Jotul Nordic 100 is Blinding and Gagging Me

[banjobart]

I had a new Jotul Nordic 100, a small stove, installed a month ago in my family room. Most of the cold starts have filled up the family room, if not the house with smoke. Warm restarts are not a problem. I have cut and burned wood off and on for 40 years without a problem. I might as well go back to two packs a day as live with this cursed stove.

I gave up on newspaper to start and now use a hand held propane torch as suggested here. My kindling is pencil size dry cedar, then hot dog sized mahogany, then one inch square mahogany. These are kiln dried scraps from my shop. On top of that I put small firewood I have dried a year and kept on my porch under the roof.

This stove does not want to draft! The last two nights I had to leave the family room for 20 minutes after starting, I could not breath. The smoke was thick. My eyes burn. I follow correct starting procedure and leave the stove door a few inches open until the stove drafts. It only gets worse, not better

Does anyone know what the hell is going on here? It seems like the stove flue outlet is plugged. This was a pro installation from the most reputable dealer in town. The house filled with smoke when the installers lit the break in fire, too. I am at my wits end.

 

[outdoorlivin247]

I had a new Jotul Nordic 100, a small stove, installed a month ago in my family room. Most of the cold starts have filled up the family room, if not the house with smoke. Warm restarts are not a problem. I have cut and burned wood off and on for 40 years without a problem. I might as well go back to two packs a day as live with this cursed stove.

I gave up on newspaper to start and now use a hand held propane torch as suggested here. My kindling is pencil size dry cedar, then hot dog sized mahogany, then one inch square mahogany. These are kiln dried scraps from my shop. On top of that I put small firewood I have dried a year and kept on my porch under the roof.

This stove does not want to draft! The last two nights I had to leave the family room for 20 minutes after starting, I could not breath. The smoke was thick. My eyes burn. I follow correct starting procedure and leave the stove door a few inches open until the stove drafts. It only gets worse, not better

Does anyone know what the hell is going on here? It seems like the stove flue outlet is plugged. This was a pro installation from the most reputable dealer in town. The house filled with smoke when the installers lit the break in fire, too. I am at my wits end.

Have you tried opening a window or door during start up...Also preheat the flue w/ a hair drier or candle to get it drafting?...Not sure what to say if it was installed by a professional and they won't come back and fix the problem...

 

[banjobart]

I definitey always open a window so I do not die of smoke inhalation. My propane torch is much hotter than a candle or hair dryer, thanks for the ideas, though, I appreciate that.

What would be the chimney design problem?

 

[outdoorlivin247]

I definitey always open a window so I do not die of smoke inhalation. My propane torch is much hotter than a candle or hair dryer, thanks for the ideas, though, I appreciate that.

What would be the chimney design problem?

Did they use a liner designed for the stove or just use an existing masonry chimney...Might be to large for the appliance...

 

[banjobart]

Brand new, state of the art, up to code installation; all new from the ground to the sky. From the floor pad through the stove and straight up no bends pipe to the cap. This stove is in a one story area of the house 20 feet from the two story area. 5/12 pitch roof, 20 year old quality house.

I think this Nordic 100 design is defective and belongs in the dump. I paid $3,500 installed for this turkey. That's a lot of beer. Is there any way to hog out the EPA crap with an angle grinder to get the stove the draft better?

 

[banjobart]

6 inch double wall stainless pipe. 3 feet above roof peak, 20 feet from second story area. No trees near, no leaves now anyway. Wind is always from the west, but second story area is to the south. No nests, no varmints. Installed a month ago with cap and screen. Yes, I may have gotten bad advice, we all live and learn. Bigger may be better here.

 

[Scootermsp]

Send me your 346XP for the Spring and I may think of something that will help you out.

On a more serious note, call Jotul customer/technical service...they may know something you and your installer don't. Good luck.

 

[myzamboni]

Do you have the air control opened all the way. It sounds like you are trying to start the fire with the primary air lever closed.

 

[isaaccarlson]

If the installer left after it filled the house with smoke

something is wrong!!!! They obviously don't know anything. ANY good stove installer will not leave until it works right!!!! Call them up and get your money back and find someone else.

 

[banjobart]

It's wide open all the time until I go to bed or leave the house.

I will visit the dealer, they are great, tomorrow.

 

[isaaccarlson]

When you open a window downstairs, is there a LOT of cold air coming in?

Your house is either outdrafting your chimney or your chimney is not right.

 

[mtngun]

Your house is either outdrafting your chimney or your chimney is not right.

+1

I had a problem with a chimney that would not draft on windy days. Smoked us out of the house. Chimney was located near side of house that received prevailing wind, creating a high pressure zone. If I opened a window on that side of house, indoor pressure would equalize with outdoor pressure and stove would draft. However, it was no fun having a window open during a blizzard.

I solved my problem by moving the stove and chimney close to the ridgeline of the house where the outside pressure is near neutral. Same stove, same chimney, problem solved.

You mentioned quality construction -- air-tight houses can be part of the problem, they don't let the indoor pressure equalize with the outdoor pressure.

Hard to diagnose your problem long distance without a view of the outlet and surroundings and knowledge of your winds, and even in person it can be hard to guess the pressure differentials that can be created, but I'm guessing that you do have an unhealthy pressure differential. It is not the stove's fault. Not necessarily anything "wrong" with the chimney, either, other than the outlet may be located in a high pressure zone.

 

[banjobart]

Good reply. My stovepipe and cap are only a foot from the peak or ridgeline of the roof and are protruding upwards three feet, 20 feet from anything higher. It is a newer house but two of the doors leak air profusely, I feel the draft. I am in the habit during the last month of opening a window before lighting the stove anyway. We have little wind here and when we do it should enhance draft as it is a crosswind. I think this blasted thing is the stove from Hell. It is for sale cheap.

 

[wgrassel]

I have a Jotul F100QT that I've been burning pretty hard for 6 years now. I have 5' of single wall stove pipe, then 13.5' of double wall chimney, all straight up. I start my fires with kindling on top of newspaper, and have never had the smoke problem you describe.

I always start a fire with the air control wide open and the door closed. Occasionally the fire won't take off, then I crack the door for a couple of minutes until it's going, then I close the door and all is well.

I love this little stove. Just to guess, I would think that either your stove is defective or that you have some sort of chimney problem. I would think that the installers you paid would and should work this out for you.

Good luck and hope you get it all worked out.

 

[olyman]

Did they use a liner designed for the stove or just use an existing masonry chimney...Might be to large for the appliance...

my 7 in flue riteway--goes into a 10 in dia main chimney---------------and it drafts like wild--course--chimney is in center of house---but even so---------------small into large would bother--if it was outside--and had far too much cooling area to where the chimney stayed cold like ice, and wouldnt draft--

 

[olyman]

banjo---the draft thru the doors is a giveaway--you need a outside air source--your house is so tight,,your creating a VACUUM inside the house, and when you light the stove--the air is trying to come backwards to equalize the pressure as others mentioned--gas furnace installers have been putting 6 in air intakes into the cold air ducts for some time now--you have one??? if not--id be installing one. you need a air intake source anyway--so pipe it close to the stove--

 

[MotorSeven]

A foot above the peak is not enough....add another section or two of pipe then do a test fire. A cold air intake may not be a bad idea if you house is truly that tight, but I would raise the flu first.

RD

 

[KsWoodsMan]

6 inch double wall stainless pipe. 3 feet above roof peak, 20 feet from second story area. No trees near, no leaves now anyway. Wind is always from the west, but second story area is to the south. No nests, no varmints. Installed a month ago with cap and screen. Yes, I may have gotten bad advice, we all live and learn. Bigger may be better here.

Your house is either outdrafting your chimney or your chimney is not right.

:agree2: w/rep. The top of the flue is below the upstairs portion of the house. The heat/air loss to the upstairs is greater than the draft trying to go up a cold chimney. The short stack is allowing backdrafting. Extend the stak so it is above the second story of the house or close off the stairway to upstairs while trying to light the stove.

Buddy of mine wanted to run a 18ft section horizontally through his attic so the exit point would be symetrical in his roofline. Symetry is an OCD thing of his. His thinking was that it would vent like a gas appliance where you can get away with 1' rise over 4 feet of run.

Somebody wasn't thinking very far ahead when they did that install.

After thought:
An additional second thought is if the flue IS extended above the second story that is still a lot of cold pipe to try to warm up in cold weather. Might possibly be to much stack to heat up initially.

 

[coog]

banjo---the draft thru the doors is a giveaway--you need a outside air source--your house is so tight,,your creating a VACUUM inside the house, and when you light the stove--the air is trying to come backwards to equalize the pressure as others mentioned--gas furnace installers have been putting 6 in air intakes into the cold air ducts for some time now--you have one??? if not--id be installing one. you need a air intake source anyway--so pipe it close to the stove--

:agree2:

Any stove you put there will do the same thing.Do you have mechanical ventilation bringing fresh air in?

 

[super3]

A foot above the peak is not enough....add another section or two of pipe then do a test fire. A cold air intake may not be a bad idea if you house is truly that tight, but I would raise the flu first.

RD

It is 1 ft away and 3 ft above. Read again