Wood Stove Opinions Wanted

dubba · Mar 3, 2006

I have the one at the bottom of this page

http://www.pacificenergy.net/wood%20FS%20lrg.html

We bought the blower for it as well. It has heated my very drafty, inefficient 3500 sq ft house with 78 single pane windows for 5 years with no problem.

Our first wood stove was a hearthstone, but I couldn't get enough heat out of it without over firing the stove. It was a very pretty soapstone, just didn't work for us.

MX5000 · Mar 3, 2006

dubba, that's pretty nice. Looks like it throws lots of heat. Thanks for the information.

Howard

AutoUnionTypeC · Mar 4, 2006

You should definitely look at the Jotul line; this Oslo heats my 2200 sq. foot home.

milkman · Mar 4, 2006

We've been using this one for about eight years and really like it, has a blower and a catalytic combuster that makes it really effecient. It took a while to learn how to fire it, but has been really frugal with the use of wood, only had to replace the door gaskets, it's the Consolidated Dutchwest Extra Large, and it weighs about 400 lbs.

MX5000 · Mar 4, 2006

I didn't realize there were so many nice wood stoves out there until I started seriously looking. Thanks for the pictures, lots of good information...

Howard

1948berg · Mar 5, 2006

I have a modern "Jotul" It gives a lot of heat, looks good, and burns effective and clean, and I dont like it! Why? The glass door is too big, when i open it, ashes fall on the floor and smoke pours out into the livingroom, making it smelly and dirty. It is like the old Garand rifle, it must be emty before you can reload. I would prefer the old type with a small door that you could open, even if it is burning at "full speed".
Auto Union, I note that yours have 2 doors, does that work well?

MX5000 · Mar 5, 2006

( I have a modern "Jotul" It gives a lot of heat, looks good, and burns effective and clean, and I dont like it! Why? The glass door is too big, when i open it, ashes fall on the floor and smoke pours out into the livingroom, making it smelly and dirty. It is like the old Garand rifle, it must be emty before you can reload. I would prefer the old type with a small door that you could open, even if it is burning at "full speed".

Wow, that is a big window. Great for viewing the fire, but I never thought how that could be a problem. I'll have to keep that in mind when I get a chance to run down to a dealer and buy one.

Thanks,
Howard
Auto Union, I note that yours have 2 doors, does that work well?
)

psuedofarmer · Mar 6, 2006

I have a modern "Jotul" It gives a lot of heat, looks good, and burns effective and clean, and I dont like it! Why? The glass door is too big, when i open it, ashes fall on the floor and smoke pours out into the livingroom, making it smelly and dirty. It is like the old Garand rifle, it must be emty before you can reload. I would prefer the old type with a small door that you could open, even if it is burning at "full speed".
Auto Union, I note that yours have 2 doors, does that work well?


i use the same model AutoUnion references in this thread. i NEVER load wood from the front door; the side door is the one to use for loading. IMHO, the front door is only useful for viewing the flame (or for the wire mesh insert you can purhcase to replace the door unit).

does your Jotul NOT have a side door? incidently, my Jotul is new, and comes with both doors (front and side).

having used vermont castings stoves for years, i'm VERY PLEASED with the Jotul. i believe it's a better stove.

pf

tracdoc · Mar 6, 2006

( having used vermont castings stoves for years, i'm VERY PLEASED with the Jotul. i believe it's a better stove.)

Thanks much for the opinion. As I noted earlier in the thread, we had a Vermont Castings for ~17 yrs in our house in CT. We're looking at getting a stove for where we live now, and I was considering a no-brainer purchase of a new Vermont Castings. Guess I had better take a look at the Jotul before I pull the trigger /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

AutoUnionTypeC · Mar 6, 2006

Jup Jup, if you open the front door too quickly you can draw out some ash & smoke. Generally cracking the front door then waiting just a second or two and then opening it slowly prevents this. Like Psuedofarmer I never load from the front either, I work the ashes a bit from the front but that’s about it.
By the way the Oslo has a side door on the left side and the Firelight has on the right side, just in case you have a preference.

The only issue I have with this stove is way my wife loads it when I'm not home. Instead of setting the wood in she slides it across which ends up loading the right side up with ash and cinders. I cut my wood to a twenty inch length so maybe it may be a bit too heavy for her I'm not sure. I keep my mouth shut, as I'm pretty happy she will mind the stove at all. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif