Buying a new wood stove / Vermont Castings

[Tannergirl]

Hello Again!

I love this website and forum -- thanks for the great information.

I have a question about buying a Vermont Casting wood stove (the Resolute Acclaim) and was surprised at the negative feedback in the stove ratings area. I know the company has been through a lot of management changes and they are discontinuing the Resolute Acclaim. On Monday I was going to order the stove but now I am having second thoughts due to the poor ratings. Also concerned about buying a stove they are not planning on caring in the future. Any input? I like the Vermont Casting Resolute Acclaim because of the metal top for stovetop cooking, screen and warming shelves but if I am likely to have problems with it I would rather get another brand.

Features I am looking for include: cast iron stove for primary heat, ability to cook stews and such on top, screen and a side load or top loading door would be nice too. The thing I don't like about the Jotul is that you have to take off the door to put the screen on. I know the screen reduces efficiency but after the house is nice and warm I like to use the screen for a short while before bedtime. The place is a newer well-insulated cottage in Michigan that is 1000 square foot with cathedral ceilings.

My other choices are the following (due to the dealers in my area):
- Quadra Fire Yosemite (I don't hear much about this stove but I like it)
- Jotul F 3CB (a bit expensive and no extra features)
- Napoleon ll00C Cast Iron (plain and simple but cheaper)

Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Wendy

 

[michaelthomas]

I own a 2003 Blue enamel Resolute Acclaime and I like it very much. I heat the main part of my house with it (2 story gambrel approx. 1600 SF). It is a very good looking stove and works well in my house. I bought it used but completely torn down and rebuilt before I bought it by ELK. When I moved into my house it had a 1983 resolute here and figured I would replace it with the same thing. It is a stove that requires quite a bit of tending to. It is not a "throw 4 splits in it and leave it for 10 hours" stove. It is a monitor the griddle temp for secondary combustion and adjust frequently to keep temp above 500 stove. I am personally pretty obsessive about checking and dinking with the stove so it suits me fine. I get 8 hour burns overnight if I have a good solid 2" of coals covering the bottom. The ash pan is super handy. The top loading is super handy except you will have to replace that griddle gasket every year at $22 a pop. There is a-lot of moving parts and a-lot of gasketting involved with this stove. I can see that next year I will be changing out the glass gaskets, the griddle, the secondary combustion damper, and the door gaskets. When ELK sold it to me he mentioned that I would need to replace the CERAM package in a year or so to a tune of $250. I have not seen this degrade a bunch but will keep my eye on it. Overall I think it is a very good looking stove that works pretty good once you figure it out. You don't buy this stove brand new because you are amazed at the function or the efficiency, you buy this stove because it looks awesome and the VC name used to mean excellence. If you are only concerned with heating your home with a wood burner, get an Englander or a Lopi at half the cost and half the maintanance.

 

[webbie]

I never heard about them discontinuing that stove - but you may know more than we do.

I like that stove - had one myself. However, there have been some members and users who are put off by the relatively complexity (maybe you call those features, but to some others the less parts the better)....

There is little doubt that this stove will require, as MT says above, more maintenance over the years. But for many it is worth it, because the style and the features are desirable.

You can't go wrong with any of the brands mentioned, although Napoleon is not known for their cast models. If you did go with a Jotul you may want to step up one size to the Castine....the burn time will be longer, and that may be needed if you want to use 24/7.

Can you tell us where you heard they are getting rid of that model?

 

[elmoleaf]

Consider a model with glass doors, rather than worrying about getting one with a screen. It seems many folks with glass doors never end up using a screen with the doors open.
Not sure the griddle is essential to cooking, unless you plan on cooking right on the stove without a pan. However, you probably don't want to try using pots etc. on a stove top with an enamel finish.
Top loading feature is great. I only open the front doors to start the fire and and empty the ash pan.

 

[Tannergirl]

Thanks everyone for your input -- very helpful. The local Vermont Castings dealer told me that this is the last year they are making the Resolute Acclaim. Apparently, the Encore has been outselling it so they dropped it.

 

[webbie]

Thanks everyone for your input -- very helpful. The local Vermont Castings dealer told me that this is the last year they are making the Resolute Acclaim. Apparently, the Encore has been outselling it so they dropped it.

Well, that sets off my BS meter! These stoves are of vastly different size, and there is no reason that one selling would negate the other. Still, they may be doing away with it for some other reasons, including low sales. But that will leave them without a real "medium small" model....maybe they are coming up with something to replace it. I suppose we will see at the show this year (trade show)

 

[Tannergirl]

Do you think I will have a problem in the future having it serviced or getting parts if they are in fact discontinuing this model?

 

[Xpress]

Hello All,

I found this thread searching for Resolute Acclaim problems. I purchased mine in Oct. 2005 and while cleaning it the other day discovered the bottom portion of the combustion package is almost disintegrated. I am not an alarmist by nature but I thought I would relay my experience with this stove.

I researched stoves for three yrs and probably like many here, I'm fanatical about it. I monitored every aspect of this stove once I began burning it and noticed a few things. First, the top loading in my opinion, can't be beat. Super convenience, easy and safe. Once I had a decent coal bed this stove operated almost as well as my father's Encore. I could definitely be wrong but it seems they engineered just a bit more of fixed air intake into my stove than his.

One difference I noticed is my insulated steel chimney produces quite a draw. If it's cold, it pulls a bit harder than I would like so I tried adding a damper in the connector which didn't seem to help much. I ended up just closing the damper and reducing the air most of the time and that seemed to quiet it down. It burns all night quite easily and is the majority of heat in our home.

I never over-fire this stove and almost immediately I began losing the paint on the entire top. Just small dust sized particles but when I brushed off the stove, the paint came with it. Now most of the entire top is bare casting. Not a big deal to me.

The problem is while gently feeling around the bottom of the combustion package I realized much of it is gone. I inquired about this with some others and have received mixed opinions. I can say this though, the stove now burns slightly hotter and with a shorter duration. I am thinking of replacing the combustion package but I am quite discouraged at the thought of spending $200 every two years. The glass in the stove also broke within 30 days of the purchase as well and was replaced for free which was nice. Other than these problems, I actually still like the stove. I have not had any problems with gasketing work, castings or anything else for that matter.

I believe this stove fills a very specific niche for a smaller stove, with top loading, that can make it through the night. That being said, I am starting to wonder about how to move forward with it. So I wish I had found this site sooner but I feel like it might be a great place to exchange ideas and experiences. Has anyone had any experience with the Woodstock Keystone? That was the other stove on my short list.

Eric

 

[webbie]

There are a lot of Keystoners here......they are quite happy.

We appreciate your report and it does illustrate some of the same problems that folks are having with other VC models. Some people are getting 8 years our of those combustion packages, others 2 years (or 1, as you mention). Much of this seems due to the exact chimney situation, but that is something most users do not have enough control over.

I would have to say that at this point I cannot suggest these models to the average newbie who just wants to burn. There are a high end product...I have often compared them to a mercedes. And some high end products (like the mercedes I once bought brand new) have more parts and systems than a simple car - and therefore are in the shop more (I sold our mercedes because of this!)

I sold a lot of Acclaims and used one myself....with hardly any problems. But these were generally older models and certain aspects of the design have changed. Also, folks here have reported mixed results.

As far as parts, I think they have promised to have parts for at least 10 years after date of manufacturer. However that stove was a big enough seller that I would expect a parts house to continue to supply after that point.

Note - if they are truly discontinuing you might be able to get a price break!

 

[jmasiakos]

I have owned a 1995 Resolute Acclaim in forest green enamel for over 13 years. I have gone through 3 sets of firebricks and 2 combustion packages as well a set of enamel pipes over that period of time. (normal wear and tear) Other than that I have not had any problems with this stove. It puts out nearly 40,000 btu's on a really hot fire. It heats up the house and we must have saved several thousands of dollars on heating oil over the past 13 years - and we all know how expensive heating oil has been. As far as parts are concerned I just ordered some more fire bricks as a backup which you can readily find on the internet. The only thing I regret is getting the stove in the enamel rather than a matte finish which was offered back in 1995. Once you chip the enamel, its done for. You can use the filler and enamel touch up paint but once you get the stove nice and hot, the touch up paint burns off and you are left with an ugly beige colored patch. Overall I would definitely recommend the Resolute Acclaim.

 

[mikeathens]

Hello Again!

I love this website and forum -- thanks for the great information.

I have a question about buying a Vermont Casting wood stove (the Resolute Acclaim) and was surprised at the negative feedback in the stove ratings area. I know the company has been through a lot of management changes and they are discontinuing the Resolute Acclaim. On Monday I was going to order the stove but now I am having second thoughts due to the poor ratings. Also concerned about buying a stove they are not planning on caring in the future. Any input? I like the Vermont Casting Resolute Acclaim because of the metal top for stovetop cooking, screen and warming shelves but if I am likely to have problems with it I would rather get another brand.

Features I am looking for include: cast iron stove for primary heat, ability to cook stews and such on top, screen and a side load or top loading door would be nice too. The thing I don't like about the Jotul is that you have to take off the door to put the screen on. I know the screen reduces efficiency but after the house is nice and warm I like to use the screen for a short while before bedtime. The place is a newer well-insulated cottage in Michigan that is 1000 square foot with cathedral ceilings.

My other choices are the following (due to the dealers in my area):
- Quadra Fire Yosemite (I don't hear much about this stove but I like it)
- Jotul F 3CB (a bit expensive and no extra features)
- Napoleon ll00C Cast Iron (plain and simple but cheaper)

Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Wendy

Don't know if you finally made a choice or not, but I noticed no one mentioned the Pacific Energy T4, T5, or T6. I don't know which is most comparable in size to the VC Resolute, but they all have a great reputation, are VERY nice, classic looking cast-iron stoves, and have a cooking surface on top (with little fold-out "griddles"). I don't think they don't have the screen, but neither does my hearthstone (the big window is very nice for viewing). I almost bought one of these, but I was overruled by the wife and ended up with soapstone. Tom (chimneysweeponline) can ship one of these right to your front door for a relatively small cost.

Just a thought...

 

[kwburn]

can any of you elaborate on the amount of time tending the fire to maintain a consistent temperature mentioned above?
is it that bad?

i was thinking of replacing my Intrepid II with a Resolute Acclaim by next winter to squeeze out some longer burns without cooking us out of the room. one thing we are spoiled on with our Intrepid II and Defiant Encore is thermostic air control which the Resolute Acclaim doesnt have as far as I'm told. it really keeps the stove within 50-100 degrees for the entire burn cycle normally.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hello Again!

I love this website and forum -- thanks for the great information.

I have a question about buying a Vermont Casting wood stove (the Resolute Acclaim) and was surprised at the negative feedback in the stove ratings area. I know the company has been through a lot of management changes and they are discontinuing the Resolute Acclaim. On Monday I was going to order the stove but now I am having second thoughts due to the poor ratings. Also concerned about buying a stove they are not planning on caring in the future. Any input? I like the Vermont Casting Resolute Acclaim because of the metal top for stovetop cooking, screen and warming shelves but if I am likely to have problems with it I would rather get another brand.

Features I am looking for include: cast iron stove for primary heat, ability to cook stews and such on top, screen and a side load or top loading door would be nice too. The thing I don't like about the Jotul is that you have to take off the door to put the screen on. I know the screen reduces efficiency but after the house is nice and warm I like to use the screen for a short while before bedtime. The place is a newer well-insulated cottage in Michigan that is 1000 square foot with cathedral ceilings.

My other choices are the following (due to the dealers in my area):
- Quadra Fire Yosemite (I don't hear much about this stove but I like it)
- Jotul F 3CB (a bit expensive and no extra features)
- Napoleon ll00C Cast Iron (plain and simple but cheaper)

Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Wendy

Sounds like you're looking for a stove that is reliable and has a few extra features . . . to be quite honest I guess I would ask myself if that one drawback you mentioned about Jotul (i.e. the screen) is a deal breaker. For me it would be a non-issue . . . as much as I like a good looking stove I value reliability, simplicity and good heat output even more.

Personally, I think the idea of putting a screen on to a woodstove sounds neat when you hear about it . . . but I wonder how many people in the real world who heat their homes with wood for heat (vs. starting a fire for the ambiance) use the screen. It may not be quite the same, but a stove with a large, glass window can deliver much of the same visual and auditory stimulation that a screen would give in my own biased opinion . . . but not having ever used a screen I could be wrong.

Also, I'm glad to see you're not ruling out other stoves . . .

 

[Shari]

This is an old thread resurrected from last year....

Shari

 

[mikeathens]

Duh...Feb 2008. How'd I miss that?

 

[firefighterjake]

Duh...Feb 2008. How'd I miss that?

And a "D'oh" from me . . . I'm usually pretty good at spotting the Zombie Threads -- the ones that get resurrected from the past and brought back to "life" even though the topic is pretty much dead and gone.