This is our third multi fuel burner in the house. Initially Lalorain, changed to Morso squirrel, then added the Vermont to an extension.From the time we purchased the first burner, the looks
of the Vermont all took my fancy, but prices were out of our reach.Eventually got the Vermont.The good bits.The looks, the thermostat, lop loading.The not so good bits.Not easy to light, struggles to get draw. If it stays in overnight, you have virtually no chance of getting it going again without paper and kindling.Not easy to clear of ash. Holes are very small in bed of fire, and takes a lot of scraping with a poker to persuade it to go through to the ash pan..The ash pan is fairly small for the size of burner. The fins in the casting under the ash pan collect ash, and virtually impossible to remove without using a hoover. Not popular with the wife.!Virtually no fire bricks inside the burner to even out the heat .
Stove expert replied:
The poor draw on this installation may be due to the flue not having an effective draw being that it is in an extension (possibly single storey so short flue length overall) and there is another working flue in the property which may have a better flue draw affecting this stove. Further investigation is recommended into this as there may be options to assist which would improve the stoves performance.
Stove came with the house, is non-enamelled. The thermostat was broken at the back when we inherited it, the screw has snapped off in the cast iron so difficult to replace. Air flap operates
manually without problems. We've run the stove from October to May every day for 14 years. Tried many fuel variations. The inherited coal conversion kit used several times but each time we converted back to the wood format as the system is a compromise that does not work well. The porcelain handle on the front door cracks with the slightest of pressure - replaced and same thing, so the metal butt for the handle is used with the poker without problems. Top loading is fantastic!! For this reason alone I would never go back to a front loader. To heat a 3 bedroomed, 2 storey, open plan stone house we have found that starting the fire in the afternoon, using half a bucket of smokeless fuel ovals then when glowing we continue with 15 inch logs split 6 inches wide for the next 8 hours works best. A standard shallow coal grate is placed on the base of the stove a log placed at the front and back filling the centre with ovals works best as the grate gives enough air to burn the coal and the wood sits on the resulting bed of ashes. I have replaced the back plate as I caused it to buckle. Easy to strip unit and put back together. This was required as I left the front door open once with house coal burning in. Altogether hard working workhorse the 'Landrover' of stoves that is much better than previously owned Jotul and Morso stoves.
Stove expert replied:
A geriatric stove with plenty of life left in it, fantastic review!
We had a Vermont Castings resolute multi-fuel stove for about 25 years which needed replacing. The Intrepid II looks smaller but has more room inside for logs. The stove arrived very quickly
and was well packaged. It was easy to install and the controls are very straightforward. It gives out bags of heat and looks great. We are delighted with it. Not cheap to buy but if it lasts as long as our last VC stove it will be good value.
I''ve had this stove for 20 years and it is as good as new. Being a Mk1 it has semi solid doors, so it isn''t quite as good looking as the later models, but it still performs well. It is solidly
built (not enamelled) and easy to light. Balancing the setting of the damper and the thermostat can be fiddly, and the fire box is an odd shape - the log bars at the front are a bit high - but otherwise it is a practical bit of kit. I''ve got the multi-fuel conversion kit but so far have only used it in wood burning mode. It is easy to light though once it''s going feeding logs in through the top takes a bit of getting used to. Puts out plenty of heat for its size, and is easy to clean.
Stove expert replied:
Good service from this stove.
The stove was present when I moved into the house in 2008, I think it was newly installed. It has not had too much use, I would reckon at the maximum 20 times per year if that. I note today
that the enamel is coming off in many places around the bottom and towards the back of the stove .... What can I do, not happy as I am worried it will continue to get worse and look horrible!!!
Stove expert replied:
Enamel is normally a robust finish so for it to be coming off seems rather strange but the stove is now at least 8years old. Have you had any building work in the property (rendering / plastering) both of these have high water content which could affect a stove and its condition. There will be touch up paint that can be purchased to cover the places that are affected.
This stove cost £1300 to buy, and in four years, it has probably been alight for 400 days,and lighted the same number of times, burning only wood.
In that time I have replaced:
2 Throat Plates
@ £20 ea
1 Lower Stove Back @ £27
1 Upper stove back @ £27
and am now faced with £100 for a Flue Deflector, essentially a piece of 1mm thick stainless sheet.
Fortunately I was an engineer, and quite practical, so I have replaced these parts myself. What would a Vermont technician have cost?
The enamel finish has two large flakes which have fallen off the top surface (at the back of the stove where it would be virtually impossible for anyone to strike it).
The flue, before anyone mentions that the draught is too strong, is of the same size as the flue outlet of the stove and some 27' long (fairly normal for a house).
We seldom run the stove 'flat out' and it spends most of its time at the low end of its temperature range.
As a chimney sweep who sees a good many woodburning stoves, I have yet to come across one that is so demanding of spare parts.
A pleasant looking stove, one that can be used to cook on (it works well) and it heats the room and part of the house
Buy one at your peril!
My Intrepid II is about 10 years old. It's gas. The switch (part no 0580869) has gone. Does anyone know how to get one or will I have to chuck out the entire stove?
Stove expert replied:
There are many spares companies that should be able to help you online, hopefully you can get a replacement.
Living in Perthshire with oil-fired CH (ouch!) we decided to get one of these in the central living room and Little Wenlock Classic in the snug. We already had a small Morso in the kitchen.
The Vermont takes a little getting used to - the info that comes with it rightly says operating a stove is an art form and everything has to be right to get the best out of it. I thought that was flannel at first, but it is spot on. One needs to tinker with it to get the best out of it. By contrast the AGA is very easy to get the right settings almost firat time. We seem to be getting the hang of it now and it is good to acquire the skill. The stove takes quite a while to heat completely (we only use wood as it comparatively cheap here and eco-friendly) but once it gets the base of hot ashes (just over an hour or so) it belts out the heat (esp. with stove fan). You must use seasoned wood though, or it simply doesn't get as hot. Our house is sort of open plan when we leave the double doors open so the heat gets into the adjoining room and up the stairs too, which is what we wanted in order to reduce reliance on the ferociously pricey oil system. Seems reasonable on log consumption - our open fire (previously in the same location) would eat 20 logs a night and nearly all the heat went up the chimney. The Vermont probably uses less than half that. It is very pretty too and everyone admires it. It is a quality casting.
Stove expert replied:
Great review and economic heat being generated by this stove.
Old installation that my sweep says needs a flue access hatch to allow him to sweep it out. Dont know how to go about this
Stove expert replied:
Get an installer in to disconnect stove and add a flue with access point in it. The sweep may know of someone who should be Hetas Approved.
Our stove needs spare parts/service/repair to damper and air inlet and we can find no engineers in Notts/Derbys/Leics that are able to do this. Several retailers sell Vermont but it appears
their engineers are only competent to install - not to repair!Any help gratefully received.
Stove expert replied:
Contact Hetas as they have a list of Engineers who will undertake maintenance.
