What do I have ? Was it a decent deal, and can I install it like this?

[Pat Matterson]

Hello guys I was interested in a Wood Burning stove last year after moving into a rural area in the woods but decided I could not afford it.
However after last years Propane bill I am wondering how I can afford not to.

I recently picked up a Jotul stove with all the piping and mounts that my brother traded for around $600 worth of labor from his company.

His guys packed it all up and are planning on installing it in my house this week, I agreed to pay him $800 and gave him $400 up front. I may end up paying him a couple hundred to install it.

It says Firelight CB on the back and I thought I had found it to be the Jotul Firelight f600CB model but after showing some people the Picture of the one I thought it was someone pointed out that it was a plainer version without some of the designs in the casting specifically at the front top corners.

Here is a close up of the front

Can anyone tell me if this is a f600 Firelight CB or some other model?
I was wanting to get the front screen for it to have the option open fires sometimes.
It came with no handle for the front and side doors so i will be trying to find those.
For now I can open them with a large allen key, I will need to identify the model and get a recommendation on where to find the parts.

I looked at the minimum distance to combustibles and the minimum distance from non combustible walls and picked this spot.
I would like to run the black stove pipe like this with another 45 to the fitting that goes through the wall to the chimmney.
Am I allowed to have it go back and forth like that?

I am also thinking I would use sheet metal or something to cover the joists above it to protect them from heat, this is in the basement near the outside door on the wall just to the left of the stove.

Here are the other pieces including the one that goes through the wall, the brackets to hold the chimney to the outside of the house and the piece of chimney that angles out around the gutter.
The front and side ashlips are there as well you just can't see them.

And Finally the Chimney

What do you guys think about what model this is and how and where I want to install it and Did i get a good deal ?

The mark on the wall for the hole is low mow that I added the 45 away from the wall to center the stove in the safe zone for the stove to burn before that wall turns to drywall and 2x4. (shortly before the coors sign)

We are planning on having "Fireside" a local hearth and home type store that does maitenance come and inspect and clean it before we fire it up the first time.

I will likely clean the inside of stove myself first though..

 

[fraxinus]

Hello guys I was interested in a Wood Burning stove last year after moving into a rural area in the woods but decided I could not afford it.
However after last years Propane bill I am wondering how I can afford not to.

I recently picked up a Jotul stove with all the piping and mounts that my brother traded for around $600 worth of labor from his company.

His guys packed it all up and are planning on installing it in my house this week, I agreed to pay him $800 and gave him $400 up front. I may end up paying him a couple hundred to install it.

It says Firelight CB on the back and I thought I had found it to be the Jotul Firelight f600CB model but after showing some people the Picture of the one I thought it was someone pointed out that it was a plainer version without some of the designs in the casting specifically at the front top corners.

Here is a close up of the front

Can anyone tell me if this is a f600 Firelight CB or some other model?
I was wanting to get the front screen for it to have the option open fires sometimes.
It came with no handle for the front and side doors so i will be trying to find those.
For now I can open them with a large allen key, I will need to identify the model and get a recommendation on where to find the parts.

I looked at the minimum distance to combustibles and the minimum distance from non combustible walls and picked this spot.
I would like to run the black stove pipe like this with another 45 to the fitting that goes through the wall to the chimmney.
Am I allowed to have it go back and forth like that?

I am also thinking I would use sheet metal or something to cover the joists above it to protect them from heat, this is in the basement near the outside door on the wall just to the left of the stove.

Here are the other pieces including the one that goes through the wall, the brackets to hold the chimney to the outside of the house and the piece of chimney that angles out around the gutter.
The front and side ashlips are there as well you just can't see them.

And Finally the Chimney

What do you guys think about what model this is and how and where I want to install it and Did i get a good deal ?

The mark on the wall for the hole is low mow that I added the 45 away from the wall to center the stove in the safe zone for the stove to burn before that wall turns to drywall and 2x4. (shortly before the coors sign)

We are planning on having "Fireside" a local hearth and home type store that does maitenance come and inspect and clean it before we fire it up the first time.

I will likely clean the inside of stove myself first though..

 

[fraxinus]

The stove does look like the f600 in several ways: loading door on the right side, latching mechanism for the front doors, air control lever. Where it differs is in the front doors. This one has a lattice structure where the newer ones have arches instead. Perhaps this is an early model and the door design was changed.

As for the installation, I have real reservations about putting it in the basement, especially with all the bends in both the stove pipe and the chimney. The f600 is a great stove, but I think you will experience a lot of difficulty with the draft because of the previously cited problems with the installation.

You're being very wise in having a professional check the installation set-up. If you can possibly do it, I'd put the stove some other place besides the basement and eliminate as many of the angles in pipe and chimney as you can. No matter what you wind up with, this stove requires really dry wood to work well.

 

[daleeper]

I will not comment about the stove as I know nothing about Jotul stoves. As to location and chimney, if you spend a lot of time in the basement, or that is where you are spending a lot of money trying to heat, then that is the place for it. Stoves are space heaters, they should be in the area that you want the heat. This forum is loaded with threads about help with difficulty moving heat upstairs, including my own.

As already stated, try to keep your stove pipe and chimney as straight as possible. I would not have that jog in the stove pipe, they say that 45's are better than 90's, so at least you have them available to use, get them turned around, and you may have to get a shorter piece of straight pipe or two, or cut some off, but take that jog out. I would suggest a 45 at about where the jog starts, and a 45 close to the basement wall, then connect the two with a straight pipe, or come out from the wall with straight pipe, then use two 45's to make a 90 straight down to the stove. Use the manual to help determine the amount of drop needed for the pipe that runs horizontal. Chimney outside should also be as straight as possible.

As to price, assuming the stove is in good shape, and the install goes well, $1000. for stove and chimney installed is not bad. Problem is if the stove is not in good shape and needs repaired, or the install goes south, then you will have more expense. And if not installed properly, you are putting your house and family at risk. Follow through on the inspection after finished and before lighting the stove. Take the extra time to do it right. Find out what brand of chimney system it is, read the installation manuals, ask questions if you do not fully understand, in particular about clearances to combustible materials.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Pat Matterson]

Okay it is installed and ended up at $800 total, I feel like we are doing pretty good since the neighbor said he spent like 800 just in pipe and chimney for the stove they got off C.L. a couple of years ago.

Stove and double walled stove pipe clearances are well over all the distances listed in the manual except for the back I only have an extra 1/2" more than they recommend there, I did this because someday I may do a tile or stone on the walls and floor but I want it as close to the back as possible.
We also removed as many bends as possible, maybe I should drywall over the ceiling to protect the joists from the heat?
Here is a pic of how that ended up:

The Chimney is triple insulated and has a clean out at the bottom of the chimney on the 90 degree bend facing down.
The chimney height is about a foot taller than the required 3 ft past where it clears the roof.
However it is just a few inches short of the recommended 2ft up from the roof if you measure 10ft over from the highest part of the chimney, I do have left over 4' sections of the chimney pipe.

I didn't add another section because with the cap on the top of the chimney It is pretty much right where it should be and I was worried It would look dumb and be more vulnerable to storm damage if it was 4ft taller.
here is a pic of the chimney installed:

After calling both of the local companies that sell,install,repair, and have certified sweeps multiple times about getting it inspected before our first burn we received no replies.
We got snowed in the first snow of the season here my fiance was really pushing to light the first fire and I probably wasn't that hard to convince.
We went ahead and Fired it up and it looked like this.

I have lit it a handful of times and it seems to work pretty well I am not sure of the temps I am getting it at I will order a temp gauge tomorrow,
This is from the manual, "To monitor the stove’s temperature, Jøtul recommends the use of a magnetic stove-top thermometer, placed directly on the corner of the stove’s top plate. The optimum surface temperature range for the most efficient burn is between 400° to 600°. "
The fiance was a little underwhelmed by the heat output.

What are the pipes with the holes in the top of the inside (secondary air manifold?) that are holding up interlocking plates of some kind of plate ( Baffle plate?) and an insulating pad over it .
This makes the smoke have to go up the front of the stove up an open crack then all the way to the back to get out to the stove pipe?
Why is it like that? I have had to burn a piece of paper or 3 and hold it almost up in there to get the chimney to draw upward when I try to light the stove cold.

The first cold start I didn't realize that and got smoke in the house because I did not have draft yet. Now that I try and get the draft going first the other attempts went much better with less smoke in the house, it does seem like I need to keep the side door cracked for the first 10 mins or so to get it going from cold. After reading on here the last time I cracked the door next to the stove and I did not see much of a difference.
Once the draft is going real strong it has a whistle is that normal?

The front air adjuster seems to work well if I ease it down too fast it can put the fire out but the one day I had it going real good I eased it all the way down and it burned long and warm that day.

 

[Pat Matterson]

The stove does look like the f600 in several ways: loading door on the right side, latching mechanism for the front doors, air control lever. Where it differs is in the front doors. This one has a lattice structure where the newer ones have arches instead. Perhaps this is an early model and the door design was changed.

No matter what you wind up with, this stove requires really dry wood to work well.

Would you happen to know if there was an option from jotul to add a blower to this stove?
A local also mentioned adding a damper on the flue and tying it into the duct work somehow to get more out of the stove?

I have a thread in the wood shed section about my search for wood until I can collect enough off our property to keep the home fire burning.
But what we have burned is about $25 worth of VERY dry wood that feels very light from the gas station that my fiancee overpaid for so she could see this thing in action. (about 5 bundles of 6 or 7 logs).
Then 2 wheelbarrows my neighbor gave us of some soft wood that was kind of wet I guess because it sizzled and like boiled off before burning. I didn't seem to get as much of a good fire or heat out of it but he did give us one big old Oak chunk he had for years that almost took up the whole stove and it burned all night and put out decent heat. I have learned enough to know I want good wood, he has an old burner in his garage and thinks i'm being a bit picky with mine.

 

[Pat Matterson]

The reason it was installed where it is is because there isn't really anywhere else to put it and the basement is much colder than the rest of the house, the kitchen is at the top of the stairs and is 3 degrees cooler than the rest of that level. (no 2nd story)

Our bedroom is right at the bottom of the stairs but it stays warm because of a 16"x8" vent that doesn't close in the duct work. We plan on finishing the area to the right of the stove to become our living room since it is bigger than our living room upstairs that would make a nice dining room.
Our daughters room is above the stove we thought we may make a vent through the floor and possibly use something like a bathroom vent mounted inside it on a switch. We would like to insulate our attic better as well.

After a day or so without it going the basement was cold enough that my toes were very cold in my room tonight and we will be sleeping upstairs. We must have been getting more out of it than we thought it's just that it is so much warmer right by it and we thought it was going to be too big and possibly be too warm before we ran it.

The basement was the most comfortable area in the house while burning and I think the upstairs may have been a bit warmer too the temp difference leveled out to only a 1 degree different between the 2 points I measure across the upstairs. Hopefully we can get a bit more heat out of it and save more $ but it will at least give us our basement back in the winter (upstairs is only like 900sqft.)

 

[Pat Matterson]

Hopefully I can figure out how to get a bit more heat out of this thing but it is pretty much a hit, The first night we lit it we had friends over and we got snowed in on our first snow of the year because I live at the bottom of a very steep dead end road. We ended up sitting in a bunch of chairs staring into it chatting and having a home cooked meal. The immediate area around it became the most comfortable area in the house we chatted, drank and really enjoyed the thing. For the next few days we had wood to use it my dog lived in the chair by it and my daughter has started to sit and read by it and is reading more as a result.

The fiancee seems to think it is romantic and likes the idea of watching me swing an axe and build her fires. both of the girls like the hint of wood smoke smell.
She was initially a bit disappointed in the heat output since I sold her on the Financial and comfort benefits to get the stove on both of our approved lists.
I think she may be rethinking this though due to the cold in the basement tonight.
I do all the cooking around here but she thought it would be "cool" to cook on and save us propane I am not so sure about that.

I don't know if anyone will read all of this LOL But it helped me organize my thoughts in the very least.

 

[nola mike]

Looks good. From all the experiences I've read here, getting a basement install to heat your whole house is an uphill battle.
Those features in the top of the stove box are the secondary burn tubes. That circuitous route that the air takes allows for more complete combustion. Pretty sure that cutting a hole in the floor/adding a vent is against code. Don't know about the blower option, but if you want to move air, just use a floor fan (tons of stuff on the site about that). I'll check out the other thread in the wood shed...

 

[nola mike]

Also, as far as the draft goes, what size pipe are you using, and how tall is that chimney?

 

[Rickb]

Looks good. From all the experiences I've read here, getting a basement install to heat your whole house is an uphill battle.
Those features in the top of the stove box are the secondary burn tubes. That circuitous route that the air takes allows for more complete combustion. Pretty sure that cutting a hole in the floor/adding a vent is against code. Don't know about the blower option, but if you want to move air, just use a floor fan (tons of stuff on the site about that). I'll check out the other thread in the wood shed...

What he said.... Mine is in my basement and its finished and well insulated. It spreads heat ok with the use of a few fans. But if it wasn't insulated well I don't think I would even try.

 

[BobUrban]

You will likely always have cold start up issues due to the length and configuration of you entire chimney system so pre-heat is necessary. After it gets going you should have strong draft due to the height but every bend slows the flow a bit.

As a new burner it is recommended that you get a temp gage and moisture meter. Gage will let you know what is going on in there and MM will help you to understand the value of dry wood. These stoves like/need dry wood to perform correctly.

The secondaries and baffle are there to burn gas and smoke coming off the wood and in a perfect burn your stove will have flame only in the top while the wood just glows.

Start collecting wood now for future seasons and do you homework here on how to get the best performance from the stove.

Stoves are amazing heaters but they are not magic so understand moving heat from one room or floor to the next can be challenging. Again, research here for suggestions. Keep in mind that moving cold(heavy) air towards hot(light) air gives the best results but is counter intuitive so turn those fans around and point them at the stove. A little goes a long way towards getting air flow circulation so a small fan, on low at the top of the stairs angles down will be a good place to start. Be patient and consistent. It takes a little time to get the flow of air circulating and subsequent temps up in outlying rooms.

Think of it as colored oil and water - Blue water in the basement and you are pouring red oil down the stairs slowly. Eventually the blue will replace the red. If you reverse the process all you get is a lot of blue piling up on the red.

Probably a bad example but should make some sense - I hope.

 

[Pat Matterson]

Also, as far as the draft goes, what size pipe are you using, and how tall is that chimney?

The I.d. of both the stove pipe and the chimney is right about 6".

For the chimney? Lets see.....

The full length pieces are 4ft x2, it looks like I have 2 half pieces so 2ft x2 and then the bottom clean out and 2 45's are like 1ft x2.
So without measuring I would say 14ft and a few Inches tall.

I live on a pretty steep hillside of a small valley if that is a factor.

 

[Pat Matterson]

Stoves are amazing heaters but they are not magic so understand moving heat from one room or floor to the next can be challenging. Again, research here for suggestions. Keep in mind that moving cold(heavy) air towards hot(light) air gives the best results but is counter intuitive so turn those fans around and point them at the stove. A little goes a long way towards getting air flow circulation so a small fan, on low at the top of the stairs angles down will be a good place to start. Be patient and consistent. It takes a little time to get the flow of air circulating and subsequent temps up in outlying rooms.

Think of it as colored oil and water - Blue water in the basement and you are pouring red oil down the stairs slowly. Eventually the blue will replace the red. If you reverse the process all you get is a lot of blue piling up on the red.

Probably a bad example but should make some sense - I hope.

This is good stuff, I think I will get a few fans and let my gf smoke one cigarette in here (normally a BIG no no) and walk her around the house to see how the air is moving.
I think it would be interesting to walk around with a temp guage too and see how it is distributed during a nice long burn.

Looks like the first things I am getting are a temp guage and a m.m.

Then I just need to spend some time in the equipment area and find the right tools for managing this thing and harvesting wood.
And read the threads about identifying the wood I want.

 

[Rickb]

Your welcome to borrow my MM or temp gun. But you may want to buy a MM. I use mine all the time.

 

[Cynnergy]

Stick around here, there is tons of good info and good people that can help you out.

There's a lot (!) of info on your thread, so I will start with my initial thoughts and let others chime in:

Wet wood - this is undoubtedly affecting your heat output. You need dry wood to get your stove to burn well, but you know this already (don't listen to your neighbours, dad, father-in-law, work colleagues, etc who say otherwise, they don't know). Keep hanging around on the wood shed for tips. You can mix in dry or kiln-dried wood to get temps up and help your wet wood burn. Check your chimney regularly for creosote (and sweep as necessary) as it can build up fast burning wet wood.

Chimney - 14ft is a short chimney. 14ft with bends is likely to cause draft problems. I would put that extra 4 ft section on to see how much better it works. Check the manual for bracing requirements.

Joist protector - I don't think this probably needed. Check the manual for the clearance to combustibles distance from the top of the stove - if you're over that you should be fine.

Is your basement insulated? If not a lot of your heat will be spent heating the great outdoors.

Moving air - try a floor fan at the top of the stairs blowing down into the stove room.

Finally - do you have smoke detectors and CO detectors? Safety first, especially if you have wet wood.

Hope this helps.

 

[begreen]

The chimney needs to be 2 ft higher than the nearest building structure within a 10 ft radius. How far is it from the chimney top to the nearest point on the roof?

FYI, uninsulated basement walls are sucking about a third of the heat right into the earth. That will mean losing one cord out of three burned.

 

[Pat Matterson]

The chimney height is about a foot taller than the required 3 ft past where it clears the roof. However it is just a few inches short of the recommended 2ft up from the roof if you measure 10ft over from the highest part of the chimney, I do have left over 4' sections of the chimney pipe.

I didn't add another section because with the cap on the top of the chimney It is pretty much right where it should be and I was worried It would look dumb and be more vulnerable to storm damage if it was 4ft taller. here is a pic of the chimney installed:

I think I would like to see where im at when I get a temp guage since as long as I am getting it up to the proper temps it seems to run fine after you are past the cold start.
I think I will also add another section and compare the difference if I get a chance where there isn't snow on my roof.

Before we installed it I replaced all batts and tested the smoke detectors and put a Co detector in my daughters room upstairs.
Should I get one for downstairs in the area the stove is in as well? (there is a smoke detector in there only)

Looks like I will get a Condar brand stove top temp gauge in either the medallion or Inferno styles.

I'd say about 3/4 of the basement is finished walls only the bedroom has a ceiling and None of it appears to be Insulated The back and downhill walls are free standing and front/uphill are buried.

Dry wood seems to be the repetitive thought of the day for me, but I am trying to keep those posts in the Woodshed area.

 

[Dustin92]

This is good stuff, I think I will get a few fans and let my gf smoke one cigarette in here (normally a BIG no no) and walk her around the house to see how the air is moving.
I think it would be interesting to walk around with a temp guage too and see how it is distributed during a nice long burn.

Looks like the first things I am getting are a temp guage and a m.m.

Then I just need to spend some time in the equipment area and find the right tools for managing this thing and harvesting wood.
And read the threads about identifying the wood I want.

If you don't normally smoke inside the house, then don't let her smoke just to see where the air currents are going! You can tape toilet paper strips to door frames to see air currents, or use incense sticks (at least those smell better than cigarette smoke!)

 

[Pat Matterson]

If you don't normally smoke inside the house, then don't let her smoke just to see where the air currents are going! You can tape toilet paper strips to door frames to see air currents, or use incense sticks (at least those smell better than cigarette smoke!)

Yea I was being silly I have bundles of dried sage that I sometimes burn kind of as an incense and as a habit picked up from my Native American Aunt and uncles .
That would work well

 

[D8Chumley]

The fiancee seems to think it is romantic and likes the idea of watching me swing an axe and build her fires. That will get old quick, I used to do that until one day my buddy let me borrow his splitter. I had one of my own for the next season
both of the girls like the hint of wood smoke smell. It is intoxicating
She was initially a bit disappointed in the heat output since I sold her on the Financial and comfort benefits to get the stove on both of our approved lists.
I think she may be rethinking this though due to the cold in the basement tonight.
I do all the cooking around here but she thought it would be "cool" to cook on and save us propane I am not so sure about that. We did that when the power went out 2 winters ago, cooked a roast with carrots, potatoes etc. The kids raved how good it was

I don't know if anyone will read all of this LOL But it helped me organize my thoughts in the very least. Whatever it takes

My replies in boldface

 

[stoveguy2esw]

I
Before we installed it I replaced all batts and tested the smoke detectors and put a Co detector in my daughters room upstairs.
Should I get one for downstairs in the area the stove is in as well? (there is a smoke detector in there only)

.

when you test smoke detectors use smoke, just pushing the "test button" only tests the alarm not the detector's ability to pick up the smoke.

good to have the CO detectors, note the installation dates on the smoke and CO detectors check the manufacturers specs, they generally have a useful life span of 5-7 years. be sure to replace any that are that age or older even if they "test" as functional.

and yes i'd consider adding one down in the stove room, it could go off sooner than the upstairs one as its closer to the source

never assume when it comes to safety my friend,

as for gaining heat, run her steady for a while this will allow the concrete to warm to the point it starts "refusing heat" IOW it will stop absorbing heat as readily , this will allow more heat to stay in the air and rise up to the upstairs once all that thermal mass has accepted its fill of heat it will hold it longer requiring less time to build temps back up between fires.

 

[shoot-straight]

FYI, uninsulated basement walls are sucking about a third of the heat right into the earth. That will mean losing one cord out of three burned.

Agree with this 100%

Maybe I missed it, but did u get a certified sweep to approve your install and ck the stove? If not, I would for sure. Did u check your homeowners policy? Some require certifications.

 

[Pat Matterson]

Yea I just moved into I.t. after working for my brothers irrigation and landscaping company for 9 years sometimes we removed small to medium or downed trees . Every now and then we called in climbers to drop them for us. Sometimes we would rent a splitter and sell the wood right back to the people LOL.
I know I want a splitter and I bet I could get my brother to go halves and use his company as a source to get some wood too!
I just need to learn to identify "the good stuff". I will likely split by hand for a workout sometimes my fiance, daughter and I are martial artists.

My father also retired to the mountains in CO and he relies on his insert w blower to heat all winter so he doesn't go broke in propane costs.
My siblings and I all go up and help him gather chop and split wood for him a weekend or 2 a year.
He can drive all over his property with his trailer and has a winch mounted to drag big stumps up onto the trailer and get them over by his stacks.
He has a gas powered splitter. pretty sure he just cuts whatever is dead chops and stacks it and doesn't worry about the m.c.His house is HOT in the winter.

when you test smoke detectors use smoke, just pushing the "test button" only tests the alarm not the detector's ability to pick up the smoke.

good to have the CO detectors, note the installation dates on the smoke and CO detectors check the manufacturers specs, they generally have a useful life span of 5-7 years. be sure to replace any that are that age or older even if they "test" as functional.

and yes i'd consider adding one down in the stove room, it could go off sooner than the upstairs one as its closer to the source

never assume when it comes to safety my friend,
.

I will be smoke testing the smoke detectors tonight ( I never thought of that thank you) and my ole' Lady is bringing home another co detector on her way home from work tonight.

Maybe I missed it, but did u get a certified sweep to approve your install and ck the stove? If not, I would for sure. Did u check your homeowners policy? Some require certifications.

Yea it is easy to miss details in these long posts. (information overload)

After calling both of the local companies that sell,install,repair, and have certified sweeps multiple times about getting it inspected before our first burn we received no replies. We got snowed in the first snow of the season here my fiance was really pushing to light the first fire and I probably wasn't that hard to convince. We went ahead and Fired it up and it looked like this.

 

[D8Chumley]

I am as well. Well, kinda retired beginning of this year. Tang-soo!