What Stove would you recommend in the following situation....

[Scotty Dive]

Folks,

I have a VC Vigiliant that is still working well but it needs to be rebuilt. Since this will be rebuilt in the warmer months I also want to consider finding a new (to me) stove to replace the VC.

My situation -
- Wood stove is in the basement and that area is about 1700 sq ft.
- I also have registers above the stove into the second floor and the basement door that allows the heat to rise through to the second floor.
- The wood stove sits on a large field stone hearth (space is not an issue)
- Flue is about 30 feet tall (clay) and is 8 x 8 inches.

I am looking for the biggest bang for the buck. In other words - I can run the Vigiliant as hot as I want and with the size of the basement and the heat rising I never go above 65 so I think I can go bigger without an issue. Wood size is not an issue as I cut my own and with the VC its currently 18 inches.

I tend to like a bargain and will scour craigslist for a bargain. Just wanted some help in what to look for. I like the Fisher stoves but wonder if my 8 inch flue will create too much of a draft? Not sure.

So, What should I look out for?

 

[begreen]

Welcome. The Vigilant is a good heater. Is the basement insulated? Do you need a rear-vent stove? What is the lintel height in the fireplace.

 

[bholler]

an 8" clay liner shouldn't be to much draft for most fishers if it is put in a stack damper. If you can find one a cawley lemay 600 is a great stove I love mine they burn cleaner than most classics you can still get parts and they crank out the heat they use 24" logs. But fishers are very reliable pretty easy to come by and not expensive usually. They are definatly not the most efficient out there but the heat really well and they can be burnt clean. Not sure where you are located but I am in pa and cawleys and fishers are fairly common here as well as alaskas, Kodiaks and harmons all good stoves to.

 

[Scotty Dive]

I am in Connecticut and I have included a picture. I am very happy with the Vigiliant and have no problems keeping it...I just figured I should give this some thought. The basement is basically concrete walls and not insulated. The hearth is 4 feet wide and 4 feet in depth - 2 feet as a hearth and 2 feet in the "firebox". the lintel is arched and at the highest its about 57 inches.

Here is a picture - worth a thousand words right?

 

[begreen]

Awesome looking. Well, your choice. If the Vigilant needs a rebuild it is doable. The old stove certainly has paid it's dues and a bit of work now could give it another 10-20 yrs.

 

[Scotty Dive]

I rebuilt it about 7 years ago but the calking I used just crumbled after a couple years - Very disappointed to go through all that work to have that fail.

 

[begreen]

If you want to rebuild contact Defiant in the VC sub-forum to this forum. Otherwise you'll want a 3 cu ft radiant stove or larger. A Quadrafire Isle Royale would look deadly there. For a larger burner it would have to be a top exit stove like the Kuma Sequoia, etc.

 

[bholler]

A plate stove like a fisher would mean not having to rebuild it. That is a benefit but really I don't think it is that much work and it is also not that often that it needs done. what ever you get if it is used check it carefully make sure the baffle isn't burn out and if it is make sure you can replace it make sure nothing is warped of cracked. If you go for a newer used one check for parts availability some of the cheaper stoves can be a pain to get parts for many are decent stoves but if you cant get replacement parts you don't want it.