Looking to change a 2011 Jotul Oslo to ?

[woodworker that Burns]

HI,

I Have a Jotul Oslo and looking to possibly upgrade to a stove with a Cat to get longer burn times, reduce wood consumption and I hate the Ash Pan.

Details:
- 1800 sqft
- House built 1968, 2x4 walls, the first floor was insulated with rockwool, 1" poly-iso attached to the studs then drywall. the second floor 2x4 and I assume Pink insulation.
- Roof is low pitch Cathedral 2x6 with 4" Pink ( I know it sucks...)
- The Stove is placed in the Front center of the house and is open to the second floor, there is a ceiling fan above which moves the heat around pretty good.
- On an insulated slab
- Lots of glass, three windows alone are about 36"x75"
- Currently burn about 4 cords a year

With the Jotul we pretty much wake up to very little or no coals and we are gone all day so I don't usually burn daytime M-H. I could probably improve that as I am not fully packing that thing since I am burning 16" wood, i switched from 18"to 16" for easier handling but could go to 20" and smaller splits. I am concerned if I fully load it that it may take off on me, I have had a few... I have replaced door gaskets but suspect I am not tight somewhere...

I could go over it completely and solve a potential issue but even if I do find any air leaks I will still be faced with feeding that thing and I feel like there is little control, either too hot or not, or to maintain a good temp constant monitoring. and then there is the ash pan! lol...

So I have been looking at the BK Ashford 30.2 which on paper solves or at least improves most of my issues with the Jotul, am I drunk, will I be ahead? claims 30% less wood, even if its 15-20% its less splitting, stacking, handling etc.. 30hr burn times, even if its 12 with a bed of hot coals its a win. and the temp control, how well does that work, the though of loading it to the max and it regulating the temp to the setting is dreamy. and that ash pan, oo la la! Also I can stick with my 16" wood as I can load front to back and max it.

Currently the price is $4417 out the door which includes a VT $400 rebate and then of course the 30% tax rebate with will bring the cost down to $3100. Is now a good time to buy, don't want to pay that tariff if comes I saw some stoves where the dealer is adding 2.5% now.

Thoughts? should I consider other stoves?

Thanks, Mark

 

[bigealta]

If it was me, i'd dial in my burns with larger and longer splits. 20" at least. Fatter splits will lessen the chance of the fire getting away from you and will burn longer and leave better coals. Pack it full or close to full.

Also making sure your wood is very dry and seasoned for 2 or 3 years split and stacked.

I'd also run a smoke stick around the jotul stove and see if you can track down any air leaks.

A bk may run much longer but that also means it's putting out much less heat, so if you run it on low all the time to extend the burn you may not get enough heat from it. Something to consider being you are in a cold climate.

 

[Todd]

If I lived where you do I’d take a trip to Woodstock Soapstone.

 

[begreen]

In cat stoves, look at both the BK 30.2 series and the Woodsock Progress Hybrid. They can deliver long burn times, when outdoor temps are mild. When pushed for heat, the long burn time drops dramatically. That said, 8-12 hr. regular winter burntimes are possible.

In non-cats, look at cast iron jacketed stoves like the Jotul F55 and the PE Alderlea T6.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How tall is your chimney? The PE is an easy breather. I wouldn’t choose it if the chimney/flue is on the taller side.

 

[stovelark]

With 16" pieces of wood, that is under utilizing the firebox a lot (15-20% I'd think) so shorter burn times obviously would be seen. Having said that, if you want that new BK, sounds like a good deal price wise. And selling the Oslo, you'll get some more of your investment back. I burned the Oslo for years, it was a beautiful heater, heated about 1600 sqft nicely. I used about 20" pieces of wood, although up to 22 would fit ok. If that stove has burned around 50 cords, its time to check its integrity and sometimes, just peace of mind with a new stove is a great thing too. Good luck in your search.

 

[woodworker that Burns]

If it was me, i'd dial in my burns with larger and longer splits. 20" at least. Fatter splits will lessen the chance of the fire getting away from you and will burn longer and leave better coals. Pack it full or close to full.

Also making sure your wood is very dry and seasoned for 2 or 3 years split and stacked.

I'd also run a smoke stick around the jotul stove and see if you can track down any air leaks.

A bk may run much longer but that also means it's putting out much less heat, so if you run it on low all the time to extend the burn you may not get enough heat from it. Something to consider being you are in a cold climate.

Thanks for the reply, larger splits are my challenge I used to get 18"-20" split and delivered but switched to 16" mostly due to handling and I have to bring it though some tight spots in the house. I have never had the luxury of being ahead by 2-3 years, I am splitting and stacking 2025-2026 right now. I am usually in the higher end 18-22% but find if I bring in about 4-7 days worth a few days ahead it comes down below 20%, still too high but....

I ordered some smoke sticks...

like you said I realized that it it must put out less heat over time because wood is wood and outputs the same BTU's no matter the stove but then realized to some extent that it is extending the burn time via the CAT being efficient of squeezing out as much BTU's out of the smoke/gasses that would other wise go up the flue which is why the Flue temps are lower in a Cat stove. But it is still limiting heat output buy not letting you open up wide like a traditional stove, I suppose you could leave the bypass open but then there would be no secondary combustion, IDK maybe I got all this wrong...lol

 

[woodworker that Burns]

If I lived where you do I’d take a trip to Woodstock Soapstone.

We have looked at them, we don't like the aesthetic of them. Several people I know have them and say once they are going they are great but in milder weather are a bit of a pain with the stop/start

 

[woodworker that Burns]

In cat stoves, look at both the BK 30.2 series and the Woodsock Progress Hybrid. They can deliver long burn times, when outdoor temps are mild. When pushed for heat, the long burn time drops dramatically. That said, 8-12 hr. regular winter burntimes are possible.

In non-cats, look at cast iron jacketed stoves like the Jotul F55 and the PE Alderlea T6.

Thanks, the BK 30.2 is what we are looking at, if we can get 8-12hr burn times at full blast (or close to) and have coals left over that would be great. I fired up the Jotul last night at around 10pm i had a bed of hot coals 2"+ put 3 med sized 16" splits in. At 11pm I closed down the air ( the lever below the front door) this morning at 6:30 am no hot coals and one split maybe 1/4 burned. I mainly shut it down so i could see if I had any air leaks, I am thinking i don't based on what I saw this morning.

My ideal situation would be... Load stove 10-11pm, have hot coals - 6-7am, load stove, have hot coals - 5-6 pm, Load stove - repeat....
in addition a bonus would be that the Temp is more consistent, with the Jotul its all over the place, too much heat, not enough... to keep it close to consistent you have to babysit it. I am not expecting miracles, it's wood heat so i get that it won't be perfect.

 

[woodworker that Burns]

With 16" pieces of wood, that is under utilizing the firebox a lot (15-20% I'd think) so shorter burn times obviously would be seen. Having said that, if you want that new BK, sounds like a good deal price wise. And selling the Oslo, you'll get some more of your investment back. I burned the Oslo for years, it was a beautiful heater, heated about 1600 sqft nicely. I used about 20" pieces of wood, although up to 22 would fit ok. If that stove has burned around 50 cords, its time to check its integrity and sometimes, just peace of mind with a new stove is a great thing too. Good luck in your search.

I used to burn 18"-20" for a few years but I was buying split/delivered and was always having to re-split because there were a lot of oversized so I switched to 16" wood (I am committed to using that size), I now have a splitter and for the past few years gotten all the wood off my property so I have more control but will need to still buy some Blocks, logs or split starting next year.

Anyway I realized that I am under utilizing that stove and if I want to stick with 16-18" then I need a stove where I can load Front to Back. I have probably burned about 50 cords

 

[woodworker that Burns]

How tall is your chimney? The PE is an easy breather. I wouldn’t choose it if the chimney/flue is on the taller side.

I think 15'-18'

 

[begreen]

Thanks, the BK 30.2 is what we are looking at, if we can get 8-12hr burn times at full blast (or close to) and have coals left over that would be great. I fired up the Jotul last night at around 10pm i had a bed of hot coals 2"+ put 3 med sized 16" splits in. At 11pm I closed down the air ( the lever below the front door) this morning at 6:30 am no hot coals and one split maybe 1/4 burned. I mainly shut it down so i could see if I had any air leaks, I am thinking i don't based on what I saw this morning.

My ideal situation would be... Load stove 10-11pm, have hot coals - 6-7am, load stove, have hot coals - 5-6 pm, Load stove - repeat....
in addition a bonus would be that the Temp is more consistent, with the Jotul its all over the place, too much heat, not enough... to keep it close to consistent you have to babysit it. I am not expecting miracles, it's wood heat so i get that it won't be perfect.

It'll do that. You also find that cast iron clad steel stoves like the Ashford, F55, or T6, provide more even heat with less room temperature swings unlike straight cast iron stoves like the F500 which are much more radiant. We went from the F400 to the T6 and the difference with room temp was immediately apparent. It is much more even with the T6.

 

[amccarthy3]

We have run the BK Ashford 30.2 for 2 years - the stove keeps our 1,800 sq ft home at 70 and our propane heat does not come on - granted we live in SE PA. Usually run the air at 3/4 open and have plenty of coals after 12 hours, wide open might get 6-8 hours with coals left. 24 hour burns are no problem this time of year with air at 1/2 - 1/3 open, 30+ hour burns are possible closed down to 1/4 open but with only some embers left to light paper or twigs. I did have to replace the cat already under warranty (it separated from the casing). I don't use the ash tray, just rake embers to the side and shovel ash into small metal trash can every Saturday morning, that's loading 2 times a day during winter. A good layer of ash helps burn longer. Dry wood is the key. After 20 years with a leaky VC stove this stove is great. Hope this helps.