Vermont Castings Dutchwest

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neumsky said:
@ well built home... why not? on the everburn system that is.

I think the ever burn system is crap .
Its very picky about the wood it likes .
The wood needs to be bone dry .
The chimney needs to be 20' + to burn well .
The cat stove burns no matter what , lite the stove
get it burning good, close damper, adjust the air
reload in 7/8 hs .
There is a cat air intake that i adjusted in 95 and never looked at it again .

I traded my DW for a hearthstone Equinox and i'm having lots of trouble
making heat . John
 
neumsky said:
Here's another question...if I bypass the catalytic converter...will that ever hurt the stove...so we could just leave it in that mode? except for when I really need the heat let's say on a day when my furnace goes out as the room I will have this in is very small.

There is no need to run with a open flue.
My stove would run 6/8 hrs with 3 splits and low air setting and burn clean .
 
Just outa curiousity tho wellbuilt...if you were happy with the DW..why did you trade? Jeff
 
leeave96 said:
Hanko said:
leeave96 said:
I think the cat versions of the DW stoves are great stoves - easy on the eyes and feature rich stoves. I have read (and do some searching) that the non-cat versions are crap.

As far as using the cat - they are drop dead simple. If a person can't run one, they ought to stick to pellet stoves or something else.

Good luck!
Bill

maybe you should talk about facts, and not what you have read. I think crap is a little rude, as there are people that have them and like them. remember I said that they need average intellegence to operate

I am talking FACTS. I've got both, a cat stove and non-cat stove. Maybe you should get your facts straight and lighten-up on your rude crap.

Bill

someday you'll be a man
 
Hanko said:
leeave96 said:
Hanko said:
leeave96 said:
I think the cat versions of the DW stoves are great stoves - easy on the eyes and feature rich stoves. I have read (and do some searching) that the non-cat versions are crap.

As far as using the cat - they are drop dead simple. If a person can't run one, they ought to stick to pellet stoves or something else.

Good luck!
Bill

maybe you should talk about facts, and not what you have read. I think crap is a little rude, as there are people that have them and like them. remember I said that they need average intellegence to operate

I am talking FACTS. I've got both, a cat stove and non-cat stove. Maybe you should get your facts straight and lighten-up on your rude crap.

Bill

someday you'll be a man

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!
 
Hey Jeff, how much space are ya lookin to heat? This is the first question you should ask your self. Then look at burn times and fire box size. The bigger the better. Once you find your savings account filling with money from heating cost you'll wish you bought a stove with a bigger fire box and longer burn times. Think long and hard before you settle. If Jotul is what you want at least go with a Castine or Oslo depending on how much space you're looking to heat, if, that is, you want a serious heater. You don't want to regret a purchase later. If all you want is a part time space heater than it may be that the 119 is all you'll need.
 
wellbuilt home said:
neumsky said:
Here's another question...if I bypass the catalytic converter...will that ever hurt the stove...so we could just leave it in that mode? except for when I really need the heat let's say on a day when my furnace goes out as the room I will have this in is very small.

There is no need to run with a open flue.
My stove would run 6/8 hrs with 3 splits and low air setting and burn clean .
Hey again Jeff,
Sounds like you want something that you can operate easily, yes you could leave the damper open. However, that would be like throwing money out the window. On the shoulder season or whenever there are mild temps (40° or above) you can get a 12-16 hour period between reloads without a match, with a DW2461 large cat. Also without heating yourself out of the room and burning harmful gasses and turning them into heat instead of pollution.
 
I to loved the look of the Duchwest stoves cat or non cat both types look good. We put a order in at a local store for the DW 2477 non cat. then found out that it was going to be discontinued bummer also Vermont Castings has had issus with getting parts from them.

After I found out everything I could I backed out of the DW2477 and went with the Hampton H200. Shure there are nicer stoves than the H200 but it was the only one that met our tasts.

Just do a bit of resurch on the DW. Talk to the dealer ask them if it would get installed in his (her) house. The DW has a lerning curve that will test even the most layed back person in the Everburn non cat style. Remember a DW is the B model of VC.

We were told that the DW line was getting dropped so that being said getting parts for the stove may be a concern.
 
Thanx Rasmussen....this is the stuff I wanna hear...even tho Bill was a little politically incorrect haha... that's the way I like it...to the point. The more Yea's or Ney's is what helps us influence our decision making...it's the American way haha!
 
@ Chris... Yes I like something simple. KISS (keep it simple stupid). Haha...moreso not for me but my concern was if my wife wants to burn she can leave it in the bypass mode and it would'nt hurt anything. Being it generated a gender issue...let me restate this...I don't care what gender you are if your not interested in learning something...your not going to. It's taken me a few years to figure that one out. I'm a considerate husband and want to keep it that way. I like to keep her involved. Now as far as my room is concerned... it's a 200 square ft porch room I built. It has 2 used to be exterior doors & 2 used to be exterior 7 ft windows. One door opens into the dining area...one opens into the master bedroom. The windows open into the living room. The windows and doors which are now considered interior windows stay open almost exclusively. Now...the porch room has 6 windows & one 3'0" door. So the porch room really is all window's and door exept where the existing house is where it is brick. Yes it's a 200 square ft room but it accesses the rest of the house. Now if I have a total electrical failure... I have had to start up my generater to keep the NG furnace going. It takes electricity to run the squirrel cage. So I've decided on the Jotul F1800 Black Bear CB. It's a little bigger than whats need for the little room but can heat a good portion of our 2200 sq ft house if needed. That's why it was an issue if it was catalytic or not... I understand that catalyst equiped stoves have to run hotter than non. That's why it was a concern. Sounds like the everburn systems are finicky also. It seems as tho the magic number for non cats is 300 degree's to keep the creosote down??? This is an education, I'm enjoying! Jeff
 
neumsky said:
@ Chris... Yes I like something simple. KISS (keep it simple stupid). Haha...moreso not for me but my concern was if my wife wants to burn she can leave it in the bypass mode and it would'nt hurt anything. Being it generated a gender issue...let me restate this...I don't care what gender you are if your not interested in learning something...your not going to. It's taken me a few years to figure that one out. I'm a considerate husband and want to keep it that way. I like to keep her involved. Now as far as my room is concerned... it's a 200 square ft porch room I built. It has 2 used to be exterior doors & 2 used to be exterior 7 ft windows. One door opens into the dining area...one opens into the master bedroom. The windows open into the living room. The windows and doors which are now considered interior windows stay open almost exclusively. Now...the porch room has 6 windows & one 3'0" door. So the porch room really is all window's and door exept where the existing house is where it is brick. Yes it's a 200 square ft room but it accesses the rest of the house. Now if I have a total electrical failure... I have had to start up my generater to keep the NG furnace going. It takes electricity to run the squirrel cage. So I've decided on the Jotul F1800 Black Bear CB. It's a little bigger than whats need for the little room but can heat a good portion of our 2200 sq ft house if needed. That's why it was an issue if it was catalytic or not... I understand that catalyst equiped stoves have to run hotter than non. That's why it was a concern. Sounds like the everburn systems are finicky also. It seems as tho the magic number for non cats is 300 degree's to keep the creosote down??? This is an education, I'm enjoying! Jeff

Hi Jeff,
I can remain silent no longer.. I ran a CDW large convection cat for over 20 years and now have a T-5 which is a secondary burn stove and they both have their advantages.. The cat stove can run a long low burn much better than a secondary burn stove.. You need enough heat to keep the secondaries lit so as to burn the smoke so you can do it with practice however the cat was easier to run on low.. I have read many negative posts about Everburn here just search ih the forum and you will see for yourself.. The Everburn has a lot of fragile refractory material which is expensive to replace while a cat on a 2461 will set you back $125.00 every 6 years or so (the 2461 is built like a tank and hard to break).. I feel if you want to go secondary burn the Jotul is a better choice as they tend to be more rugged and they have been around a very long time.. Your thinking on cat stoves is backward and in fact a cat stove can be run much cooler than a non-cat and I can easily cook myself out of my house if I burn too much wood with my T-5 secondary burn stove.. A cat stove can be loaded up to the gills then choked down once the cat kicks in and run for a long low burn, Blazekings and Woodstocks are knows for this trait.. A good cat or secondary burn stove is not finicky at all but a poorly designed stove will be a PIA.. I suggest you read the reviews on the main page of Hearth.com.. A plus with a secondary burn stove is they can really crank the heat and warm a home or room quickly and I found cat stoves were best in the low to mid range.. So far I like my T-5 as it's easy to learn and fairly predictable.. Welcome to the forum and good luck!

Ray
 
Hello again Jeff,
So it sounds like the space you want to potentially heat is 2200'?

This may not be your intention right now. But once you get a good stove and see its capability of keeping the furnace from burning money up its flue and out of your pocket, you'll wish you had bought a bigger stove. I've seen it time and time again, people have come here and asked questions just like yours and chosen the smaller stove. Only to come back and say I wish I got the bigger stove. Some have even upgraded andgot rid of the original. If price is a concern have you looled at Englander nc30 stove? If going with a Jotul I urge you to think Castine or Oslo. BTW, cat stoves do not burn hotter than nc. That statement, whoever told you, was incorrect. The catalytic converter gets hot but so does any secondary burn method or baffle. Cat stoves are known for their ability to be chocked down and burn low. No matter what stove youget there will be a problem if it is just loaded and let run without learning how to use it. A fire can and will run away on you and potentially burn down your house if you constantly overheat your stove or operate it incorrectly.

Good luck with the purchase Jeff, choose wisely!
Take care,
Chris
 
Chris... I am tending to agree with you 100 % and I do not want to make the mistake of wasting my money & time to discover the right peice of equipment for my family's pleasure & comfort!
 
neumsky said:
Just outta curiosity tho wellbuilt...if you were happy with the DW..why did you trade? Jeff

My old DW was getting old
It was over fired by the wife or kids at some point .
and i needed 800 $ worth of parts .
I could have bought a new dw xl for $1700
The new EQ with 125,000 BTU seemed like it would heat much better .
I wanted to add 800 sf to the house and hoped it could heat the extra footage .
I mite dump the EQ next year and cut my losses .
John
 
Here's what I'm talking about Bill (leeave96)...I wanna know how this happens and somebody else just blamed it on the wife or kids...not me haha. This probably happens more often than not.
 
neumsky said:
Here's what I'm talking about Bill (leeave96)...I wanna know how this happens and somebody else just blamed it on the wife or kids...not me haha. This probably happens more often than not.

Any stove can be overfired, I think it happens more often with the secondary burn stoves than with a cat stove. My DW, for example, which is 15 years old has never been overfired. There is a learning curve to all stoves, once one gets the hang of their stove life with that stove becomes pretty routine.
 
neumsky said:
Here's what I'm talking about Bill (leeave96)...I wanna know how this happens and somebody else just blamed it on the wife or kids...not me haha. This probably happens more often than not.

If you are asking about overfire - it can happen to anyone - but rarely if ever to someone that knows their stove and how to burn it. A great head start is doing just what you are doing - reading and asking questions on this forum.

Good luck,
Bill
 
I can tell you that we often have to replace parts, or even rebuild non-cat DW's. Some of these have parts warp or crack, or crumble apart, for no obvious reason, this seems to happen with the most attentive person at the controls. We rebuilt one that was completely abused, too. We never work on the cat DW's, and never seen to hear anything bad about them. I would avoid the non cat if I were you.
I'm afraid the Black Bear won't be that great in 2200 sq. ft. If you truly want a stove that you can load it up and forget about it, get a Blaze King. You won't have to worry about your wife learning the controls, she won't have to. I load mine at night, and then the next night, my wife never has to touch the thing. Although it is very simple.
 
metalsped said:
My father in law runs both a small DW and a large DW (small downstairs, large in the main living space). He swears by them. They are both cat models.

Go to a DW dealer and inspect/compare the cat and non-cat models and you can see why the cat model is so durable.. The only fragile refractory mat'l on the non-cat is above the firebox and out of harm's way.. The firebox is entirely cast iron and very hard to damage compared to the non-cat..

Ray
 
Webby...thanx for that info...on the cat vs non cat. Interesting! I am only interested in supplemental heating. (emergency heating if necessary). It's going to be in a 200 sq ft room with open windows & doors to the rest of the house. So don't want it too big.
 
Oh, i missed that part about the small area. Go check out the 1.6 Enerzone. It retails for about $1165 I think, i have been very impressed with the Enerzone line. They are very responsive and not too bad looking. The small Travis stoves are a good value too, check out the 1250 and 1750.
 
Dakotas Dad said:
neumsky said:
Is it a general consensus that it would be easier for the wife to run a non cat for the wife tho?

My wife will be along in a few to make a comment about the "spirit" of what you, poor lost soul that you are, have written.

If your wife can walk and chew bubble gum, she can run a cat stove. It has exactly twice as many "levers" as a non-cat stove, and the SEX of the operator has nothing to do with being able to operate them.


I am a 60 year old totally non-handy woman who has been successfully running a very old (1983) Dutchwest Federal Airtight Catalytic stove for 12 years. I just followed the instructions in the manual. It gets a bit dirty at times with all the loading and so forth but if I can do it probably your wife can too!
 
dyerkutn said:
Dakotas Dad said:
neumsky said:
Is it a general consensus that it would be easier for the wife to run a non cat for the wife tho?

My wife will be along in a few to make a comment about the "spirit" of what you, poor lost soul that you are, have written.

If your wife can walk and chew bubble gum, she can run a cat stove. It has exactly twice as many "levers" as a non-cat stove, and the SEX of the operator has nothing to do with being able to operate them.


I am a 60 year old totally non-handy woman who has been successfully running a very old (1983) Dutchwest Federal Airtight Catalytic stove for 12 years. I just followed the instructions in the manual. It gets a bit dirty at times with all the loading and so forth but if I can do it probably your wife can too!
I'm curious,
Are you still using the original cat?
If not how many have you been through?
Thanks,
Dave.
 
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