Jotul Rockland Insert smoke issues

[Vennydetter]

Was it installed with an offset box or an angled pc of stove pipe? Also, what happens if the fire is burning briskly and you slowly open the door? A wisp or two of smoke escaping may happen but is it rolling into the house?

Wet or marginal wood can contribute too when the draft is a bit iffy since it tends to smoke more and being laden w/ more water it's cooler and less likely to rise up and out.

It was installed with an offset box. If the fire is well establish and hot with no fresh wood (again, my wood is well seasoned) I can usually open the door slowly without too much smoke/fumes.

When starting / establishing a fire is when it's the worst. I can barely sneak a small piece of wood in without a large puff of smoke into the house. I'm building a good hot fire to start with lots of very dry cedar kindling. Further, I have to leave the door ajar when the fire is getting going which feels a bit unsafe to me so I have to stay close by. I have never had this problem with previous stoves and I've had wood stove all my adult life (and I'm 68).

 

[jatoxico]

I have never had this problem with previous stoves and I've had wood stove all my adult life (and I'm 68).

The off set box probably isn't helping then.
BTW were any of your previous stoves EPA certified? They are a different animal, don't always breathe as easy. I only ever have to leave the door open when the stove is stone cold and even then just for a couple minutes out of preference.

 

[Vennydetter]

Was it installed with an offset box or an angled pc of stove pipe? Also, what happens if the fire is burning briskly and you slowly open the door? A wisp or two of smoke escaping may happen but is it rolling into the house?

Wet or marginal wood can contribute too when the draft is a bit iffy since it tends to smoke more and being laden w/ more water it's cooler and less likely to rise up and out.

It was installed with an offset box. If the fire is well establish and hot with no fresh wood (again, my wood is well seasoned) I can usually open the door slowly without too much smoke/fumes.

When starting / establishing a fire is when it's the worst. I can barely sneak a small piece of wood in without a large puff of smoke into the house. I'm building a good hot fire to start with lots of very dry cedar kindling. Further, I have to leave the door ajar when the fire is getting going which feels a bit unsafe to me so I have to stay close by. I have never had this problem with previous stoves and I've had wood stove all my adult life (and I'm 68).

The off set box probably isn't helping then.
BTW were any of your previous stoves EPA certified? They are a different animal, don't always breathe as easy. I only ever have to leave the door open when the stove is stone cold and even then just for a couple minutes out of preference.

Quite honestly I'm not sure if the previous stoves were EPA certified. This one may not be either as I'm in Canada now and I know there are differences between US and Canadian versions. But I do have to keep the door ajar until I've got a pretty good bed of coals with this new Jotul

 

[Vennydetter]

Are you satisfied with it? For the thousands of dollars that I spent, I have not been able to consistently eliminate the smoke to the point where I am satisfied. There are several options for cast iron inserts in this price range and after looking at some others and burning the Jotul for a month now, I am starting to believe that the Jotul design is inherently prone to this problem due to the large door and shallow firebox. It is my intent to continue to hound my vendor as this was the unit they highly recommended. Essentially, someone from the vendor or a manufacturer's rep needs to come to my house and show me how to load it without the smoke. If it can be done please show me. If it can't be done with some consistency then the unit has a problem.

Have you ever gotten any resolution? I'm having the same problem.

 

[jatoxico]

Quite honestly I'm not sure if the previous stoves were EPA certified. This one may not be either as I'm in Canada now and I know there are differences between US and Canadian versions. But I do have to keep the door ajar until I've got a pretty good bed of coals with this new Jotul

The Jotul is an EPA stove capable of secondary burn, meaning it can burn the smoke and gases from the wood extracting more heat and burning cleaner but...the wood must be dried to <20% moisture. This usually takes at least a year after the wood has been split and stacked in a good location sometimes more.

But I do have to keep the door ajar until I've got a pretty good bed of coals with this new Jotul

Not saying this is your entire problem but if you want to try a test get some dried lumber scraps or a pack of kiln dried wood. I keep a stove top thermometer in the vent. When the temp on that reaches about 500F and I cut the air back to 75% or less I will get pronounced secondary burn for the tubes at the top of the stove. This will look like a BBQ grill running or sometimes wafting burning gaseous clouds, its actually quite pretty to watch. Stove will rise in temp due to burning the extra fuel (smoke/gas) and there will be no visible smoke from the stack.

 

[Vennydetter]

The Jotul is an EPA stove capable of secondary burn, meaning it can burn the smoke and gases from the wood extracting more heat and burning cleaner but...the wood must be dried to <20% moisture. This usually takes at least a year after the wood has been split and stacked in a good location sometimes more.




Not saying this is your entire problem but if you want to try a test get some dried lumber scraps or a pack of kiln dried wood. I keep a stove top thermometer in the vent. When the temp on that reaches about 500F and I cut the air back to 75% or less I will get pronounced secondary burn for the tubes at the top of the stove. This will look like a BBQ grill running or sometimes wafting burning gaseous clouds, its actually quite pretty to watch. Stove will rise in temp due to burning the extra fuel (smoke/gas) and there will be no visible smoke from the stack.

Again, my wood is well seasoned. I measured it at less than 10% moisture with my moisture meter. I don't have a way to put a thermometer on the "stove top" or in the vent as it's a flush mount insert into a masonry fireplace.

 

[jatoxico]

Again, my wood is well seasoned. I measured it at less than 10% moisture with my moisture meter. I don't have a way to put a thermometer on the "stove top" or in the vent as it's a flush mount insert into a masonry fireplace.

I have the same stove. I put mine in the vent. Less than 10% sounds low, it's probably lower than the EMC in your area. To accurately measure it must be on a room temp split and done on a freshly split face, not the end or you will get a false low reading. Are you getting good secondary burn like I described?

 

[tompaj10]

We recently purchased a Jotul Rockland 550 insert to replace a VC Intrepid 2 stove that we used for 25 years. We have a 6" SS flex liner in our 18' chimney. We never had any issues with the VC stove. With the Jotul insert it seems that it is almost impossible to reload the fire without getting some smoke or fumes in the house. It drafts great when it is fired up to temperature. When reloading, I have a window open as our house is a bit tight. I crack the door for a minute to let the draft pick up and then I open the door slowly. When putting wood in it seems that inevitably some fumes/smoke spill out of the insert. I believe that this is due to the design of the Rockland. It has a large front door, a wide but shallow chamber and a small flue opening that is less in width than the front door. It seems to me that no amount of draft can suck out the volume of fire that this unit produces. My daughter has a Hampton 300 in a similar ranch house like ours. Our friends have an Enviro Boston. They do not have problems like I do. Their units are narrower and deeper, with a large flue opening across the entire front of the door. I believe that these units contain the fire better when the door is opened and prevent the spillage of fumes. It seems that the Jotul design, when it is burning up to temperature with good secondary combustion, throws a lot of flame and heat at the front door. With the Jotul it seems like you have to be almost perfect when you reload. If you let the fire die down too much, you loose draft and when you reload smoke/fumes spill out. If you reload too early when the fire is going to strong, there is just too much heat and fumes projecting forward for it all to get sucked up the flue. The door opening is so big that all of the air rushing in creates a lot of fire that can't possibly go up a 6" pipe. Does anyone else have a similar experience with the Jotul or helpful advice? We love the looks of the unit, it burns great, the heat output is adequate for us, but we are frustrated by the reloading issue with smoke.

I have same problem with my rockland 550, I discourage everybody from purchasing it. I spent 3300$ and it smokes to inside of room .. I had 2 other jotul stoves before w/o such problem. I think issue is wide door and shallow box...

 

[newcomtd]

Rockland 550 owner here (5 seasons). In my experience, you shouldn't need to be opening and closing the door when getting the fire started. I usually leave it cracked open about 3" until the larger pieces of kindling catch. When it's time to reload, there shouldn't be anything in the firebox except for coals, which don't really give off smoke. You're right on leaving the door cracked for a short time after opening it, before reloading. Other than that, I have no additional insight.