Hi all,
We had and loved a VC Defiant cat in our old house 1988-present. Other than replacing the cat once, it served us well for 20 seasons. We are preparing to have a wood stove installed in our new place, and we love the top loading feature of the VC (would likely go with Non-cat this time?), that is really the only reason we prefer it over the Jotul. Ease of loading, more capacity in the firebox. Our dealer has some reservations about the quality/stability of VC, as has been discussed here and elsewhere. He handles Jotul, and feels more comfortable with them.
I've searched and read this forum and elsewhere for discussion about VC stoves, quality, etc. Though positive reviews of the VC have been sparse, there are a few out there. I've seen comments that the VC quality has recovered some from the late 90's early 2000's low point.
Has anyone heard that the VC quality is improving? Are we totally crazy to be looking at VC, mainly because of the top loading feature?
Thanks for any input you may share.
-A
We had and loved a VC Defiant cat in our old house 1988-present. Other than replacing the cat once, it served us well for 20 seasons. We are preparing to have a wood stove installed in our new place, and we love the top loading feature of the VC (would likely go with Non-cat this time?), that is really the only reason we prefer it over the Jotul. Ease of loading, more capacity in the firebox. Our dealer has some reservations about the quality/stability of VC, as has been discussed here and elsewhere. He handles Jotul, and feels more comfortable with them.
I've searched and read this forum and elsewhere for discussion about VC stoves, quality, etc. Though positive reviews of the VC have been sparse, there are a few out there. I've seen comments that the VC quality has recovered some from the late 90's early 2000's low point.
Has anyone heard that the VC quality is improving? Are we totally crazy to be looking at VC, mainly because of the top loading feature?
Thanks for any input you may share.
-A