 

[Flashback87]

Well.... i ended up moving forward with the f55.

I will start a new thread with my observations and concerns

Thanks!

 

[EbS-P]

Well.... i ended up moving forward with the f55.

I will start a new thread with my observations and concerns

Thanks!

Good choice.