First-time stove buyer

[begreen]

You have to avoid the pollution tho by staying in hills outside cities, the mountains trap in the smog and thermal inversion is nasty.

Wood smoke is not going to help that. Something to consider if there are neighbors.

 

[Chasm]

Wood smoke is not going to help that. Something to consider if there are neighbors.

I'm happy to say we are far enough to be free of the urban center, air is clean and out of range of all that

 

[Chasm]

Update:
It's been a month and a half since my last reply here, I'm the guy looking to take the chill off some winter nights down in Oaxaca, Mexico. I had no idea what it entailed, and many of you were patient and generous with your time and advice. Thanks again.

Anyway, I had already prepared myself to bite the bullet, spend more than double what I originally anticipated when I found out how much the pipes and adapters run, and was picking up barely used ss pipe I found on Craigslist - when I ended up with a Jotul F100 the guy wanted to get rid of. I have read about the stove here, I know it has gotten very mixed reviews, it is considerably smaller than what I wanted, but what the hell, I now own it. I'm thinking I exaggerated the poverty of insulation in the main room there, temperatures outside are not that low, m'be it will work.

Have a couple of questions. I have maybe 17 feet total stovetop to cap on roof, at a roughly 6000 ft altitude. As I recall, Begreen told me the altitude here can cause some draft concerns - do I have enough height - 8 feet of Selkirk double wall - or should I go higher and risk a rickety thing? Been reading forums here, just found out that relatively mild temperatures are also a negative. Soooo...is this stove going to cause me more problems as opposed to those recommended by you gents - the PEs or Englanders..? It's a pretty little thing, was cheap, but it's not too late to buy another. If I have to.

I see that the Englander 17VE is rated for twice the BTU's than the F100 despite having the same size firebox.... can that be?

 

[begreen]

Not sure about the F100 but I had the next size F3CB on a short 12' chimney, straight up, and it vented fine with no issues. I think you might be ok with 17' flue and for a nighttime or morning chill chaser the F100 could work out alright. If not, I would look at the very affordable Englander 17-VL.

 

[begreen]

If you got a steal of a deal on the F100 you might be able to sell it in a month for a profit and have it pay for the 17VL.

 

[Chasm]

Update:
It's been a month and a half since my last reply here, I'm the guy looking to take the chill off some winter nights down in Oaxaca, Mexico with a wood burning stove. I had no idea what it entailed, and many of you were patient and generous with your time and advice. Thanks again.

Anyway, I had already prepared myself to bite the bullet, spend more than double what I originally anticipated, and was picking up barely used ss pipe I found on Craigslist - when I ended up with a Jotul F100 the guy wanted to get rid of. I have read about the stove here, I know it has gotten very mixed reviews, it is considerably smaller than what I wanted, but what the hell, I now own it. I'm thinking I exaggerated the poverty of insulation in the main room there, temperatures outside are not that low, m'be it will work.

Have a couple of questions. I have maybe 17 feet total stovetop to cap on roof, at a roughly 6000 ft altitude. I have been reading forums here, just found out that relatively mild temperatures are a negative. In addition to the fact that as I recall, Begreen told me the altitude here can cause some draft concerns - do I have enough height - 8 feet of Selkirk double wall - or should I go higher and more rickety? Is this stove going to cause me more problems as opposed to those recommended by you gents - the PEs or Englanders..? It's a pretty little thing, but it's not too late to buy another.
I see that the Englander 17VE is rated for twice the BTU's than the F100 despite having the same size firebox.... can that be?

 

[Chasm]

So the 17VL is as rated? I may try

 

[begreen]

I think the 17VL's firebox size is a bit larger, more like the Jotul F3CB. It is a heckuva good value for a small stove. There are some nice reviews posted here.

 

[begreen]

So the 17VL is as rated? I may try

The 17VL was invented by a Hearth.com member and introduced on Hearth.com. Here is some discussion on it.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-17-vl-wood-storage-under-stove-bad-idea.57341/
2 season review
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/controlling-a-wood-stove.82933/

 

[Ashful]

I see that the Englander 17VE is rated for twice the BTU's than the F100 despite having the same size firebox.... can that be?

Let’s remember our high-school physics:

BTUout = BTUin x efficiency

Your firebox size and wood species dictate BTUin, and the stove dictates efficiency. The efficiency of stoves vary, but more so between technologies than within them. In other words, most tube stoves will have similar efficiencies, at least close enough that it’s not going to cause one to rate double the other.

BTU is a unit of energy, like kWh, and BTU/hr is a unit of power (= 0.293 watts). You can trade BTU/hr for burn time, and so it’s likely when you see huge discrepancies in BTU/hr ratings between two stoves of similar size, they were collected at different burn rates.

 

[Chasm]

Let’s remember our high-school physics:

BTUout = BTUin x efficiency

Your firebox size and wood species dictate BTUin, and the stove dictates efficiency. The efficiency of stoves vary, but more so between technologies than within them. In other words, most tube stoves will have similar efficiencies, at least close enough that it’s not going to cause one to rate double the other.

BTU is a unit of energy, like kWh, and BTU/hr is a unit of power (= 0.293 watts). You can trade BTU/hr for burn time, and so it’s likely when you see huge discrepancies in BTU/hr ratings between two stoves of similar size, they were collected at different burn rates.[/QUOTE

Makes sense. Thanks

 

[Chasm]

A friend of mine warns me that if I go straight up thru roof w/o an elbow or clean out tee I am going to have problems in just a few months... I looked on this site and read that I will have to clean baffle boards and blanket - is that correct and is it difficult?

 

[Chasm]

The 17VL was invented by a Hearth.com member and introduced on Hearth.com. Here is some discussion on it.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-17-vl-wood-storage-under-stove-bad-idea.57341/
2 season review
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/controlling-a-wood-stove.82933/

I'm gonna have to stick with the Jotul.. Too much trouble to switch now. Thanks as always for the help.

Do you think another 3' or 4' section on the roof would be wise or helpful? No double wall to be had down there. Would make it almost 12 feet up there

 

[begreen]

A friend of mine warns me that if I go straight up thru roof w/o an elbow or clean out tee I am going to have problems in just a few months... I looked on this site and read that I will have to clean baffle boards and blanket - is that correct and is it difficult?

The method for cleaning varies with the stove. One option would be to put a telescoping piece of stovepipe connecting the stove. That will allow one to lift off the pipe easily and it also makes installation easier. BrotherBart had an F100 and may have some tips on cleaning methods.

Your friend is not correct. Straight up is the best for draft and keeping the flue cleaner. What will affect how cleanly the stove burns is the dryness of the wood and how the stove is operated. If you have 17' from stovetop to chimney cap that should be ok. Try it before extending the chimney pipe.

 

[BrotherBart]

No baffle boards and blanket in the F100. Just the cast iron baffle that you lift up and drop into the firebox for cleaning. Straight up is definitely best for draft and pipe cleaning. Mine was in the basement so I had to vent into an elbow into a liner in the tile chimney. A pain in numerous body parts to clean the chimney and pipe.Straight up would have been wonderful.

 

[Chasm]

The method for cleaning varies with the stove. One option would be to put a telescoping piece of stovepipe connecting the stove. That will allow one to lift off the pipe easily and it also makes installation easier. BrotherBart had an F100 and may have some tips on cleaning methods.

Your friend is not correct. Straight up is the best for draft and keeping the flue cleaner. What will affect how cleanly the stove burns is the dryness of the wood and how the stove is operated. If you have 17' from stovetop to chimney cap that should be ok. Try it before extending the chimney pipe.

Thank you gentlemen!

 

[Chasm]

No baffle boards and blanket in the F100. Just the cast iron baffle that you lift up and drop into the firebox for cleaning. Straight up is definitely best for draft and pipe cleaning. Mine was in the basement so I had to vent into an elbow into a liner in the tile chimney. A pain in numerous body parts to clean the chimney and pipe.Straight up would have been wonderful.

Thanks BrotherBart

 

[Chasm]

Hello Gentlemen:
I have been well-counselled - I think - by you folks, am leaving town in a few days and will finally be installing stove in Oaxaca, Mexico.
I have 1 problem so far: I need an additional 3' or so to add to pipes from stove to

roof. have Selkirk SS pipes for above roof, but black pipes from stove to roof made by unknown manufacturer. Black pipe at top fits perfectly into the bottom of the SS pipes, but I don't know what pipe to buy to add 3' section - or where. contacted Selkirk, they couldn't help me. I will try to add photos, m'be someone can identify and help.