The Jotul F100 is a 5.5kw output stove. The look of this Jotul stove is easy to recognise - it has a plain door or some delicate lattice work on the door.
Excellent stove, we bought it second hand for 50€ for a 20sqm room and if has worked flawlessly for the last 4 years,you do need relatively small logs but this is not an issue comparing to
I have marked it down a little because I think Jotul (and others) are a little pricey and the firebox size doesn't allow it to be loaded up for all night burning. I stopped trying in fact as
not only did it go out but with the register closed there is of course no airwash and the glass would be an absolute pain to clean. In normal operation this fire is superb and very efficient, the register is very controlable (though needs care as it gets very hot). The method we now adopt is to keep a good fire all night but let it die down for bedtime and not rekindle, shut the damper and by morning the fire is still radiating heat due to its cast iron construction. It can also be relit by just placing dry kindling in amongst the ash. It dismantles inside for thorough cleaning, 2 side walls and a top baffle all remove. If the flue is to rear then the top of the stove can also be lifted straight off to assist cleaning. This top has heat transfer 'stalagtites' that need wire brushing so I would see this as being very difficult if the top could not be removed.
Excellent stove, we bought it second hand for 50€ for a 20sqm room and if has worked flawlessly for the last 4 years,you do need relatively small logs but this is not an issue comparing to
In a previous house we had a Dovre (can''t remember the model) which was Ok as a stove but there was a problem with the round cover that goes where you can attach the flue, as the casting cracked
and the piece fell out. Our dealer at the time said it was our fault as we had been using the wrong wood. This was in Spain where it can be relatively difficult to get well dried hardwood and so we were burning a mixture of hard and soft woods, including eucalyptus and wattle (we had many of these trees on our land, and found it a pity not to use the wood). This type of wood cannot be properly seasoned because it attracts woodworm so you need to burn it within max two years of cutting down the tree. It doesn''t generally have as good thermal values as hard wood and can make a lot of soot if you add it to the fire before it gets properly hot.When we moved house we knew we wanted another stove and I did a thorough evaluation of different models and finally opted for the Jotul F100. The main reason being that it looked beautiful and that price-wise it seemed like a good trade off between price and performance. A friend of mine had an older model of this same stove and raved about it. This was my first time buying a stove as the other one was already there when we bought the house. One thing that dealers maybe don''t tell you is that besides the standard feet, the F100 can optionally be ordered which longer feet, which in my opinion look better. I discovered about this on the Internet and my dealer didn''t know about it and had to make a phone call to Jotul to get this clarified. Apparently the longer feet actually belong to a different model and thus need to be ordered separately, but they are compatible and fitting is no problem.We never had a problem getting the Jotul f100 started. It gets started and heats up very quickly. My wife likes to use starters but I go for the more traditional newspaper and kindling option. We don''t keep the door open for long as the fire rapidly burns well enough to be self sustaining. It can then be controlled with the two sliders. The lower slider is best used only for starting and the upper one for regulating the burn while operational.After an evening of burning the living room is nice and snug and warm but the rest of the house is still cold. So what we do is leave the living room door open when we go upstairs and the hot air rises making it warm upstairs too. Maintenance is easy. Once a year we brush the chimney flue for soot. The glass of the door needs to be cleaned every few weeks. This is very easy to do and it can be cleaned without any detergent. Just a ball of moist newspaper dipped in ash. The only down side, but this is very minor, is that the ash pan does not have a separate door but that you need to lift out the grate to get at the ashpan. I always like to leave a bit of charred wood from the old fire behind on the grate to help the new fire get started, so I always need to find somewhere to put this so I can put it back. We keep the old ash in a metal bin and it to scatter on the garden path when there is snow, or keep it for the Summer when we put it around the vegetable beds to discourage slugs. In terms of wood, we usually start off with hard wood and only add the softer stuff once the fire is really hot and burning well, maybe after an hour or so, so we don''t get problems with sooting up. We''ve had the F100 for about 10 years and never had an issue with anything breaking or needing any servicing that went beyond basic cleaning.We are now moving house again and have decided to purchase another F100. We didn''t even look at other models. This is how much we like this one. The present modern model differs in some minor details. Sadly the pattern on the top has been replaced by a smooth slab. But otherwise this is the same reliable piece of hardware.
We inherited this stove when we moved here. It's a poor thing compared with the 3 wood burners in our previous house (a Jotul, a Morso and a Charnwood). It's hard to light and draws poorly.
You have to leave the door open a bit to get it going, and even warm the chimney using burning newspaper first. It just doesn't seem to want to go, and even when fully alight it doesn't give off the heat of our Morso Squirrel, even with the draught fully open. It struggles to heat our room. I note that some other users have experienced just the same as us. It even blows back sometimes and fills the house with smoke - a new experience for us. Based on my experience, I would not recommend this wood burner to anyone, and indeed it is my intention to replace it in the near future. It's a disappointment because my previous Jotul was a winner.I
Stove expert replied:
It sounds very much as if there is a poor draw on this flue system and this should be investigated by a professional to check that adequate air etc is available to allow combustion to occur. If this is found to be the case then the stove is not at fault. Getting smoke back into the room also indicates a poor draw, not enough air, wrong cowl etc. A full investigation of this installation is recommended as Jotul stoves normally work well producing a good heat.
I have a Jotul F100. I was advised it would heat the small room I have it in and the heat would travel to other rooms. But the heat extends just a metre or so from the stove.
Soon after I bought
it the baffle fell. I managed to replace it but could see that the baffle was not wide enough to sit neatly on the gutters. So it kept falling down and I had to call the company three times (three times they responded) before the problem was solved.
The air vent doesn''t work, never has. The fire burns very quickly, not like past wood fires which I could leave overnight and stock up the next morning. The Jotul uses stacks of fuel.
The last time someone came to fix the baffle he asked me how I liked the stove. I told him my problems. He said he''d had exactly the same problems so he got rid of his Jotul for a much better product. I love the look of the Jotul but if it doesn''t perform well, looks are a poor substitute. Having taken so long to research a good product and having been convinced I''d made the right choice, I''m very disappointed. It was very expensive. I could have purchased something much cheaper that would have worked much better.
Stove expert replied:
If the stove is working hard and not producing much heat, then the flue draught may be greater than what is recommended by the manufacturer. This can be tested, and should it prove to be in excess of this, either a stabiliser or flue damper can be fitted to give the user more control. The heat may be being drawn up the flue before it has time to heat the stove, this could also be the cause of the baffle plate problem as an overdrawing stove can cause distortion to components.
Overnight burning - I regularly burn with this stove 8 to 10 hours overnight with good results:- Firstly I purchased another Ash Pan to swap out when preparing for overnight burning. *** warning
please note, it is better if 2 people carry this out***1) Let the fire burn down to leave a nice bed of red embers.2) With the poker push the bed upwards and towards the back of the fire and swap the ash pans.3) Lower the bed and place approx. 3/4 of a bucket of briquettes / smokeless fuel on the red embers. 4) Slide the top and bottom air controls across to half way.5) Wake up the next morning to a warm room, put a piece or pieces of softwood on the fire to get flaming again. This will also help any residual ash fall.6) Swap the ash pans as before.Good luck, I hope you have the same success as we are enjoying.
Stove expert replied:
Smokeless fuels come in many shapes and sizes and it is best to trial a few before buying in bulk as they do vary in how they burn, the amount of ash produced and flame picture etc. Once you find the one that suits you and your stove you will enjoy the results that overnight burning can bring.
I have been in love with Jotul stoves since the end of the 70s, we had a 118 and a 121which we still have, as well as the N1 and they are perfect. I Bought the F100 and have had to move it around
the house quite a bit, to get it to work properly.It seems to need a long and I mean long flue and the lower air intake is very small for lighting up. It also seems to take for ever to get warm. I have a Morso squirrel which I bought reluctantly after my experience with the F100,but have been pleasantly surprised by it. I strongly recommend the Squirrel as a small stove purchase, it is far superior than the F100
Stove expert replied:
What a shame that the latest Jotul has not lived up to the previous models. Having had a few to compare it with and years of experience the F100 seems to fail to perform as expected even when moving to a longer flue. The flue draw will be imperative to get right especially with other working flues in the property.
We have had our F100 for approx 6 years and have had no trouble at all. We love it, it keeps our living room cosy and warm. We have no problems in lighting it, we use bottom up method and it
soon gets going. It throws out excellent heat, looks good and the glass, if it needs cleaning, cleans easily using a little of the ash from the fire on a damp cloth or tissue then a wipe down and polish. I would recommend this fire to anyone thinking of buying a log burner.
We bought two of these little gems for our farmhouse very recently.
Con: They are very small, which is good for us because the fireplaces are small and they fit just right...which is a Pro
for us.
Con: The damper lever gets very hot. Too hot to move without a glove.
Pro: Easy to light a fire and the fire burns very efficiently for hours.
Pro: Looks great!
Pro: The glass front makes for a cozy atmosphere.
Pro: Nicely built with a beautiful black finish.
We are absolutely delighted with our Jotal F100 in ivory which was fitted December 2015.
Quality product, and It looks good. We have had wood stoves for 38 years, if you buy a F100, you will
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