Vermont Vigilant

Hi all...I am looking to purchase a stove for my small 2 room camp.Does the vigillant have a hopper and gravity feeds into the stove? can the vigillant burn wood also? Is there an automatic damper(thermostat on this stove?)thanks for input

Hi seabee. The hopper feed system was optional on the original wood burner design. The hopper was hard to keep sealed and draft loss was a common result. Fires were therefore hard to keep going. It was redisigned as a coal burner in the Vigilant II, model 2310. isn't sold as a wood burner as it does not meet the EPA particulate spec. It comes with a restrictor plate over the inside inlet hole to reduce air intake volume when burning bituminous. The outside inlet is regulated by a bimetalic coil controled metal flap. Works great. I've had wood fires in it with the restrictor plate inplace. With out it, wood fires quickly get too hot. I also bought a screen from Vermont Casting to use the stove as a wood burning fireplace with the twin doors opened/removed.

I heat a ~3,100 sq. ft. well insulated house burning anthracite. Opperating stovetop temp range is 400 -700 F. I can heat with it unless it gets really cold when I suplement with the central oil hot air unit. I don't think I've burned 20 gallos of #2 this year since I started the caol fire in November.