Lots of talk about stoves and design efficiencies. We ordered a Vermont Casting Defiant in November. My son and I removed the old stove and installed it just before Christmas. So not so much history with this stove yet. The owner of the shop, Grass Roots Energy, Inc. in Wauconda, Il., is a distant friend. He said Vermont Casting was recently employee owned and speculated under funded. The company had been bought out again, but again, he stated no track record with little customer or industry feed back as yet. He offers four or five other top brands with maybe thirty or more different stove models on the floor to compare. The Defiant in the show room had a fire burning in it. Nov. was the first time visiting his store (we are two hundred miles away in SW. Michigan) and seeing so many brands and models first hand turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Obviously the name Vermont Casting seems to of taken a bit of a hit and is no longer selling itself on brand name alone in part due to more than one company buy out and strong, increasing competition. I know nothing of efficiencies and various design strategies. I do know I like this stove. Heating and burn efficiency talk depends heavily on so many variables a part from the stove itself; installation, flue design, available air/outside air, home design, home construction, stove fuel and operator attentiveness. It was this last factor, operator error, which led to the premature failure (read warping) over a period of years of our previous stove. Cat stoves especially, require attention to prevent over firing when building a fire. Lesson learned the hard way.
I love using this stove. It is functional and exceptionally beautiful.
I love using this stove. It is functional and exceptionally beautiful.