VC Vigilant Value ?

[peakbagger]

Anyone care to guess on the value of an original VC Vigilant. The owner claims its never been touched and runs perfect. It got pulled last year and has been sitting on a covered front porch exposed on the sides to the weather in Northern NH. It was tarped but the tarp blew off at one point so its got surface rust. It was "given" to someone about a year ago but they haven't gotten around to picking it up. The owner claims to have drawn the line at the end of September for it to be gone and I will be there with my truck picking up a boiler so I will probably make an offer. I have a Defiant that has been rebuilt twice and in fine condition so its not for me but someone I know needs a stove with an 6" outlet. My guess is its worth offering in the $300 to $500 range as I assume it needs to broken down, cleaned up, resealed and repainted. I haven't looked inside it, so unsure if there are any cracks or warped components which would drop my offer. My guess is restored its probably going to sell less than $1,000. The alternative to the VC would be 30 year old equivalent of Home Depot special and expect the VC would be more efficient.

I really do not need anymore projects but trying to help someone out. He actually has 3 cords of hardwood that has been drying for 2 plus years so he has a start on his wood supply.

 

[begreen]

Your estimates are reasonable for an unknown stove that will need some attention and refinishing. If it's never been touched, it's going to need some love.

How large of a space are they heating? A new stove for a medium sized house is around $1000 at Home Depot. Look at the Englander 15-W03. If they have at least 16' flue system then that is what I would invest in. It will burn cleaner and use less wood than the old stove.
(broken link removed)

 

[peakbagger]

Right now its one step away from a barn, 60 by 30 with an open ceiling up to the roof with vent a ridge and soffit vents. So in the short term its a radiant heater at best. Optimistically the ceiling will get a strapped up with layer of plastic this winter. Eventually R25 in the walls and R50 in the ceiling and a large masonry heater so its moving target.

 

[begreen]

I see, work in progress. They're going to have a chilly winter, but the Englander is a good size for the house and a good value as long as they have fully seasoned wood. They are going to have to invest in a safe chimney system. Seems a shame to have to take it out later for the masonry heater or is there a masonry chimney already in? Have they put in a proper foundation for the weight of the future masonry heater? Getting up the plastic barrier is a good plan for the short term.

 

[peakbagger]

Its not livable yet so its just to stretch the seasons. Its built on a lump of solid ledge with a heavily insulated crawl space, there is a footing in place for a masonry heater in the crawl space and the floor is framed to be removed for when its built. The heaters roof penetration will take up far more space than a 6" prefab chimney. There is wooden framed chase right now so the prefab chimney will go through the chase until the heater gets built.

 

[rwh63]

in january, priceless.

 

[neverstop]

There's a guy in NH that buys, rebuilds old vc stoves: [email protected]

You could reach out to see what his resale prices are. Maybe just buy one since you know that it's truly rebuilt.

I sold a disassembled vc to him a couple of years ago for parts. Seemed like a nice guy.