I love my Vermont Castings Vigilant… Just say'n

[TooManyHobbies]

I picked this stove up last year for $175, not knowing anything about it. Turns out it's a 1C model, long doors, glass, two piece fireback. I've found out that it's a good one to own. I've gone through about two cords of wood and I just love this thing. Mine was missing the primary air tube and ash fettle. I was able to get a primary air tube, but I believe the lack of the ash fettle caused the front doors to get too hot. I eventually ordered a fettle, but in the mean time I put some firebrick along the front and those problems disappeared. I kept reading on this forum that this stove is a "smoke dragon." No problem, a few minutes of searching this forum and I found the answer to my problems in the form of the Soot-Eater chimney cleaning system.

This forum is an amazing resource. I searched "Vigilant" and learned a lot! I would have probably given up if it were not for the people here who posted their experience with the Vigilant. Thank you all

So why so much love? Well it sure is a pretty stove. My house was built in 1895 or so and while not "correct" for my Victorian, it doesn't look out of place. I love the top loading and the glass doors that stay pretty clean if I burn hot. Speaking of hot, this stove really throws some heat! All night burns… not yet, but I think with splits cut to the proper (maximum) length and loaded properly that it may be possible. That said, I'd wake up to a cool stove but was usually able to throw some thin splits on top of the ash and get it going again without much trouble.

So about two weeks ago I ran out of wood (hey, I'm new at this and didn't know if the stove would even work with my chimney). So I went on Craig's List and found a coal kit. I read that the stove wasn't a very good coal burner but I wanted to see for myself. I've burned coal in antique oak or parlor stoves for years so I figured "how bad could it be?" The coal version of this forum is over at nepacrossroads.com and there were a few guys over there who had given advice to others on burning coal in this stove. I'm very happy to report that I've had a coal fire going in my Vigilant for the past four days. With proper shaking of the grates and "slicing" of the coal bed, burn times are at least 9 hours and I think if I burn cooler that can go to 12 or more. The coal kit was very well though out I think. Getting wood for free (if you don't count my labor) is great, but if I'm going to pay for fuel, it's gonna be coal. It takes up very little room, I can put it all just outside of my back door and it can get rained on without causing any issues. I also like that I can burn cool and not worry about creosote!

Just thought I'd share. It's a great little stove and I think we are going to be together for a long time

 

[dlj]

Did you get the coal magazine with the coal kit? 9 hours is a bit short if you have that. You should be able to run hotter and get 10 to 12 hour burn times. You may wish to try and find one. What size coal are you burning in it? Nut and pea both work quite well, I tend to like the larger size myself. I think you get better fire control. As far as coal stoves go, these old Vermonts do pretty well. There are better coal appliances, but there are also a lot worse ones! Glad you are enjoying your stove.

dj

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Regarding the coal kit, yes, I have the hopper. I was lucky to find a compete kit, everything was there from the little screw that connects the hopper door to the griddle to the knife for getting the ash from under the coal bed. Even came with the instruction manual. Like I said, I was very lucky. Some of the kits I see on Craigslist are missing parts. I'm burning anthracite nut coal. Hottest temperature I find on the stove is above the right door, or on the right side and I can see about 750 degrees in those spots. The rest of the stove is around 500.

What temps and burn times are you seeing?

 

[dlj]

Up to 750 sounds high to me. That will go through coal. I have a Resolute although it's not hooked up now. I'm currently running a Glenwood baseburner. It's probably twice the size of the Vigilant. Most of the guys running the Vigilants are getting at least 10 to 12 hour burn times on their stoves. IIRC. You are running quite hot though, so that may be about right. If you back the high temp down to about 500, what's the rest of the stove running at? Do you need those high temps to keep your place warm? If you want a lot of really good adivce on running your stove with coal, you should go back over to Nepa crossroads. There are a lot of guys there running the Vigi's on coal. You can get a lot of really good info there... You might have to seal between your front doors and the front of the coal grate to get better performance. But like I said, you should bring this conversation there, I haven't run my Vermont stove in a few years since putting in my Glenwood.... I heat my whole house with my current stove. The Resolute was only able to heat part of my house.

dj

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Yes, that 750 is as hot as the stove will get, and it's only on the right side where the exhaust is routed. I could burn cooler but as it is I have two stoves going to keep this big old house warm. My other stove is a parlor stove, a Foster's Standard 114. out of Ohio from the turn of last century. Really looks nice in my house Has a 14 inch pot that I removed the firebrick from and lined with plastic refectory. Took me years to figure out how to burn coal in that stove. The internet was kind of new when I got it and I knew nothing about neap crossroads or hearth.com. The longest burn times seem to be around 8 hours and sometimes I come home to a cold stove. The Vigilant is much easier to deal with. With your Glenwood, do you have to slice around the pot to get the ash to drop down to the grates? Once I figured out that I needed to do that I was able to keep a fire going for a few days at a time.

I too have a Glenwood base burner too! Unfortunately it was abused sometime during it's life and is currently disassembled in my garage. Needs a bit of welding but one of the major castings, the part the ash pan sits in I believe, is badly warped and cracked. The "experts" say that once that part is gone, the stove is junk. It's such a beautiful stove and I hope to someday be using it to heat my house.

John

 

[dlj]

You can get eh base of those rebuilt by Wilson - he's on NEPA crossroads. He has made a steel base for the old Glenwoods, looks quite good. The Glenwood will outperform the Vermonts by a lot. You would be amazed. You should get it restored. I heat my entire house just with a Glenwood #6.... I don't have to slice anything with the Glenwood - very easy to use stove. Has probably double the BTU output of your Vermont and does it using very little coal. I'm not familiar with your other stove.

dj