Hi I'm New Here

Joined up the other day. I'm from northern Alberta Canada and just installed a vigilant II 3210. It's not the sole heater of the house, we use natural gas, but I guess it could heat most of it if need arose. I admit I was a bit worried about burning coal after reading how some of the posters here had trouble burning coal in their stoves, especially with the vigilant, but I thought the vigilant looked way better hands down than any of the other stoves. After reading a bit on here and noticing allot of the problems with coal fires were chimney related .I made sure the installer put an extra 4' on the stack. I fired it initially with wood, got a nice draft and temps nearing 700f. Then I got my hands on some Bituminous lump coal a few days later. I wasn't sure how it would work because allot of guys on here and the stove manual states to use nut or pea coal and most seem to burn anthracite . I had everything from 1" to 5" or bigger lumps of Alberta bit. I fired the stove again with wood and added a bit of charcoal, then when the temp reach the mid 500s I dumped a quarter of a five gallon pail of coal onto it. The coal seemed to catch rather quickly and burn really nice , I was up and running. I added about another quarter and observed from there. The coal heated up pretty quick after about an hour I was reaching temps over 800f so I cut the air down and seemed to be able to keep to a steady 600-650f range . I let it burn out after more than 6 hours. I wasn't ready to let it burn through the night yet.I'd like to run a couple more half loads through her and gain some confidence. I had a pretty proud feeling sitting by my new glowing beast, knowing I'm ready for survival if need be. This is a pretty neat forum and I am looking forward to learning more about my stove and others and of course keeping warm this winter by my stove.

Welcome to the forum. A lot of information around here and always someone to offer suggestions to help answer questions you might have.

There's are some other posts of bit burning in the 2310. Sounds like your on the way to a warmer winter

Congrats on your new set up. The vigilant IS a good looking stove. Not too big, classic lines. I like 'em! Not too many people here burn bituminous, but bit can do the job. There are a few special tricks to it... I don't know them...but it sounds like you're well on your way. I'm betting anthracite would be some expensive up there, so, burn what you got!

You're probably right, the vigillant is the best looking stove. I personally got to running the stove quite well. Problem was, no one else could. I'd get home, and the fire would be out, or low, not producing heat. Always up and down house temps. From warm and toasty, to cool. Lots of "It's Cold in Here" complaints. It wasn't till after finding this site, I was informed that Vermont Castings made different changes to the Vigillant stove. I had one of the older ones. Been told the newer ones are better. Yes, great site! We have all learned a lot from each other. And continue to do so.

No one here has learned more then me right now..

Hi neighbor

Just wondering what temperatures are like up in northern Alberta this time of year. I live near Albany, NY and it's pretty cool here for this time of year, around 0-1 in the morning and might get up to 7 or 8 in the afternoon (Celsius of course). My wife is from Quebec so I know how cold it can get in some parts of Canada. One of my colleagues at the office spent time in northern Alberta growing up. He said it got so cold it froze the water in the basement (it was an old farmhouse with a dug well). He remembers having to break the ice every morning.

Will

Hi will. As far as temperatures here ( I live near Edmonton) its been mild the past week with temps of as high as 12c high and 0c low. It got a little cooler before that with temps of -9c low and -3 day . I guess it the way it goes ,install a new stove when its cool and then get nice warm temps when you're all geared up to try her out. Oh well the cold will come soon enough. Last winter we had some friends visit us from Detroit for christmas and new years .We had at least a week of -38 or so to -45 and that's without wind windchill ,they couldn't believe it. I am a welder by trade and I've worked up north putting in compressor stations for pipelines and have had to weld outdoors at -52c. So yeah it can get a bit chilly. Perfect weather to be curled up beside my vigilant.

Paul.

I used to burn Bituminous lump coal exclusively, because I live in southwest PA. It does burn long and can heat very well. But the added black coal dust in the house from the storage, black soot build up in the chimney and stovepipe from improper firing draft settings, and the stronger sulfur smell outside, doesn't justify to my wife all the added savings verses the extra house cleaning.

So, I changed to anthracite coal. The house is cleaner, stovepipe and chimney are cleaner, there isn't the strong sulfur smell outside when burning, it is still half the price of gas, but twice the cost of bituminous coal, and the wife approves. The wife is usually the deciding factor for a lot of us guys. So, I still sneak in some bit coal every once and awhile, but only when I'm home long enough to fire it properly with the draft settings.

The key to getting the long clean burns with bituminous coal is don't load it up too fast with too much coal and let enough over the fire secondary air to burn off the volatiles. A barometric draft regulator is an absolute must, correctly weighted, for even long burns, for any coal burning. Then she'll never know. Well, until she gets a whiff of the steam locomotive smell outside if the wind is in her direction. But I found that it easier to obtain forgiveness then it is to get approval sometimes.

Stay always warm and happy, burn American coal!