Jotul sizing question

[lkb1450]

I am currently trying to decide between a Jotul F100 Nordic QT and the F3 CB. My house is around 750 square feet and is made of concrete block. There is insulation between the basement and the main house, and in the ceilings. However, the walls are just block with an interior stud wall and plaster finish with no insulation.

I am trying to figure out if I need to go to the bigger size, even though my square footage isn't that big, just to make up for the lack of insulation. I don't need the house to be 80 degrees, just to have the living room be comfortable.

I am leaning towards the F100 due to the fact that it is easier to move, less expensive, and more attractive in my opinion. Either way, the stove will be hearth mounted into a standard fire place and I plan to fabricate a steel back panel to block heat loss through the fireplace.

So, do you think the F100 will cut it?
Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

 

[Woody Stover]

Welcome. F3CB would come a little closer to an overnight burn (I'd get a cat stove, but they are probably more pricey.) Maybe you could go even bigger with that lack of insulation, I don't know. But I would be inclined to blow insulation into those stud walls to help hold room temp when the heat output from a small non-cat stove tails off.

 

[ChipTam]

I considered the F100. It's nice looking but it really is a very small stove. I decided on a Jotul #3 (a used older version of the F3CB) and have been very happy with it. Others may have more information on your particular heating needs.

ChipTam

 

[stovelark]

I see you're in NC, and the Nordic would probably supply the heat necessary for most winter days, but I'd still suggest the F3. That's right in its sweet zone for heating and still has reserve, so you wouldn't have to run it hard. I know its 500 more than the Nordic, but it is a bigger heater, has an ashpan and a couple hours more burn time. If you could, I'd get the F3. Good luck, either will be good heaters for you.

 

[begreen]

This sounds like a tough place to heat. Uninsulated block walls suck the heat out of a room. Go larger if you want to heat 24/7, particularly if you are in Western NC. I would consider the Jotul Castine or a PE Alderlea T4 or T5 or a Woodstock Keystone.

 

[Ashful]

Any time I see a situation requiring minimum heat output (small and/or well-insulated space), coupled with a desire for all-day heating, I think catalytic stove. Blaze King, Blaze King, Blaze King.

If you can't tolerate the cosmetics of a Blaze King, then Woodstock, or an old Jotul 8-TDIC.

 

[goldfishcastle]

We have 850 sq ft in Montana and find the F100 to be great for our needs. We use the stove in the evenings/ weekends and it is able to keep our home toasty. The furnace only runs when we aren't home. We do have insulation in our walls. But we also -40F cold snaps that last a week or more.

 

[Ashful]

But we also -40F cold snaps that last a week or more.

Montana... where men are men, and -40F for a solid week is known as a "cold snap".

 

[begreen]

It's so darn cold that anything that usually bends, snaps.

 

[goldfishcastle]

Montana... where men are men, and -40F for a solid week is known as a "cold snap".

I'm a woman. But yes the rest is true.

 

[goldfishcastle]

It's so darn cold that anything that usually bends, snaps.

Put a houseplant outside once during a cold spell - to get some air. It shattered. It was an effective way to not have to deal with that plant anymore.

 

[Cynnergy]

How often do you have to reload the F100 goldfishcastle?

 

[Ashful]

How often do you have to reload the F100 goldfishcastle?

Hourly, I would imagine. :lol

 

[goldfishcastle]

We start it up every day. I'm not really sure how often we put logs in once it is going. But at night we stock it and close it up around 10:30 before turning in. Usually there are a few embers if we are up with dogs in the middle of the night (3ish). But we don't add anything then. The cast iron is often warm in the morning.

We primarily burn Doug fir or ponderosa since that's what we have here.