Quadrafire Mount Vernon

[begreen]

Are there any Quad Mt. Vernon owners out there? How has the stove worked out for you? What kind of space are you heating with it?

Likes, dislikes?

 

[Czech]

Hey Green,

I run a Castile free standing, was originally going to get the Vernon but was talked out of it by the dealer. I'm heating 1600' up and 700' down, the stove is down. It kept up during the -20 degree cold snap last week, guess I'm glad I didn't go with the Vernon. My research before I bought did not turn up anything negative about the Vernon except noisy on boost but thats to be expected in my opinion. Not much help, but thought I chime in.

Bob

 

[PutnamJct]

Hi BeGreen,

I notice the Quadra 1200i in your sig. Does your flame adjustment rod have a lockdown nut (like they show in the manual & DVD)? Mine doesn't have any kind of lock nut or anything on it. Seems like it could get pushed in when I'm dumping pellets in......

Thanks,

John

 

[begreen]

I notice the Quadra 1200i in your sig. Does your flame adjustment rod have a lockdown nut (like they show in the manual & DVD)? Mine doesn’t have any kind of lock nut or anything on it. Seems like it could get pushed in when I’m dumping pellets in......

Yes, you definitely should have the wingnut that locks down the feed adjustment rod. I'd get that taken care of right away.

 

[begreen]

Hey Green,

I run a Castile free standing, was originally going to get the Vernon but was talked out of it by the dealer. I'm heating 1600' up and 700' down, the stove is down. It kept up during the -20 degree cold snap last week, guess I'm glad I didn't go with the Vernon. My research before I bought did not turn up anything negative about the Vernon except noisy on boost but thats to be expected in my opinion. Not much help, but thought I chime in.

Bob

Thanks Bob. I looked at the Castile, but liked the larger hopper capacity of the Mt. Vernon. How has the Castile been for fan noises? How well insulated is your house. That's impressive that you can heat 2300 sq ft with the stove. How is the Mt. Vernon at normal running speeds? We run the 1200i at full tilt almost all the time. It isn't silent, but is tolerable.

 

[PutnamJct]

I notice the Quadra 1200i in your sig. Does your flame adjustment rod have a lockdown nut (like they show in the manual & DVD)? Mine doesn’t have any kind of lock nut or anything on it. Seems like it could get pushed in when I’m dumping pellets in......

Yes, you definitely should have the wingnut that locks down the feed adjustment rod. I'd get that taken care of right away.

Upon further review.......

It's a thumbscrew instead of a wingnut on mine, the tab that holds the adjustment rod locked in was flipped the wrong way (maybe from shipping). All set now, thank you.

 

[Czech]

Put, glad you found that screw, you don't want that feed adjusting itself. I ran full corn last weekend, had to choke it down on the feed. Went back to half and half this week, forgot to adjust it back. Looked like the Statue of Liberty's torch when I fired it up, and that rod is hard to adjust with a full hopper and hot stove! Green, I've been happy with the Castile with the exception of a roar at startup, that tread (Pellet Roar) is here somewhere. That problem has gotten a bit better with use. Otherwise it does well, but my house has a lot to do with it. The stove is in the semi finished insulated basement, directly below open layout upstairs of dining, kitchen, living with cathedral ceilings. 3 bedrooms over the two car garage stay a bit cooler at night, but that's ok by me. I run the furnace fan every once in a while to move the air around, this will also pop the bedrooms up a few degrees if needed. House is well insulated, R48 batts on the ceiling peak, good windows, good passive sun. Fan noise on the Castile on high is loud, but I expected that and knew by looking at the stoves at the dealer. It's a twin squirrel cage for this blower. I do wish I had the larger hopper, but like the fact that I'm typically running on Med or High and not Lo, stove seems to burn cleaner this way. Same on the fan with the Vernon, loud up top but ok on Med and Lo. From stoves that I've look at, I didn't feel the Quads were any worse than others regarding fan noise. I really think a lot has to do with people's expectations and house layouts for each situation, whats loud and works for my house might not be the best for someone else. Apologies for the thesis length post, hope this helps! By the way, regarding my last post. I really wanted the Vernon at first, but during the preview the dealer felt like it may have been overkill for my set up. He said I may have to run the furnace on the coldest nights in winter, but we just had a few
-20's and the Castile kept up ok (worked hard tho!).

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The Castile highest setting is the lowest setting on the Mount Vernon, the Mount Vernon has a 4 speed system and it can be pretty lound on high settings. I would buy a larger stove that can be ran on a lower setting VS a small stove maxed out all the time. You want fewer cycles and low noise, and less wear and tear on the unit. If the mount vernon is to big on the lowest setting then i wouldnt buy it. It will be considerably noisy on the lower setting. Pellet stoves are always louder in your home then in the noisy showroom. If the Mount Vernon is to big and the castile is to small i would get a 40,000 BTU unit that can be turned down to meet your needs.
Ryan

 

[begreen]

How is the Mt. Vernon's fan noise as compared to the 1200i blower? If it's about the same, I can live with it. I doubt we would run the Mt Vernon on high except on the very coldest of days. If the stove burns well on med lo and med hi then that should work fine. Our house insulation is fair, improving this summer, but we have a high glass to floor sq. ftg. ratio. The 1200i does a good job until the temps get into the 20's, though it runs a lot longer if it's windy and in the 30's.

At this point we're just mulling it over. Considering changing some things around in the house once we get some remodeling done this summer. The Castile would work for heat output, but we're used to a 60# hopper now and would prefer to increase, not decrease hopper size if it doesn't create a major compromise. The thought is to put the pellet stove to the kitchen annex (current Jotul home) where the noise is more tolerable and then to sell the 1200i and either move the Jotul to the fireplace or replace it with a PE Summit for longer burn times.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

In my opinion the quad 1200 series is one of the quietest stoves on the market. The mount vernon is noticably louder.

 

[Czech]

Whatever MSG says, go with it. He knows much more than I do! MSG, would you say these stoves run cleaner on higher settings? Is it better to set the stat and run off and on on higher settings than leave it running on low all the time? Mine seems to do better when running hotter, but I'm burning alot of corn, too.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

There is absoluty nothing wrong with the Mt Vernon, except its huge, with huge blowers, and huge output. Its a fantastic stove for the money and it looks nice too. If i had to pick one stove out of the quad line it would be the 1200 series. I know they dont look as nice to some people but they perform. THere quiet, the hopper is good sized, and there reliable. THat basic design started back in the early 90's. Its has time to get severly field tested.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the candid thoughts MSG. My wife will be happy to know that I did something right when I got the 1200i. Our stove has been great so far. Do you have a sense for what the realistic life expectency is for the stove?