how old of a stove do I need to buy

[gizmos]

Hello to all,

This is a great web site. I'm am looking hard for a used VC Resolute. My parents bought one in 1983, 84. We have used this stove ever since. Now I'm looking for a stove for my home and there not willing to give up there Resolute. haha. It is really hard to find used stoves in Calif. There are a lot more out of state for sale. I want one that operates the same as the 83' 84' model. Will a newer Resolute 3 to 4 years old operate the same? Do I have to find one thats 24 years old? I'm kinda afraid to get the 3 year old Resolute and be disappointed. The old stove we have is great, run at any temp we want, burn whatever, new old, just a great stove and looks brand new. I know there has been changes made over the years because of the EPA stuff. Any one have any suggestions?

I want to put this stove on my hearth with out having to jack hammer everything out. The resolute will barley fit. I was also looking at the Intrepid. However, the Intrepid II are cat stoves. I have no desire to own a cat stove. If I look for a Intrepid, how old of a stove do I need to look for to find one thats a non cat? I haven't seen any of these used for sale around here.

I have been looking on Craigslist, and the classified listing in the paper.

I'm going to look at that Resolute tomorrow. It's 3 or 4 years old. They didn't know if it was a cat or non cat so the trip might be a waist of time but I'm going to go look anyway.

Any information and thoughts would be a great help, thank you.

Mark

 

[InTheRockies]

Given your location, I'm not even sure that it would be legal to install a non-EPA stove. California may not have a state-wide ban yet, but there certainly are a significant number of counties in your state that have such bans. Check with your county before even thinking of buying a non-EPA stove.

 

[begreen]

I'd either look for a first generation Resolute or an older Jotul Model 3 or 8.

 

[spendaviscpa]

Just curious - where at in northern CA? I'm 30 minutes west of Chico and an hour south of Redding!

 

[gizmos]

I'm in the Sacramento area.

Questions about the Ever Burn combustion system. Do they use this system in the newer Resolute? How long has VC been using the Ever Burn, a year or two?

 

[Jags]

Research Ever Burn here. It may bring a lot of info to the table for you.

 

[begreen]

A 3-4 year old Resolute will be the Acclaim model 2490 I think. I wouldn't buy an 88-95? version of this stove. To make the stove cleaner burning they added a refractory assembly to the older model your folks have. There were many problems with this change and the stove basically self destructed its guts every 2-3 years. They came out with a better design in the mid-90's and the word is that the newer stoves have better life. Check recent reviews for more info.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We too wanted to stay away from a cat. stove until we looked into them more. Long story short, we bought a cat. stove and absolutely love it. It is the cleanest burning stove I've ever seen. We use about 40-50% less wood than we used to and stay a lot warmer in the meantime with one of the most beautiful stoves on the market. So I say do not rule them out. They are not difficult to use and they are not expensive to maintain. My wife can handle everything very easy with this stove, including cleaning the cat.

 

[LeonMSPT]

Cat stoves don't bother me, and when I need to replace the insert in my living room I would look for one. Use less wood, make less smoke and creosote? Okay. Just have to burn it properly, and don't push start up smoke and water through the CAT.

 

[gizmos]

Thank you for your responses, and to others thank you for your PM messages. This is a great web site.

I'm going to look at the Resolute tomorrow. It's a 2 1/2, 3 years old. Another option that was suggested was the Jotul. I found a F-100 that I'm going to look at tomorrow as well. It's 3 years old. What do you guys think about the Jotul F-100 compared to the Resolute? It's a lot smaller stove and has a shorter burn time.
thanks for the help
Mark

 

[begreen]

The F-100 is a small simple stove. If you are mainly looking for a chill chaser and small room heater, it'll do fine and should fit the hearth without demolition. It won't burn as long as the Resolute Acclaim, but should cost less to maintain over the long haul.