Installed my Jotul C350. Have a few questions.

I would leave it just as it is. My C350 has the same gap, and although I'm sure some air goes up through the crack while the blowers are on, I would hesitate to change something like this.. maybe it was designed that way for a reason.

The fans, like the rest of the unit, are smaller. They push 110CFM compared to something like 180CFM for the larger Jotul of the same design (the C550).

I help the fans out with a ceiling fan in the center of the (small) living room where the insert is.

Out of curiousity, how many square feet are you looking to heat with your C350?

If you are worried about the heat going up the chimney, fashion a block off plate. Give this a read https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Category:How-to::Block-off_Plate/ and this too https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/making_a_block_off_plate/

As for the gap, leave her be. You have different metals expanding and contracting at different rates, any air that escapes there is minimal. If you are looking to save some heat and use caulking, caulk your attic hatch shut - I did mine and the difference was immediate as far as temp under the hatch went.

Hey Mr. G,

I would recommend the block-off plate personally. I installed my 350 back in February. It has 14 feet of insulated SS Flex Liner on exterior chimney, block off plate at damper and extended surround to fully close the opening of the original mason chimney.

I have about 1000 sq. ft. ranch home in SE Conn with a closed floor plan (got to love the 50 year old home - being originally from California, I couldn't imagine they had homes this old, what?!? - how dumb I was). This stove keeps my living room hot, almost too hot - around the 75 degrees to 77 if I have the fan running full blast. My ceiling is too low for a fan as well, so I went to the big box Home depot and bought myself three 15 dollar fans that are attached to my door frame from living room to kitchen blowing away from the stove and then another in the hallway pointing back to the two bedrooms. Last winter, the back rooms would get to about 65-67 degrees at most and cool off quickly (I have replaced all my insulation in the attic, so there is no problem there - who knows about walls, next project perhaps?). This year however, and it isn't as cold yet, but the back rooms get warmer quicker and stay warmer with the fans blowing - they have reached 70 on my first "I'm a man, I must burn stove hot no matter the shoulder season or not" idiotic move. The amount of air coming out of the dual fans off the 350 is fine, believe me, any more and holy crap the wife and I would be naked all the time it would be so hot.

Its a great stove, the only problem I have is the length of burn due to the size of the box. No big deal as long as you arn't expecting the longest burns in the world, and I wasn't, I just didn't want to burn me out of my house with anything bigger. Let me know how you like your stove, we don't have a lot of us little itty bitty stove burners on this site, from my surfing around for about a year on here, there is just a handful of us Winterporters. Hope you like it, and keep reading this site, this place becomes addicting because of the knowledge, friendliness, willingness to support, and comical subtones of its members. Enjoy your stove and keep us in touch with your first year with the Winterport.

Have fun, let us know how it goes, and if you have any more questions feel free to ask and I will let the pros answer, rather than little ole me.

My vote would be to add the block off plate (just in case that got lost in my late night rambling)

I believe the block off plate would be a two piece unit, so uninstalling the liner from the stove wouldn't be needed. I will be making one, but haven't yet.

One other point - I assume the pic above is just a test fit, given that the stainless screws aren't installed yet. :roll: