VC Defiant or Upland 207 Decisions, decisions

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Platypus

New Member
Nov 24, 2020
3
MD
Hello all. So I've had the unbelievable good fortune of inheriting both an Upland 207 and a VC Defiant. Both stoves are from neighbors who no longer wanted/needed them. Both stoves are "all there" in terms of parts save for gasketing, though the Upland's rear heat shield has a crack, which seems to be pretty common. I'm a welder/metalworker so that's no big deal to me. Each stove needs a little elbow grease and stove black, but other than that, not much else. I do not know the age of either stove. It seems like the Uplands were only made for a short time anyway, and as far as the Defiant is concerned, my neighbor had it for at least 10 years before I got it, and he did not get it new.

I am going to install one of these stoves in my home after I remodel my first floor and would like to know which will be my best bet. I would really like if the stove could be our main/total heat source, but if not the house has hydronic radiators for backup that work great. We don't like the house too warm generally and our thermostat is more or less maxxed out at 67-68 degrees in the winter. The house is a 2 story (more like 1-1/2) "bungalow" style with shed dormers on the 2nd floor. It's about 1650sf total with the first floor being ~1050sf (about 27'W x 35'D with a 100sf room at the back of the house that extends over a crawl space) and the second floor at ~600sf. The second floor is completely insulated with new fiberglass. The first floor exterior walls will be completely insulated when the remodel is complete. We have central air, so we can turn just the fan on to circulate air if necessary.

The front door is South facing and the stair is located about 2/3 of the way North from the front door. The stair begins at the East wall and ascends West terminating on the second floor at the center of the house's E/W axis. The stove will ideally be placed against the East wall, just South of the stair, in the living room, more or less at the center of the house's N/S axis. I say "ideally" because there are some riser tubes for our radiators in the wall as well as windows on the second floor that do not line up with first floor windows on the East wall, so there may not be a great spot for penetration of the wall or a good vertical path for the chimney. If I can't put it there, I may have to put the stove in front of a "decorative" fireplace (completely non-functional, not even vented to the chimney) which is on the West wall of the house in the front (Southern) 1/3 of the house. When the first floor is complete, it will be fairly open and air should circulate well.

It's going to be a little while before this stove gets installed (hopefully it will be running by next winter). However, I promised a buddy of mine that he could have whichever stove I didn't end up using and he's more or less ready for it now. He's having an insert installed on his main floor and will use the stove I give him to heat a finished basement and as supplementary heat.

Any opinions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated regarding which stove would be the better "fit" for my house as well as if my "ideal" location for the stove makes sense or if it would be better to put the stove on the West wall, opposite the stair landing. Thanks
 
Sorry, I thought you went ahead and installed the Upland. That must have been someone else. Between the two, I would install the one in the best operating condition. Both are a bit oversized for the house in this climate zone and both are relatively inefficient and without a fireview. If it were my house I'd sell both and put that money toward a modern stove.
 
Thanks begreen. I'm surprised to hear that these are both oversized for the house, I was actually worried that they might be undersized to heat the whole house. Do you know off hand how many SF each is rated for or BTU output?

When you say "without a fireview," what exactly do you mean? The Defiant came with a set of iron doors and another set of iron doors that have glass panels. Also, couldn't you run either of these with the doors open and a screen in place? I know it's not as efficient of a burn that way, but that's what we did in my house growing up when we wanted a little "mood" with the heat, I guess.

I've got a lot to learn here, so I'm grateful for your input.

Thanks
 
I didn't know that. Most Defiants do not have glass doors. A modern stove will have a glass door with an airwash that keeps it clean. This affords a nice fireview. The Defiant glass from what I remember gets blackened up pretty quickly. Yes, with the screen it can be used like a fireplace but at the loss of most heating.

The old Defiant is a heating beast and very radiant. It's rated up to 60,000 BTUS. That's why the large clearance requirements. I don't know as much about the Upland but it is a large stove. Here is some info about it: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/upland-stove-company-history/