WhatStove?

Review of Jotul F 100

Great little stove and looks amazing

7 years ago

I really wanted an open fire, I'm not interested in heat efficiency, for me it's all about atmosphere, the open flames, feeling the real warmth (not through glass), the sound of the crackling, the smell of the wood, it's all about the senses. For some reason my chimney would not allow me to have an open fire, so I had no choice but to get a stove. I resented that, I find them ugly for one. I trawled through hundreds of stoves, on UK, French, German and US websites. The Jotul F100 was the only one I found visually appealing for the size that I needed. There is a point to this paragraph... the fact that I rate this stove highly says a lot given the above.

I got the one with the tracery door and visually it looks great, even when the stove is not in use. The flame picture is equally good, the tracery door only really has one arch and the metal work is quite slim so it does not detract from the flame picture.

The air wash also works very well, but only when the air vent is on maximum (in my case anyway). I do still clean the glass every other week or so as you get a little bit of soot, but it's only minor.

I did not get off to a great start with the stove, I could not get the fire to last more than 20 minutes, but this turned out to be due to my own lack of experience. A couple of months down the line and I now have great big roaring fires quickly that last for hours. It's all about how you set it up. I do not need to keep the door ajar either like other reviewers have. I do find however that I need to keep the air vent on maximum 90% of the time otherwise the fire dies out, but that could be down to my individual chimney.

On a side note (stove fans lovers will be horrified) I like that I can have the door wide open and benefit from an open fire to a degree. Though I would like it to open more wide, 90 degrees is better than I expected.

I now no longer resent having had to get a wood burner, thank you Jotul.

Overall rating:

4.5 flames

Build Quality 4 flames (avg 4.7)
Quality of finish 4 flames (avg 4.8)
Value for money 4 flames (avg 4.1)
Ease of use 5 flames (avg 4.2)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 4 flames (avg 4)
How well does the airwash work 4 flames (avg 4.3)
Controllability 5 flames (avg 4.3)
Handle operation 5 flames (avg 4.7)
How likely are you to buy it again? 5 flames (avg 4.2)
What is your overall satisfaction? 4 flames (avg 4)