Hi-
Thought I might introduce myself and say thanks to all for such a wonderful forum & site. In just a fwe months on here Ive learned sooooo much... I think I'm finally getting the hang of this catalytic burn thing.
Quick background... I'm not new to stoves, just new to EPA stoves. My father still has and uses a '79 Resolute that we heated most of the house with for many years when I was younger. Last spring my wife and I just bought our first house, that happened to come with a 10 year old Encore 2550 catalytic. The encore is definitely a different beast than the old resolute as I have come to learn.
Reading all the great info on here I did my homework. We got the install and fire dept inspection records from PO (ok), Had a sweep inspect it (freshly cleaned flue, install OK). Looks good so far.
Next was wood. POs left about 1/2 cord. Being on a small lot and not knowing how much I'd burn I ordered 2 more cords in late summer. Also got a mm. One was a lot of oak around 24% so I stacked that for this year. the other cord was typical wet at 30% so I put that aside for next. Also we took down a dead apple tree and I bought a Fiskars and split it myself just to see if I could. So now we have 1.5 cord for this year and 2 cord for next.
So now its time to burn. First fire during the early cold snap in October was a smoky mess. Even after an hour with 600F on the stovetop and damper down I get smoke out the stack. So I take out the cat later and find its in pretty bad shape, along with the secondary probe and fireback gaskets. So next step - new steelcat and a cat thermometer from Condar. Also replace the secondary probe. Luckily the fireback and hood were easy to get in and out (no warping). Refractory is in good shape except the access panel, that looks like the PO put in upside down (lip blocking the secondary air).
Next burn is much better. Smoke is mostly gone (some wisps that I decided was steam) and now Im getting real HEAT. Too much in fact. Hard to control and I got one over fire where the cat hit 1800 and started to glow. Even on low air it took a while to cool off.
So more reading. I think I got lucky and still nothing warped but the gaskets are suspect. POs had done the door and left the rest of the kit. So I did the griddle. then the ash door. And I tightened up the adjustment on both door handles. Now I have control! Adjusting the air actually makes a difference in cat temp and when I accidentally hit 1800 a second time I just turned down the air and it backed off in less than a minute! sweet!
So a few weeks later and I now really like this stove. I'm learning to trust that I can shut it down and so long as the coals are good it will low burn for hours and not go out. Had my first overnight burn with enough coals to restart last weekend, and have felt comfortable leaving the house. Even my wife, who really likes the ambiance fireplace is starting to like the stove too, though she wont try and operate it herself yet (75F instead of 68 inside is nice).
I also popped off the flue cleanout and had a look. Nothing but a light coating of fine brown powder and some brown flakes half way up. Lookin' good..
So that's where we are. Not heating 24/7 on this (gas is just too cheap and my steam radiators throw some nice heat too). Still planning to replace that refractory access and redo the fireback gasket.. but otherwise the stove is burning great and I'm really happy with it. Ive even got a fiskars, saw and protective gear and thinking about scrounging! Wife thinks I'm nuts but likes the heat.
My only complaint is not enough wood that I can burn this year (typical first year story, eh?).
Thanks to everyone on here, from another wood heat convert!!
-Jeremy in MA
Thought I might introduce myself and say thanks to all for such a wonderful forum & site. In just a fwe months on here Ive learned sooooo much... I think I'm finally getting the hang of this catalytic burn thing.
Quick background... I'm not new to stoves, just new to EPA stoves. My father still has and uses a '79 Resolute that we heated most of the house with for many years when I was younger. Last spring my wife and I just bought our first house, that happened to come with a 10 year old Encore 2550 catalytic. The encore is definitely a different beast than the old resolute as I have come to learn.
Reading all the great info on here I did my homework. We got the install and fire dept inspection records from PO (ok), Had a sweep inspect it (freshly cleaned flue, install OK). Looks good so far.
Next was wood. POs left about 1/2 cord. Being on a small lot and not knowing how much I'd burn I ordered 2 more cords in late summer. Also got a mm. One was a lot of oak around 24% so I stacked that for this year. the other cord was typical wet at 30% so I put that aside for next. Also we took down a dead apple tree and I bought a Fiskars and split it myself just to see if I could. So now we have 1.5 cord for this year and 2 cord for next.
So now its time to burn. First fire during the early cold snap in October was a smoky mess. Even after an hour with 600F on the stovetop and damper down I get smoke out the stack. So I take out the cat later and find its in pretty bad shape, along with the secondary probe and fireback gaskets. So next step - new steelcat and a cat thermometer from Condar. Also replace the secondary probe. Luckily the fireback and hood were easy to get in and out (no warping). Refractory is in good shape except the access panel, that looks like the PO put in upside down (lip blocking the secondary air).
Next burn is much better. Smoke is mostly gone (some wisps that I decided was steam) and now Im getting real HEAT. Too much in fact. Hard to control and I got one over fire where the cat hit 1800 and started to glow. Even on low air it took a while to cool off.
So more reading. I think I got lucky and still nothing warped but the gaskets are suspect. POs had done the door and left the rest of the kit. So I did the griddle. then the ash door. And I tightened up the adjustment on both door handles. Now I have control! Adjusting the air actually makes a difference in cat temp and when I accidentally hit 1800 a second time I just turned down the air and it backed off in less than a minute! sweet!
So a few weeks later and I now really like this stove. I'm learning to trust that I can shut it down and so long as the coals are good it will low burn for hours and not go out. Had my first overnight burn with enough coals to restart last weekend, and have felt comfortable leaving the house. Even my wife, who really likes the ambiance fireplace is starting to like the stove too, though she wont try and operate it herself yet (75F instead of 68 inside is nice).
I also popped off the flue cleanout and had a look. Nothing but a light coating of fine brown powder and some brown flakes half way up. Lookin' good..
So that's where we are. Not heating 24/7 on this (gas is just too cheap and my steam radiators throw some nice heat too). Still planning to replace that refractory access and redo the fireback gasket.. but otherwise the stove is burning great and I'm really happy with it. Ive even got a fiskars, saw and protective gear and thinking about scrounging! Wife thinks I'm nuts but likes the heat.
My only complaint is not enough wood that I can burn this year (typical first year story, eh?).
Thanks to everyone on here, from another wood heat convert!!
-Jeremy in MA