Anyone have any experience with this stove? There is one on CL and I'm looking to replace my stove with a larger model. I have my existing stove on CL, and was kind of set on a Drolet Myriad, but I stumbled across the VC. Have read a little about it, searched this forum, so I thought I'd ask. Is a Cat stove that much more efficient than a non cat? I currently have a 1.7 cu ft firebox, the VC has a 2.4 IIRC, and my house is about 1,000 sq ft. I felt like my existing stove was just a bit small, and I am looking for longer overnights.
I have that stove in my basement in pieces. It was here when we bought our house in 08' but it was in such bad shape it couldn't be used. Since then I stripped it down and wrote a list of replacement parts but thats as far as I got.
I've heard some good things about that stove but no experience with it. Still, that sounds like a pretty good sized stove for 1000 sq ft.
@Woody Stover has one. I think he likes it but I believe they have a reputation of high maintenance, high priced parts.
The cat version of the Dutchwest were good stoves from everything I've read from owners. The non-cat stoves were very hit or miss.
From what I've read on the cat's, they're very appealing, albeit expensive. The specs are misleading when comparing stoves. The stove I have has a max btu rating of 40k, but so does the VCDW, but the current stove is rated for 250-1000 sq ft and the VCDW is up to 2,400 sq ft. . The Drolet Myriad is 85k. The Drolet also claims a higher efficiency than the VCDW cat, and is rated for up to 2,400 sq ft!? And then Menards puts the Myriad on sale this week
BTU, burn times, and heating capacity specs on stoves are marketing crap on 99% of the stoves available.
Keith I have that stove owned it for about 15 yrs. I like the stove ,any issues that I had with the stove are totally on me operator ignorance. Like burning unseasoned wood, over firing ,burning junk mail which shortens the life of the cat, all of this new knowledge and wisdom I owe to Dennis and some other folks from the old hang out Will it heat your 1000 sq.ft you bet,mine is in my 500+ sq. ft. basement, plenty warm down there. That was another mistake I made trying to heat my 1600 sq. ft. from the basement Solved that problem put a pellet stove upstairs whole house is nice and toasty now. Bottom line they are a good stove well made cast iron and they look good too ,operate it properly and it's all good. Hope this helps if you have any ?? Feel free to pm me.
I read a lot about this stove, and cat stoves in general. I went to look at it tonight, and I'm sold. Gonna try to round up the troops, and try to go get it tomorrow. What about double wall stove pipe? I looked into mine today, stove pipe (single wall) was dirty, but it was dry & ash'y, chimney pipe wasn't even completely black. It was more like 50-50 black-stainless. Looked at the double wall at Menards, looked kind of cheap. Ive got a piece of double wall & insulated stove pipe, but not enough. Is it worth getting?
Agreed on the high priced parts...one of the reasons I didn't get too far into restoring the one I have
I had single wall on my old Oslo for 6 years and never had any problems. However, my new stove has a recommendation for double wall to keep the flue hot and eliminate any buildup, so I think it's a good idea.
Any thoughts on a fair price? Stove is a 2008, new ss cat in 2011, super clean inside and out. Blower works,
We agreed on 725, I'm going to pick it up tonight. Next up, new raised hearth and stone veneer on wall behind it.
You are getting a 3+ cu ft firebox (most of it is usable) steel cat stove. And you are coming from a 2.3-ish cu ft non-cat stove that worked well for you 90-95% of the winter. I'm pretty sure you know you don't have anything to worry about. You will be thoroughly entertained this winter while playing with your new 550 lbs friend.
