Jotul Rockland - How many loads do you go through a day?

We use just a bit less, about 4-5 loads per day (bigleaf maple). It seems like a lot to us, too, but this is our first (learning) year and our wood is not nearly as dry as it will be in coming years (twin 5-cord woodsheds are nearing completion).

Nevertheless, the heat output of this unit is tremendous. And when we have been fortunate to have a few really dry wood loads, we have seen far more promising results, so we're optimistic (pretty confident, actually) about seeing greater efficiency with better seasoned wood.

Hmm, my first post... (long time lurker)

Hmmm.... I don't have a Jotul and my firebox is only 2.2 cubic feet in size, but I can easily go through 6-8 full loads of the firebox in a given day. My fires don't last with the air control shut down though unless they started at a roaring 650 when it was shut down. Common to my stove apparently, but a load of ash (full firebox) will burn down to just coals in 2-3 hours max and will stay above 350 degrees for maybe 3-4 hours max (then it slowly decreases to 200 degrees).

I think that my stove is comparable to the Jotul Rockland, I have the Hampton HI300, which has similar dimensions and heat output ratings as the Jotul. I am using concerning amounts of wood. Although as a previous poster mentioned, as a first year burner, my wood is suspect. The wife and I anticipate better burning next year.

Burning a jotul 3. Go thru lots as well. Maple doesn't last very long. Oak and Locust have much better staying power. Anyway we burn what we have. I burn lots of maple too as that is common here in NJ.

Not a Jotul, but, in this sub zero weather I am burning approximately 20 splits or rounds of elm,walnut, and oak. One larger load at bedtime(7-8 splits), 3-4 in the morning, 3-4 at lunch, and 3-4 when I get home from work at 5 or 6pm. Then the process starts over again. I am using more than I had hoped at this point but figured I would run low in the spring.

When the weather is in the 20's or 30's that usage almost drops in half. Extra roof insulation added this fall has helped compared to last winter and the temperature is much more consistent in the house.

When i had my stove in a small house 800SF i could get along with 2 loads a day 12 hours apart unless it was really cold out but never more than 3. Next stop for my Harman 300TL is a 2000SF house so im sure it will be more.

Jotul Rockland - CT said:

Hi Guys,

I’m alarmed at the amount of wood that I used up in Nov/ Dec. I mostly burn with the air closed all the way maintaining good temperatures ( 400F - 650F). Fan set in low/medium.

I go through 5-6 loads of wood a day. That amounts to 40 splits a day on an average. I’m on track for burning 2 cords a month. Assuming that a cord approximately has 500 splits. Is this normal? Do you go through 5-6 loads a day? I follow the regular wood burning cycle. Load up the fire box all the way and wait to reload till all the wood burns to all coals.

I mostly use Maple ( 80%) / crab apple (20%) as firewood.

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Tough to say.

We run a 550 in central CT about 18 hours a day in a 2000 square foot colonial with a badly placed chimney on an outside wall. The Chimney is in an uninsulated garage.

We use 2-3 cords per year which substituted for 500-600 gallons of oil during each of the last two winters. Our baseline oil usage prior to installing the stove was about 1000 gallons, we use 400 to 500 per season now.

There are a huge number of variables though, ie. how warm you're trying to make the space, moisture in the wood, and damper setting among other things. We burn a mix of wood, ie. sugar maple, red maple, white oak, red oak, pine. When we burn the soft crap (red maple and pine) we mix, ie. two splits of oak per split of soft crap. I've been fortunate coming up with firewood, so it's generally been split and stacked outside without a tarp for 1-2 years and been staged in a 1/3 cord 'ready rack' in the garage for the month prior to hitting the stove.

Our mode of running is a bit conservative as I'm paranoid about getting multiple seasons out of our 550 to recoup the investment. As such we run ours cooler than the numbers most folks post here, generally keeping the temp needle in the mid to 3/4 range of the magnetic thermometer in the top vent. We also don't stuff the box to chase overnight burns.

All things being equal, two cords a month sounds way high.

I'll give you some of my facts, for comparison sake, obviously every house, chimney, and climate is different. I have used about 3.5 cords per year to heat my 2800' colonial in RI for the past two years. I don't always get overnight burns, nor do I always have hot coals when I get home from work. I use a lot of kindling. I used 1200 gallons of oil in 2007, the year before the stove. I used 525 gallons in the last 12 months. (Oil heated hot water all year)
The 550 has advantages and disadvantages. It looks great and has a big firebox. It is perfect for a room that you will spend time in, because it will not heat you out of the room. Conversely, a free standing stove will throw a lot more heat. I have mine sitting in my family room, on the main floor of my house, it is great. I was shocked when I saw the savings in oil, I did not expect it to be that drastic.
That being said. Two cords a month sounds like a bit much.

I dont see a huge savings in wood compared to my old smokedragon but I'm also loosing some heat up the chimney with no block off plate (and the old stove is a freestanding unit so its going to throw more heat anyway). That being said all my good seasoned stuff thats under 20% mc is all cut fairly short (~16") and split fairly small or medium. I put 2-3 splits (mostly ash, some oak) at a time (maybe half full or not quite?) and get 2-3 hours. I've never counted a whole day but that would be about 24 splits a day, I'll have to count em and see if thats close.

OhioBurner© said:

I dont see a huge savings in wood compared to my old smokedragon but I'm also loosing some heat up the chimney with no block off plate (and the old stove is a freestanding unit so its going to throw more heat anyway). That being said all my good seasoned stuff thats under 20% mc is all cut fairly short (~16") and split fairly small or medium. I put 2-3 splits (mostly ash, some oak) at a time (maybe half full or not quite?) and get 2-3 hours. I've never counted a whole day but that would be about 24 splits a day, I'll have to count em and see if thats close.

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Same here. Jotul Rockland 550, no block off plate. 2-3 splits last maybe 3 hours max. Overnight burns are difficult, but perhaps that's partially b/c I'm a little paranoid about loading it up and falling asleep. I'm concerned it get get too hot if I load it up and don't keep an eye on it. Have you had luck with overnigth burns? If so, how do you go about it?

Leaky Waders said:

I think that my stove is comparable to the Jotul Rockland, I have the Hampton HI300, which has similar dimensions and heat output ratings as the Jotul. I am using concerning amounts of wood. Although as a previous poster mentioned, as a first year burner, my wood is suspect. The wife and I anticipate better burning next year.

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Now on my 2nd year with the Hampton HI300. First year, the wood I had to buy was questionable at best. Now that I have truly seasoned wood, I am amazed at how much less wood I use. Although it has not gotten really cold here yet, I know my loads are lasting much longer than last year.