Replacing our Dutchwest 2461

[Slmanbeck]

Hi everyone. Hoping you can help. I've spent hours and hours reading these threads and have found them helpful, yet I am still lost.

We currently have a Dutchwest 2461 that was here when we purchased the house. The people who service our chimney believe it to be around 15 years old. We live in a 2500 sf early 1900s farmhouse with not the greatest insulation. With the current DW and a cheap steel stove in an office we are able to hear the majority of the house with exceptions to a few upstairs rooms on the opposite side of the house from the stoves. We really like our current stove but have had many issues with it in the past year and have been told it's "just time to replace it" due to poor care by previous owners and the age. We looked at Jotuls but hate the front loading and the Oslo is just way to big for the hearth and fireplace opening the stove fits in. Same for Napoleons and the fact that they do not rear vent. Dealers around us only seem to carry jotul napoleon vermont castings and keystones. (Only 2 real local dealers) I am tempted to just replace the stove we already have as the hearth/chimney are already set up for it. Is this a totally stupid idea or is there something better out there I could perhaps order? I have attached a picture of our current set up. Thanks so much!

 

[begreen]

Welcome. A big Jotul F500, F600 would do the job. Or, would consider ordering factory direct? If so, go to Woodstock's website and look at the Ideal Steel and the Progress Hybrid. They both should work there. Woodstock is the only company offering a 6 month moneyback guarantee and their customer support is excellent. www.woodstove.com

Note that the hearth for the woodstove is woefully inadequate. It needs to extend at least 16" in front of the stove door.

 

[Slmanbeck]

Welcome. A big Jotul F500, F600 would do the job. Or, would consider ordering factory direct? If so, go to Woodstock's website and look at the Ideal Steel and the Progress Hybrid. They both should work there. Woodstock is the only company offering a 6 month moneyback guarantee and their customer support is excellent.

www.woodstove.com

Thanksf for for the reply. As I mentioned the Jotul F500 Oslo will not work in the area we need to place the stove as it's far too big and will excede our current hearth. I have looked at the wood stocks and don't really love the soapstone look. How easy is something like this to install? Our current chimney service company has said they will not install a stove not purchased through them.

 

[begreen]

To be proper, the hearth will need an extension. If the current stove was properly installed with a good 6", stainless liner, then removing the old and installing the new is not that big a deal. The Ideal Steel is an affordable steel stove sold by Woodstock. It's one of the rare steel stoves that has a rear vent option. There are other installer options including a certified CSIA or NSCG sweep or NFI installer.

 

[begreen]

Where in VA are you located? If near MD there are a lot of stove shops. You might also want to look at Hearthstone's large cast iron stove, the Manchester.

 

[Slmanbeck]

We are in western VA so not really near MD. I did see where a somewhat close dealer also carries Lopi and Hearthstone. I will check out the Manchester. Thanks.
Just curious, what is the reasoning from steering away from our current stove?

 

[begreen]

The 2461 is a decent catalytic stove. If you want to replace it with a new one that would be fine if a dealer is near you. Mod BrotherBart lives in your area and may be able to suggest other good dealers if you can provide a nearby city or zipcode.

 

[Slmanbeck]

We are in 24401. Staunton VA. Thanks for all the help.

 

[bholler]

They were decent stoves for their time but there is much better out there now and at a certain point it is not worth fixing them anymore. I cant say if yours is at that point without seeing it but i have seen many old dw stoves that were no longer worth the time and money to fix. Like begreen said as it is you need a hearth extension or stove board and i doubt any stove will be small enough to work on that hearth and have proper clearances so personally i would go as big as you can and still get the vent into the fp opening. Also what type and size liner is it hooked to?

 

[BrotherBart]

bholler, Monesson still sells the 2461.

 

[begreen]

Looks like Acme Stoves in Harrisonburg is reasonably close. They carry Jotul, Morso, Vermont Castings and Quadrafire. That is a good lineup. In Quadrafire, the Isle Royale is a good design that has been around for a while. There is rarely a complaint about this stove and many happy owners here including moderator Jags. The Morso 3610 is a no-nonsense cast iron stove from Denmark that can put out a lot of heat. It is smaller than the big Jotul, Isle Royale or the Manchester and closer to the size of the 2461. The court is still out on the VC everburn stoves. They are beautifully cast, but the company has gone under a lot of recent changes and the flexburn design is too new to know whether they have finally put high maintenance issues behind them. Hope so, but only time will tell.

 

[bholler]

ok then i was unaware of that why not go with the same stove then if you like it. I dont like them all that much i think there a re allot better stoves available but if it works for you why change?

 

[begreen]

Note that Quadrafire has a new stove called the Explorer II that I would look at too. It is a good looking 2.4 cu ft stove that has a rear-exit option. The design is fairly conventional so it should be a reliable stove.

 

[Slmanbeck]

I'm not quite sure what type of lining we have but it was replaced in the last 2 years.
I've made a trip to Acme and they tried to push a Jotul on me without showing me much else. I'll need to make a trip back to check out what else I see. I found a dealer who can sell me the 2461 so getting one should not be an issue.
Does anyone have any experience in extending a hearth? Any idea what is be in for cost wise?

 

[begreen]

The hearth extension depends on the stove's hearth requirements. If the stove just needs ember protection then a sheet of metal will suffice. If the 2461 has the bottom heat shield this will work for it. For a classic look, consider copper. For some stoves the simplest solution is to put down a hearth extension board in front of the stove during the heating season. You can buy these premade or build your own for under $50. It should be screwed down in a couple places to stop it from shifting. A more expensive approach is to either extend the existing brick by opening up the floor to the correct distance or creating a new hearth veneer on top of the old one and extending it out further.

Here are some previous threads on the topic:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...er-board-over-concrete-hearth-subfloor.55062/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/building-hearth-extension-for-insert.7622/

Search Amazon for "hearth extension pad" to see options:
http://www.amazon.com/Chimney-Plus-..._sbs_hg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0F5F07ANT5QNR7NTYH6Y
http://www.amazon.com/HearthSafe-Steel-Frame-Hearth-Extension/dp/B001E8O814/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407875900&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=hearth extension pad

 

[Slmanbeck]

Thanks for everyone's help. I really appreciate it!

 

[Woody Stover]

why not go with the same stove then if you like it.

I've got my 2460 back in for the time being, and I got away with just putting gaskets in it to get it running well. Dws are kinda cool-looking, have a grated ash handling system, and the advantage of the cat in this moderate climate. I think they are still pretty cheap. One bad thing is the dinky window. If I were going to sink $1000+ into a new stove, I would be tempted to toss some extra money with it and get a higher quality stove with big glass. On the other hand, if you need two stoves to the place, that gets expensive. Can you weatherize the house (more insulation and leak sealing) and get away with one stove, or is the layout just too cut up, or no good central location for just one stove?

The hearth extension depends on the stove's hearth requirements. If the stove just needs ember protection then a sheet of metal will suffice.

That is the case with the 2461, with the standard legs and heat shield.