Which Jotul should I buy?

[pdilorenzo]

I'm new to wood stoves, but I've been reading this forum for a couple of months. Based upon reviews in this forum and a friend's recommendation, I've decided to go with a Jotul. The question is whether I get the Castine or the Oslo.

My house is 2800 square feet and located near albany, ny. The room the wood stove will be in is 450 sf. I'd like to be able to replace 60-70% of my fuel oil usage with wood. (1200gallons this past season)
The wood stove will be installed in my masonry fireplace with an external masonry chimney. The fireplace opening is 28 1/2" wide and 26" high. I'm pretty sure I can take some of the brick off to get 6inches vertically, but I can't make it any wider, because of the metal firebox.

The Oslo is 28 1/4" wide and the Castine is 26 1/2 wide.

I'll be able to set the Castine into the hearth opening a few inches and that will result in a smaller hearth. I can't do that with the Oslo.

The questions I have:
Do you think I will lose much of the heating capability of the Castine by placing it set back into the fireplace opening?
Will the Castine be too small for my house?

another question.... For either stove, should I get an insulated flexible liner?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[begreen]

Do you really have a masonry fireplace or a zero-clearance metal box with a brick veneer? The house is large, so the next question is how easily the heat will be able to move from the fireplace room through the rest of the house. If the floorplan is relatively open and room connections large, then I would go for the larger stove, maybe even consider the F600.

 

[Hanko]

2800 sq ft. go with F600, and dont stick it back in the old fire place hole. build out the hearth if necessary

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, I agree with the others on F 600. Don't push the stove back into the fireplace as you will lose the big advantage of the side door. Using the front door makes a mess with the ash. I heat 2100 sq. ft., 24/7, open concept home and it does a great job. You'll need to learn how to move the heat around the house.

Jim

 

[jadm]

In Dec. I began searching for a replacement for my Napoleon 1101 insert because it was too small for my heating needs. You will read throughout this forum that it is wiser to buy bigger because you can always build smaller fires....

I too have an internal chimney set up and considered switching to a free standing stove and was set on a Phoenix soapstone but in order to get all of the clearances we would have had to do too many changes to the existing raised hearth.

I found a dealer who had the new Jotul 550 insert. Drove up into the mountains to check it out and knew instantly that it was going to be our new insert.

It now sits in our fireplace and works great. Didn't have to do any remodeling and only had to take out a few bricks around the damper area for it to fit.

Have you considered an insert? If your dealer has them you might look them over too.

 

[Hanko]

I think an insert is a great way to go if there are no other options, but if you have a choice between the two, go with the free standing just as long as you dont bury it in the hole.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

I'll vouch for the Big 6. Get the blower too - well worth it for the extra heat movement.