Clearances
Your stove and chimney connector will radiate energy in all directions when in operation. An important part of planning a safe installation is to be sure combustible materials near your stove do not overheat due to inad- equate clearance.
Clearance is the distance between your stove (or chim- ney connector) and nearby walls, ceiling, and floors, as well as other combustible materials. Correct clearance must also be maintained to moveable items, such as furniture, newspapers, or clothes left to dry near the stove. Keep all combustibles a considerable distance away from the stove; 48” is a good minimum clear- ance. Installing your Vigilant to the tested clearance and keeping those clearance areas empty assures that nearby surfaces will not overheat.
Clearances must be large enough so that furniture and other combustibles near your stove will not overheat and catch fire. Wood framing that is part of a wall
or floor will dry as it ages, and its ignition point (the temperature at which it will start to burn) will be low- ered. The change may take place slowly over a period of many years, or more quickly if the wood is near a source of heat such as a stove.
Your Vermont Castings Vigilant II Coal Stove has been carefully and thoroughly tested by independent test- ing laboratories to determine safe clearances. During testing, heat sensors installed in all surfaces near the stove and chimney connector, including floors and ceil- ings, show the temperatures reached during a variety of combustion situations. Clearance distances are accepted only when the sensors show the stove is far enough from nearby surfaces to meet strict UL or ULC
standards.
Using The Clearance Chart
If your stove will be parallel to the wall behind it (parallel installation), use the columns of the chart labelled “side” and “rear”. If your stove will be installed in a corner (corner installation), use the columns labelled “corner”. Your stove will be in either a parallel or a corner instal- lation, not both. Use only the part of the chart that ap- plies to your installation. Note: Side clearances do not apply to corner installations.
Measure clearance between the edge of the stove’s top plate and the nearby combustible surface. For most common installations, when the stove has the proper clearance from nearby surfaces, the chimney connector will also have the proper clearance. However, instal- lations vary. It is important to double check all installa- tions for proper chimney connector clearance, as well
as stove clearance.
Vermont Castings Vigilant
The clearance distance must be empty except for non- combustible heat shields. Air flowing between the stove (and/or chimney connector) and nearby shields car- ries away heat. Do not block the air flow by filling this empty space with any insulating material.
Clearance Reductions
When no shields are used, empty space alone provides protection against overheating. When shields are used, it is usually possible to reduce the required clearance, as the shields offer additional protection.
Stove shields and connector shields (used only on
When shields are attached to the stove or chimney con- nector, they are mounted 1” - 2” away from the stove or connector surface on
The greatest clearance reductions result from using both stove and chimney connector shields in conjunc-
tion with walls which are protected with wall shields.
Unprotected Walls
Clearances With No Heat Shields
If the Vigilant is installed parallel to the rear wall (paral- lel installation) and no shields are used, the stove must be at least 20” (510 mm) from the wall behind it, and at least 18” (460 mm) from walls beside it.
20" (510mm)
18" 
(460mm)
ST683
Fig. 5 Minimum clearances, parallel installation, no heat shield.
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