VC Defiant Or Hearthstone Phoenix?

[AuggieWI]

Dear Hearth.com-ers,
Looking for your advice and input on choosing a wood burning stove. We have done research on-line, talked to local dealers, and our choices are boiled down to 2: VC Defiant or Hearthstone Phoenix. Here is a bit of background:
- We bought our house 3 years ago; it's a 1980's ranch with a finished basement, so technically we have 2 floors, about 2800 sf total. - The house is well-insulated and tight. It has water-heat, so no central heating and no air circulation.
- Our current wood burner, all steel Englander, is in the basement and is probably about the age of the house. We had it inspected when we moved in, chimney and all, seemed to be up to code etc. We have been using it consistently every winter, it's doing its job, but now it's time to replace the stove and the chimney as there was a chimney fire some time along the way, and the chimney pipe is now warped. The old chimney pipe is the A-type 8".
- We would use the stove from mid-fall to mid-spring, when outside temps are between 50F to minus 20F, and would be using the stove to heat our whole house.
- The stove will stay in the basement, and we will be running a few ducts to the upstairs. Even now, with just one duct to the main floor and the fan installed in it, the old Englander is doing the job of keeping the house at about 78 degrees, which is comfortable for us.

So, here is (finally) the question: We are looking at VC Defiant and Hearthstone Phoenix. Which stove would be a good match and would give us consistent heat, with not too much fiddling around with it, not too picky about the wood, preferably loading 2x a day around 6 am and 4-5 pm, would hold heat between then, and we could re-start the fire without needing to chart the complex fire formulas on the chalkboard I know there are more variables that you would need to know, too, so any questions or requests for clarification are welcome. We are newbies in woodburning, but would definitely like to get a stove that would be safe and joy to operate for years to come.

Your input as well as pro's and con's of owning either stove, are highly appreciated!
Auggie from WI

 

[begreen]

The Phoenix is a smaller stove. If you are going to change, you would need to go with a Mansfield to keep up with the performance of the Englander. If VC, is this the Defiant Cat or non-cat stove? It should work but has a higher maintenance record and requires more expensive 8" pipe. Of the two, the VC Defiant cat stove seems to get higher marks for ease of operation.

Personally, I would keep the Englander or replace with a similar sized 3 cu ft stove. Also in this range are the Quadrafire Isle Royale, Pacific Energy T6, Jotul Firelight F600 and the aforementioned Hearthstone Mansfield. All of these stoves work with a 6" flue except the Defiant. There is also a growing loyalty to Blaze King catalytic stoves. They have large fireboxes, but can run at a wide range of thermostatically controlled temperatures from low burn to high due to its catalytic combustion.

 

[AuggieWI]

BeGreen, thank you for the input! I have been learning a lot from this forum! To add, we have also looked at Jotul F600, which seems to get good reviews here, so it might be a toss between that and the VC. I heard that VC had undergone a lot of changes, which negatively impacted their quality and CS, and although Defiant is a gorgeous stove, those two factors may weigh against it.
We are considering a non-cat Defiant, as it sounds like the cat assembly has to be replaced every so often; I also don't trust the quality of wood we are using, and if I understand correctly, cat stoves are more fussy about it.
Our Englander is model 18P, which, according to the manual, heats 1,000 sq feet. It has 6" pipe going into 8" chimney, but this could be easily changed with the new installation.
Jotul.... It may need to get a closer look

 

[begreen]

Read up on the Defiant non-cat. In the past, this is a fussier stove for draft and has been more of a repair issue than owners bargained for.

 

[firefighterjake]

I would go with Choice D or Choice D . . . but would not go with either of the choices listed even though I like the look of the Phoenix. For 2,800 square feet, two-stories in a cold climate and a basement install you really need a large woodstove to effectively move the heat and the Phoenix would not be that stove.

I would also be leary of VC . . . as you noted there have been some changes and folks in the recent past have had some issues with quality control, expensive parts and warrantys being honored . . . things may change . . . but at this point not enough folks have had a good, long experience to be able to recommend VC . . . in my opinion.

Me . . . if you like the Hearthstones the Mansfield might be a good choice . . . if you had a good experience with the Englander you might go that route . . . if you like the Jotul line up the F600 might be a good choice.

 

[AuggieWI]

Thank you very, very much for the information and ideas. I sure have been learning A LOT reading various threads on this topic, and I believe we can make an informed decision now by asking our local dealers appropriate questions. THANK YOU again.

 

[tiber]

I'm refurbing a VC defiant now, the parts from VC are hideously expensive, but you can also get generics on some of the stuff on the cheap if you're willing to geek out about the stove.

The VCs don't need 8" pipe to operate as stoves. You need the 8" pipe to be a fireplace and/or stove, but you can use 6" pipe if you're just using it as a stove.