Hey there fellow VC encore 2550 stalwarts. thank you all for contributing your experience and expertise to this forum. I have a bit of expereince now, but no expertise yet, with operating my particular VC 2550. To do so, I went through the process of replacing the refractory and the gaskets myself, and then with help, installing the stove into a big hearth with a 25 foot 8" liner newly installed. I think I did a pretty conscious and decent job on my side of this effort, having learned from you folks how touchy this stuff can get, but I don't claim perfection.
The first couple of time we used the stove, it seemed somewhat more controllable heatwise than it does now. much as others have described their experiences. Once a good bed of coals has been established, and the heat rises to approx 450/500, we engage the cat and basically shut down the damper. At the point, with only two or three logs in it, it will go up to 600+ for a quite awhile, generating good heat and not burning much wood. The smoke outside is all but invisible, so the cat's doing it's trick (no noise to speak of inside, perhaps the quitest rumble). If we want more heat, we open the damper a bit, something we do when the fire backs off to 500 - 550. At that point though, if we add another log or two, and want to keep the fire burning in our "medium" comfort zone, it seems to want to take off and run up to and even over 700, to 720, or once, 750, even with the damper fully closed.
This makes us anxious.
Then, when the stove has settled down a bit, it seems to, again, with damper closed, want to run at about 700 steadily. We feed it along with a log or two, keeping it dampered, and maintain usually between 600-700 through the day.
So here's (finally) my questions:
1) My understanding is that the stove should be happy around 700, even for long burns, and at a bit more than that even for short periods, so I shouldn't have to worry that I am doing anything "wrong" by using it as it runs right now. Is this correct? The manual and some portion of the postings here seem to support that assessment, but I'd feel better confirming it.
2) What about longer burns, overnight, for example, when I want to load up the fire and damper it down with a lot wood, I don't want to worry that it's going to run away on me. Can I do this safely under the current circumstances? I have read that burning more wood, some if it less than dried, can bring down the temp of the burn, and I am burning pretty dry wood right now by my estimate. If I add a little less dried wood to mix and start with a hot, but not too hot fire, then damper it, should I be able to burn a bigger load? We haven't tried this 'cause we're chicken, I mean cautious.
The house is a 1783 colonial with probably about the same square footage, but without fantastic insulation, so having the stove fire away at the level it's been firing actually does a very nice job of heating our place, so I don't actually object to burning at around 700 so long as it's not a hazard to us, the house, the stove in that order. When it gets colder, I will be even happier with the heat output, and I am otherwise very pleased with the unit in terms of how much you get out of a chunk of wood. Kinda amazing, actually.
Oh yeah, and if it is running too hot, what are recommended steps for bringing it back down while the fire is underway. I want to know just what to do when it's trying to push much past 700?
So finally, thanks again for the expertise to date, and any feedback you might have on this Encore's encore in this case, and safe wood heating to you all.
Nick G. in CT
