I am going on Monday to have a look-see at a Dutchwest XL Cat stove. The dealer also sells Vermont Castings (which I know makes DW stoves too).
What I want in a new stove, aside from reliability over a LONG period of time, are the following:
Cat combustor
Large firebox
Easy on the eye looks
Ash pan
Easy to clean front glass via a front door
Side loading (or in the VC's case - top loading)
I think the Dutchwest fills the bill on all of the above - at a $2K-ish price point.
But...
When I spoke to the dealer on the phone, he was really pushing the new VC stoves with the 2 n 1 burn deal.
My concern with the VC (and I would look at a Defiant) is the refractory material and the load of posts I have read about them crumbling, how expensive the stove is to repair and how some of these VC stoves need repair/rebuilding after a few years of use.
How much better are the VC Defiant type stoves than the cat versions of the Dutchwest? Any quality difference I should be concerned with?
My Dad had an old VC Defiant Encore and it was really nice on the eyes. It was a cat stove, but made a lot of creosote - likely from not burning the best of seasoned wood. From what I recall, the cat was a pain in the arse to remove to clean/replace too, but all in all it was a good stove and still in use today by another user to whom the stove was sold.
I am considering several stoves, but keep coming back to the Dutchwest because of the features I want - but haven't really considered a VC Defiant.
What do you think about the DW vs VC stoves?
Thanks!
Bill
What I want in a new stove, aside from reliability over a LONG period of time, are the following:
Cat combustor
Large firebox
Easy on the eye looks
Ash pan
Easy to clean front glass via a front door
Side loading (or in the VC's case - top loading)
I think the Dutchwest fills the bill on all of the above - at a $2K-ish price point.
But...
When I spoke to the dealer on the phone, he was really pushing the new VC stoves with the 2 n 1 burn deal.
My concern with the VC (and I would look at a Defiant) is the refractory material and the load of posts I have read about them crumbling, how expensive the stove is to repair and how some of these VC stoves need repair/rebuilding after a few years of use.
How much better are the VC Defiant type stoves than the cat versions of the Dutchwest? Any quality difference I should be concerned with?
My Dad had an old VC Defiant Encore and it was really nice on the eyes. It was a cat stove, but made a lot of creosote - likely from not burning the best of seasoned wood. From what I recall, the cat was a pain in the arse to remove to clean/replace too, but all in all it was a good stove and still in use today by another user to whom the stove was sold.
I am considering several stoves, but keep coming back to the Dutchwest because of the features I want - but haven't really considered a VC Defiant.
What do you think about the DW vs VC stoves?
Thanks!
Bill