I currently have a 1,000 sq foot cabin (but adding additional space in basement soon) in North Georgia Mountains with a very very old Vermont Castings Defiant stove (pictures below). I am just in the process of getting the roof done so I figured, this would be the perfect time to move the wood stove about 10 feet to the exterior wall so it's not sitting in the middle of our living space... I called up a local company to come out and inspect the stove and give some advice and I honestly learned a lot considering I didn't know much about it.
It's gotta be around an 85' or older and missing key parts, basically, the thing is running on 'high' non-stop and uses an 8" pipe. Granted, I only use it for days it is below freezing (this year has been many) but it'll burn through like 12-15 logs in 10 hours keeping this house warm when the heat pump cannot keep up. So the company mentioned my pipes are rusting, very old and not great material / will be a safety hazard... basically to replace the pipes and move the current stove 10 feet it's going to be about $3,000 (was NOT expecting this much just for the current stove).
Now they tried to sell me on a Green Mountain 2019 model that supposedly burns up to 24 hours. But with that and the 6 inch pipe + install it's going to be about $5,000 (way way more than I was expecting). They recommend upgrading due to the age of my unit and not being able to find replacement parts.
So now my dilemma is what to do. I think it's probably worth it to find a budget unit that can heat the house and provide better burn times so I can actually use this thing around the clock next winter and not rely on heat pump at all. If I can get by using less than 10 logs a night, perfect! I'm assuming these newer units are going to really solve that issue?
I don't know much about this unit, perhaps someone here does? If a newer Englander or Drolet will outperform this for under $1,000 I don't see why it's not worth upgrading and trashing this one, but I am new to wood stoves.
Ideally, I wouldn't want to spend more than $3,000 for the entire new unit (pipes, install, hearth pad, etc.) so perhaps installing the pipe kit myself would be cheaper. But I realize I also need to prep the wall with concrete board and faux stone before I can install it all.
Mostly, this is one of many projects (this one I wasn't expecting to have to spend much on). We have a deck to replace, a wedding next February and roof starting soon... But once I get the roof replaced and take down this chimney, it has to be up before next winter or we may have some cold nights.
It's gotta be around an 85' or older and missing key parts, basically, the thing is running on 'high' non-stop and uses an 8" pipe. Granted, I only use it for days it is below freezing (this year has been many) but it'll burn through like 12-15 logs in 10 hours keeping this house warm when the heat pump cannot keep up. So the company mentioned my pipes are rusting, very old and not great material / will be a safety hazard... basically to replace the pipes and move the current stove 10 feet it's going to be about $3,000 (was NOT expecting this much just for the current stove).
Now they tried to sell me on a Green Mountain 2019 model that supposedly burns up to 24 hours. But with that and the 6 inch pipe + install it's going to be about $5,000 (way way more than I was expecting). They recommend upgrading due to the age of my unit and not being able to find replacement parts.
So now my dilemma is what to do. I think it's probably worth it to find a budget unit that can heat the house and provide better burn times so I can actually use this thing around the clock next winter and not rely on heat pump at all. If I can get by using less than 10 logs a night, perfect! I'm assuming these newer units are going to really solve that issue?
I don't know much about this unit, perhaps someone here does? If a newer Englander or Drolet will outperform this for under $1,000 I don't see why it's not worth upgrading and trashing this one, but I am new to wood stoves.
Ideally, I wouldn't want to spend more than $3,000 for the entire new unit (pipes, install, hearth pad, etc.) so perhaps installing the pipe kit myself would be cheaper. But I realize I also need to prep the wall with concrete board and faux stone before I can install it all.
Mostly, this is one of many projects (this one I wasn't expecting to have to spend much on). We have a deck to replace, a wedding next February and roof starting soon... But once I get the roof replaced and take down this chimney, it has to be up before next winter or we may have some cold nights.
