Hey All - I have been meaning to do this for a while now and I hope it helps some of you out there wondering if the newer Vermont Castings FlexBurn Defiant is any good. I bought my VC Defiant brand new in 2017 from a local stove store and what I am going to attempt to do here is based on 2 years of using the stove, give you a truthful account, along with my overall opinion of the stove. The reason I am doing this is before I bought the VC I did my research and while there were a lot of opinions, there were not a lot of folks actually burning them and providing feedback.
Before I get started I know there are plenty of folks on this forum who are disappointed (to say the least) in VC due to quality issues going back a few decades. All I can say is most if not all of those sentiments are valid and well deserved, I agree in the past VC has put out some real crap in terms of engineering and quality. However, the one thing most of us can agree on is when it comes to aesthetics it's VC and then everyone else. I'd also like to thank the folks on this forum because when I was doing my research I asked for opinions on other stoves that may work and I got a ton of responses.
Why Vermont Castings?
My house is a new house but it's a 1780 center chimney Cape Cod style house with a 12 ft wide hearth that is the centerpiece of the house. I know a BK or an envrio or any number of other stoves will run circles around my VC in terms of efficiency but frankly, some of those stoves are not pretty and would not look right sitting in my hearth. Believe me, I read all the horror stories, I knew about the expensive casts breaking, costly repairs, finicky operation etc. I really wanted to buy another stove and if QuadraFire hadn't stopped selling the Isle Royale, that would have been the one. I looked at every major stove brand, and while I am not a vain individual, looks were very important in this case and nothing beat the VC. So I rolled the dice...
The Configuration and Fuel
The stove sits in a 5 ft wide fireplace, has a 6 inch liner going up a 30ft, 3 flue chimney. The chimney is exposed on the first and 2nd floor and only the last 10 ft are in unheated space. I have an excellent draft which I've heard is a must with this stove. I burn primarily oak but also plenty of ash and maple, along with the other native New England hardwoods. I buy my firewood from somebody and I believe at best it is seasoned a year - I do stack in neatly which seasons it much better than leaving it in a pile. I burn the stove almost 24/7 starting around mid-December through mid-March (at the earliest).
The Good (Aside from looks)
I don't regret my purchase of this stove at all. It looks great on the hearth and actually operates a lot better than I expected it would given the feedback I received. This stove is not for a newbie - it's like a good woman you gotta know what you're doing and treat her right otherwise, it's nothing but aggravation. Understand, I am under no illusion that this stove is going to be trouble free for the next 20 years. I fully expect to have to do a little more maintenance and part replacement that I should have to but I guess that is the trade-off. If I was to do it again I would look over everything else out there and see if I could find a simpler stove that looks as good, but honestly I just took a quick look before writing this and I still think she's the best looking girl at the dance.
Thanks to anyone who read this entire diatribe, I hope it was helpful. I'd love to hear feedback and of course if you have any questions I am happy to answer them. Otherwise happy burning.
Before I get started I know there are plenty of folks on this forum who are disappointed (to say the least) in VC due to quality issues going back a few decades. All I can say is most if not all of those sentiments are valid and well deserved, I agree in the past VC has put out some real crap in terms of engineering and quality. However, the one thing most of us can agree on is when it comes to aesthetics it's VC and then everyone else. I'd also like to thank the folks on this forum because when I was doing my research I asked for opinions on other stoves that may work and I got a ton of responses.
Why Vermont Castings?
My house is a new house but it's a 1780 center chimney Cape Cod style house with a 12 ft wide hearth that is the centerpiece of the house. I know a BK or an envrio or any number of other stoves will run circles around my VC in terms of efficiency but frankly, some of those stoves are not pretty and would not look right sitting in my hearth. Believe me, I read all the horror stories, I knew about the expensive casts breaking, costly repairs, finicky operation etc. I really wanted to buy another stove and if QuadraFire hadn't stopped selling the Isle Royale, that would have been the one. I looked at every major stove brand, and while I am not a vain individual, looks were very important in this case and nothing beat the VC. So I rolled the dice...
The Configuration and Fuel
The stove sits in a 5 ft wide fireplace, has a 6 inch liner going up a 30ft, 3 flue chimney. The chimney is exposed on the first and 2nd floor and only the last 10 ft are in unheated space. I have an excellent draft which I've heard is a must with this stove. I burn primarily oak but also plenty of ash and maple, along with the other native New England hardwoods. I buy my firewood from somebody and I believe at best it is seasoned a year - I do stack in neatly which seasons it much better than leaving it in a pile. I burn the stove almost 24/7 starting around mid-December through mid-March (at the earliest).
The Good (Aside from looks)
- Top loading - the VC has the best top loading access without question. In the dead of winter the front doors will go weeks without being opened. My Dad's Dutchwest has side loading and he likes it but in mu opinion top loading is way better
- The damper mechanism seems real solid and it locks in place with authority - IMHO much better than the older (80's Vigilant, Defiant) design
- Air adjustment works well. The fire actually reacts when you make an adjustment
- I don't find it finicky to use at all. I burned an old-school Vigilant (God rest her soul) for 15 years before this so, maybe that's why it's easy for me. But running it is as simple as getting a fire going, get the temp up to 500 with medium splits, top her off, let her go with the damper and air wide open for 20-30 minutes, top her off again if needed and close the damper. It's easy as that. It is also a lot more forgiving than the older stoves when it comes to how seasoned the wood is
- This girl cranks out the heat! And I mean cranks out the heat. My house is 3600 SqFt and it heats all of it except for the 700 SqFt over the garage which is also the furthest possible point away from the stove. In the dead of winter when we have sustained low single digits outside it is 73 inside and even 62ish over the garage without any furnace heat whatsoever. Now to be fair some of this heating is due to the exposed chimney on the 2nd floor and fireplace brick on the first floor which radiate a lot of heat. I also have Andersen 400 windows (which help alot) and 2x6 construction however, I have standard insulation - no foam or fancy stuff.
- I find her very efficient and the catalyst works very well. I work from home so I load her around 7AM and then again around 4. If I wait till 5 or 6 I can still get it going it just takes a little while. When I let her go out she puts out heat for a solid 12 hours and has stayed warm to the touch for up to 24
- This thing is friggin expensive
All in it cost me over $5K for the stove, insulation and liner. That was after they gave me $1K for my old Vigilant - Mass was running a buy back program. Otherwise it would have been over $6K - The door gasket system sucks. I need to replace door gaskets every year which is ridiculous. I believe it is because of the way the doors come together, the right one seals by sort of rolling up on the left one which deteriorates the left door gasket in a single season
- Ash tray system also sucks. I actually need a new ashtray because the rivets on one side broke free. The ashtray is also flimsy steel and frankly it just feels very cheap
- Last year the corner of the left refractory broke off. I have no idea how or why but it broke off. It doesn't affect anything but it is still very irritating given what I paid for the stove. I could get it replaced under warranty but that's a pain to do
- The catalyst refractory access panel broke in half last night. So this is still a problem...Those of you who have been stating this as an issue over the last several years can take solace in the fact that you were 100% right and it's still an issue. I'm told by my dealer it has 3 year warranty so it should be covered and I should have a new one this week. Still...This is complete BS and VC or HHS or whoever the hell owns them now should be ashamed of themselves for not fixing this ongoing issue
- I wish VC would stop being so damn cheap and just attach the handle to the damn front door. If I don't misplace it my 5 year old hides it on me
- Creosote build up. I ran a Vigilant for a long time so my chimney gets swept every year out of habit. Even the new VC puts out a good amount of creosote. Oddly the most build-up is at the cap. My chimney sweep guy has told me the last 2 years in a row that the screen on the chimney cap was almost completely clogged. I'd love to get some feedback on this if anyone has any. Bottom line is if you run this stove sweep your chimney annually
- The windows get sooted up fairly regularly, not like the old VC stoves but they don't stay clean like the other newer stove either. They are easy to clean though
I don't regret my purchase of this stove at all. It looks great on the hearth and actually operates a lot better than I expected it would given the feedback I received. This stove is not for a newbie - it's like a good woman you gotta know what you're doing and treat her right otherwise, it's nothing but aggravation. Understand, I am under no illusion that this stove is going to be trouble free for the next 20 years. I fully expect to have to do a little more maintenance and part replacement that I should have to but I guess that is the trade-off. If I was to do it again I would look over everything else out there and see if I could find a simpler stove that looks as good, but honestly I just took a quick look before writing this and I still think she's the best looking girl at the dance.
Thanks to anyone who read this entire diatribe, I hope it was helpful. I'd love to hear feedback and of course if you have any questions I am happy to answer them. Otherwise happy burning.
