Jotul F 400 Castine
Jotul's F 400 Castine provides a burn time of up to eight hours and comes with either a top or rear flue outlet. Jotul claims an overall efficiency of 73%, and the stove is rated to heat up to 1,600 square feet. The stove can be ordered in blue/black, ivory, or Jotul enamel colors. The Castine is one of the heavier stoves you will find for its size, weighing in at 375 lbs. Accessories include a fire screen, rear heatshield, short leg kit, and floor bracket kit.
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I’ve been using wood stoves for 50 years and have to say I am very disappointed by this one. It eats up wood and needs to be run full throttle to realize much heat. But even when shut down it goes through wood way too fast. No way to run it through the night. The box is actually much smaller than it seems as the inside top comes way down into the inside. If you can fit more than three med. ...Overall Performance:
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The reviews on this stove baffle me because the majority of complaints seem to relate directly to poor drafting as opposed to poor stove performance. This is my 14th year with this stove and I put 3-4 cords per winter through it without a single problem. It is incredibly efficient - I start each fire with a single fire starter square and have never had a problem with smoke blowing back into the ...Overall Performance:
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I do not write reviews normally, however I feel that there is no way all of these positive reviews are legitimate. I have used a few wood stoves for approximately 30 years and never had any problems since purchasing the Jotul F400. I sincerely wish we had kept out previous Upland stove but my wife wanted something prettier so we went with the Ivory Castine. The issues are that first of all the ...Overall Performance:
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We have heated with wood for 40 years, since 2010 with the Jotul f 400. We heat a well insulated 1700 square foot house. We are very happy with this stove. We love the glass to see the fire, which we didn't have with our box of a stove before. Now we are having a serious problem with the door handle. the movement is very stiff and there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it. It is hard to open or ...Overall Performance:
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I love my Jotul F400 wood stove. I live in the middle of Cincinnati Ohio in a big old brick house and the wood stove sits prominently right in front of the living room fireplace. I plumbed the stove-pipe into the old rectangular fire-brick fireplace chimney and sealed around the stove-pipe with copper sheet metal grouted to the upper fireplace rows. The chimney is about 25' tall, and there is ...Overall Performance:
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A wonderful stove, even though a bunch of trolls seem to proliferate lies to the counter. Easy to use, very low emissions, great looking on my hearth and it provides a controlled burn with no smoke, ever. We are very happy and will by a smaller one next season for our family room.Overall Performance:
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The F 400 is simply a flawed design. As many previous reviewers have noted, it doesn't draw well and belches smoke when the door is opened. I burn well seasoned hardwood and have good clean 6" insulated stainless chimney with over 18' of vertical rise. I've tried various venting schemes from straight up out of the stove with no bends to straight back horizontally and then 90 degrees up. I've ...Overall Performance:
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I upgraded in 2010 from a 1979 Vermont Casting Resolute with thermostatic air inlet damper because I wanted cleaner burns, a larger window and the beautiful cream color. Re-used old triple-wall pipe, straight shot up, 15' run to cap. Out of the crate, I broke one leg at a bolt slot while tipping to one side (as recommended) to remove from crate base. The dealer would not replace it, so I made ...Overall Performance:
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I love this stove, lights easy and been heating my entire top floor for three seasons. I have broken the glass (ceramic actually) once but that was my fault. Burns all night if you know how to use it. If the dampper is closed you will get smoke in the house when you open the door. The trick with mine is to open the dampper (not ash bin) for a couple of seconds to gain draft before you open ...Overall Performance:
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Installed this stove last year and have been very pleased with its performance. I see a lot of poor reviews on here but am thinking these people just didn't do their homework when installing it or just don't know how to use a wood stove. This has been the coldest winter in years and this thing completely heats my 1100 sqft ranch homeOverall Performance:
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Hate this stove! I grew up with a Jotul and it was great. My husband got a cheap stove from Home Depot for downstairs we have had it for years, we wanted to get off oil so we bought a "good" stove for our living room. If you want to breath in smoke all day and look at black glass I would recommend this stove. Our cheap big box store stove never smokes the glass is always clean and you don't go ...Overall Performance:
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I have had the Castine stove for 3 years now. I have a small ranch about 1500 square feet and it heats the whole house with ease. It is easy to clean and the large viewing door is a favorite of my kids. I would highly recommend this stove.Overall Performance:
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I have owned this stove for almost 6 years. The stove puts off a lot of heat and we can heat the majority of our house with it. Last winter when the electricity was out we cooked Mac & Cheese for the kids. The stove is easy to use but, if you don't know how to make a fire I'm sure your rating will be different.Overall Performance:
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I have had this stove for 8 years and overall am pleased with the performance. I had a Vermont Casting Vigilent previously and miss the damper lever which always allowed me to put in wood from the top without any smoke problem. The stove burns efficiently and heats very well (2300' house) provided you clean it thoroughly every year. I would recommend this stove.Overall Performance:
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I have heated with wood stoves for over 40 yrs. and have had 6 or 7 Jotul models. Each one is different and you need to learn how they work, it has been my experiance that most people simply vent there stove it to an existing chimney and expect it to preform like a champ. any stove is designed to operate with the same size flue that exits from the stove. For example if the flue size coming out of ...Overall Performance:
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This is our second Jotal in 11 years, they replaced the first one due to the cream paint flaking off, the present one is 5 years old has paint flaking off as well, and the pre heater baffle has rusted out, the fire door glass has warped and lets in air, dealer we bought it from is not interested, really disappointed, won't ever buy another one or recommend one to anyone. Live in Australia, we ...Overall Performance:
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The fist two years this stove was great. Loved it. After a bed of coals is established, it consumes single pieces of 14" cord wood just fine. One piece per hour. Then, at night, I bank it so the draft is fully closed and this results in 6 to 8 hour burns. I never have to start a fire from scratch. On the down side, the window on the stove is never clean (overnight banking turns the window ...Overall Performance:
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I heated for years with a Vermont Castings Defiant woodstove. I replaced it beause I thought the stove he warped nd was drafting too much. (as it turned out it was overuse of gasket glue... Another story...) I do not like this Jotul stove. It burns way too hot. The gigantic wood box is not useful because I can't load it up for fear it will burn the house down. I am not sure where the draft ...Overall Performance:
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Excellent stove... Like most you must have absolutely dry, preferably aged 1+yr hardwood. Green wood will not burn. With a good chimney and good wood, my stove heats the entire downstairs of my large house very efficiently. Major problem: Does anyone know the knack for replacing the top inner shield? This is the one that you remove in order to clean out a vertical flue. I clean my flue ...Overall Performance:
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Has anyone who has this stove had a problem with the damper being extremely hard to open and close. I looked through the manual and got no help.Overall Performance:
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We've owned this stove for over ten years (the double door model). I grew up with wood stoves, mostly the stamped-steel, black Buck stove variety. Most reviews I have read here are from fairly inexperienced users and their complaints are probably due to chimney problems. Don't expect a modern, efficient wood stove to perform well in a cold, exterior brick chimney or one that has inadequate ...Overall Performance:
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Anyone know how to fix a dropped door? The hinge pins are slack resulting in the door dropping about 3mm (1/8"). This causes the pivot lock on the far side of the handle to catch the burner frame. Any ideas?Overall Performance:
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Had this stove installed on 12-19-2012. This is an excellent stove and I have no complaints. This stove is easy to use, has a long burn time,( I get between 6-7 hours), and looks great. The complaints on this board are releated to one or more of the following. 1-green wood 2-poor draft 3-operator errorOverall Performance:
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As with any woodstove there are factors to consider. Quality of wood, draft, and of course user habits. I think it is a tad unfair to blast a stove or any product for that matter with out knowing all the facts. When you buy this stove there are ratings on the lit that the stove shops share with you. It does in deed list max log size, max BTU out put, and max burn time. If for any reason you ...Overall Performance:
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Yotul has been around since 1853, and make great stoves. Being an owner of the castine I can say that this stove is perfect. Do your research before purchasing a woodstove. There is alot to learn. Other reviews of this stove say it leaks smoke from the door. It will if you do it wrong. Other say the ceramic glass will get dirty. It will if you do it wrong. Broken glass won't happen unless you ...Overall Performance:
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Love it!! We have owned several stoves and this is by far the BEST!! If someone is having problems with this stove, they either have draft issues or they just do not know what they are doing. Well worth the additional cost!Overall Performance:
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It took a season to learn to "work" with this stove. I now never have any trouble lighting (there are always coals from the previous burn), glass stays clear once it is sealed tight, heat regulation is precise, there is NO smoke within 5 minutes of lighting.. Overnight temperatures in the New Mexico mountains are 0-10F, though last Feb temperatures fell to -30F., yet the stove kept our 1600 sq ...Overall Performance:
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I have owned, used, supplied and installed every single Jotul traditional cast iron stove from the F100 to the F600. Some of my customers who have purchased the F400 have complained about the glass not keeping clean. Initially I put this down to poor quality of wood, draught issues or simply the inability of the user to operate the stove correctly. However, to get to the bottom of this I have now ...Overall Performance:
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I need to fix the draft adjustment (seems 'off track' -- not connected to handle): On the schematic, it appears that the cover to the draft (#43) is held by two bolts (#31). But there is a third bolt (#41) that does not loosen the cover, it seems (I stopped turning after a few turns). To get this cover off, do I just keep after this third bolt? Thanks. (OTHERWISE, the stove is great, just ...Overall Performance:
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Correct my last post: In reference to both doors; never open the ash drawer door, it will create a scarey big fire almost instantly. I mispoke when I mentioned both doors. (was thinking about my old waterford stove) Wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Ignite kindling and keep the (glass door only) open a crack until the fire pulls the smoke up the chimney, then add progessively larger ...Overall Performance:
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This stove is perfectly fine. A lot of the reviews seem to be from folks who expect a stove to make up for other flaws in their house. In an insulated home that is reasonably airtight a 400-500 degree burn keeps the house at a constant 72+ degrees due to the mass of the cast iron. If it burns to hot I use larger diameter wood. When starting use kindling and keep both doors almost all the way ...Overall Performance:
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F400 is designed with one of, if not the biggest viewing area in the industry for that size stove. To gain this, there is very little to hold in the smoke, so do open the door slowly. They have had some trouble with smoke spillage due to this. There is also a cast piece on the top of the stove that was designed to help with the draw, it can actually be taken out to help with the problem. I am not ...Overall Performance:
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I should of read these comments 3 years ago. All the bad things said are true. 55,000 BTU output is a lie. Smokes every time the door is opened, no customer support, short burn time, hard to light, hard to re-fuel, works best with small wood, door glass cracks. It looks nice, well made but poor performanceOverall Performance:
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A very good Stove. My last stove was an ancient Vermont castings that was not up to the task due to age and size. I have a 2000 square foot cape with a walkout finished basement which is where the stove is located. It heats all three floors fine under normal winter conditions. We did have a couple of nights where the temperature got down to -17 below and that was bit of a strain, but it still ...Overall Performance:
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We have had the stove now for just over two months and with the exception of this week ( new batch of wood) I have been very satisfied with it. It starts easily with a fire starting brick and dry kindling and runs consistently at 400-550 degrees. The damper control is super simple and responds very quickly to subtle changes. This week has required us to open the door slightly for better draft ...Overall Performance:
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stove heats our entire house: 2300 square feet. this is possible in part becasue of all the sealing an reinsulating that we did on our 40 year old house. The first 3 weeks of owning the stove was a nightmare becaue I had not learned how to properly use it. 1) DRY WOOD is very important. 2) build a properly constructed fire, light it and CLOSE THE DOOR. 3) DO NOT open the door while there are ...Overall Performance:
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We were a bit dismayed with some smoking during the first few days of use, afraid that we had made a purchase that we would regret. But within another couple of days, we were delighted with it. We'd been using a Vermont Castings Resolute for almost 30 years, and wanted to upgrade to something more efficient. As it turned out, we just needed to figure out how best to use the Jotul. With the ...Overall Performance:
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Regretfully this stove has two serious design flaws. As mentioned in several comments, it smokes every time you open the door to add wood and it often burns out of control. I am extremely dissapointed with Jodul and will never buy their products again, I am not impressed with a company that is uninterested in customer feedback - there is no "contact us" link in their web site! This stove may look ...Overall Performance:
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I'm in my third winter with my Castine. It's in my office in the lower floor (basement) of my 2000 sq ft, 3-level house. We're in Western Wisconsin, near Stillwater, MN, so it gets fairly cold sometimes. The stove is not our primary heat source - we have a geothermal heat pump for that, but when the stove is going the heat pump rarely runs. I prefer to keep my office area below about 73 F, so ...Overall Performance:
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This was a very expensive wood stove. The tax credit made it viable to own. My chimney guy recommended the Jotul brand. He wanted me to consider a insert. I wanted a wood stove. This was the largest one I could get with out putting in a cove. It sits in front of a gas insert that was in the home when I bought it. I have just broke in the Jotul f400 following the instructions to the letter. Puts ...Overall Performance:
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Bought my F400 in 2003. It worked pretty well until the past 2 years during which it developed puff back problems and occasional overfiring. Even with the damper open about 1/4, the secondary burners will suddenly go dead, followed a few seconds later by room-filling puff back. Opening the damper reduces puff backs but also leads to occasional runaways (700F+). I've had 2 detailed inspections ...Overall Performance:
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Overall very pleased with the F 400 only problem is with the Ivory enamel which is very poor and flaking off. has anyone else had this problem.Overall Performance:
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I have a F400 and it is the best money I have ever spent. I have no problems getting an 8 hr burn out of it and it does not smoke up my house. From what I am reading in this blog the people that do not like this stove have NO IDEA how to use a controled combustion woodstove. They are most likely burning un-split,not dried, soft wood that has NO BTU value at all. I have been in the fireplace ...Overall Performance:
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I am sorry I purchased this woodstove. I went for the name and the stove's good looks. It smokes even with kiln dried wood. And it does "take off" to a scary degree at times. We have the chimney cleaned twice a year just because I don't trust this thing.Overall Performance:
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I now have the misfortune of living with a Jotul--the second in my life now, and am having the same experience as before. Impossible stove. Hard to light, takes off at random intervals, coals just drop to the ash drawer. Awful stove.Overall Performance:
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It's pretty, but very temperamental. You need WELL seasoned wood or you'll have a hard time keeping the burn going without the ash door being partly open. As you might expect, that leads to much more wood consumption. Further, if you are not burning wide open, you'll get smoke in the room every time you open the door--lots of it. I wouldn't buy this stove again.Overall Performance:
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This is the second winter that I've had this stove. My previous home had a Vermont Casting Resolute. My comparisons: Fire starting: The Jotul is easier to start because I can open the ash door for a minute and that super feeds the burn. Burn time: The Vermont burned for eight hours with three logs, the Jotul about three hours. Efficiency: Burning a 400 to 500 fire, the Vermont easily ...Overall Performance:
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I've got a lot of experience w/woodstoves in general & this one in particular; it's outstanding. House is 1,500 sq ft, gas heat never comes on if outside temperature >30º F.Overall Performance:
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I should have read the reviews before buying this stove. It is nearly impossible to get a fire started without constant attention. Smoke bellows out every time the door is open - whether it is just starting up or has been running. I hate this stove and would never recommend this stove anyone!Overall Performance:
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I purchased the castine just before last years heating season. I also was getting smoked when opening the door while the fire was going. This season its great, yes you do have to let the wood burn to coals before you open the door even with a 25 foot chimney. When starting or adding wood I do open the ash door slightly to allow more draft but stay there to control it because it will get hot ...Overall Performance:
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My number one frustration is tryng to contact Jotul. Their website has no contact location that I can find, If I'm mistake please let me know. Nothing more painful than purchasing something for this kind of money and the manufacturer is not interested in hearing from you. Never purchase a Jotul again.Overall Performance:
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I have had this stove for two years as primary heat. Glass broke once for no apparent reason and you can not open door during any time no matter how hot without smoke filling the room. Not real happy with this product. The glass is black all the time no matter how hot it gets. I am considering adding additional chimney. Any suggestion. Anyone want to purchased a good used Jotul?Overall Performance:
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It's 1 in the morning and I should be in bed but, I bought a Jotul F400 stove recently, and it doesn't seem to be working correctly. I loaded 3 good size logs in it about 3 hours ago, and they have burned up already, and roasted me awake. Now I have a burned finger, a house that is 76 degrees, and from the looks of it, no wood left to burn for the next 5 hours of sleep. The logs I put in would ...Overall Performance:
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It is usually very difficult to start a fire with this stove and requires super dry wood (seasoned 3 or more years for woods higher on the btu scale) and/or lots of kindling to operate efficiently. Many times it will be necessary to use the ash pan door as an aid to facilitate the draft negating the heat output potential of the stove. I would not recommend the Castine for use in rear vented ...Overall Performance:
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Now that I've experienced a winter with this new stove, I still haven't figured out how to solve the smoking problem. When I first start a fire or the outside draft is poor, my house fills with smoke when I open the stove door no matter what I do. Once the fire does get cranking the smoke is less of a problem. I've burned twice as much would as with my other stove because I need to keep the draft ...Overall Performance:
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I have a love-hate relationship with this stove. When it works right it's great, but at times it will overheat, no matter what I do. Even with the doors shut tight, the primary air intake shut down all the way and the damper on the chimney closed, it will still burn like a blast furnace. What doesn't make sense is that at other times it is perfectly well behaved. Does any one else have a ...Overall Performance:
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We've had ours for three winters now, and it is used constantly from about October to March, everyday. It heats our living room, but our house is big and four finished floors. The rest of the house stays cold and we use a gas boiler to keep the house around 65 degrees. The living room is over 100 near the woodstove, which feels great in the winter. It drops to 75 or so just 15 feet away, so ...Overall Performance:
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I have to say that I'm very disappointed with the F400. Every time I open the door on the F400, smoke comes out into the room, no matter how slowly I open it. It sometimes "runs away" and burns much too hot (+600) even though it's turned all the way down and the ash drawer and front door are closed tightly. (Very Scary!) I've had my chimney inspected (and cleaned ) by a professional and there's ...Overall Performance:
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This stove is outstanding. I stoke with pinion at 9pm, and there are plenty of coals to restart at 6am. After 13 hours, there are still coals and can be babied to relight with kindling. When hot, temperature very easy to modulate. Flue is straight up, and about 11'. I might add another 3' to help with re-starting (so I don't have to open the ash pan door). 900sf mobile home, outside 5-20F ...Overall Performance:
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Try lighting a very high flame paper fire before atttempting to burn wood. I light the paper in several areas and let the flame get high. Close the doors and open the ash pan if necessary. You should see the drsft start right up. Once that draft is established you should be fine. 2300 sqft house warm and cozy, no furnace.Overall Performance:
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Awesome stove! I have experienced some of the problems listed in this blog, but it just takes some getting used to. I have had all Vermont Castings (2-resolute and a vigilant) and I have to say I like this better. I have some tips for avoiding a smoke out. Otherwise fire good foor a good 8 hours, class very clear. Again awesome!Overall Performance:
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Purchased 3 years ago. Firebox too small. Struggles to get temp in room (900 sf) to low 60's when outside temp is in 30's. All other factors seem ok, e.g. draft, seasoned wood, stove burn temp between 400 - 500 degrees. Very disappointed in stoves inability to provide warmth we expected with this stove. Would appreciate advise.Overall Performance:
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Smokes out my house every time I start a fire. BAD BAD BAD. gets hot in about 30 minutes. Very nice to look at. Will not buy again. Does not burn threw the night...Overall Performance:
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Super efficient stove that requires more operator exreience on the part of owners w/complaints as I experienced these as well. Its 10 degrees outside and my oil burner isn't on yet (2000 ft2). Firebox is small but managable w/proper wood. No outside indicator of a stove in my house, just heat striations if you look really close. You need to understand how the re-burner works to get full ...Overall Performance:
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Very good stove. fire will not last more than 8 hours and the draft could be better when starting a fire. it appears that all new stove have a smaller firebox to allow for additional space for energy efficiency parts. no prbelm with the glass, burn a hot fire 400 -500.Overall Performance:
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I am a little disappointed in my new Jotul 400. I can't fit more than 3 pieces of wood in the box and there doesn't seem to be enough of a draft to prevent smoke from coming ino the room when I open the door. I'm forced to operate the stove with the ashpan door open to get enough draft when starting a fire. Burning embers frequently fall out of the stove when I open the door.Overall Performance:
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What a total waste of my tax rebate money. the glass has just broken for the second time, this gets a little expensive at 140.00 a piece. The coals fall out when you open the door, very little wood fits in it, about 3 pieces. The ash pan does nothing. This is not a good stove if you need it to last all day while you're at work because it will be dead by the time you come home. I never should have ...Overall Performance:
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Nice heavy duty stove. Heats up my downstairs and half my upstairs to around 73 degrees. Right now, it's about 30 degrees outside and I have the stove heating my whole house, without my furnace kicking in. Easy to clean and maintain.