After five years my wife and I moved out of the suburbs into a bigger place in the country with some land. We love it out here, but our old house had natural gas, and we weren't ready for the cost of propane at our new place. It's a ranch style with a fully finished walkout basement, that has the family room, a bedroom and my office on the lower level. As we're home 24/7 it was costing a fortune to heat the house, and the lower level was always freezing. It was so cold that we were hardly spending any time down there, and it was one of the reasons we bought the house in the first place. It had a propane fireplace which helped a little, (it was more decorative than anything) but we hemorrhaged propane when using it. So at the end of our second winter last spring, we decided to rip out the fireplace and put a stove in. We picked the Jotul 500 Oslo in black. I had the fireplace removed and the hearth put in earlier this summer, and the chimney and stove installation started yesterday, and I should be having my first break-in fire tonight. Here are some pics of the project. I'll upload a few final ones tonight, once the stove is hooked up to the chimney.
Congrats on the move to the burbs and special congrats on the new stove, its beautiful and a fine looking installation as well!!!
Thanks! It's about 2200 square feet. I think we may need/want a second one upstairs eventually, but we'll start with one for now.
Probably the biggest challenge will be to spread that heat around. Remember, a small fan set on low can be your friend but don't make the mistake of trying to move the hot or warm air. Move the cool air instead. A cold room in back? Set a small desktop fan on the floor by the opening to that room and blow the air (on low speed) toward the stove room. It will do wonders.
Whoa, what the heck is that flexible thing running up between floors inside a chase? I thought for solid fuel it had to be rigid class A? I see a little bit of foil tape at the top too which worries me. Maybe that was the old gas flue?
The Class A pipe is inside. I forget the exact name but it's an extra heat shield or something for running an interior chimney. It's for insurance purposes.
You better make dang sure of what’s inside of that insulative thingamabob...it should be smooth wall stainless steel pipe...the best grade you can afford. Don’t let them close that chimney off until you know for sure. Flexible pipe costs little to the installer, yet most sweeps don’t pass the savings to you. Quick in, quick out...with your money in their pocket. Flexible liners have more surface area inside than a smooth wall pipe this = more resistance to air flow and more junk to clog the thing. It will be fine, but make dang sure you check it monthly and make dang sure your wood is seasoned...three years plus. Most people spend a lot on the stove, but the money should go into the chimney first because to change it will cost the most. A stove can be swapped or changed nearly anytime. Another thing...these chimney folks would have you believe you you must have the same size pipe from stove to chimney top. That’s in a perfect world where no one would ever again change the stove. Many stoves are 6” outlets these days, yet two of the most efficient stoves built, Kuma Sequoia, and Blaze King, King model...both are 8” outlet stoves and sized for your house size and larger. Point is...if you go 6” all the way to the top you’re stuck with 6” outlet stoves. Lucky for you, that Oslo should last you awhile. You may also find it eats wood more than the King would...but I personally think you bought a better built stove. So, I’m hoping this all works for you and if it does you’ll be a real happy camper. I think a masonry chimney would have been a safer option...they could have made it large enough to slip a Insulated SS smooth liner right inside of it. I tend to over build things anyway AND I’m always concerned about anyone’s safety...even those I don’t even know. That said, I’m not trying to be overly picky about your set-up, I just want y’all to be safe and have no worries. Very nice looking stove!
Looks like a series of bends in that flex duct. Now that they're shielded, you can never inspect those joints. I can only think of three or four 8" stoves that are currently on the market. A couple of them are very good.
