Hello, I would like any information on this type of stove.pro and con.thank you . john

-- john h glyn-jones (felfoot@twlakes.net), January 13, 2000

Answers

We recently purchased a Vermont Castings Wood Stove with catalytic converter. We have a cabin in the mountains at 9000 ft. elevation. We can get a good bed of red hot coals going, add a couple of logs, close the door and the damper and the heat radiates to heat our cabin of 1100 sf to about 68-70 degrees with no other heat. Usually have to add a log every couple of hours. We are totally happy with our stove. If you decide on a Vermont Castings they design for certain square footages. Good Luck!

-- Rick Gallagher (comanche6@earthlink.net), January 13, 2000.

We have a vermont castings " dutchwest " model in our old farmhouse. We have used it for 6 years now with no problems at all. Somewhere I remember reading that the converter would only last 5 years but even though I dont do the cleaning that they recommend in the book like I should, the stove still works perfectly and we love it.The arched glass window in the front always stays clean, but that may be because we only burn dry hardwoods. I have seen non catylytic stoves of freinds ( a Lopi I beleive ) with a glass front door that cant be kept clean enough to see the fire through for more than a couple of days.I just like the fact that I am not sending so much heat in the form of smoke up my chimney.

-- mike dorsch (mstydale@aeroinc.ne), January 14, 2000.

John,

After a lot of research we opted for a non-catalytic stove. The clencher was when we spoke to an old friend of ours in WI who runs a stove business. He had very little good to say about catalytic stoves and only reccs. them in places they are required. At his suggestion we purchased a Jotul (who has phased out catalysts I believe). The stove is air tight, has a very long burn time and is the most efficient wood heat we have ever experienced.

I have also heard that since vermont castings recently was purchased (or merged, I'm not sure which) with majestic fireplace, their reliability has decreased. Others may have not found this?

Bottom line is we are very happy with our air-tight non-catalytic stove. I recc. Jotul's to anyone.

Also we live in a very rural area (Ozarks) and have to drive 2 hours to the nearest stove dealers here (which we spent a day and did). In the end we found Lehman's (www.lehmans.com) could get the stove for us much cheaper and ship it (at no cost) to withing 30 minutes of our house. They didn't have the exact model we wanted but were happy to get it for us. Don't overlook them when stove shopping. Of course the pro of going to a dealer is if they are local they can be hired for installation etc. That wasn't an option in our case.

Good luck! Kim

Kim

-- Kim (fleece@eritter.net), January 14, 2000.

We heat our home, 1400 sq. feet, with a 27 year old Vermont Castings stove- The Vigilant. I live in east central Minnesota. We see temps here as low as -60 winchill. It keeps us toasty warm. I don't know about Vermont Castings now, but I'm glad they knew their stuff 27 years ago.

-- Patti Morris (pmorris@ecenet.com), January 14, 2000.

A year ago last fall we bought a Vermont Castings Dutch West, it does a great job of heating our old farm house, as well as can be expected, heat will not move horizontaly very well. We had our chimney & stove cleaned last spring after heating season and they told me that the catalytic combuster was shot. One year and it was NG, (we ran that stove non-stop for 5 months), Corning replaced it free+shipping charge. It seems that the salts in the wood I burn is real hard on them, (Madrone wood) but now I am stuck with the stove. I don't think I would ever buy another catalytic one having a choice. I intend on moving this stove out to another building and install Propane heaters in a coulple of rooms to stretch the heat throughout the house, perhaps a wood cook stove in the kitchen too.

Over the past 30 years I have had probably 12 different wood heaters, old and new. I have a funny little one that was made in the 70s that I use in the shop, not even really air tight but it will hold a fire for 18 hours and then i add a little news print, a few sticks and off it goes. I like a stove that has a ash bin in it so I can keep on running when it is time to clean it out.

-- Mudlover (redgate@echoweg.net), January 14, 2000.

I have a non catalitic model. we bought it mainly because of simplicity. no parts(catalist) to replace. definately get one with an ash bin and grates, it gets cold if you have to let it go out to clean.

-- tom calloway (Calfarm@msn.com), January 15, 2000.

We have a Hearthstone. The largest one they sell. It is not a catalytic and has a glass front that stays super clean. It has a long burn time and a huge wood box, but an ash pan that is not worth using. We clean ours out in the morning and dump the hot stuff in a metal bucket. We leave a few of the red hot coals to restart the days fire. We burn ours 24/7 and have noticed a 80% drop in our heating bills. We'd see even greater savings if the house was smaller (we have 3300 sq. ft.) or if we didn't have so many dang windows (42). Old farm houses are great things to own, but a bear to heat. By the way, when cleaning out hot ashes (or if you think they're not hot), be sure not to dump them on your mulch pile. I had ashes sitting in the metal bucket outside for 3 days. Dumped them in the mulch pile and an hour later had to call the fire dept. to put it out. Good luck!

-- Peggy (adkinsonthefarm@hotmail.com), January 16, 2000.

I own a Consolidated Dutch West, this is a catalytic stove too, and was made by Vermont Castings. This does a great job of heating a 1200 sq. ft. house, in fact, it gets to hot, as it doesn't seems to get as cold in southern Wisconsin as it used to.

Yes, Vermont Castings was purchased by Majestic and I heard that the tech people did not go along wit the merger, staying in Vermont.

Service is very poor with this merger. I have waited since October for a new brass handle and a temperature probe for my stove. It gets a little frustrating!!

-- carole overgaard (coverga@bminet.com), January 17, 2000.

What's your source of supply for wood? And what do you want to accomplish with your wood stove? We have a Glenwood E kitchen stove that's about 100 yrs old. No airtight, no catalytic, just a great old stove. We have used it for cooking (it is an art to bake a good apple pie) but mostly as supplemental heating on cold days/nights. As we speak, it is keeping the "occupied" part of the house toasty while we have minus temps outside here in un-balmy Maine. We have an ample woodlot, and only use the wood stove for cold times, since our oil furnace takes care of most of the winter. But there's nothing as cozy as a good wood fire on a frigid night. We only use a couple of cords a year, but it's "free" since we cut our own. Caution: if you get an air-tight, be sure to burn it hot on start-ups. I've never had one, but my brother-in-law has, and he reports that there are few things more exciting than a chimney fire! Brad

-- Brad Traver (homefixer@mix-net.net), January 18, 2000.

We have the large Dutchwest. The cat lasted 4 yrs. One problem was burning pinon. It burns too hot, and cooked the cat. The original instructions said do not clean the cat, but the new cat has cleaning inst.that will save $$. Figures that a company known for a sound product would be absorbed and go to pot.

-- kevin beckey (Kevcin@Bemail.com), January 19, 2000.

Lots of good info at http://www.hearth.com It has info from both manufacturers and users, and their webmaster will answer Q&A e-mails.

-- Tom Asutin (AustinTF3@aol.com), January 19, 2000.

Now,how did i know that i would get such a response to my question on stoves??Anwser. Homesteaders!!!!!Thank each and every one for thier input.I now have the info to make a purchase. thanks againand good luck,sincerely,JOHN

-- john glyn-jones (felfoot@twlakes.net), January 19, 2000.

Out here in Oregon, our wood heater use is heavily regulated, like lots of other things. When the DEQ first passed regulations about the amount of particulate matter a wood heater could produce, I know that most or all of them which could meet the standards were catalytic. Or at least, so I'm told.

Now, although I'm sure the standards are no more liberal, most the wood heaters I looked at when I bought my new one are non catalytic. I'm told that the manufacturers have gotten their trip so together that they don't need the catalytic converter.

My wood heater is a QuadraFire, and I love it. It has these cool stainless steel pipes near the top of the firebox, which spray super heated air into what would otherwise be the smoke rising from the wood, which causes it to burn. Groovy blue flames dance around all over the place. It puts out way more heat than my old one, with way less wood.

By the way, can anyone think of a cleaner source of power for heating a home than a good wood stove? (other than hydroelectric)

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), January 28, 2000.

While there are now EPA-certified woodstoves sold without catalytic combustors, the catalytic technology is still the best. The combustor actually recovers a great deal of heat, and allows fires that aren't so hot so you get the advantage of a longer burn from your wood. Some of the manufacturers don't like combustors because they add to cost, and people do have to check the combustor and clean it every summer for maximum efficiency. The web site www.condar.com offers a free cleaning guide that is useful from the manufacturer of the combusters.

-- Michael J. McCue (captroo@teleplex.net), December 29, 2000.

John, I have a 1985 dutchwest ( small model) with a cat. combuster. I dont burn continuosly,except for this year.I'm still on the original combuster!!. I love the stove, and it heats my 26 x 50 ft. ranch with no problems at all, here in New England.

-- Peter Lariviere (debbiebaker00 @ hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

bought a air tight 3 years ago for my cabin saveing on wood getting up in the middle of the night sould have bought one years before don't regreat it at all get more sleep and chop a lot less wood

-- nick malek (raymondedesrosier@sympatico.ca), January 25, 2001.