HELP!! Feedback wanted on Jotul 400 Castine

[Jtracy]

Hi - I have been blogging about my Jotual F3CB and believe that I have come to the assumption that the F3CB can not heat my approx. 2,000 sq. ft Colonial (2 floors) home built in the 1840's. Definitely not an airtight house but not major drafty either! Each room is approx. 13 x 13.[/. The room with the stove is approx 170 sq. ft. Four rooms on the first floor (like a big square cut into 4 rooms). Upstairs has foyer, 3 bedrooms (approx. 150 sq. ft each) and one bathroom. I bought the stove in December, 2010, and have the hopes that the vendor will "hopefully" swap me out for the 400 Castine (?). He recommended the F3CB to us (as compared to the 400 Castine)...but with the F3CB we can not heat past 78 degrees in the main room and 67-69 degrees in the adjoining rooms. Upstairs reaches about 64 degrees. These numbers are based on running the stove all day and/or all night with great seasoned wood and with constant loading of wood (approx. 30-40 mintes). We are unable to maintain heat and heat projection has been very poor (despite constant attempts to play with the air vent. We also had damper installed on pipe with "some" improvement.

I am looking for feedback on the 400 Castine with its potential to heat my home! I have some concern that I will cook myself out of the room(s)...or possibly it will be perfect!

ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED!!

Thank you!!!!

Janet

 

[Hedgerow]

Go for the Oslo or Firelight!

I bet you'll not be sorry.

TreeCo is right. I've never heard anyone complain about getting too big of a wood stove. It should also burn more effectively the wood you put in it without having to keep it fully "stoked" all the time. You can always shut the draft down on a large stove. Hope the dealer will work with you... Post back your findings.

 

[coog]

I agree with the others.An additional benefit is the side-load door.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Someone must be home all day to feed that thing...whatta drag.
Stoves are typically zone heaters although if the layout of the home is right they can heat an entire home.

Sometimes to heat the whole home evenly you'd be looking at a furnace instead of a stove.

Good luck with your retailer....

 

[lon]

We have a Oslo in our 2600 sq. ft. house and we are very pleased with it. Last summer I put another Oslo in our 1500 sq. ft. shop. I was told it might be too much for the shop. I have found it to be perfect. The Oslo in the shop replaced a Jotul 8. Highly recommend Jotul stoves.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Have I been blogging all these years? I thought for sure I was posting on a forum. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[wej52]

For your size house get at least the Jotul Oslo if not the next size up. I have the Oslo and would not trade it for anything. We heat a 1900 sq ft house easily with it, but we have an open floor plan. You definitely need a bigger stove. Willie Jones

 

[JBinKC]

I would go with the Firelight without hesitation. I use a Castine for 1000 sq ft and it still struggles to maintain a comfortable temperature when the temp is 10 F or lower

 

[wendell]

Janet,

If your home is that big and that broken up, I see no way a single wood stove can possibly work for what you are trying to do. At 2,000 ft. you are definitely in Oslo or Firelight category but at only 13x13, that room would be unusable except as a sauna.

Also, you are losing a lot of efficiency loading your stove every 30-40 minutes. You need to let the stove go through it's burn cycle.

I would say your choices are either to add a second stove or look at switching to a wood furnace if you are determined to heat with wood.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Janet,

If your home is that big and that broken up, I see no way a single wood stove can possibly work for what you are trying to do. At 2,000 ft. you are definitely in Oslo or Firelight category but at only 13x13, that room would be unusable except as a sauna.

Also, you are losing a lot of efficiency loading your stove every 30-40 minutes. You need to let the stove go through it's burn cycle.

I would say your choices are either to add a second stove or look at switching to a wood furnace if you are determined to heat with wood.

:msp_thumbup::msp_thumbup::msp_thumbup:

 

[Jtracy]

Hi all~

Thanks for all your feedback and I many good points have been made.

As our home is broken up into so many rooms as compared to an open floor plan, I suppose our expectations of heating are unrealistic (even for the 1st floor!)....

We did try something new. We put fans pushing the air into the adjoining 2 rooms (one is 12 x 14, the other is 13 x 13). It did help temps reach 70 degrees as long as we maintained 500 degrees on the F3. We appreciate the 3 degree difference (as minimal as it may be). We are planning on buying the fans that go in the corners of the doorwarys. THOUGHTS??? We can't keep the current fans b/c they are too big and too noisy.

Wendell - you commneted on the "burn cycle"...are you referring to waiting until the heat starts to plummet before re-loading? That is what we typically do, but we do notice how much more heat (up to 40 degrees) we lose each time we open it...and it is tough to recoop that loss!!!...

We would fear blasting ourselves out of the room we have the stove in if we move up (Castine, etc)...but then again, I'm thinking that if we can move the air around the house better, perhaps we can use all the rooms without feeling chilly.

Thoughts?????

THANKS!

Janet

 

[pook]

Hi all~

Thanks for all your feedback and I many good points have been made.

As our home is broken up into so many rooms as compared to an open floor plan, I suppose our expectations of heating are unrealistic (even for the 1st floor!)....

We did try something new. We put fans pushing the air into the adjoining 2 rooms (one is 12 x 14, the other is 13 x 13). It did help temps reach 70 degrees as long as we maintained 500 degrees on the F3. We appreciate the 3 degree difference (as minimal as it may be). We are planning on buying the fans that go in the corners of the doorwarys. THOUGHTS??? We can't keep the current fans b/c they are too big and too noisy.

Wendell - you commneted on the "burn cycle"...are you referring to waiting until the heat starts to plummet before re-loading? That is what we typically do, but we do notice how much more heat (up to 40 degrees) we lose each time we open it...and it is tough to recoop that loss!!!...

We would fear blasting ourselves out of the room we have the stove in if we move up (Castine, etc)...but then again, I'm thinking that if we can move the air around the house better, perhaps we can use all the rooms without feeling chilly.

Thoughts?????

THANKS!

Janet

for circulating heat, its more effective to blow the cold air towards the heat source ideally from fan located on the floor. May also work better even if fan is located high, dunno.
Cold air is denser so when fan moves cold air, it moves more air than if its hot air.

 

[wendell]

Never thought of it as the temperature plummeting, more just letting the wood burn up before you put in more so you don't end up with just coals.

IMHO, corner door fans are a bad idea because you want to be pushing cold air into the stove room, not warm air out and cold air is nearer the floor.