New jotul c350

[Exlawnpres]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on hearth. I recently moved into my new 1200 sq. foot 3 bed ranch and wanted a fireplace insert, and after looking around and with the size of my house and demensions of my fireplace decided to go with the jotul c350 winterport insert. I don't have it installed yet, it was delivered to my house last week and the guy who fixed my chimney is supposed to install it soon. I am very excited as this is my first real house (just sold our condo over the summer) and now I can finally burn wood. I grew up with stoves for heat. First my parents burned wood for about 10 years, then went to coal, then eventually pellets. I have seen mixed reviews on this stove and some people are saying it puts out horrible heat. I hope this isn't the case with me because my house is one level and not that big. Just wondering if anyone out there has had any experiences with this model and what you think as to how it will work for me.

Thanks

 

[jatoxico]

I have the big brother to the 350 and while flush inserts IMO don't throw heat as readily as those that extend onto the hearth having the insert will be a major upgrade over any traditional fireplace. I get plenty of usable heat and you'll have a nice view of the fire too. If it's sized right to your needs you should be happy.

In order to have success you will need dry wood which by definition is <%20 moisture. This typically takes about two years after the wood has been split and stacked in a good spot and is one of the biggest obstacles the first year or two. If you don't have a good wood supply consider supplementing with a dry source like kiln dried wood or lumber scraps.

Another thing that robs heat are cold, uninsulated exterior fireplaces (like mine). One thing you can do that will benefit all installations (exterior or interior), maximize heat output and safety is to use an insulated liner and have a block-off plate installed. The insulated liner keeps flue gases hot to reduce creosote and ensures you meet code.The block-off plate, which is just a piece of sheet metal above the stove in the fireplace, keeps the heat radiating from the stove top from going up an out the chimney and sends it into the room.

Good luck and ask any questions you want, plenty of people here willing to help.

 

[begreen]

The C350 is a small insert so overnight burns will be unlikely. It's good as a chill chaser with mostly nights and weekend burning, but less so for 24/7 heating. I'll second the suggestion for having an insulated block off plate installed in the damper area. That will help improve the heat output. The other thing you will need is fully seasoned, dry wood to burn. The performance of the stove will be dramatically affected by the quality of wood burned. It's hard to get dry wood late at this time of year and often what is sold as "seasoned" is not. Expect to pay a premium for truly seasoned wood and also look for kiln dried wood as an option.

 

[Exlawnpres]

I have the big brother to the 350 and while flush inserts IMO don't throw heat as readily as those that extend onto the hearth having the insert will be a major upgrade over any traditional fireplace. I get plenty of usable heat and you'll have a nice view of the fire too. If it's sized right to your needs you should be happy.

In order to have success you will need dry wood which by definition is <%20 moisture. This typically takes about two years after the wood has been split and stacked in a good spot and is one of the biggest obstacles the first year or two. If you don't have a good wood supply consider supplementing with a dry source like kiln dried wood or lumber scraps.

Another thing that robs heat are cold, uninsulated exterior fireplaces (like mine). One thing you can do that will benefit all installations (exterior or interior), maximize heat output and safety is to use an insulated liner and have a block-off plate installed. The insulated liner keeps flue gases hot to reduce creosote and ensures you meet code.The block-off plate, which is just a piece of sheet metal above the stove in the fireplace, keeps the heat radiating from the stove top from going up an out the chimney and sends it into the room.

Good luck and ask any questions you want, plenty of people here willing to help.

Thanks for your advice. It definitely is a huge upgrade over my fireplace as I know by themselves don't put out much heat. It is a nice looking insert and I'm looking forward to times in front of the fire with my wife and two boys. The first thing I did after I closed on my house in September was I had 2 cords of seasoned debarked hardwood delivered from a reputable local tree company. It wasn't cheap at $615 delivered but is definitely well seasoned and looks like nice wood.

I am a landscaper and a chainsaw collector so I have many saws one of which is a very large stihl so I may get a grapple truck load over the winter and saw and split myself and let it season before I burn. I'll have to see how much wood I use this year.

I agree that a block off plate is a good idea I will talk to my chimney guy about that and also I don't know if the chimney liner he's putting in is insulated or not.

 

[jatoxico]

I agree that a block off plate is a good idea I will talk to my chimney guy about that and also I don't know if the chimney liner he's putting in is insulated or not.

Chainsaw collector?, you'll fit right in here. Many installers don't want to do plates. They either don't know or it's too much work for them so they say "you don't need it'. If that's the case you can pre-fit a plate now and just pop it in after he gets the liner down. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes and maybe they can grab lunch or something while you do it.

 

[Exlawnpres]

Chainsaw collector?, you'll fit right in here. Many installers don't want to do plates. They either don't know or it's too much work for them so they say "you don't need it'. If that's the case you can pre-fit a plate now and just pop it in after he gets the liner down. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes and maybe they can grab lunch or something while you do it.

That's a good idea I will have to see if I could do something like that. He is a nice guy and easy to work with so I will have to see what he thinks.

 

[Exlawnpres]

The C350 is a small insert so overnight burns will be unlikely. It's good as a chill chaser with mostly nights and weekend burning, but less so for 24/7 heating. I'll second the suggestion for having an insulated block off plate installed in the damper area. That will help improve the heat output. The other thing you will need is fully seasoned, dry wood to burn. The performance of the stove will be dramatically affected by the quality of wood burned. It's hard to get dry wood late at this time of year and often what is sold as "seasoned" is not. Expect to pay a premium for truly seasoned wood and also look for kiln dried wood as an option.

Yeah it definitely is small so I think it would be hard to get it to burn overnight unless if I woke up at night to throw more wood in it. I hope to somehow keep it continuously burning on weekends when I'm around and if I'm not too tired when I get home during the week have fires at night.

I have a landscape business and on the side collect chainsaws so I have quite a few and one is a very large stihl. So I'm thinking of getting a grapple truck load of trees and cutting, splitting and seasoning myself maybe this winter. The first thing I did when I closed on my house this September was have 2 cords of seasoned debarked hardwood delivered. It's definitely seasoned and dry I bought it from a reputable local tree company but it was expensive at a cost of $615 for 2 cords.

 

[sen166]

I had this stove for a year before I decided to upgrade to a freestanding stove after a remodel. The Winterport is a very well constructed stove and heats a small space very well. I had the stove in my living room and it kept the area very warm. However, as mentioned before, this is no whole home heater. I looked at it as a space heater that ran on wood for my living room more than anything else. Additionally, in my experience, I was able to load it up full with a few good size splits at around 10:30 or 11:00 PM, close the air, and come downstairs in the morning and get another fire going at around 6:00 or 7:00 AM without a match. All in all, it's a good stove as long as you know its limitations well in advance.

 

[Exlawnpres]

I had this stove for a year before I decided to upgrade to a freestanding stove after a remodel. The Winterport is a very well constructed stove and heats a small space very well. I had the stove in my living room and it kept the area very warm. However, as mentioned before, this is no whole home heater. I looked at it as a space heater that ran on wood for my living room more than anything else. Additionally, in my experience, I was able to load it up full with a few good size splits at around 10:30 or 11:00 PM, close the air, and come downstairs in the morning and get another fire going at around 6:00 or 7:00 AM without a match. All in all, it's a good stove as long as you know its limitations well in advance.

That's about what I suspected just going on what everyone's saying. I think I will be happy with it and it is the perfect fit for my fireplace and living room. I think a free standing stove would drive us out of there it would be so hot for the area. But the way my house is laid out, even though Iike you said it's not really a whole home heater, I don't know how much heat will actually get to the bedrooms. It has a long path to travel even though my house isn't big.

When I was a kid in the 80s my parents had a pro former z stove and it was big with a huge wood capacity. It heated their house very well and it is a fairly large house. If I can just reduce my heating bill with my gas boiler and kind of have it as supplemental heat I will be happy.

 

[begreen]

For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

 

[Exlawnpres]

For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

That's a great idea. The other thing too is my living room is actually divided on the other side of the hallway from the bedrooms. But somebody cut out a 16"x2' opening in the wall so if I could figure out a way to get some kind of a fan in there to draw some of the heat into the bedrooms that would be good. Guess I will have to experiment and see what works. Supposed to be getting stove installed this Wednesday.