Quad Mt. Vernon AE concerns

If you are burning pellets, the auto-clean will happen roughly every 1 3/4 to 2 hrs, when running on high. It will be longer times between on lower settings. If stove is still calling for heat when it does this, it is still blowing hot air when it is starting back up. Cold winters in Iowa has not been an issue for me. If you are concerned about the AE's auto-cleans, maybe you want to look at the Mt. Vernon E2? kap

I really don't find the auto clean cycle a problem.

My stove generally runs on medium and at that rate shuts down about every 5 hours for an autoclean. I personally don't like it but it isn't the end of the world. I'd get the XXV personally.

The autoclean is not a problem for me. We haven't been above freezing here for a week or so and the house is nice and warm. The autoclean doesn't happen as often as every 2 hours and typically the stove blows heat during the entire cycle. This is my 3rd winter heating with the stove and I'm quite pleased with it. A coworker has the M55 Cast insert and likes it as well. My dealer sells both and prefers the Mt. Vernon. I had to change my first igniter in November and the part was $40 and a 15 minute job. The Enviro igniter is over $200 but is supposed to last longer.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/mt-vernon-ae-autoclean.140826/

I love my Mt Vernon!

If you want longer burn times with the Mt Vernon Ae set the fuel type to softwood. I haven't had any issues with the house loosing too much temp when in auto clean, like the rest have said the stove is still blowing out warm air when it fires back up from a auto clean. My stove settings are med hi, softwood, normal blower, high altitude, flame height -1. If you really want to get heat out of it run the blower in quiet setting. Sunflower seed fuel setting puts out a lot of heat too.

FordMastertech said:

If you really want to get heat out of it run the blower in quiet setting.

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The air exiting the stove will be hotter, but the volume is less and the heat exchanger is less efficient because of a smaller difference in temperature across it. This results in an overall reduction in the efficiency of the stove.

I find it a minor annoyance, but not a dealbreaker. Wish it could be fine tuned a bit, as ultra premium pellets do not require cleaning nearly as often as even a premium. If reasonable insulation in your home will likely not be noticeable in terms of heat loss. And it is MUCH easier than these folks who need to scrape their burn pot every day or so. All in all, I'll take the autoclean over doing any sort of scraping, and it prevents that.

I would. I also have a quadrafire classic bay which works fine, but it doesn't light that good when it's full of ash. On the classic bay I have to pull the handLe myself which isn't hard but it's nice that the mt vernon AE does it on its own.

There is a term used in the electronics industry; "Bleeding edge technology". Any new technology or innovations are going to have problems that will take time to resolve. The conservative approach would be to go with the proven design.

BKSinAZ said:

So you would take the auto clean over the Mt. Vernon E2?

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I have the AE insert, not the freestanding, but I can say it has worked flawlessly all winter.
My local dealer was trying steer me to the " newer...better " E2.
I almost changed my mind at the last minute, but considering the E2 problems recently cropping up, I'm very glad I stayed with the AE.

BKSinAZ said:

So you would take the auto clean over the Mt. Vernon E2?

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Yes

I'm a very pleased Mt. Vernon Insert owner. I'm on my 2nd year no issues.