Jotul Castine stove install Saturday, questions

[Ticmxman]

My Castine and a new full liner is set to be professionally installed Saturday. One question I have been asking myself is where to place the stove. I have a flush hearth masonry fireplace large enough to put the stove inside the fireplace with maybe a third of the stove protruding out of the fireplace. I'm in the north Georgia and don't plan to heat the 1500 sq foot house just use it as supplemental heat. I don't want the stove to run me out of the room. I also have some lack of clearance issues 1/2 inch side trim and 10 inches top trim that will be addressed with a mantel shield.

So give these issues I sure could use some advise. Which location heats the trim more the stove inside the fireplace or mostly outside? If it is all the way inside I think I can avoid the use of a T. If I set it out on the hearth should I use double wall pipe, to help the top trim issues? Anything else I should look for in the install.
Thanks in advance.
Tim

 

[begreen]

If you are not installing for heat, then going straight up instead of rear exit will draft better. Maybe have the parts on hand for rear-exit connection, but try the straight up connection to see how far forward it places the stove on the hearth. If that works, try it. You can change it later if you want more heat. Regardless, install a damper block off plate as low as possible so that the heat doesn't collect up in the damper area.

 

[Ticmxman]

Great, thanks for helping this novice out.
Tic

 

[CarbonNeutral]

If you are not installing for heat, then going straight up instead of rear exit will draft better. Maybe have the parts on hand for rear-exit connection, but try the straight up connection to see how far forward it places the stove on the hearth. If that works, try it. You can change it later if you want more heat. Regardless, install a damper block off plate as low as possible so that the heat doesn't collect up in the damper area.

I agree with BeGreen, but with a decent insulated liner, you can get a good draft on a rear vent - my Oslo drops back about 24" with a very slight rise - seems fine....

 

[semipro]

Ticmxman,
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking but other than flue considerations you may also want to consider how much of your heat is soaked up by masonry and how much clearance you have at the front of your heart to combustibles at floor level. The clearance issue is straightforward and should be detailed in the install instructions. My stove required 18" between the front of the stove and the edge of the hearth.

As far as heating, if you set the stove deeper back inside the fireplace then more of the heat put off by the stove will heat the masonry only to be released into the room after stove dies down. This is the same sort of effect that soapstone stoves provided. This tends to even out the heat peaks that your stove will go through, at least as occupants of the room feel them. The mediating effect of the masonry's thermal mass may also decrease the peak temp that your trim work will see. A circulating fan would probably also help move the heat into the room away from the trim.

Another consideration; a tee can be very helpful at flue cleaning time.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with the install.

 

[Ticmxman]

Ticmxman,
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking but other than flue considerations you may also want to consider how much of your heat is soaked up by masonry and how much clearance you have at the front of your heart to combustibles at floor level. The clearance issue is straightforward and should be detailed in the install instructions. My stove required 18" between the front of the stove and the edge of the hearth.

As far as heating, if you set the stove deeper back inside the fireplace then more of the heat put off by the stove will heat the masonry only to be released into the room after stove dies down. This is the same sort of effect that soapstone stoves provided. This tends to even out the heat peaks that your stove will go through, at least as occupants of the room feel them. The mediating effect of the masonry's thermal mass may also decrease the peak temp that your trim work will see. A circulating fan would probably also help move the heat into the room away from the trim.

Another consideration; a tee can be very helpful at flue cleaning time.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with the install.

Thanks Semipro, I think I'll have the stove placed as far into the fireplace as possible to be able to run it a little hotter and not overheat the room, plus it will aid the slight clearance issues of the trim and the hearth extender will look better the closer it is to the fireplace.

Good tip on the T for flue cleaning. So does the stove have to be removed to clean the flue?

 

[PapaDave]

Um, not to be nonconversationalistic (yep, new word), but where the heck are the pics? Aren't the installers there yet? Call them and let them know you have an audience waiting for pics.
We usually start a new job about 7:30 - 8:00 am, so these guys need to get on the ball.
I'll calm down in a minute, too much coffee. Hmm, NAH!

Dave

 

[begreen]

Thanks Semipro, I think I'll have the stove placed as far into the fireplace as possible to be able to run it a little hotter and not overheat the room, plus it will aid the slight clearance issues of the trim and the hearth extender will look better the closer it is to the fireplace.

Good tip on the T for flue cleaning. So does the stove have to be removed to clean the flue?

The F400 top is gasketed and removable. There are a pair of set screws holding it down. Once removed, the top of the baffle is exposed.

 

[semipro]

Ticmxman,
This means if you can't put a tee in, you can remove the stove top without moving the whole stove. This allows you to clean the flue from the top and collect the creosote at the rear top of the stove. This is how I plan to clean the flue on my F500 which is installed without a tee.

Thanks Semipro, I think I'll have the stove placed as far into the fireplace as possible to be able to run it a little hotter and not overheat the room, plus it will aid the slight clearance issues of the trim and the hearth extender will look better the closer it is to the fireplace.

Good tip on the T for flue cleaning. So does the stove have to be removed to clean the flue?

The F400 top is gasketed and removable. There are a pair of set screws holding it down. Once removed, the top of the baffle is exposed.

 

[begreen]

Slight correction. I should have said bolts. The F3CB uses the set screws. The F400 top is bolted from the interior with 2 bolts. Some folks remove these bolts out after installation and leave them out. If you look in the GB section of the manual, they call them "transport screws".

 

[Wet1]

Ticmxman,

As far as heating, if you set the stove deeper back inside the fireplace then more of the heat put off by the stove will heat the masonry only to be released into the room after stove dies down. This is the same sort of effect that soapstone stoves provided. This tends to even out the heat peaks that your stove will go through, at least as occupants of the room feel them. The mediating effect of the masonry's thermal mass may also decrease the peak temp that your trim work will see. A circulating fan would probably also help move the heat into the room away from the trim.

Keep in mind you'll also be loosing valuable btu's by heating the firebox and the attached chimney. These things typically radiate some heat back into the room, but I'd guess the majority is lost to the exterior. At a minimum, make sure you have a well sealed and insulated block off plate! Using a fan to blow the hot air out from behind the stove will help cool the firebox and maintain some of your heat that would have otherwise been absorbed up through the fireplace and released to the exterior. Ideally, you don't want the stove sitting inside the fireplace if you can avoid it.

 

[Ticmxman]

The install went very smoothly Saturday, took maybe 3 hours max. The stove is about half in half out of the fireplace, direct connect, no T. Looks great but I wished I had cleaned or maybe even painted the brick inside the fireplace so that the stove would have a contrasting background...might still try to get back there and do something it's a little tight but doable. One foul up was the installer built the first fire and put too much wood in and thus the stove got a little warmer than I would preferred on it's first burn even with the air shut off. Hopefully no harm done. I then went thru the normal precession of break-in fires with the last one at 400 degrees. I'm monitoring my wood trim temps and they have been fine so far but may still install some type of heat shield instead of using the fireplace hood that is currently in place.

Thanks to all for the help.
Tic

 

[semipro]

The install went very smoothly Saturday, took maybe 3 hours max. The stove is about half in half out of the fireplace, direct connect, no T. Looks great but I wished I had cleaned or maybe even painted the brick inside the fireplace so that the stove would have a contrasting background...might still try to get back there and do something it's a little tight but doable. One foul up was the installer built the first fire and put too much wood in and thus the stove got a little warmer than I would preferred on it's first burn even with the air shut off. Hopefully no harm done. I then went thru the normal precession of break-in fires with the last one at 400 degrees. I'm monitoring my wood trim temps and they have been fine so far but may still install some type of heat shield instead of using the fireplace hood that is currently in place.

Thanks to all for the help.
Tic

Its now customary for the OP to post pictures of their install, preferably with fire in the stove, otherwise how are we getting reimbursed for all the great opinions we're providing.