Please help with Sizing

[MBRedline]

Hi, great to be here, happy to see such a helpful forum. I've been prowling here and YouTube for a month or so trying to decide what stove to buy. I've landed on a Vermont Castings, but I'm really undecided on the size needed.

Our home has a partially in ground finished basement, which makes the main living feel more like it is on the second floor. We only intend to heat the main living (second floor). It is roughly, 950-1000sqft with 8ft ceilings. Preferably I'd like to get the longest burn time possibly, without running us out of the house. The aspen is a no because it doesn't aesthetically please my wife. So that leaves the intrepid and the dauntless. I'm concerned the dauntless will be too hot, and that the intrepid will not give the desired burn time.

Any advice or suggestions would be great, thanks so much!

 

[a59cheffy]

Hi, great to be here, happy to see such a helpful forum. I've been prowling here and YouTube for a month or so trying to decide what stove to buy. I've landed on a Vermont Castings, but I'm really undecided on the size needed.

Our home has a partially in ground finished basement, which makes the main living feel more like it is on the second floor. We only intend to heat the main living (second floor). It is roughly, 950-1000sqft with 8ft ceilings. Preferably I'd like to get the longest burn time possibly, without running us out of the house. The aspen is a no because it doesn't aesthetically please my wife. So that leaves the intrepid and the dauntless. I'm concerned the dauntless will be too hot, and that the intrepid will not give the desired burn time.

Any advice or suggestions would be great, thanks so much!

I had the same conundrum...I have a two story with most of the living space on the first floor. I have a great room with a cathedral ceiling where I wanted the stove installed. I needed to heat an eat in kitchen, great room living area and dining room, aprox. 900sq ft. I felt even though the Intrepid was rated to heat up that amount of space the firebox was just too small. Would have had to keep the fire blazing hot. I opted for the Dauntless. Bigger firebox that not only has more BTU's but also can accommodate 18" splits. Bigger glass for ambience also. I am glad I did.

 

[MBRedline]

I had the same conundrum...I have a two story with most of the living space on the first floor. I have a great room with a cathedral ceiling where I wanted the stove installed. I needed to heat an eat in kitchen, great room living area and dining room, aprox. 900sq ft. I felt even though the Intrepid was rated to heat up that amount of space the firebox was just too small. Would have had to keep the fire blazing hot. I opted for the Dauntless. Bigger firebox that not only has more BTU's but also can accommodate 18" splits. Bigger glass for ambience also. I am glad I did.

Thanks for the reply! Out of curiosity, do you have much over heating? Do you have a lot of space that the heat can siphon to on the second floor?

My heat would have no where to go, which really makes me a bit nervous.

 

[a59cheffy]

Thanks for the reply! Out of curiosity, do you have much over heating? Do you have a lot of space that the heat can siphon to on the second floor?

My heat would have no where to go, which really makes me a bit nervous.

I see your in Virginia. Your temps are a little colder than mine. I am on the coast of Oregon and our temps average in the 40's-50's most of the winter. It can get a little frosty once in awhile. If my Dauntless is humming along with the catalyst engaged, STT around 450, my living area is about 68-72 degrees, with outside temps around 50 ish. Dining area aprox. 66-70 and kitchen area aprox. 64-68. From a cold start it takes about 2-3 hours to get up to those temps. I do have a narrow door frame from the kitchen area that leads to a hallway, two more rooms and stairs to second floor. I haven't noticed much heat going through that door frame. On colder days the temps are lower. Have never had to open a window to let heat out.

Do you intend to use the stove as ambience and warmth or as a heating appliance?

You have probably mulled over the specs, but looking at these numbers led me to decide the Dauntless.....

The Intrepid has a 1.3 cu ft firebox, using 14" splits, BTU output is aprox. 36,000 per hour.

The Dauntless has a 1.8 cu ft firebox, using 18" splits, BTU output is aprox. 45,000 per hour.

 

[BobcatBranch]

Bigger firebox almost always wins. You can run smaller loads in it for less heat, but it's there for you when you really need it.

 

[MBRedline]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like from what you both are saying I'd be better with the dauntless. Now I just need to check how much difference there is in the clearances.

Thanks for the information!!

 

[bholler]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like from what you both are saying I'd be better with the dauntless. Now I just need to check how much difference there is in the clearances.

Thanks for the information!!

Read up on the Dauntless and vc in general before committing to one

 

[MBRedline]

Read up on the Dauntless and vc in general before committing to one

I've read quite a bit, and looked at them in person. Compared them to a few other brands that I can get local, and seems they would fit our need best.

Anything specific to be aware of?

 

[bholler]

I've read quite a bit, and looked at them in person. Compared them to a few other brands that I can get local, and seems they would fit our need best.

Anything specific to be aware of?

Expensive to maintain, hard to run, general performance issues.

 

[MBRedline]

Expensive to maintain, hard to run, general performance issues.

Interesting, is this pertaining to the 2020+ models? I have seen a few "bad experiences" but seemed likely to be user error. Most of the YouTube reviews were positive.

 

[a59cheffy]

Interesting, is this pertaining to the 2020+ models? I have seen a few "bad experiences" but seemed likely to be user error. Most of the YouTube reviews were positive.

I had my Dauntless professionally installed. The installer had alot of experience installing VC wood stoves. They also installed a new chimney for me. Previous appliance was a pellet stove, hated it. They did a fantastic job. All certified by building inspector and fire inspector.

My chimney is mostly straight, except for one slight bend to accommodate installing through my ceiling rafters and code requirements. I do not have the draft issues that others have had with this stove.

All the difficulties I experienced were of my own making, list of major ones:

Not using dry enough splits, need to be less than 20%

Not burning hot enough, STT has to be above 400 degrees minimum, preferably around 450-550 degrees, anything less and creosote forms. (You can burn at lower temps without creating creosote, but you need a combustor)

Not enough draft in the chimney, I never close the air control more than two clicks. And only when there is a large bed of coals and lively flames with the damper closed, catalyst engaged.

Not purchasing the catalytic combustor with the stove. Installing the combustor and a temperature probe has made the difference in controlling and enjoying this stove.

Not following maintenance schedule as VC manual states. Just took the word of friends who own other stoves.

In a nutshell, the Intrepid and the Dauntless have alot smaller fireboxes than their larger brothers and sisters. So are prone to draft issues without enough heat pushing air and smoke up the chimney. If you have a relatively straight chimney, don't cut the air back, use seasoned splits, and learn how to burn with the catalyst, you should be fine.

 

[Eman85]

I've never burned either one, I have an Encore. My inlaws bought the smaller one and it's amusing how small it looks in a room. Get a carboard box the size of the stove and see how it looks in the room. The heat isn't going to be that big of a factor. When you burn with the cat engaged the heat off of the stove isn't going to be a problem. My Encore with a full box of wood and the cat engaged and the STT is 350.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Hi, great to be here, happy to see such a helpful forum. I've been prowling here and YouTube for a month or so trying to decide what stove to buy. I've landed on a Vermont Castings, but I'm really undecided on the size needed.

Our home has a partially in ground finished basement, which makes the main living feel more like it is on the second floor. We only intend to heat the main living (second floor). It is roughly, 950-1000sqft with 8ft ceilings. Preferably I'd like to get the longest burn time possibly, without running us out of the house. The aspen is a no because it doesn't aesthetically please my wife. So that leaves the intrepid and the dauntless. I'm concerned the dauntless will be too hot, and that the intrepid will not give the desired burn time.

Any advice or suggestions would be great, thanks so much!

One of the things that you should make sure of is that your able to move that heat around. putting a stove in a large open space that the heat can easily travel to other rooms is the key. You can overheat one area whil the rest of the home is cold.

As you learn tot burn youll be able to figure out how much wood to put in. Like many here.. you will run your stove based on heat demand.. if the house gets to warm.. just let the stove go out.. not warm enough.. put in more wood.. its pretty easy.

Having a cat stove with catalyst in allows you to burn low.. that is a big advantage of a stove like this.. so you dont overheat your home

If your considering getting the dauntless.. make sure you have a good installer.. you definitely meet the chimney requirements for draft.. that is what actually runs the stove.. and your wood is dry.. you should already have it seasoned.. you have a moisture meter and know how to use it

Most people run into issues and the stove doesn't run well because of bad draft and or the wood is to wet.. no matter the brand

 

[MBRedline]

Thanks for all the replies! Really appreciate the information!

 

[sargeott]

I have a Dauntless in a 1400sqft 1973 cabin. It's our primary heat source since our heat pump is old and terrible. The first season was a lot of learning how to operate it, when to trust it enough to walk away.
Some other VC owners have had some QC realated issues, I haven't. I did have to re-tigthen the door screws and the glass screws after a few months of heat cycles.
As far as heating goes, It does a great job of heating us year round unless the outside temps drop below 20f ( this is a problem with our cabin's insulation and not the stove).
I also opted for the Catylist option for two reasons
1 We can run the stove on lower air settings after the stove is up to temp and in cruise mode. This helps reduce the build up in the chimney
2 It is supposed to increase the heat output of the stove ( not sure if I have seen that). But we don't eat through wood as fast with it.

The biggest thing to consider is being able to move that heat around to other rooms. A series of low flow fans help move air down hallways, by pushing the colder air into the stove room so the warmer air up high will re-fill the room you pull cold air out of. Yeah, this works well for us.
Make sure your chimney won't have a bunch of 45s or 90s in it, as this reduces the draft and causes these VC stoves to not work right.
Also, make sure the chimney exit is high enough and insulated so it will warm up and do it's job.

 

[begreen]

Hi, great to be here, happy to see such a helpful forum. I've been prowling here and YouTube for a month or so trying to decide what stove to buy. I've landed on a Vermont Castings, but I'm really undecided on the size needed.

Our home has a partially in ground finished basement, which makes the main living feel more like it is on the second floor. We only intend to heat the main living (second floor). It is roughly, 950-1000sqft with 8ft ceilings. Preferably I'd like to get the longest burn time possibly, without running us out of the house. The aspen is a no because it doesn't aesthetically please my wife. So that leaves the intrepid and the dauntless. I'm concerned the dauntless will be too hot, and that the intrepid will not give the desired burn time.

Any advice or suggestions would be great, thanks so much!

The solution may not be a VC stove. In a cat stove, consider the Blaze King Ashford 20.

 

[skb31]

I have had the VC Encore 2040 cat for a month or so now. If I had to do it over I’d have bought a different stove.

 

[NewGuy132]

If you are stuck on a VC stove I'd go with the Dauntless. I have the Intrepid and it is a great room heater, but I wish I could have fit the Dauntless. I have a fairly large house(3200sqft) and the 1st floor is fairly open. My Intrepid heats about 3/4 of my first floor, but I have to reload every 2 hours or so to keep it going.
If you aren't 100% going with a VC I'd check out a Hearth Stone. I was recently at a hunting camp that had one and it was way easier to operate than my Intrepid. Don't get me wrong my Intrepid works just fine, but there is a steep learning curve and I wish for my first stove I went with something a little easier to run. My next stove most likely will not be a VC.