Hi Everyone,
I recently moved and the is an older, 70's-80's i think, Vigilant in our finished basement. The previous owner burned coal and swore by it, but we have no interest and would love to just burn wood. I know there was a conversion kit which I'm guessing is no longer available and they have you remove all the grates etc.
After reading everything I can here, which is a lot, I went ahead and just fired it up with some logs with the grates still installed and seem to being going ok. I understand the firebox isn't as big and the wood will probably burn faster without sitting in a bed of ash, but are there any real problems with operating like this?
I have had no problems keeping the griddle at 600-700 f and have had had it higher, 900 which scared me a bit, but its doing a great job heating.
Any suggestions/advice? Should I remove the grates? Don't have the cash to replace so I'd love to make the best of it.
I appreciate any and all help, thanks.
I recently moved and the is an older, 70's-80's i think, Vigilant in our finished basement. The previous owner burned coal and swore by it, but we have no interest and would love to just burn wood. I know there was a conversion kit which I'm guessing is no longer available and they have you remove all the grates etc.
After reading everything I can here, which is a lot, I went ahead and just fired it up with some logs with the grates still installed and seem to being going ok. I understand the firebox isn't as big and the wood will probably burn faster without sitting in a bed of ash, but are there any real problems with operating like this?
I have had no problems keeping the griddle at 600-700 f and have had had it higher, 900 which scared me a bit, but its doing a great job heating.
Any suggestions/advice? Should I remove the grates? Don't have the cash to replace so I'd love to make the best of it.
I appreciate any and all help, thanks.
