Some questions for Jotul 550c owners

Hi all,

New to the forum. I've learned a tremendous amount from reading old posts, so thanks for that! I'm picking out our insert and have narrowed my search to a couple of good inserts. My wife and I both really love the look of the Jotul 550c. Went to the local shop and had some great help there. The sales person shared pro's and con's of every model we looked at (i.e. he didn't seem to be pushing one over another--very refreshing!) The only real 'con' he told us about the Jotul was that after only a day or two of burning, the ashes tended to build up in the bottom enough to fall out of the unit when reloading because there just wasn't that much depth there. He had been burning a Jotul 350 earlier and sure enough when he opened the door, ashes fell right out of the thing. Not a major problem by any stretch, but potentially annoying to have to shovel the thing out every day. He wasn't sure if the 550 was any deeper and didn't have one on the floor to look at.

So, question number 1: Is this ash thing a bother?

The only other question is will I get enough heat out of this insert? The sales clerk did think that the Lopi Freedom (another model we're considering) gave off more heat, simply because it sticks out a bit. If I can heat my 1st floor and some of my second floor effectively, I'm just fine with the trade-off for the looks. So, dimensions of my 1st floor are:

Living room (where the insert will be, at the far end of the room on an exterior wall)-26' x 14' with 16'vaulted ceilings. This leads into the rest of the house through three open doorways (big doorways, so almost no wall blocking air flow the rest of the 1st floor). Rest of the 1st floor is 31' x 22' with some walls and doorways around and about. It's a pretty open flow, though. So, there's a total of about 1100 sq ft on the first floor and another 700 upstairs.

Question number 2: Will I get enough horsepower to warm at least the 1st floor, if not the second as well?

I very much look forward to 'meeting' some of you and hearing your words of wisdom. We're up in Minnesota, so warmth is a very good thing...... Thanks for your help.

Thanks to you both for writing back. Glad to hear that ash is no big deal for either of you. Also glad to hear of your success, Roxburyeric, in heating your home. I was planning on running the central air fan to help push the air around a bit as you have done bagpiper. So, all is looking good. Our hearth is floor level. Either of you (or anyone else for that matter) have the 550 that low to the ground. Is that a pain? We looked at the Lopi Declaration, and it just seemed like I was going to have to lay down on the floor to get wood into it. I think that the 'ceiling' of that firebox is a bit lower than the 550's, though. Sales clerk explained that that was to help keep the double doors of the Lopi cleaner. The single door units keep a little cleaner without lowering that 'ceiling.' Anyway, I think I'll sleep on it a day or two more and finally take the plunge. If there are any other words of wisdom out there that I should consider before jumping, please share. It's getting coooold out there.......... Thanks very much.

Thanks for the info. Now I just need to get somewhat creative with our surround. I think that the outside of our opening is slightly too big for the Jotul's biggest surround. We have an inner rind to our opening that might work, but then the fireplace itself may not be deep enough. I've taken measurements and pictures and made some drawings to take to local shop. We'll see what we can come up with. Thanks very much for the words of encouragement. I'm going to try to post a picture of our fireplace. First time, so hopefully it works. Thanks again.