New Jotul C 550 V2 impressions?

[BrianMeister]

Hey everyone,

New member, relatively new homeowner, not new to heating with wood though. Been in my home for 4 years now. Had an open masonry fireplace for those 4 years, mostly because the lady of the house never had a fireplace growing up and she enjoyed it. After this past winter in northeastern PA, I decided heat was more important than ambiance and set about installing an insert. Stumbled across the new version of the Jotul550, and it ticked all of the boxes. Fits nicely without too much empty space, looks good...all that jazz. Got a good deal on one, and it is now mostly installed (waiting on ceramic insulation for around the bottom of the transition plate where the liner will attach) I know it is new, but there must be a few of you out there with a heating season under your belt, wondering if you would share your impressions. TIA.

 

[begreen]

There haven't been many reports on this insert's revision so far. This is a posting from earlier this year.

F

Thread 'New wood fired insert in my older home - Jotul C 550 V2 Rockland'

Jan 19, 2026

Hi,

I recently removed a 1970's era "slam door" type wood insert from our basement fireplace. This is an internal chimney type setup so no exterior exposure of the masonry. I replaced it with a Jotul C 550 V2 Rockland CF which is an EPA insert that was eligible for the IRS credit. We have lived here more than 10 years and never used the old insert because I had it inspected and the chimney sweep said it was dangerous. Here's a pic of the old unit...

I chose the Jotul because it fit our fireplace, met the IRS/EPA guidelines and we liked the flush mount and the look of...

• flossy21
• catalyst insert jotul
• Replies: 12
• Forum: Jotul

• 

 

[begreen]

Yes, all that info is really helpful. For a baseline, it's also good to know if:
interior or exterior chimney
insulated or uninsulated liner
liner height
block-off plate installed or not

 

[BrianMeister]

First break in burn today. Exterior brick chimney, Rockford insulated liner @ approx 12', transition plate to an additional 4' section of class "A" bringing the entire length to +/- 16'. Interior of the house was around 67f, outside around 55f and raining. Figured it was a good day to test her out, make sure all is well before I actually "need" it. Started a fire with known good (10-12% moisture) rough cut oak lumber cut into strips. Fire started quickly, drafting well. Fans kicked on within 20 minutes. Good clean burn. New style fans maybe a bit loud on full blast, but nothing overbearing. Anything less than full speed and the fans are noticeable only if you listen for them, I would say equivalent to maybe forced hot air vents from a furnace. No smoke visible from chimney probably 15-20 minutes, though very obvious heat ripples in the air around chimney cap. Brought temp in the house up to about 75. For a test burn I would have to say I am more than pleased. Will add more info as the season progresses.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a really nice start. Thanks for the update. Looking forward to hearing more about this handsome fellow. When there's a full burn, post some pictures. We love to see fire!

 

[stoveliker]

Awesome, love it!
Pics yes. And some more descriptions of the burn when it gets colder, please.

 

[BrianMeister]

 

[stoveliker]

Nice feeling to take the chill off, I hope!

 

[BrianMeister]

Very happy with it so far. Had some 40f degree overnights, woke up in a cozy 75f house. Probably getting an honest 7 hours if I am burning oak ( my supply is mixed: mostly oak, sugar maple and ash with some random other hw mixed in). Ash gets her up and running quickly, oak and maple gets her hot and steady. A bit of "straw" discoloring on the chimney cap, so I know its drafting pretty good.

 

[stoveliker]

Keep an eye on the cap, with binoculars if needed, to see how it's developing over the winter.

The.oak takes off good too? (I.e. is it dried for two or more years?)

 

[BrianMeister]

Keep an eye on the cap, with binoculars if needed, to see how it's developing over the winter.

The.oak takes off good too? (I.e. is it dried for two or more years?)

I have a mixture of oak. Some is air dried rough cut lumber probably dried 4-5 years at this point, and a couple of cords of split that was felled and split between 2 and 3 years ago. Most of the split tests under 20%, an odd piece here and there maybe as high as 22%. All of it burns as it should.

 

[stoveliker]

Great! Perfect wood like that is going to help learn the insert behavior a lot.