2024/25 VC performance discussion thread

[Woodsplitter67]

Good looking pile.... lots of nice heartwood.

I personally can't wait to shut my stove down, seems like for 6 weeks the stove and I had a tenuous peace accord where it stayed below 1650 most of the time..... but the last week it has been full on fighting. Cat temps over 1700, back puffing into the house seems to occur with every load now in the middle of a burn with no adjustments from me. Only change is the wood, from red oak to some ash. I have resorted to throwing on 2 med splits when the cat drops below 900, every 4 hours or so.

I am getting too old for this kind of stress, the other night we went out for dinner and I could not enjoy myself becuase I was worrying about what the stove was doing. I have stopped loading up the stove at night becuase I want some sleep so the house is colder in the mornings, fortunately there are still enough coals to light off the next half load in the morning.

I am seriously considering alternatives, looking at a Hearthstone Manchester and the Blaze King Ashford. Unfortunately neither have all the features of my VC Defiant, but I am hoping they burn better. Bought some gasket rope for the doors and ashpan, even though they seem fine I will swap them out and see if that changes anything. This may be the last straw for this stove.

I get a hiccup here or there but for the majority of the time my stove runs great. My wife thinkers with it.. I come home.. stove has coals..

 

[arnermd]

I don't know how you've made it this long! For me, having a cat temp at 1746 and a glowing red stove pipe one time was almost too much for me, but almost every night? Especially after all the rebuilding and tweaks of your stove over the years. I've been getting the back puffing quite frequently in the middle of a burn as well. Maybe because its maple? But it shouldn't back fire.

I'd sacrifice a feature or 2 for the peace of mind and to have the better feature of not burning down the house.

It was all about the cost.... at 13 years in its about $230 per year for the intial cost of the stove. I spend ~$100 / year on replacement cats and parts. So the sustaining cost is approaching the intial cost at this point. I certainly saved money on heating oil, so I don't complain about that.

I have never felt like my house was going to burn down, I am more concerned with the stove destroying itself or smoke damage in the house. A couple times the backbuffs have been bad enough to set off the smoke alarms.....

It is bittersweet for a couple reasons: 1) I really love having a wood stove and this stove has a lot of wonderful features. 2) My ego says I should be able to make this thing burn right, but after 13 years of trying.....

 

[AsylumResident]

It was all about the cost.... at 13 years in its about $230 per year for the intial cost of the stove. I spend ~$100 / year on replacement cats and parts. So the sustaining cost is approaching the intial cost at this point. I certainly saved money on heating oil, so I don't complain about that.

I have never felt like my house was going to burn down, I am more concerned with the stove destroying itself or smoke damage in the house. A couple times the backbuffs have been bad enough to set off the smoke alarms.....

It is bittersweet for a couple reasons: 1) I really love having a wood stove and this stove has a lot of wonderful features. 2) My ego says I should be able to make this thing burn right, but after 13 years of trying.....

Three years in and I've been in the same boat since the start. You mentioned going to dinner and not being able to enjoy it because you were thinking about the stove; I've been there since the beginning which is why I will not put more than two (maybe three) splits in at a time now. I haven't had an overnight burn all this year. I do love the look of this stove and the features, but it will be very difficult for me to spend money on this beast for ongoing maintenance into the future. I am thinking of going one more year with it and then making a switch.

 

[arnermd]

Three years in and I've been in the same boat since the start. You mentioned going to dinner and not being able to enjoy it because you were thinking about the stove; I've been there since the beginning which is why I will not put more than two (maybe three) splits in at a time now. I haven't had an overnight burn all this year. I do love the look of this stove and the features, but it will be very difficult for me to spend money on this beast for ongoing maintenance into the future. I am thinking of going one more year with it and then making a switch.

I hear you... If VC had not replaced 2 refractories under warranty I might have bailed earlier. First one lasted 5 seasons, second was 3 seasons, third one is at 5 seasons and counting....

Big question is what do we switch too.... I want to rent a stove for a month before I buy.

 

[AsylumResident]

I hear you... If VC had not replaced 2 refractories under warranty I might have bailed earlier. First one lasted 5 seasons, second was 3 seasons, third one is at 5 seasons and counting....

Big question is what do we switch too.... I want to rent a stove for a month before I buy.

That is a great question and wouldn't that be great "Take 'em for a test drive".

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Been switching to a lot of night time fires here too. Once it hits 50+ its tough to run it 24x7. Few cold days here now where it'll run but back in the upper 50s early next week.

If I was going to dump the Encore, I'd go with a BK Ashford 30 I think. But this would be a very tough decision. The esthetics of the Encore would be tough to top. Any industrial looking stove would not look good at all

 

[Megunticook]

Just got some overnight snow here in Maine, temperature's low twenties and dropping with a stiff northwest breeze. Fired up the Encore at dawn with some nice white pine kindling then a bunch of smaller maple and ash splits, she took right off as usual and is cruising along now with cat engaged.

Definitely can overheat the house this time of year if you're not careful, but it's been a surprisingly cold winter since just before Christmas this year--the whole winter, really, had regular spells of single digit and subzero overnight lows and I'd say the average temperature this year has trended lower than other recent years.

Anyone else runing low on seasoned firewood? I put up just under 2 cords, about half red oak, and the Encore is our primary heat from October through May (we added a mini-split a few years ago downstairs but rarely heat with it). Knew at the time it was cutting it tight, and then was surprised how quickly I was burning through it each week. Started to get a little nervous, but I should get into April and then the mini-split can take over for a few weeks as needed.