What is this stove?

[Gooserider]

There is a "Federal Airtight Consolidated Dutchwest (now Vermont Castings) Airtight Model FA264 Large Wood/Coal stove" listed on (broken link removed) - Is this a decent stove? Is it an EPA model, or is it pre-epa? Cat or non-cat? Can someone supply a pointer to specs for it?

I looked in the wiki, and did a quick forum search and didn't see anything... Assuming the stove is in decent shape, what is it likely to be worth?

Thanks,

Gooserider

 

[Corie]

This is EPA phase one approved, I believe. It is a cat stove, with the ability to burn coal and it is the stove that I burned in my parents for the two years prior to installing the homemade one.

It's a DECENT stove. This is before vermont castings took dutchwest over, and these stoves were made in taiwan. The quality control is regarded by many to be questionable, but I had no problems with the one I had. I will say this though, the catalytic system is more of an afterthought than part of the design. With a strong draft and some patience, you'll have no problem getting the cat combustor to function well and give you long burn times.

That said, as a first stove for someone, its finicky, does not have automatically adjusting secondary air, no air wash over the tiny glass windows, large clearences from combustible walls. I wouldn't pay more than 350 dollars for one of these stoves in ANY condition. We paid 200 for ours and it was beat. I had to do a complete rebuild and replace some parts, but it served us well for those two years. It has the ability to burn coal with the retrofit basket and it actually does a halfway decent job, althought the capacity is no where near large enough to make it a serious coal heater for a large area.

You can find specs on the vermont castings website if you search for Pre-1990 Dutchwest. Just search the term "Dutchwest" in their search bar and scroll down. You'll find a blanket manual describing the whole lot of dutchwest stoves they inherited when they bought the company.

 

[webbie]

I would pay as little as possible - especially if it was a Taiwan model - I probably wouldn't pay anything over 100 for that - if it's a VC model (it will say Made in Taiwan or Made in USA cast on the rear)....well, if it is a VC model and in good condition, maybe 150-200. Keep in mind it is likely to need parts and, for instance, a cat converter would run well over $100, etc.

Personally, I would pass up this brand used - and look for something nicer.

 

[Gooserider]

Thanks, sounds like I'll give this one a pass - The guy selling it has a "Buy it now" price of $425, and says if he can't get that he'll be parting it out. It doesn't look bad in the pictures, but the price seems excessive.

Ironically, looking at the pix, I think this may be the model stove that my father put in our summer cottage back when I was in HS, circa early 70's. It worked good then, but I'm not surprised to learn the art has improved.

It was a DIY install, the hardest part was getting the stove down the very steep hill between the driveway and the cottage. We used it as an insert into an old "Heatilator" fireplace that we thought was nice but had rusted out after 40 plus years, and was starting to leak smoke. We put in a flue liner and the whole bit, and found what a difference a stove made. I think that was my first woodstove experience, but it's fun how it comes back.

Gooserider