Week 1 with the new Oslo

[cooks4]

Replaced my old wood stove with a new Jotul Oslo last week. Still learning the ins and outs of it but I have a concern with walls next to the stove. It is installed in a corner and the distances from the stove corners to the walls are 12" (right side) and 13" (left side). According to the manual, I only need 9" of clearance with a double-walled stove pipe and rear heatshield. I have the double-walled stove pipe but the installers didn't put the rear heatshield on--said I didn't need it. The manual also says that the rear heatshield does not affect clearances off the sides of the stove. The walls closest to the corners have been getting pretty hot--ranging from can still keep your hand there to have to remove your hand after a couple of seconds it's so hot. Walls are just drywall--one of the reasons we wanted to get the new stove was to get away from the need for wall protection. I'll also note that the clearance for stove with single-walled stove pipe and no heatshields is 13" so even with that scenario, we're close to the allowable distances.

So my question is, did the installers goof by not putting the rear heatshield on? If I have them put the heatshield on, will it help with this hot wall problem? My stove thermometer (Rutland, placed on top corner) shows 450-500 when I'm fully loaded and burning hot.


While I'm at it, one more question. When starting a new fire, I have quite a bit of trouble getting it good and hot using only the air control lever. I have to crack the ash pan door to really get the fire going and then I close it. Seems like you shouldn't need to "cheat" with the ash pan door to get the fire going. I'm burning silver maple--dried for 2 or 3 seasons.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

 

[potter]

Just to your last question- I also am in the first week with Oslo- all the research on this site and the manual say not to use the ash door strategy. If nothing else you will warp the ash grate. Coincidently talked to a friend today who had warped his. I use the side door for this, as others recommended here.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I got my Oslo manual out and looked at it. On an unprotected surface the distance from the corner with NO heatshield and SINGLE wall pipe is 13 inches. ALL other distances listed from the corner INCLUDE the rear heatshield (regardless of pipe configuration), and they are all 9 inches.

I say put the rear heat shield on that puppy.

Now, don't use that ash drawer, what I do is, make sure you build a good bit of kindling on top of rolled up newspaper, and a couple small splits on top of all that.

When you light it off, leave the side door open until the stovetop thermometer reaches 200 to 300 degrees, then close the side door. (leaving the air control wide open) When you close the side door it'll look like you put the fire out for a time, but it will recover and eventually start to burn vigorously. I think folks expect the fire in their stove to look like a campfire, and it just doesn't. Keep an eye on it though, cuz once she gets goin' she can get to 600 degrees F. pretty quick.

 

[firefighterjake]

Interesting post . . . as you mentioned the clearance requirements for the Oslo with double wall is 9 inches in a corner (unprotected surface) -- ditto for single wall with a rear shield and single wall with connector shields and a rear shield and 13 inches for single wall with no rear shield.

The interesting thing is that while the manual (Section 8.4) specifically says the rear shield does not affect side clearances the diagram in the back of the manual clearly shows that the 9 inch requirement attained with double wall pipe includes the rear heat shield (perhaps due to the fact that by bringing the stove to within 9 inches the rear of the stove may be pretty close to the two walls as they slope in to the corner -- just a possible explanation.)

My own take on this is that for less than $100 (I think if memory serves me correctly it was something like $60-$80) you could easily buy and easily mount the rear heat shield and would be following Jotul's manual's specifications for a corner install . . . and at 12/13 inches you would have that peace of mind (if you check out many of my other posts you'll notice that I'm into the whole "peace of mind" thing ) by following Jotul's specs and have even exceeded their minimum requirements by 3-4 inches.

Incidentally, this is exactly what I did in my own install -- double wall, rear heat shield and a few inches extra on the corners (I think 12-14 inches extra) instead of the 9 inch minimum (after all this is only a minimum of what is safe . . . I like to be extra safe). As I said, the extra cash required for the heat shield was a very small extra cost when you figure in the cost of the stove, chimney and all of the other assorted "toys" (i.e. chimney brush, pot, trivet, potpourri, fireplace tools, gloves, etc.)

I suspect that putting on the rear heat shield may help lower the temps on the wall . . . although it has been spoken about before and I'm sure it will be mentioned again . . . the drywall will get warm, even hot to the touch . . . but there is "hot" and then there is "dangerously hot" and sometimes we mere human beings are not very good at differentiating between the two by simple touch alone.

Finally, as mentioned . . . nix opening the ash pan to get the fire going. Instead use other folks' suggestions of starting the fire with small, dry kindling and seasoned firewood. Most folks tend to open the air flow all the way . . . and even then open the door (typically the side door) a bit (1/4-1/2 inch) to get things hopping. From what I've read well seasoned silver maple should go up pretty quickly providing it has a good amount of kindling to get it going. Some other tips for firestarting include a liberal use of newspaper, cardboard, Cedar Starters, use of wax logs, etc. (you can do a search for fire starting here and get a ton of good information).