I need to replace my 25 year old Vigilant wood stove and am not sure what to look for. I use my stove to heat 2000 sq.ft. and prefer a top loader like I have now. Price is a huge factor in what I will buy. Are the Home Depot stoves as good as, lets say, the Vermont Castings? What about other brands? I have heard the catalytic is better. Is that true? Please help...
Need help choosing new wood stove
- Thread starter kitkat
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
home depot carries our brand of woodstoves, unfortunately we do not carry a "top loader" i'd suggest looking into a nice VC with everburn and top load if that is the feature you are most interested in. we do have a couple of nice front load units however, and the 30 nc (picture to the left<<<<)would fit your heating load pretty well. stick around , you will get other options to look at , ive given you my pick if i were going top load.
hope this is helpful
mike ESW
hope this is helpful
mike ESW
Other top loaders to look at:Harman "oakwood",Quadrafire"isle royale"....each one a worthy heater.
EDIT: forgot about the Harman"exception"
EDIT: forgot about the Harman"exception"
yep, they would be a good choice as well. i still like the VC but its personal taste. i ee that you have been running a VC too. 25 years old, apparantly its was well made. dont let me sway you too soon though guys keep the options coming!!
If that VC stove was yours and keeping you warm for 25 years then as we used to say in Texas, dance with the one that brung ya.
Go look at some new Vermont Castings stoves.
Go look at some new Vermont Castings stoves.
I love the look of the Isle Royal, and if you're a believer in cat's though, then top loading and cat is VC
The old Vigilant did the job, it has a 8' oval to round setup now .The easiest replacement would be an Encore. It would probably fit your exact location,, with no adjustment for the connection.
Probably using th exact same connector pipe. The Cat combustor Encore is rated about the same BTUs and same fire box size. the difference will be 8 hours of controlled heat out put per load instead of loading the Villigant every 4 hours and you will probably use 1/3 less wood. I'm not guessing at these numbers, but can tell you from my experience with a modern Cat Encore.
The harman oak wood mentioned is 42,00 btus the cat Encore is 47,000 BTUs all mentioned stoves are good choices.
BTW welcome to the hearth
Probably using th exact same connector pipe. The Cat combustor Encore is rated about the same BTUs and same fire box size. the difference will be 8 hours of controlled heat out put per load instead of loading the Villigant every 4 hours and you will probably use 1/3 less wood. I'm not guessing at these numbers, but can tell you from my experience with a modern Cat Encore.
The harman oak wood mentioned is 42,00 btus the cat Encore is 47,000 BTUs all mentioned stoves are good choices.
BTW welcome to the hearth
- Status
Similar threads
