The Difference In Stoves; New And Old

[BrowningBAR]

My weird little adventure in stove buying has allowed me to use multiple stoves in the same chimney in a very short period of time. During this I noticed differences between the stoves.

All three stoves that have been used in this chimney were all 'large' stoves. First the Vigilant, which has a firebox size in the 2.75-ish cu ft area. Then the Defiant, with a 3.2 cu ft firebox. And now I have a 30 in place with a usable firebox size that is about the same as the Vigilant. Maybe a bit larger. Hard to say due to different loading styles.

But, all three stoves are close to the same size, with a slight edge going to the Defiant.

The one thing I noticed is that of the three, the Vigilant was able to get the room the hottest with several instances of having the room well above 90 degrees.

Neither the Defiant or 30 seem prone to doing this.

Also, the heat from the Vigilant felt different. When running hard, the heat would nearly hurt when you were close. Violent was a good description for the heat radiating off the stove.

But, even with all the heat that the Vigilant seemed to give off, it was not as capable at moving the heat to the rest of the house like the other two stoves.

Both, the 30 and Defiant are far more capable at heating a larger area in my very weird layout than the Vigilant was ever able to do. This was unexpected. I first experienced this with the Defiant last year, but I wasn't sure if I was imagining it just to make myself feel good about the new purchase.

After running the 30, I know for a fact that the heat movement for the 30 and Defiant are very different that it was for the Vigilant.

The 30 and the Defiant are also able to produce heat at low temps better than the Vigilant was able to do. At 200 degrees the Vigilant didn't offer much for me except on very mild days. The 30 and Defiant still produce usable heat for me even at 200 degrees. This part is a little odd as all three stoves are about the same physical size and the 30 weighs about the same as the Vigilant. So, I am unsure as to what the difference is.

 

[Huntindog1]

Thats interesting. I would have figured the hotter stove would get heat into the other parts of the house better.

Mywaynow changed out his Defiant 1A stove for a Englander NC30 last winter. He was having trouble getting the heat to go up stairs for him. He had both of them in the basement.He said the Defiant 1A did a better job of heatting the rest of his house.

What I was thinking about his two stoves was that maybe the Defiant 1A was getting hotter throwing the heat better. With the hotter temps it was lifting the heat up into the upper levels of his house better as hotter air rises better. The NC30 is big but slower to radiate heat stove and it wasnt getting the area around it as hot but had a slower output of heat. I think he got it doing better as he learned to operate the stove and to get it hotter. Maybe the insulated firebox had something to do with the slower heat ouput. As in if you could graph it you might see a bigger spike of heat with the defiant but overall the average heat of the two stoves could be about equal.

 

[corey21]

That is interesting.

 

[raybonz]

BB does the 30NC have side/back heat shields as this may enhance the convective heat and provide better heat distribution in your home.. Your wood consumption must be quite a bit less with the 30NC over the other older stoves.. Interesting stuff!

Ray

 

[BrowningBAR]

As far as I am aware, it only has the rear heat shield attached.

Also, keep in mind, the Defiant is a modern cat stove that is now in the Living Room. But, yes, my wood consumption should drop due to the current setup.