Best value cat stoves..

[cmonSTART]

Sort of just window shopping here planning our upgraded chimney, hearth, etc. I was considering a cat stove for the longer burn times they seem to achieve. We try to heat 100% with wood, so it would seem to benefit us. Unfortunately we don't have thousands to spend on anything (young family, mortgage, yadda yadda). Since I have no experience with them, does anyone have any opinions on their cat stoves they would like to share? I'm particularly interested in value. (I could see a used hearthstone cat in our living room).

 

[BrotherBart]

(I could see a used hearthstone cat in our living room).

That would be one really old Hearthstone stove. How about a used Woodstock cat instead?

 

[wellbuilt home]

I had a VC dutch West and really liked it .I need 800 bucks worth of parts to make it like new But a new stove was $1600 in july. I bought a harth stone Equinox . I think the soap stone is realy nice . I loaded my stove last night and at 8 pm tonight the dam thing is still warm . Ive had lots of used stoves 'and never thought that i got a good deal on them .

 

[begreen]

I was thinking an Englander 24-ACD must have been one of the better cat stove values out there.

 

[cmonSTART]

I didn't know Englander produced a cat. It must not be current as I don't see any reference to it on their site outside of the owner's manual area.

 

[begreen]

Correct, though they do show up used. I believe Mike H. said he owned one and liked it. Worth keeping an eye out for.

 

[bokehman]

Check out BlazeKing. The Princess insert and Princess free standing stove are specified for 24 hour burns, and the King is rated for 40 hours. They've got a thermostat too so they are "set and forget", at least to some extent. A couple of people on here have them. I think "North of 60" is one.

 

[Highbeam]

Both of the current cat stove brands that I am aware of, BK and woodstock are good values with the nod to Woodstock for bang for the buck. There just aren't many folks making cat stoves these days.

You'll notice I don't consider VC to be a brand. Stay away from anything VC.

 

[Todd]

Woodstock, Blaze King, Energy King, Country Flame, Appalachian, Buck, VC, High Valley, Kuma

 

[Kansasplains]

with the nod to Woodstock for bang for the buck.

The only problem is, you don't see too many Woodstock users that would let you buy their stove. When you get a good one you want to hang on to it.

 

[Valkyrie Rider]

I have a Englander 24-ACD I bought brand new from old dealer stock for $500 this summer. It hasn't got real cold here yet, but even being installed in a well less then ideal setup (stove in unfinished basement, with external chimney) the stove has been working out really well for us. If I load it at 10PM (and I haven't PACKED it yet) I still have a TON of coals at 6:30am when I get up. The house has been staying 68-70+ degrees too even though the house is un-insulated in the walls and has poor windows. I haven't even been buring full time since the weather is on and off still here. It's in the 20s overnight and 40s daytime when I'm running the stove so far.

 

[redhat]

I've been burning VC cat stoves over 20 years, and couldn't be happier. Currently burning 24x7 with a new VC Encore 2550, achieving long burn times with minimal fuss. The non-cats tend to have a more lively flame, so if watching the fire is important you might take that into consideration. My Encore will kick out steady heat with little visible flame, as most of the action is taking place in the cat.