Has anyone seen or have background info on the new VC Dauntless 2020?

[killsforpie]

I am in a 2 story 1200sq foot house in SW Ohio. I had decided on the PE Alderlea 5 with my only hangup being the footprint. Our living room is long and narrow (20x12ft) and I will have to give 4 of the 12 ft width to the hearth mat for the Alderlea. I don't want to size down below around a 2cu ft box because I'd like to burn all night. I don't want to go BK/cat because ambiance of the fire is important especially in the center of our living room. I can live with the footprint, but I'd really hoped it would be smaller.

Anyway I picked Alderlea 5 based on alot of reviews here and talking with our local woodstove person, then found the VC Dauntless that's newly coming out. The size/footprint/top load feature/look of the stove is kindof perfect for our situation. Having read this forum for a while, I am well aware the opinion/poor performance/maintenance on VC as of late. That being said, my understanding is they were purchased last in 2014 by HNI and have since been trying to turn around customer service/reliability issues with some improvement.

So....does anyone know if this new Dauntless was entirely designed under new management? Are the guts/parts superior to the crappy stuff they did for many years?Has anyone seen the Dauntless /know at all how it really performs? I can't find anything online and my local store is still waiting on theirs to arrive to run it. They said they can get it for me, but they really don't want to without having seen/run it first.

The solution would be to wait and see how it runs, but they have no idea when they'll get the stove and our chimney/insert work is scheduled for the next month. I assume it will be much harder/more expensive to get them back out to hook up the woodstove later if we wait. Plus I have no time frame.

I really appreciate any insight or advice you all have for me. Thank you very much!

 

[begreen]

I don't recall seeing any reports on the Dauntless yet, the stove just came out. It's an updated flexburn stove and like its siblings, it's a beautiful, but somewhat complex stove. It is also an E/W loader which can mean that the actual loads may be less than capacity in order to keep wood away from the glass. It's too early to say how the stove performs under different conditions. Some previous flexburns have been fussy about draft. How tall will the flue system be on the stove?

The T5 LE is an update on a time-proven, simple design. It's easy to run and maintain with a good burn time for its capacity. It is a slightly deeper stove, but this affords N/S loading which allows the stove to be packed full without anxiety of a log rolling into the glass. Although the T5 is a deeper stove, the actual amount it sticks into the room is less than the Dauntless because the rear clearance is less than half with double-wall stove pipe, 5" vs 12".

 

[Highbeam]

I’d pass on a stove so new from a company with such a poor reputation.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

the older stoves did have problems this is true.. the newer stoves are a big step forward.. i have the encore flex burn.. I have had no issues with the stove. Only maintenance was some gaskets and sweeping the stove pipe. This isneeded with any stove. I run 3 to 4 cords through it per year and this stove has been my primary heat sence install. People will tell you that the stove has a higher cost of maintenance.. so far I haven't seen that, but that being said.. I dont care.. I don't live paycheck to paycheck.. If I need a refractory set up in 10 years.. im ok with it. The old wives tails of the poor reputation will continue, because people are stuck on a stove that was made 15 years ago.. The biggest mistake people make with ANY down draft stove is.. not enough draft.. I went with an 8in stove pipe because my chimneys not that tall, my stove runs great.

 

[bholler]

the older stoves did have problems this is true.. the newer stoves are a big step forward.. i have the encore flex burn.. I have had no issues with the stove. Only maintenance was some gaskets and sweeping the stove pipe. This isneeded with any stove. I run 3 to 4 cords through it per year and this stove has been my primary heat sence install. People will tell you that the stove has a higher cost of maintenance.. so far I haven't seen that, but that being said.. I dont care.. I don't live paycheck to paycheck.. If I need a refractory set up in 10 years.. im ok with it. The old wives tails of the poor reputation will continue, because people are stuck on a stove that was made 15 years ago.. The biggest mistake people make with ANY down draft stove is.. not enough draft.. I went with an 8in stove pipe because my chimneys not that tall, my stove runs great.

I have replaced lots of internals on the newer stuff already. From my experience in the field they still require a lot more maintenance than most other stuff on the market. Yes they are better. But that isn't saying much

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have replaced lots of internals on the newer stuff already. From my experience in the field they still require a lot more maintenance than most other stuff on the market. Yes they are better. But that isn't saying much

I still disagree with you... I still like you.. even though your opinion is wrong..

 

[bholler]

I still disagree with you... I still like you.. even though your opinion is wrong..

Fair enough but my opinion is based upon working on hundreds of stoves not just one.

 

[begreen]

Fair enough but my opinion is based upon working on hundreds of stoves not just one.

Tis the difference from doing it as a job, trying to make a living, and doing it for pleasure. VC stoves are perhaps the best looking traditional styled cast stove on the market. They have a lot of nice features including top-loading and thermostatic operation. If well-cared for and operated properly it is not horrible to consider a combustion package replacement in 10-15 yrs., especially if the aesthetics are what sold one on the stove in the first place. I admit I have a soft spot for them after owning a new original Resolute which was a fine stove. The VC foundry makes great castings. I do hope that HHT has improved the quality enough to restore the brand name.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Fair enough but my opinion is based upon working on hundreds of stoves not just one.

I put up some laughing Emojis but they did not come up

 

[Diabel]

I have an older VC stove. It works very well for me. Would i buy another VC stove.........NO!

 

[Highbeam]

We do need people to keep buying them and providing reviews. VC just might make some good stuff someday and earn back that great reputation. I’m sure their engineers are just as smart as the rest.

 

[webby3650]

Fair enough but my opinion is based upon working on hundreds of stoves not just one.

I’ll second that. Even the old VC’s weren’t great, they’ve always been parts heavy and required way too much maintenance. They were more efficient than their competition for sure! But not durable.. The new VC’s we have out there haven’t been durable. We quit selling them a while back because of durability issues and lack of dealer/customer support. If a user expects to get 15 years out of combustion system they are dreaming!

 

[bholler]

I’ll second that. Even the old VC’s weren’t great, they’ve always been parts heavy and required way too much maintenance. They were more efficient than their competition for sure! But not durable.. The new VC’s we have out there haven’t been durable. We quit selling them a while back because of durability issues and lack of dealer/customer support. If a user expects to get 15 years out of combustion system they are dreaming!

Some of our customers get 15 years out of one but only because they ignore the fact that it is destroyed and not working. But that was with the old ones. The new are certainly better.

 

[Highbeam]

I’ll second that. Even the old VC’s weren’t great, they’ve always been parts heavy and required way too much maintenance. They were more efficient than their competition for sure! But not durable.. The new VC’s we have out there haven’t been durable. We quit selling them a while back because of durability issues and lack of dealer/customer support. If a user expects to get 15 years out of combustion system they are dreaming!

This is like the 10 year catalyst guarantee. Any fool can get 30 years out of that combustion system if they only burn the stove on Christmas morning!