VC Dutchwest VS. Jotul Firelight
As some of you may know I put a deposit on a Dutchwest Large Cat in December. This thing was rebuilt from top to bottom. After the deposit I found this site while researching the stove. There were some mixed feelings on here about the Dutchwest and VC in general.
After thinking long and hard I decided to go get my Dutchwest. When I got there the guy had a Jotul Firelight in Ivory sitting there! He wanted $800 for it. It was a cat model with some brand new parts such as the refractory and two interior firebox cast parts. The price was way more than fair. Now to some folks here it seems the choice would be easy. However, when I asked him about the Firelight, he said the parts were really expensive, $300 just for the refractory. Moreover, the stove is 25 years old and the parts are not going to be easy to find in a couple more years. The stove was in "mint" shape, with only a couple small chips on the enamel on inconspicuous spots. All the brand new parts were still sitting next to it. This guy is a stove installer/ repairman by day and moonlights by fixing and selling some of his own. He is an honest guy and I trust his opinion. He mentioned that if parts were to break in the near future, I may not be able to find them at all. So I came home with the Large Cat Dutchwest. Though, I'm very happy with the purchase, my wife does not like the style. She thinks it looks like a bank safe. To make matters worse, when I told her about the Firelight she said she loves that look. Who doesn't? Those are beautiful stoves. This decision will always be on my mind. But I'm not going to let it get in the way of how happy I am with the Dutchwest purchase.
What would some of you have done?
Here's a pic of both side by side. The Jotul is from Hearth.com pic gallery and the Dutchwest is from the brochure.
As some of you may know I put a deposit on a Dutchwest Large Cat in December. This thing was rebuilt from top to bottom. After the deposit I found this site while researching the stove. There were some mixed feelings on here about the Dutchwest and VC in general.
After thinking long and hard I decided to go get my Dutchwest. When I got there the guy had a Jotul Firelight in Ivory sitting there! He wanted $800 for it. It was a cat model with some brand new parts such as the refractory and two interior firebox cast parts. The price was way more than fair. Now to some folks here it seems the choice would be easy. However, when I asked him about the Firelight, he said the parts were really expensive, $300 just for the refractory. Moreover, the stove is 25 years old and the parts are not going to be easy to find in a couple more years. The stove was in "mint" shape, with only a couple small chips on the enamel on inconspicuous spots. All the brand new parts were still sitting next to it. This guy is a stove installer/ repairman by day and moonlights by fixing and selling some of his own. He is an honest guy and I trust his opinion. He mentioned that if parts were to break in the near future, I may not be able to find them at all. So I came home with the Large Cat Dutchwest. Though, I'm very happy with the purchase, my wife does not like the style. She thinks it looks like a bank safe. To make matters worse, when I told her about the Firelight she said she loves that look. Who doesn't? Those are beautiful stoves. This decision will always be on my mind. But I'm not going to let it get in the way of how happy I am with the Dutchwest purchase.
What would some of you have done?
Here's a pic of both side by side. The Jotul is from Hearth.com pic gallery and the Dutchwest is from the brochure.