which wood stove to run? 2 options

[foursaps]

I have been heating my house with my Englander fireplace set up as a stand alone unit in my basement (not in a fireplace). it's been doing a great job, keeps the house at 64-70 even on the cold days. burn times leave a lot to be desired (usually 3-6 hours burning cherry and white oak), wood consumption seems high, low flue temps (stays about 250 external, sometimes spikes to 500 for a few minutes) makes lots of creosote. this stove does contradict itself.

I just got a vermont castings vigilant as a freebie. needs regasketing and lower fireback has a crack. Dated 1977. I am used to the vigilant and running it. I grew up with a defiant, and operating procedures are similar. i know they throw a ton of heat, and burn times can be from 5-8 hours.

My plans were to replace the englander with the vigilant after a rebuild. However, i am unsure if i am actually upgrading to a better stove/more heat output/longer burn times.

these two stoves are my only options for now, not buying a new stove. what do you guys think?

 

[zogger]

Can't take too long to swap them out! You'll find out the first burn if it will heat better or not!

 

[foursaps]

i guess you're right, never looked at it that way. if it doesn't work as well, just put the englander back in.

 

[stihly dan]

Are you sure that is the date and not the model.

 

[dustytools]

It is the model. Mine heated my house great. However it used a lot of wood and created a ton of creosote as well. It has an 8" flue outlet and my chimney was/is 6", not sure if that affected anything or not. I had to keep it shut down pretty tight most of the time because it was a heating mo-sheen, more than likely this is why I experienced so much creosote build up with it. I would give it a try for sure.