Hello all. On my 2nd month with the Nova woodstove. I've got it mounted on the 4 small legs that came with the box. I'm using it as primary heat source for a 1,000 sq ft home in rural Kentucky. Most of my fires have been dry red oak. Short story: if I had to do it over again I would buy something else. Long story: I like the look of the Nova and the catalytic converter works very well. Unfortunately there are two, maybe three, criticisms that I've got and didn't see addressed anywhere online before I bought it. 1)Air. Starting a fire requires leaving the door open about 1" to allow enough air in. My kindling is dry paper and dry bark. I really wish Nova had one or two air intake valves to adjust instead of just leaving the door open. After 5 minutes I close the door. 2)Firebox size. To look at it one assumes the firebox is an open cube. It's really a rectangle (on the bottom) with a triangle (on top). The "ceiling" inside the box is very tapered and really cuts into how much total wood you can fit into a full burn. 3)Manual. The user manual states "The Nova has one setting: perfect." This kind of hogwash arrogance is unhelpful to say the least. The manual should contain information, not just some gimmicky sales jargon. It makes me really question who designed the Nova. Was it someone who has experience with heating a home with a woodstove? Or was it a few designers and marketing wunderkinds who just want to make buck? All said and done I will make this woodstove work to suit our needs. It gets hot and burns wood efficiently. We don't have kids and I DEFINITELY WOULD NOT BUY it if I had kids in the home... as leaving an open door on a woodstove is far from ideal. In my experience the Nova is more of an accessory-type woodstove and not a workhorse-type. Your miles may vary. Thanks for reading.
Sorry to hear after going through all the trouble of buying and installing, it's less than ideal. I see what you mean about the manual: https://mffire.com/app/uploads/2021/04/Nova-Owners-Manual-041521-min.pdf They actually DO state about having one "PERFECT" setting. Amazing... I'm surprised there is no air intake control. That's crazy. You really need one to get the most out of your stove depending on a myriad of factors. What you CAN control is how you face the wood in there. Facing the splits east/west will restrict the air somewhat, giving you longer burn times. North/south will do the opposite. As far as starting it and having to leave the door open... Cracked 1/4" should be sufficient to get the air in there until the fire is established. As long as the bypass damper is open, the smoke shouldn't roll back into the room. Priming the flue first with a lit piece of paper or propane torch is good practice as well. I don't do it on really cold days, but when it's 30-40 out I usually do in order to get a draft going. I can't blame you for being less than thrilled with what you got.
Yes on the wood direction. Learned that from some YouTube videos. With the door cracked open it creates a strong draft. Smoke never gets into the living space. But still... it's a feature that should have been installed at the price point I paid.
Lots of stoves need their door kept ajar for lighting. My 30-NC specifically recommends it in the manual, and it has a very effective air control. Oh, and welcome to the forum, and thanks for the review!
That's not all that different from my Lopi. If I really wanted to I could cram in a 20 1/2" split east/west but rarely do and never during a reload. I have quite a bit of "shorties" on hand for burning north/south. 12" fits about perfect in my firebox in that orientation.
First welcome to the FHC Yolanda My experience suggest most new stoves have a similar shaped fire box to direct smoke path to a longer path to meet EPA requirements. adding additional air openings to cold start is kind of standard. I have larger stove so it runs nonstop now til March. Actually easier when it’s non stop
Welcome to the forum Yolanda. Sorry to hear about the stove. It is sad whenever we read about such things. It may do better as it turns colder outside but yes, leaving the firebox door open is always a touchy situation.
Leaving the door ajar is indeed suggested by other stove mfgs. Ours is a Woodstock Fireview. The operting manual for the stove states opening the door to increase draft by 1/4" to 1/2" but also puts emphasis on safety.
I have a nova 2, which is the same stove, but with a larger fire box. It fits huge 22” plus logs. If I could do it over again, I would, with air control. It runs very hot with a lot of wood. It heats our whole house, but wish I could tamp down the burn rate at night. No sign of over firing. I’m from a Jotul family and the cracked door doesn’t bother me. Or my kids. I agree this is fairly standard. But I miss the 3 other Jotuls in my life. The nova fits our hearth perfectly. A Jotul would not. The nova matches our home style, a Jotul would not. Happy wife and all that. This is a compromise. I required burning wood. She required a clean modern look. The epa kinda messed us up here. Post epa regs. There were only a few jotuls they could sell us in the US. None of these fit our hearth well. The nova exceeds regs and fits like a glove. I do get smoke bleeding out into the home. Not toxic. But little puffs here and there. It’s touchy and requires attention. The manufacturer is actually shipping a “smoke screen” part to deflect this. We’ll see… Also agree the perfect setting is baloney. I find it is rather perfect with the right stack. 2 east west and a big one across.
No adjust-ability to control the burn rate defeats the strength of a catalytic stove. You could try to install a damper in the flue pipe to help control your fires.
