Jotul 550 newbie - how much wood to load at once

These are designed to be ran in cycles. I would recommend getting a good bed of coals and loading the stove up. Let the air control wide open until you see the fire is fully engaged. The one thing i would be curious about is your flue height? Is it a masonry flue? How big? Did you reline it?

On a good bed of coals you can fill the firebox. Up to the baffles and out to the andirons. Get a good flame going with temp up to 550-650 then gradually back it down. My 550 likes to cruise at about 600-650. I end up with the air intake completely closed. I just did this exactly tonight. Temps at 19* at 10:30. Should have a nice bed of coals in the morning after 8-10 hrs.

quigleybmd said:

Hi, I just got a new Jotul 550, and have a question about how much wood I can load at once.
I have seasoned, split, hardwood and so far I've only been putting a few pieces in at a time.
I've been getting pretty good fires, but have been getting soot on the glass, and I'm wondering
if I should load more wood in to get it to burn hotter. But I don't want it to overfire (is that possible?).

I haven't been running it 24/7 ... just some evenings and weekends. So I don't really need to load a lot
to keep it burning overnight - but when it is burning I want to make sure it's running hot enough that
I'm not getting any creosote build up (and I'm worried that the soot on the glass could be a symptom of that).

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks very much. Mike

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum Mike.

Hot fires are usually the best way to go. How much wood to put in depends upon how much heat you require and how long you want the fire to burn.

The first thing I notice about your post that sends a signal is the soot on the glass. First, that is easy to get off by using a newspaper, dampen it, dip it into the ash and lightly rub that black right off. It is easy and cheap. Just make sure you cool the stove first as you don't need to get all burned when doing it.

Definitely your wood has to come into consideration here. You say it is seasoned, split hardwood but that really does not say much at all about it. It does sound as if you may have purchased this wood from a wood seller and if so I can almost guarantee that wood is not seasoned and ready to burn. You were just told it was seasoned.

What type of wood is it? Hardwood does not say much because any tree that loses its leaves is a hardwood. So that also means something like willow is a hardwood as is popple. Yet, these are very poor choices for wood burning. Oak is much better but there can be some big problems with it too. For one, oak needs to be cut, split and stacked out in the wind for 3 years before it will burn good. The reward is worth the wait but this does not help a new wood burner at all.

In short, to season wood for burning, it needs to be cut to length AND SPLIT before it will begin to dry. Time and wind are your friends then. Stack the wood up off the ground and stack it so the wind will hit the sides of the stacks and then let Mother Nature take over.

But all that probably won't help you this year. You probably will have to baby that thing along this year. Some folks have good luck getting pallets and cutting them up to mix in with the wood and it will work but is a lot of work cutting them up too.


You have the right idea about running the stove hot to keep away from creosote but do not think you have to leave the draft full open or even close to it. It is in the early stages of the fire when you get the smoke and gasses. In the early stage is also when you have the draft open a good ways. Once the fire becomes established is when you dial that draft down. If you don't dial it down, much of your heat will simply go up the chimney rather than in your house. So dial it down after the fire gets going good.

Try to find drier wood if you can but that is a difficult task.


This also is a wake up call. Get next years wood on hand, split and stacked, as soon as you possibly can.

Hi Mike,

For future reference, there is a thread going on this forum which is all 550 users. Most of us are linked to it so any questions particular to this stove we are notified. last i checked, it was about 14 pages and going strong. However, this is prbably a good thread for all stove users

What we think is seasoned usually shows up on the glass. I thought i had real seasoned wood last year, and was cleaning my glass every couple weeks. This year, i dotn have to clean it all. Also, i have the air choked down all the way, and still a clean glass and hot fires. My primary air was modified to completely close the air and i plugged up the zipper air. There are times when the only air feeding my stove is the secondary air, and still, clean glass and no smoke. There is green wood, wood that is dry enough to get you through, and seasoned wood.

As others have mentioned . . . load the stove in cycles rather than just plopping one or two splits every few hours . . . the stove will run better and more efficient.

Also, definitely bring the stove up to temp and then start shutting down . . . cleaner burns which are good for the environment . . . and for you . . . and if nothing else it may help keep the glass clean.

As stated . . . black glass sometimes means less than seasoned wood . . . or it could be that you are not running the stove hot enough before shutting down the air . . . or it could be one of a few other things.

Are you using some kind of thermometer to monitor your temps or just winging it? The best place on the 550 (if your not already aware) to take a temp reading is in the hot air slot at the top, roughly in the center, a few inches in. Its difficult but possible to use a magnetic, just place it so your ideal burn temp is pointing out like say 500. I find they are pretty inaccurate anyhow... I got a IR temp gun, just point the laser and get an instead readout, and easy to check various points all over it. Make sure you let it get hot enough to kick off the secondaries, then start dialing it back. I am still figuring out mine... I can get it to cruise easily at 600+ using good dry wood under 20% moisture content or a couple of the really dry stuff with 1 piece of mid-summer split and stacked cherry, and I get a very little bit of haze in the bottom corners of the glass - seems this little bit in the corners is fairly common. But choking it down without secondary combustion will probably cloud up the glass in no time. These new 'EPA' stoves do take a little getting used to running them right and also really need dry wood.

I havent been able to find an actual overfire temp for this stove... does anyone know? I think I've read as long as the metal doesnt glow that your ok. I know I've had mine up to about 750 once or twice and nothing was glowing yet that I could tell.

Mike, Most likely your problem is you are turning down the air down too soon, and also the wood. If you put in a big split (especially Oak) and temp is not high enough, it might burn for a long time overnight, but it is smoldering and smoke gets on the glass (and yes creosote in the chimney, I have found especially in the mesh on the cap). Another hot fire will clean the glass all by itself. I think it is common to get a little soot in the bottom two corners of the glass. I get that all the time. I make sure the stove is cold and as Dennis said you dip a newspaper in water, then in the ashes, and rub it on until it is clean. A dry paper, or paper towel, will finish the job. I also get a white residue right in the center of the glass after extended burning.

I have had mine up to 900 degrees and never saw anything glow, I try to run between 500 and 650. As Jake and others have said to run in full cycles, and do not be afraid to fill it up, this will help keep the glass clean because you will get a hotter fire. Do not reload until you are down to only coals and the temp is at or below 400 (this is what prevents overfiring as well as lowering temp when appropriate). I open the air up and burn the coals for awhile, that keeps it hot and uses the coals up. Then slowly open door, rake the coals forward (this also keeps the glass clean) and fill it up, largest split in the back (it will take the longest to burn). Sometimes if you have a really big Oak or Locust split in the back it may take more small splits in the front to finish it up.

It may sound hard, but it is really a simple stove to operate.

►►OhioBurner◄◄™ said:

Are you using some kind of thermometer to monitor your temps or just winging it? The best place on the 550 (if your not already aware) to take a temp reading is in the hot air slot at the top, roughly in the center, a few inches in. Its difficult but possible to use a magnetic, just place it so your ideal burn temp is pointing out like say 500. I find they are pretty inaccurate anyhow... I got a IR temp gun, just point the laser and get an instead readout, and easy to check various points all over it. Make sure you let it get hot enough to kick off the secondaries, then start dialing it back. I am still figuring out mine... I can get it to cruise easily at 600+ using good dry wood under 20% moisture content or a couple of the really dry stuff with 1 piece of mid-summer split and stacked cherry, and I get a very little bit of haze in the bottom corners of the glass - seems this little bit in the corners is fairly common. But choking it down without secondary combustion will probably cloud up the glass in no time. These new 'EPA' stoves do take a little getting used to running them right and also really need dry wood.

I havent been able to find an actual overfire temp for this stove... does anyone know? I think I've read as long as the metal doesnt glow that your ok. I know I've had mine up to about 750 once or twice and nothing was glowing yet that I could tell.

Click to expand...

++ on the IR gun. It is not a must have, but it is a very very nice to have. It is always nice to have a variety of split sizes at the ready to really fill that firebox during the colder nights.

I've loaded my stove to the gills north/south with short splits and had that thing raging. I like the N/S load at night because I can get more wood in without fear of it falling on the glass. Pain in the ass though as the splits have to be about 10". I had one load that made me a bit nervous a couple nights ago but that was because I got side tracked and left the air open too long. I don't have a thermometer but that episode has prompted me to go out and get one. The secondary tubes weren't glowing, but the front edge of the top baffles looked they were starting to get orange. I actually got so nervous that I tried to find the secondary air inlet to block it off but couldn't find it so I tried the wet paper towel trick, but as soon as I opened the door the fire completely blew itself out. I left it open a few moments then closed the door and within seconds it was an inferno again. So I opened it again and the fire died out. A couple of minutes doing this and it seemed to get back under control. I know ELJ923 modifed his secondary intake so I think I'm gonna track down that thread to see what he did. Supposed to help with longer burn times too. A long winded response but I think to answer the question is if you control the air properly and load it up when its down to coals, I don't think you can put too much wood in it. I call mine "The Dragon"

Backwoods Savage said:

The first thing I notice about your post that sends a signal is the soot on the glass. First, that is easy to get off by using a newspaper, dampen it, dip it into the ash and lightly rub that black right off. It is easy and cheap. Just make sure you cool the stove first as you don't need to get all burned when doing it.

Click to expand...

Actually, you don't even need to do that much. Plain water on a paper towel will take off all but the very worst, most burned-on soot marks, and without risking abrading the glass with the ashes. And a little "elbow grease" takes care of most of the bad spots.

Windex works too.

That's a great question Quigley as mine was just installed the other day and I am figuring out how best to read temps. I have the same IR thermometer and get temps all over the place...as I am still breaking it in, with only a few splits in the firebox I get temps on the glass from 230-300 depending on where I shoot it... The temps in the firebox are also all over the place....the side and rear brick are anywhere from 400-550...the coals about the same...the belly of the red coals are off the scale of the thermometer...So I would also be interested in this answer

I also bought stove pipe thermometer and it does not work as I have hoped...I tried to get a reading from the exhaust but it will not stay on there....on the door's upper left it barely shows any temp as the door (from the IR) shows a temp around 200...

I am only on my 2nd fire so I am as newbie as it gets... Here is my install https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65722/

You guys might want to use the search box to turn up past discussions of IR thermometers and how to use them. It's been discussed from time to time in the forums here.

Gorgeous install there, Vector.

Does your user manual discuss where to put a stove thermometer on your insert? If it doesn't, I'd suggest you call your dealer and ask. Or post a new topic here in the Hearth Room with that question, or again, use the search box since I've seen the problem discussed for inserts, though not necessarily your model, in here repeatedly over the last few years.

This is an old thread on a different topic, so your best bet for some good advice from the smart folks here is to start a new thread with your questions about reading temperature on an insert.

gyrfalcon said:

Backwoods Savage said:

The first thing I notice about your post that sends a signal is the soot on the glass. First, that is easy to get off by using a newspaper, dampen it, dip it into the ash and lightly rub that black right off. It is easy and cheap. Just make sure you cool the stove first as you don't need to get all burned when doing it.

Click to expand...

Actually, you don't even need to do that much. Plain water on a paper towel will take off all but the very worst, most burned-on soot marks, and without risking abrading the glass with the ashes. And a little "elbow grease" takes care of most of the bad spots.

Click to expand...

10-4 damp paper towel then wipe with dry paper towel

quigleybmd said:

I just ordered an IR gun (Kintrex IRT4021, with 12:1 DS ratio). Do I just point it at the fire through the glass? How close should I
be to the glass? Will the temperature be of the glass, or the fire behind it (eg. would the glass possibly cause a reflection, or emit it's
own thermal radiation?). Or perhaps there's a distance setting that I could adjust to get it to 'look beyond' the glass?

Thanks a lot. Mike

Click to expand...

Point the IR gun inside one of the blower vents, close to the flue pipe. It is the only way to get a good reading. You can also mount a magnetic stovetop therm in there. I have both, you gotta look at the magnetic with a flashlight. The IR lets you measure the temp of the surround, hearth, etc. Cool toy that you can get for about $25 at Harbor Freight.