VC ASPEN

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jetmech

jetmech

Member
Dec 8, 2007
228
Dillsburg PA
Hello all, what a wonder forum...... Heres my 1st post.... Im interested in a room heater approx 400 to 500 square feet.. Im wondering if anyone out there has a aspen and would give me some feedback on it.. How long is the burn? are you happy with performance of the stove? and so on.. Had a defiant encore years ago and loved it. Now looking for much smaller heater. also any other suggestions besides the Aspen.. Thanks in advance Marty
 
Check out the ratings section here on the Aspen.

The word on the street is that it is not the finest in small stoves. If you wanted to stay with VC, you might consider an Acclaim, which in my experience would not be too big for a 20x20 or 20x25 room in Pa.

To go even smaller, with the "look", you should consider the Intrepid, a couple of small Jotuls, or the Morso(s).
 
Aspen is SMALL! Firebox is tiny, burn times will be short and the heat will be, well, check them manual; 18,000 BTU/hr is really not very much. Its a neat stove, fun to burn, but its underwhelming for all but the smallest of areas. You'd probably be slightly better suited to the small catalytic intrepid.
 
Thanks guys thats what im looking for. honest opinions.. Looks like im looking for used intrepid.... found used one on ebay but without the cat.... any ideas on cat versus non cat intrepid.
 
The first generation of Intrepid is sometimes listed on ebay as "non-cat"; while its true that the stove does not have a catalytic combustor, it also does not have any means for reburning gases and is a borderline smoke dragon. I would avoid that stove.

The newer cat intrepid is a great stove. The newer (but discontinued) non-cat Intrepid with the tubular secondary combustion system has a tiny firebox and is nearly impossible to load because there is no top loaded feature and the space between the door opening and the andirons is so tiny. I'd also avoid that stove.
 
I burn the small Century that Lowes sells. It works a little too good for the small room I have it in and would heat 4 or 5 hundred feet easily. The stove is rated at 25K btu. Englander also has a small stove that is budget priced.

The only thing I can say about them is you do not have a long burn time. The little firebox will give me coals 6 hours later, but not enough to start a fire off of. If you want to burn it 24/7 you will have to feed it every 4 hours or so.

It's a good stove, but I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for. You may want a larger stove due to burn time.

Matt
 
The aspen also needs a really good chimney else it will smoke when you open the door (more than other stoves). The Jotul 602 is a good performer but much smaller glass. The Intrepid II is real nice but if I were going for that model I would buy a HearthStone craftsbury for about $200 less and soapstone lining. Real nice stove.

Jack
 
The stove will go into a corner of a semi large sun room approx 20x15 which was added on to a living room about same size. My house is a ranch so will be hard to move heat throughout entire house. Im looking to heat these 2 rooms mostly. I havent installed chimney yet but will be a through the ceiling class a pipe strait out of the stove top. That is why im looking for a small stove so I dont run myself out of the rooms. There are ceiling fans in both rooms which might help move warm air. Thanks for input im still looking at all options for small stove. want to settle on the stove before chimney work.
 
jetmech, I love my intrepid II "cat." stove. I have a 1200 sqft ranch, and it heats it just right. It took
me some time to learn how to use it right (I'm a slow learner) but it works great.
 
The Jotul F602 should be just fine for that small a space, it is a much better small stove than the Aspen. I prefer a front-to-back burn geometry for small stoves too. You lose some frontal glass area but get higher transfer effiency and a more consistent burn through the fuel load. Tradeoffs...
 
Well, went stove shopping today and looked at Jotul...Lopi....Scan.....& Hearthstone. Really liked the Hearthstone Tribute,,, Next step is to take Better Half along and convince her... Ill keep you updated
 
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