I just pulled the trigger on a new stove.

Sounds like it's hitting the advertised numbers for you with the odd sized soft Maple. Nice. Thanks

 

Jotul air controls for the Oslo, Carrabasset, and Rangely are the same "dog house" sliding mechanism.
For those non cats the slider will not close completely ( EPA regs ? ).
I had hacked our old Oslo by drilling extra holes in the housing. The Rangely has just one large opening.

 

Glad to see kuma succeed. Small Idaho company.

 

Do you have any updates on your T6 after a full winter of burning it? I'm considering installing one in the home I just bought.

 

It has been a fantastic stove for us, once we got our draft under control.

When it was first installed, I could not control the fire properly and had a couple of fires that ran away on me. The flue temp got into the 1200 degree range once. Turns out that I had too strong a draft pulling air through the stove. Had a key damper added to the flue, just above the stove. That made all the difference.

This last season, I burned oak and the flue temp was between 800 and 900 when I adjusted the intake for a minimal stable burn. Because we use it to heat a large house, we keep the optional blower on. With the blower on, the stovetop temperature never got over 570. The stove top normally hovered between 400 and 550, depending on how hard I was driving the stove.

It has been a go thing to have more draft than normal sometimes. As the weather warmed up, I was still lighting a morning fire to take the chill off. When the outside temp is 40 or above, the stove’s draft is decreased and starting a fire was a bit more trouble. However, I just open the flue damper and my fire is easy to start again.

If I pack it full of oak it is still producing noticeable warmth after 11 hours.

The only thing I do not care for is the ash clean out system. The dump hole in the stove floor is small and it is more trouble than it’s worth to use. I soon stopped using it and now shovel out the stove with an ash shovel. Works great.

 

^Thank you for sharing the feedback, I really appreciate it. Seems like it worked out well for heating your home in a pretty darn chilly climate.

It sounds like if I want to use the existing hearth in the new house, the T6 would be a good choice. I only have about 17' of chimney, with two 45's, and the house is at 8500' above sea level, so I'm looking for a large, "easy-breathing" (i.e. not super draft sensitive) stove for that location.

The other option I'm contemplating is putting a freestanding gas unit on the existing hearth and putting a woodburner in another spot in the great room with a straight chimney closer to the peak of the roof. It's a good problem to have after living in a ~400 square foot apartment (with a woodstove!) for the last year.

I would love an Ideal Steel, but given the issues they seem to be plagued by, I'm steering clear. I don't care how attentive and friendly the customer service is, if I have to ship my stove back to the manufacturer for repairs, they need to go back to the drawing board and redesign the stove. That is the epitome of unacceptable, particularly for those of us living in more off-the-beaten-path locations.

 

It is fairly easy breathing, at least compared to the old VC that came with the house. I have 2 45s also but there is 25 feet of double wall above that. So the draft is better than you may have at the insert. Again, I had too much draft and had to add a damper to control it. Now I have the best of both worlds. When it is in the 40s outside and the draft is less strong, I open the damper.

You may want to consider the great room location with as much flue as you can add. Then have a damper on hand to install if needed. They’re cheep.