Review: Jotul F 3 CB
Reviewed October 16, 2019 by
Bufatutu
Overall Performance:
Efficiency:
Ease of Use:
Jotul F 3 CB
I live on the north side of NH's White Mountains, where the cold comes early, gets really nasty, and stays late. I use the wood stove every day from mid-October to early May. Over the years, between my two homes(the other even further north in northern Canada), I've had two Vermont Castings Intrepids, two other quality wood stoves, and two very basic stoves. In spite of my long experience with wood burning, this Jotul F3 took me some time to understand and get just right. With no damper and no airtight control, it was hard to keep the fire from burning too hot, which I've learned is a stove destroyer.
I've now owned this stove for seven years. Properly managed, it is a highly efficient burner and heater and attractive to boot. I burn two to three cords of mixed hardwoods--ash, sugar maple, beech, white and yellow birch--a year. Because I've learned to be careful to only use well-seasoned wood and because of the efficiency of the stove, I get virtually no ash or soot when I or more rarely a chimneysweep puts the brush through the pipes. While the stove doesn't look new after seven years, there's no rust, no chinks, and little visible signs of age. I really love my Jotul.