Learning the Jotul Oslo

[Sniper8541]

Hello everyone, and thanks to those that have helped out.

Had the first heating fire in her this morning. Got her going and let it cruise at 450. I must say, the enamel on the VC was a much softer heat. This baby cranks. I had a window open with an exhaust fan in it to dissipate some of the remaining off gasses, and the house was still holding at 69, thermostat at 60. Not bad.

I left with her in the coaling stage, didn't want to pack it for the first time then leave. Got home about 2 hrs later, stove top at 300. Did 2 splits E/W then 3 splits N/S. Took right off, stovetop at 500. Air fully open. Gonnal put a couple more on and shut her down and see what happens. So far so good!

 

[Simonkenton]

Great! Good News! I am getting an Oslo next year, I will join the club.

 

[Sniper8541]

Here's a pic of it cruising at 450.

 

[Simonkenton]

That is a beautiful thing. I can feel the warmth. Right now I have a mediocre Waterford stove with a tiny firebox, can't wait to get my hands on a shiny new Oslo.

 

[Sniper8541]

I really am surprised at how much "hotter" 500 is on this stove than the VC. Almost like all the heat went out the chimney, even with the damper closed, on the VC. I'm sweating in here, not that I'm complaining!!

 

[Revturbo977]

i wish we got the oslo but i was in fear it was too big for our house. next time around i will go with it.

 

[Sniper8541]

i wish we got the oslo but i was in fear it was too big for our house. next time around i will go with it.

Do you have an Encore? I think that was a little small for me. The Oslo is rated for 5000 more Btu, and I wasn't sure that would make a big difference, but man was I wrong. The first real fire in her and I am thoroughly impressed!

 

[Revturbo977]

i have an f400 castine. i love the look and the heat output but its barely big enough to run over night. ive been having issues which seems to be my inexperience with burning. all in all i like it, just wish it was a bit bigger

 

[firefighterjake]

Not bad for break in fires . . . just wait until you see what it can do with a full load of primo wood. My wife and I routinely have it so that temps in the living room where the stove is located are in the mid to high 70s (it's amazing how soon you get used to that level of heat) . . . adjoining rooms are usually in the low 70s or high 60s. Oil boiler thermostat is set to kick on at 60 degrees.

 

[DTrain]

Love my Oslo. FFJ is right. My third season with the stove and with better wood "she" has responded well. I noticed you referred to the stove as "she". My wife calls mine "the other woman" I tend to sleep with and pay attention to "the other woman" more often in the winter!

 

[claydogg84]

I really am surprised at how much "hotter" 500 is on this stove than the VC. Almost like all the heat went out the chimney, even with the damper closed, on the VC. I'm sweating in here, not that I'm complaining!!

Where were you taking the temp reading on the VC? I know I had mine right on the griddle plate on my old defiant which isn't what Jotul recommends. I've tagged my center plate on the Oslo while the corners are around 550 and it was around 7-800. So really you could just be running the Oslo at a higher temp than you were the VC.

 

[bens_igloo]

Beautiful stove! Happy to hear you're happy : )

 

[Toploader]

Hello everyone, and thanks to those that have helped out.

Had the first heating fire in her this morning. Got her going and let it cruise at 450. I must say, the enamel on the VC was a much softer heat. This baby cranks. I had a window open with an exhaust fan in it to dissipate some of the remaining off gasses, and the house was still holding at 69, thermostat at 60. Not bad.

I left with her in the coaling stage, didn't want to pack it for the first time then leave. Got home about 2 hrs later, stove top at 300. Did 2 splits E/W then 3 splits N/S. Took right off, stovetop at 500. Air fully open. Gonnal put a couple more on and shut her down and see what happens. So far so good!

Great to hear that you are liking it, I think if your first impressions are good then it's likely that it's going to work well for you since people often struggle a bit at first when they switch to a new stove. Mine is working overtime today but with rain moving in and temps rising for the next bunch of days it will get a bit of a break.

 

[Elle]

You will love it!

 

[Sniper8541]

Thanks everyone. The house has been at 74 (in the dining room, through the kitchen and an entryway to the thermostat) since maybe noon. It's been running between 450-500 on the stove top with the air about 2/3 closed. I closed the air all the way down and opened a window in the living room! Running around 300-350 now.

On the VC I left the stovetop thermo behind the griddle, above the cat. The Oslo is a bigger stove so it radiates more, obviously, but even opening to reload is much more precarious with a short sleeve on!

She likes to run hot!

 

[newatthis]

So that is your first, break in fire with just 3-4 small splits, and you got to 450? I am still struggling to get our heat up. We really have to pack it with wood to get the heat even to the burn range. I guess the moisture meter that someone is getting for Christmas will be helpful.

 

[claydogg84]

So that is your first, break in fire with just 3-4 small splits, and you got to 450? I am still struggling to get our heat up. We really have to pack it with wood to get the heat even to the burn range. I guess the moisture meter that someone is getting for Christmas will be helpful.

I can get mine up to 450-550 with 3 decent pieces only on a bed of coals. Fresh starts usually take a bit more wood and time. I usually load up at 9:00 at night to go to bed at 10:00. I've been getting better though so instead of it taking me an hour, it takes about 30 minutes until I have the air 3/4 closed and secondaries firing off nicely.

 

[xman23]

Only after the stove is hot and a bed of coals can 3 splits get this beast to 450.

 

[rgram]

Hi all, new guy here. Been checking this forum out for quite some time.
I figured I would finally check in on yet another Oslo thread.
I just noticed a couple of days ago when I was looking at some receipts that this stove was installed back in 1999 ! I didn't relize it had been that long.
Just replaced the first gasket on the side door the other day. Don't know if I'll ever have to change the front door gasket because like everyone else it rarely gets used.
I have to agree with everyone that this a great stove as long as your wood is dry. Crank it up get her going then slowly back it down.

Great forum with so many knowledgable people.

Here she is doing her thing.

Thanks Bob

 

[Simonkenton]

Thanks for the report, Bob. That is a beautiful thing. I can feel the warmth from here. That looks like 2 happy dogs.

 

[Toploader]

That's an old Oslo Bob, looks great. I thought mine was getting up there, it's from 2002 and even though I'm the second owner I know the previous owner didn't spend a dime on it. I've replaced the steel baffles the door gaskets and one fire brick, not bad for 13 years of service.

 

[rgram]

Yea its been a great stove. No complaints well except the ash spilling out the front door if you open it. I remember struggling in the beginning until I figured out the need for well seasoned wood.
I did notice a bit of warping of one of the steel baffles a while back but I'm not concerned yet. I guess I'll replace them at some point.
The dogs like it, especially Annie. I find here laying in front watching the flames.

 

[Sniper8541]

Nice Bob. Hopefully I have to spend as much as you do on upkeep!

Claydog I agree. I was really surprised how long it took to get some heat on start up. In some of the earlier posts I commented on how much wood I had to use to get her to temp. Once I had it to about 350 with some good coals I stacked 2 E/W on the bottom and 3 N/S on top. Then it got to 450-500 and stayed until I closed the air down and opened a window. Really happy with this stove. 5 splits is the biggest load so far. On my VC that was more like average.

Newatthis, I has already done the 3 break in fires. This was my first fire to heat the house with. I found that using a ton of kindling, where in my other stove I would have been putting on splits, I was still adding the splitter trash I save. I thought a split would smother it out. So I probably sat in front of the stove for 40 mins to get where I thought I could put on anything bigger. I did check the MC on my stuff and was all under 20. I do wonder if the kindling is still wet though. It all gets thrown in garbage barrels as I split so I guess the stuff on the bottom and middle could be wet? Maybe that's why it took so much

 

[firefighterjake]

Every year I keep checking the gasket of my Oslo and keep thinking that this will be the year the gaskets will need replacing . . . so far, so good.

I am very much impressed though with Rgram's report -- didn't change even a gasket since 1999. Impressive!

 

[Sniper8541]

What do you guys run overnight temps at? Do they stay steady for a bit or does it start to fall when you shut it down?
I got it up to temp this morning, 500 stovetop, 250 flu. That's a little hot for my liking on the flu. Had some good coals and put in a pretty good load. Started to turn it down from half way. So at 1/2 air it's burning at 500 and looks like if left alone would take off. But when I cut the air, it drops rapidly between 300-400. Stays around 300. Is this an acceptable overnight temp?

It heated the house to 78 from the wake up temp of 72 pretty fast. I didn't really load her up last night, wanted to wait so I could watch the burn. It was out this morning, a couple pea sized coals, and the stove top was at 150. With the temps in the mid to low 40's, it gets too hot, wonder how that will hold off colder temps.