Leslie, I have never measured the temperature. I usually get a good fire burning after start up with air lever wide open. I run the fan on high during this time to get a quick warm up of the area. This fast start leaves a nice bed of coals so you can add more wood at any time(the hot coals will ignite the new wood if you forget to add more wood on time). I run the blower on low the rest of the day and have air lever just a tad from all the way to the left(closed)

How well your wood is seasoned is a huge factor. Wood not quite seasoned makes things a lot tougher. You will have to stoke the wood and have the air lever more open. Well seasoned wood makes things so much easier.

The wind sometimes is a factor...for example, last night was very windy so I had the air lever closed and the wood still burned faster than normal.

The only drawback I have found is that the burn time is a little too short. I can get about 6 hours max...It would be nice to get at least 8 hours to the last the entire night.

A tip for you, I noticed that when I started the blower this year that it seemed a little noiser than normal...I took a look and there was a lot of debris(lint) inside both ends of the blower. I cleaned this out(tricky, you have to squeeze your fingers in to reach, but I didn't want to pull the whole blower out). After lint was cleaned out, blower was much quieter.

I love having the insert, I have it going pretty much 24/7 , furnace hardly ever turns on = low oil bill.

Thanks for the great answer. The dealer attached a therometer to the top and I've been watching it. I guess I want to avoid creasote, so I'm trying to keep the heat up there. I can burn slow and low, but it sounds like not as low as you. When I do the windows get a bit dirty, but I'm only on day two. My wood is nice and dry but we're really in a cold snap- the teens. I'm very happy so far, and have turned my thermostat down, but not too far yet. It's a great type of heat- you really feel it. I even think I want a humidifyer though. It starts easily and stays burning. Leslie

Leslie,

Just want to add that after burning 4 cords off wood last year(mostly at low heat), my liner had very little creasote build up. My chimney sweep was surprised. The problem with burning hotter is that you really go through the wood. Slow burning with the blower on low heats my living room to around 70 degrees when the temp outside in mid 20's.

As for the windows, they will get dirty and stained. I clean with a product called "Bar Keepers Friend" every 3 days or so. It comes off fairly easily.

4 cords, wow! Well at this point I am definately not heating the house, just turning the therostat down about 6 degrees. Is your fireplace on an inside wall? Mine's on an outside wall. I have been burning low and slow, and I suppose I could build the fire up a bit more. I'm still adding a log every hour or two. Dry wood. I will clean the windows tomorrow, they already need it. I still love it, though.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to get a "toastier" heat out of the Jotul fireplace insert? While our insert warms up the room well (and we run with blower on high, usually) we don't get that really cozy heat that is so nice to read next to. Am I doing something wrong?

Are you burning seasoned wood? If it's not, it's tough to get a hot fire. I keep the blower on low unless it gets reallly cold.

Question. We just had our Kennebec insert installed a few days ago. We are on day 3 of using it. This is my first wood stove and I am not sure on how hot to get it. Don't want to overfire. Any ideas?

crank it up to start, then move lever down for a nice slow burn. Do you have a blower?

I've never had a problem with overfiring...I've heard it will glow red if it's too hot. It's good to crank it up for a while to get the wood burning and to clean the glass.

I have a question about the power cable that is used to power the blower on the Jotul C450 Kennebec. We just had it installed today, and the installer was not able to hide the cable - it runs behind the stove's frame into a power outlet at the bottom of the back of the fireplace. Because the cable runs back there, there is a noticeable gap between the insert and the sides and top of the fireplace to allow for this cable to run back there. Has anyone been able to figure out a way to hide this cable so it is not a nuisance? This doesn't show up in any picture of the insert, so I bet this is an installer error. Let me know if you have any advice....

hmmm I thought I Posted...well quick answer..I have same unit. Power cord comes out of the blower which rests on the floor in front of insert. Cord can go left or right. I don't understand why the cord would be near the frame of your insert. My cord runs along my floor to outlet.

Thanks, theplayer. I learned since then the 350 and 550 units do not have this problem. The plug is at the back of the unit so it is not visible.

We had a C450 Kennebec installed in August, this stove replaced an old Buck stove, and is a vast improvement. The fan is very quiet especially on low. We enjoy using it keeping the oil use to a minimum.

Has anyone here had any issue with replaceing parts on this model?

Has anyone had to replace any of the firebricks? Are bricks this size easily found, and if so where?

The short answer on how to operate your wood stove is to start by reading your operating manual. It probably has quite a bit of description on how to operate the stove, and may have special instructions for using a new stove.

Consult your manual first on almost any issue! Most are rather carefully written these days, and usually have a lot in information on how to get the most from your stove.

I am also new to the Jotul 450 and "learning". I have gotten a few good burns thus far- it does take the stove a while to heat before the blower comes on, but I'm getting the hang of it.

There is excellent info on burning in a wood insert, including a couple of informative videos, at www.woodheat.org

To clear the glass, I have used a wet paper towel dabbed in some remaining ash from the stove- I picked up this tip from another website and it works incredibly well. It does seem to be true that when burned hot, the glass stays clear.

QUESTION: my air control lever has come loose (it doesn't have resistance when I move left or right). Has anyone experieced this and if so, is it an easy fix? Looks like I just have to unscrew the access plate...

I'm ready to buy a wood stove in seattle. I'm hearing good things about the J�tul C 450 Kennebec.

All advice is welcome.

I just purchased a c450 fireplace insert. They gave me a thermostat that I can't use for there is no room to place it on top of the stove. So I never know what the temp is cause where I can place it only will max a 300. Being a beginner I fret a might of over heating it. Can't get it to run on one full load of dry wood for more than 3 hours...Thanks

I assume you meant thermometer rather than thermostat. If there is nothing in your owner's manual to tell you where to place it, call the dealer. If it is only reading 300 degrees when attached to the outer part of the stove you are very, very unlikely to be over firing. Do check, though. The top is generally the hottest part of any stove, but there should be some correspondence between top and front. You can also buy digital infra red thermometers which should give you an accurate reading withou contact with the stove.

This is a relatively small stove with a small firebox. Three hours on one load of wood is pretty god. Some people get obsessed with long burn times, but as a general rule you only get very long burn times with very large stoves.

We are on year 10 with our Jotul Kennebec C 450. We have the double-door model. I'm pleased to report that after 10 burning seasons, we have not had to replace a single component on this wood burning insert! Everything, including the blower, baffles, and firebricks are intact and functioning like new. I haven't replaced the door gasket either, and it still passes the dollar bill test.

We have our chinmey swept every other year. We find that burning Douglas Fir puts a lot of "fluffy" buildup in the chimney but it is not flammable. We've burned everything from wood pallets (2 seasons) consisting of pine, oak and poplar, as well as Cherry, Douglas Fir, Maple, Poplar, and (one season) Oak and Madrone. I also regularly supplement with compressed sawdust Bear Bricks, North Idaho Energy Logs and Blazer logs, just in case our wood supply doesn't make it through the year. We burn about 2-3 cords a year in our 1500 sq ft well-insulated home.

We tend to burn our fires on the hotter side so that no visible smoke is present. Only once have I seen the top of the stove near the flue glow dark cherry red. After a slight adjustment it cooled back down in just a few minutes. Oops!

I've found the secret of this stove is to keep the flames burning strong, but don't let them "lick" up over the baffle into the flue. If you keep the flame height at just the level of the door glass or maybe slightly above, the stove runs at peak efficiency and maximum safe heat output. Following this rule, you do not need a stove thermometer. I've never once felt I needed one.

We bought this insert when it was brand new, and it's now become Jotul's #1 insert, and for a good reason.