I have been the proud owner of a Jotul F3CB that I bought new in 2007. I live in a 110 year old "4 square", 2 story, 1200 sf farm house on the steps of Siberia (Eastern Ontario). As you are more than familiar with the limitations of the F3 and the fact that it can't be relied upon for more than a couple of hours burn time, meaningful overnight or all day burns are sadly out of the question. I would like some ideas as to what better stove for my circumstances, as I would like to rely more on wood heat, and less on oil. I have sealed up some of the drafts (an ongoing procedure that may never get done in my lifetime), but a bigger stove would be a huge help. So, I was browsing some of the stoves that y’all have listed in your various signatures and one of them jumped out at me, the PE Summit or possibly the Super 27. How do you like them? The 27 would be roughly twice the size and the Summit, 3 times. I would be able to get away from having to re-split my purchased wood and get more than 2 or 3 sticks in at a time. I narrowed onto those particular stoves as they would seem to fit easier in the provided location and other stoves (such as the Englander NC 30) may have to sit out much farther into the room.
Either one will provide an overnight burn, the Summit will give you the extra firepower when it's needed. Remember you can build a small fire in a big stove. Buying a stove is a big purchase, try to take it all in. A lot of great brands/models out there.
Thanks, I am not in any hurry (as I currently have a perfectly functional stove) so I will take my time. I am going to do a lot of research and hopefully buy the last stove I will ever need, at least in this house, but I am gravitating towards a steel stove and away from cast. Not that there is anything wrong with cast, but I'm getting lazy in my old age and I want a stove that requires the least amount of maintenance.
If you like the cast look there are stoves that use steel fireboxes with cast wrapped around them. This way you'll get the cast look without having to seal seems in the future. I believe the PE line of "cast" stoves use this jacketed design.
You sir are correct! I have the T-5 but PE also makes the T-4 and T-6 which of the same basic design.. The T-5 easily heats my 1600+ sq. ft. home in SE Mass. with firepower to spare and 10-12 hr. burns that are easy to achieve. Jotul also make the F-50 and F-55 which are built similarly.. Ray
The 27/T5/Spectrum are pretty impressive for their size. Unless you have open windows, I think the Summit would be serious overkill for 1200 sq ft.
colin can you describe the house better? 1200 sqft total or per floor? Original windows? How much insulation if any?
Well, it's a two story 25X25 foot house so around 550 square feet per floor. It has old windows on the first floor (drafty single pane) and new vinyl windows on the second floor. There is a constant draft downstairs when it's cold and the stove going and the F3 struggles. Even after I put in new windows, the F3 will still not go much beyond 4 hours heating. As far as insulation, back when this house was built (around 1900 or before) they only used whatever they could get their hands on. The house has a lathe and plaster interior, then brick, then 2 inch clap-board, then aluminum siding and as far as framing is concerned, studs are wherever the builder felt like putting them. I googled around a few years ago and the style was used in Eastern Canada, among others. I got that from finding info about the technique from the"Bethune-Thompson House". That house incorporated a French Canadian construction technique, "colombage pierroté", which used a timber frame filled with masonry rubble. In my case, it was bricks.
My house is about 1600 sq ft. Drafty 1970s ranch, marginal insulation, and in the middle of wide open farm country. Hard to oversize a Blaze King The Spectrum is heating 1350 sq ft of sprawled out 1950s modular construction with a couple of additions, questionable insulation, and original windows that need replacing. It is in northern Michigan, about 150 yards from the Lake Huron shoreline, but in a wooded area, and pretty well protected from wind. Once the place is up to temp, the Spectrum is just about right. Two small loads when we were around during the day, and a big load of oak at night. A big load in the morning would get uncomfortable while we were in being lazy. At night, it didn't really matter, as the bedrooms stayed comfortable, and we woke up low 70s in the living/dining area. Certainly not the even heat of a BK, but pretty easy to work with. Does the little Jotul do the job? Make enough heat, just not very long?
Anything below 25 degrees or so, it starts to struggle. However, the next few days are going to be very cold. The temp tomorrow with the wind will be -39c. At that temp, f or c it's all the same.
Colin, don't forget to research that beast that Brian has been posting about; the new Ideal Steel by Woodstock. It is due to hit the market hopefully before next fall. Price will be pretty good too and if you want, you can really dress it up to your liking.
I have some homework to do, that's for sure. However, I will take my time and keep all options open. Frankly, I forgot about Woodstock, will definitely keep them in mind. Thanks for the ideas guys.
As an owner of an old drafty farmhouse, allow me to paraphrase the great poet, Sir Mix-A-Lot; I like big fireboxes and I can not lie You other brothers can't deny
