1st impressions of the Jotul F170

This stove is fantastic piece of sculpture that if you ask me harks back to Jotul's rich history of inspiration from the great status of Easter Island. We take our first look at this new stove, that despite all its history has a lot of very modern tech in it.
There will be other videos about this stove either out or coming out on the channel, but if you have any questions or suggestions we love to see those in the comments!

[@wobdeehomestead]

Not sure I’m sold on the auto controls but I like how you can add thermal mass to the top. Norsk Kebler comes to mind. Jotul just came out with a new stove over here in the USA, the F445 Holliday. It’s the little brother to the F500 Oslo. It may be my next stove.

[@TheTortoise]

You’ll have to let us know how you get on. I’ve got this slightly mad ambition that one day I might be able to convince companies to send me US versions of stoves too!

[@nicholasjohns946]

Can’t wait to see the fire burning! How many people will understand the Easter island reference I wonder?

[@TheTortoise]

You’ve gotta keep em guessing.

[@gpfmiller1977]

Congrats on the bun that is rising. Best of luck to you both! Simple is better.... not a fan of these new stoves.

[@TheTortoise]

Like everything, they are getting cleverer and cleverer. I like to think they haven’t gone too far, but time always tells. The system isn’t dissimilar to cruise control in a car, which to be fair definitely has its uses.

[@ryanshaw3931]

You can see the "scratchy" noise I think at 02:30 Looks like the discs are rub together. I imagine this will go after plenty of use.

[@TheTortoise]

I don’t believe so, I think it is some sort of rack and pinion design that makes a mechanical noise. But to be fair you only hear it when you first open it. The rest of the time the movements are small and you never notice them. I only say that because I went over to Jotul’s production factory when they were first releasing them and they all made the same sound.

[@jiml4826]

Gort nicto barada. (The day the earth stood still)

[@christiancloudt5482]

Congrats guys! Love your content. #offtopic : what’s the best setting for the vents during the non burning season to prevent rust inside the stove caused by moisture in the outside flue?

[@TheTortoise]

Leaving things as open as possible is always a good idea, but better still (particularly in this awful weather we’re having) is to use it occasionally. Generally leave the vents open or door ajar, but during prolonged wet weather it is always best to give it a blast (just like a motorbike in the winter).

[@user-qq6oh5hg2o]

Interesting. The firebox log width didn't look huge in any direction. Consequently you see videos of wood being stood up vertically in these, which of course is risky in terms of spillage. Is the burn sensor purely electrical or a mechanical bi-metallic coil (like Hwam / Wiking use)? I wondered if the brush was to clean the sensor, as the Wiking ones can get a little sooted up. Great vid as always. PS - just looked at the price of the Jotul. £3,500+. Wowsers! Literally double the price of a mechanical automatic stove, like a Wiking Mini 4. That will make your test all the more interesting - it will need to score 10 on everything and also massively impress Mrs Tortoise, a shrewd judge of character!

[@TheTortoise]

😆 Yea I’d love to try one of those actually.

[@user-qq6oh5hg2o]

The Wiking is interesting. Because of the auto air, seem to prefer no ash on the grate when burning wood. Not normal but the grate and pan makes cleaning easy. You've got to test one, even if the door only opens to 90'!

[@TheTortoise]

90°! Simply not good enough! 😂

[@mathieugiroux6407]

I've got a question how come its air intake is controlled and yet the efficiency can be behind better jotul stoves ? I mean I don't get how jotul can say it's better when in fact it isn't... ??? Or am I mistaken ? The logic would be that u'd reach at the very least 85% otherwise what's the point, the only advantage is consumption but not efficiency is that it ? it'd be nice to have explanation over this topic imo.

[@TheTortoise]

This is all about real world performance. Jotul believe that (like with electric cars) this will become a stove solution for the future. It is possible (in perfect conditions) to achieve x% efficiency in a lab, but the very key thing here is that this achieves 76% in the lab, at the showroom and in your home. By contrast a normal stove might achieve 85% in the lab, 65-75% in the showroom (where they have good fuel, good chimneys or powered flues and competent users) and perhaps 60-70% in your home. This stove’s consistency despite different users, fuels, chimneys etc is what pushes it further ahead than we realise. Having said this higher efficiencies do generally mean better performance for users, but like with MPG you have to take the figures with a pinch of salt, when you’re in the real world. Of course the flip side is that there is some utility lost. If you plan to use the stove for long periods (some will run a stove from October to March), then this may be cleaner but it will use more fuel and need re-loading more regularly. Only you will know which suits you better.

[@mathieugiroux6407]

@@TheTortoise got it the answer that I didn't get was the fact that 76 % works everywhere the same, didn't know that when you bought a stove the efficiency was a good 10 minus the said percentage at home it's logical now that you've said it, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer me :) have a good day

[@njh8277]

Takes away the enjoyment of manually control

[@TheTortoise]

Yea I get that. Although for a lot of people they’d rather it did it itself. Definitely a “horses for courses” thing.

[@MyTing775]

Is it soapstone the heat block things ?

[@TheTortoise]

I’m not certain what it is, but I would guess that it involves: Ceramic Clay bricks Feolite Built to hold its heat essentially.

[@MyTing775]

@@TheTortoise yeah would really like to try the product out as some Scandinavian companies are making big claims over how long it retains the heat.

[@TheTortoise]

That’d be a good video actually. I’m gunna have to add that to my list!

[@MyTing775]

@@TheTortoise be great to see. Some manufacturers make claims of 12 hours extra heat. Seems excessive as I spoke to grey metal up north who I think do east European imports and they were totally honest and said couple of hours at most.

[@TheTortoise]

My father has a Heta Tour stove. To be fair it’s an extreme example, but that can hold its heat for quite some time.