Been reading the site and the forums for a while and just registered. Looking for some opinions the group.
First, a little about me and our current stove. We (wife and I) live in far western Kentucky in a passive solar house we designed and built in '87-'88. House is 1200 sq ft with a 200 sq ft loft. In addition to the solar gain, we have heated with wood with the same stove since we moved in in 1988. The stove is a Consolidated Dutchwest Federal Airtight. It is a cast iron, catalytic stove. I have attached a picture of the stove in place.
Over the years the stove has served us well as our only active heat source. I have obviously replaced gaskets and cat converters over the years. I have also replaced some of the metal parts including the bypass gate.
Now, tiny cracks are appearing in some of the cast iron pieces (i.e. side door) and some pieces in the firebox are burning through. I haven't been able to find a source for the pieces that need to be replaced and, with 23 years of good burning, the time has come to replace the stove after this heating season.
I am leaning towards a Dutchwest 2460 or 2461 catalytic stove, simply because we have had such good service and heating from our existing DW stove. Because of the passive solar aspects of our house and the generally mild climate here in western Kentucky, much of our burning is at low burn rates (though we do occasionally need to use the full output).
Now for the opinions. Given my experience with our old DW and our wood heating needs, does anyone have a strong opinion as to why we should buy a different stove then a DW 2460/1 cat stove?
Thanks,
Jeff
First, a little about me and our current stove. We (wife and I) live in far western Kentucky in a passive solar house we designed and built in '87-'88. House is 1200 sq ft with a 200 sq ft loft. In addition to the solar gain, we have heated with wood with the same stove since we moved in in 1988. The stove is a Consolidated Dutchwest Federal Airtight. It is a cast iron, catalytic stove. I have attached a picture of the stove in place.
Over the years the stove has served us well as our only active heat source. I have obviously replaced gaskets and cat converters over the years. I have also replaced some of the metal parts including the bypass gate.
Now, tiny cracks are appearing in some of the cast iron pieces (i.e. side door) and some pieces in the firebox are burning through. I haven't been able to find a source for the pieces that need to be replaced and, with 23 years of good burning, the time has come to replace the stove after this heating season.
I am leaning towards a Dutchwest 2460 or 2461 catalytic stove, simply because we have had such good service and heating from our existing DW stove. Because of the passive solar aspects of our house and the generally mild climate here in western Kentucky, much of our burning is at low burn rates (though we do occasionally need to use the full output).
Now for the opinions. Given my experience with our old DW and our wood heating needs, does anyone have a strong opinion as to why we should buy a different stove then a DW 2460/1 cat stove?
Thanks,
Jeff