Jotul 602 against Vermont Castings Aspen - burn test comparison

A comparison between the two stoves with plenty of temperature data and comparison graphs. If I had to chose between Jotul and Vermont Castings I would pick Jotul.

[jeffwhite]

I'm an engineer. Well designed test. Combustion testing has many many variables. You did a good job controlling the fuel & air. A+

[trustbuster]

Interesting test. I have a different model of Vermont Castings in a bigger cabin, and this is very consistent with my experience. That thing has so much iron in it that it takes a very long time to warm up. You are trying to overcome just an enormous amount of thermal inertia at first. But once it gets hot, it provides a very nice, even heat that makes it easy to regulate the temperature. For a small off-grid cabin that you want to warm up fast, looks like the Jotul is a better choice to get things comfortable quickly. On the other hand, if you are thinking about a wood stove you are going to want to run for extended periods of time or your primary heat all winter, the slow ramp up is less important and you want something that evens out the heat spikes. Honestly, I think the burn time is the most important feature when you are living with a stove long-term. Feeding the thing at 3am gets old pretty quickly.

[АлексейАлексеев-рщ]

Thank you very much. It was very interesting. it's strange that no one makes such full-scale comparisons.

[thefix]

Someone may have said it, but you should have a dedicated fresh air intake for your stoves. Make up air, it keep the stove from drawing through electrical outlets and door weather-stripping. I had a house without a dedicated fresh air intake and it would freeze the front door shut from sucking in cold air all night, condensation formed and refroze. I put a light damper on it so air doesn't flow unless the stove is running, but funny thing is it does when the dryer is on, pulls air in since the dryer is venting out.

[Highdepthfilms]

I’m installing an Aspen in my garage in the near future. I think they are both great stoves. I’ve heated my previous home with a Lopi, it worked great overnight keeping the 2300 sf home warm all night. To me a stove like the Aspen is a better deal for the entire night. But yes, the Jotul gets it nice and warm right now.

[McConnachy]

I’ve always been a bit obsessed with stoves since I got a Jotul 602 30 years ago. I went from freezing every night to being warm, so hence the obsession, it was survival. Always liked the look of the Vermont, but they aren’t available in Europe, or my part of Europe (Scotland) so it’s Jotul all the way for me. Still have a Jotul 602.

[thecordlesscarpenter]

Awesome series, I've been enjoying all your Jotul vids. I'd love to see you do a video of a "stuffed fire box" typical of how one might load it (with the stove already hot) for a nighttime burn and see just how long of a burn you can get.  
A few weeks ago, I scored a Fisher baby bear in pretty rough condition, just got finished with a full restoration to the point of installing new brick so I swung in to my local stove store to get the brick... while they were getting the brick I walked around the place and the first stove I came to was a 602, I perked up immediately as I had seen a few of your videos in the past while researching stoves for the cabin I'm finishing up in the Rockies (Montana) but I hadn't see one in person yet. I decided to go the route of restoration becasue of the $1, 600 price tag of the 602 but then the gal came back with my brick and we got to talking about the price and she told me Jotul is/has let their license to build the stove expire so the store was considering heavily discounting the 2 they had left to "get them gone" After a bunch of haggling, they offered me the stove for $900, I told them to throw in a couple Jotul t-shirts and they've got a deal 😊. I'm now the proud owner of one of these puppies and can't wait to complete the break-in and get it installed to see how it performs. The Fisher will end up going into the wood shop which will be a great fit.

[PCS]

I am not at that property today, but I am 90% sure that the measurement diagonally from back corner to front is around 40 inches.

[anonz]

Excellent comparison! I had looked at the Vermont Castings Aspen but wasn't crazy about the quality, then saw where someone suggested the Jotul 602 instead. Never even heard of that brand before but will definitely go with that! Jotul doesn't seem to advertise much in the U.S.

[DavidTorres-xljl]

Great Analysis between both stoves!! Well Done!!

[milomagic]

Thank you for the apples-to-apples, data based, non-biased scientific assessment of comparable wood stoves. With this information a consumer, who is about to make a purchase, can make an evidence-based return on investment decision of the extra cost of one over the other.

[Leaf-light]

I would have liked to see which stove lasted longest before allowing the cabin to drop back to starting point. Is the Jotul a rabbit compared to the VC turtle? Or is the Jotul an Energizer bunny outlasting the turtle?

I suppose extinguishing the fire at 02:30:00 and comparing the remaining mass and volume of coals would be something to check for.

Great, fascinating experiment. Wonderful controls. 👍🏼

[-u]

I would like to see a normal use test. Nobody leaves the damper wide open during normal use. So I would be curious how the two stoves would compare as they would be used in a real world test. I like to comparison here, but only tells one story.

[grcerosa]

Great experiment, my friend planning on getting a jotul 602 to put on my deck that’s getting turned into a Fourseason sunroom.

[alcidebouchard]

It would have been interesting to see how they perform through a full burn, because the Vermont casting is supposedly a 10 hour maximum. Your data seems to confirm that it produces a more gradual consumption of the fuel, with less spiking of the temperature. I'm happy to see this because I have a small home with an electrical backup system. I just bought an Aspen, thinking that it may be ideal due to the efficiency of the burn.

[bobbafett]

The vermont castings has that Continuous Combustion Control feature where it automatically adjusts the air intake to achieve a constant burn temperature. So it makes sense that the graphs for the VC would be pretty flat. There is a trade off. Less fiddling with the air intake, but also less control over the burn rate and the heat it throws off.

[mattcramer]

Really interesting and well performed test! Thank you for providing all of that data, it will definitely help me make a decision! Also, could you please tell me the brand and dimensions of the corner hearth pad you had in the video? I would like to get the same one as it looked like a perfect fit. Thanks in advance!

[hapaboy]

The Jotul looks like a newer stove. Could it be that the Vermont casting has lost some of it's "air-tightness" due to age? I had seen an online review on steel vs cast iron stoves, where the later tends to lose it's seal over time. Just a guess. Great comparison! I was considering a VC stove but will now also look at what Jotul has to offer.

[deanmaiden]

I bought a second hand jøtul 602 for my man cave a few years ago it has a little damage to the rear right hand side but it works great I occasionally cook on it, I'm thinking about having one in my living room but need a smaller version could you advise me please all the best .

[mykola]

Are you going to keep that opening in the window all through the winter?
I am asking, because in my case I have to open the window every time to push out the cold air that comes into the room from the chimney -- back there to start the fire. After I have put the wood to the fire and pushed the warm air into the chimney (with the help of a gas lighter also) my stow burns pretty well. But I hate this idea of openinig the window every time to establish a draught.

My chimney is already 6 meters high, Even a bit more. I thauoght about adding one more section, but I am afraid it can make things even worse