Defiant flexburn by Vermont castings? Any experience?

[2fireplacesinSC]

I have to admit, Vermont Castings makes a pretty stove. Are they any good? Specifically the defiant flexburn, which looks to be the biggest one.

Any thoughts?

 

[Diabel]

Pretty they sure are. In terms of durability.....many will say put your money in a different stove.

 

[Kevin Weis]

They have specific requirements that must be adhered to to run well. Once you got that down and you have good draft it should do okay for you. It will take you a season to get it figured out though.

 

[begreen]

There are several other large "pretty" stoves on the market that are much simpler and have a better long term track record. Take a look at the Hearthstone Manchester, Quadrafire Explorer III, Jotul F600, Enviro Boston 1700 for some comparisons.

 

[peakbagger]

Are they still nicknamed "Neverburn"?

They used to have lot of fragile parts inside, stove dealers loved them as they basically were selling enough parts every few years to make truck payments.

 

[webby3650]

Are they still nicknamed "Neverburn"?

They used to have lot of fragile parts inside, stove dealers loved them as they basically were selling enough parts every few years to make truck payments.

I don’t any dealers loved them. They made money on parts, from unhappy customers. We did tons of free work on these pieces of crap several years back. It wasn’t fun for anyone.

 

[webby3650]

For the record, I was referring to the non-cat everburn system, not the flexburn.
The flexburn is parts heavy and will go through refractory pieces and cats, but not nearly as bad as the non-cat era VC stoves. I personally would buy a Jotul if looks was my concern.

 

[2fireplacesinSC]

For the record, I was referring to the non-cat everburn system, not the flexburn.
The flexburn is parts heavy and will go through refractory pieces and cats, but not nearly as bad as the non-cat era VC stoves. I personally would buy a Jotul if looks was my concern.

Yep. I’m thinking the new v3 f500 may be just the ticket. I had been wondering if Jøtul would come out with something soon though and went to their website. That’s when I saw and posted about the new f500. I just hope they will have it in an enamel version.

The vc really are nice looking. Just wasn’t sure if anyone else has experience with their current stoves. One local stove place seems to love vc. Ok, really the ONLY stove place in the area. Buck, enerzone, vc, and hearthstone is what they stock. I can get others if i ask for it, but it’s buy without seeing in those cases.

 

[begreen]

Buck, enerzone, vc, and hearthstone is what they stock.

Do they have a Manchester on the floor?


How large an area are you looking to heat? Is this area open to the rest of the house?

 

[2fireplacesinSC]

Do they have a Manchester on the floor?
View attachment 242597

How large an area are you looking to heat? Is this area open to the rest of the house?

I believe yes. Hoping to be able to heat around 1500-2000 sq ft. Still working on house plans.

 

[begreen]

Insulate and seal the place well and you may be fine with a smaller stove. Will the house be in SC? Is the intent to heat 24/7 or more occasional fires?

 

[2fireplacesinSC]

Yes SC. Zone 8 on USDA. Thinking weekend/occasional. Not planning 24/7. Maybe some weeks a lot, less others because of my weird work schedule. I like Jøtul I’ve got and having option to fire screen as if it was a fireplace is nice. Not planning on puttyin a fireplace, just a free standing stove.

 

[Woody Stover]

Buck, enerzone, vc, and hearthstone is what they stock.

Interesting, except for VC, a dealer here carries the same other three brands. What are the chances of that?

Do they have a Manchester on the floor?

They have one on the floor in that shop here, in enamel. That baby is gorgeous.

having option to fire screen as if it was a fireplace is nice.

I think most people that get that feature end up using it about twice.

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

Do they have a Manchester on the floor?
View attachment 242597

How large an area are you looking to heat? Is this area open to the rest of the house?

I don't want to highjack the thread but that Manchester looks great. I am happy with my 8020 so I may have to take a closer look at this stove. It's much bigger than the Heritage and still has a side loading door which keeps a lot of ash in the stove and not spilling out all over the place.

 

[Mich woodcutter]

I have a Defiant flexburn. My first Defiant I purchased in 2001 was a workhorse.
I ran that 15 years and was extremely happy as it heated my home well.

This Defiant I purchased in 2016 and I am very disappointed.
Believe it or not I run the stove at 600 degrees and it does not radiate heat out into the room.
I know it sounds ridiculous but its true.
I brought the dealer over and he told me I should run my chimmney 4 ft higher which would produce a better draft for the woodstove.
He thought that might help the stove radiate out more heat.
I am not sure since this is same chimmney setup I had for my other defiant.
Regardless, I am deciding whether to increase the length of chimmney by 4 ft. Or posssibly buying a Drolet next fall.

 

[webby3650]

I have a Defiant flexburn. My first Defiant I purchased in 2001 was a workhorse.
I ran that 15 years and was extremely happy as it heated my home well.

This Defiant I purchased in 2016 and I am very disappointed.
Believe it or not I run the stove at 600 degrees and it does not radiate heat out into the room.
I know it sounds ridiculous but its true.
I brought the dealer over and he told me I should run my chimmney 4 ft higher which would produce a better draft for the woodstove.
He thought that might help the stove radiate out more heat.
I am not sure since this is same chimmney setup I had for my other defiant.
Regardless, I am deciding whether to increase the length of chimmney by 4 ft. Or posssibly buying a Drolet next fall.

Your old defiant would have had an 8” chimney correct? Is the new one running on that 8” flue?

 

[Mich woodcutter]

Your old defiant would have had an 8” chimney correct? Is the new one running on that 8” flue?

No
The old one ran on a 6 inch
Its the same chimmney

 

[Woody Stover]

Its the same chimmney

How tall?

 

[Mich woodcutter]

Good morning
Its a out 4 feet above the roofline.
The roof is a 4×12 pitch on that side and the chimmney top is about even with the height of the roof.
I have an odd roof

 

[begreen]

Good morning
Its a out 4 feet above the roofline.
The roof is a 4×12 pitch on that side and the chimmney top is about even with the height of the roof.
I have an odd roof

What is the total flue system height from stove top to chimney cap?

 

[2fireplacesinSC]

Interesting, except for VC, a dealer here carries the same other three brands. What are the chances of that?
They have one on the floor in that shop here, in enamel. That baby is gorgeous.
I think most people that get that feature end up using it about twice.

Seems the one here has an enamel heritage as well in brown mojolica if I remember correctly.

Very pretty. Just don’t know much about hearthstone. Looks as good as the Jotul to me so may have to take a look at them as well. Glad begreen mentioned them.

 

[Mich woodcutter]

What is the total flue system height from stove top to chimney cap?

The chimmney from the top of the stove to the ceiling transition box is about 6.5 feet.
The transition box is about 6 inches

The outside chimmney is about 3 ft not including cap and I did not measure the cap.

 

[begreen]

Based on the image I'm going to guess there is more like 8' indoors and 3' outside. That is a short chimney for a modern stove and below spec for the Defiant FlexBurn. There are some stoves that may work ok with that short of a flue, but not many.

From the Defiant FlexBurn manual:

Chimney Height Altitude affects chimney performance. When using an 8" oval to 6" flue collar adapter on the Defiant®, refer to Figure 1 for suggested chimney heights at various altitudes. Chimney height should be measured from the flue collar to the top of the chimney. The recommended minimum chimney height is 16’ (5 m).

 

[Mich woodcutter]

Based on the image I'm going to guess there is more like 8' indoors and 3' outside. That is a short chimney for a modern stove and below spec for the Defiant FlexBurn. There are some stoves that may work ok with that short of a flue, but not many.

From the Defiant FlexBurn manual:

Chimney Height Altitude affects chimney performance. When using an 8" oval to 6" flue collar adapter on the Defiant®, refer to Figure 1 for suggested chimney heights at various altitudes. Chimney height should be measured from the flue collar to the top of the chimney. The recommended minimum chimney height is 16’ (5 m).

 

[Mich woodcutter]

Thank you for the input it is very much appreciated.
The stove drafts really well but the person I brought out here who sells vermont castings looked in the manual when he was here and told me my chimmney wasnt to apeca.
I was shocked since it worked with my last defiant and since I keep it clean it doesnt backpuff.
Once again my problem is the stove isnt radiating heat out into the room.
The person I had out there said he couldnt promise my anything but he said before I buy another stove I should at least bring this one to specs.
He sells stoves too.
I have had 2 other sweeps out here and they were befuddled why its 600 degrees and doesnt produce heat
Your thoughts are appreciated