Vermont Castings Encore stove.....need more info...

[iburnpine]

Well, I've gone through all of the reviews on the Encore stove but most of them are ancient and really don't help me. I have a stove (Jotul F 3 CB) in a spot where a VC Defiant Encore once sat. I was thinking of looking into VC's current Encore, as it would fit perfectly where the old VC Defiant was and perhaps provide more heat for my house when compared to the Jotul.

I will say that I definitely like the Jotul. The only problem I have with it, is that it can only handle so much wood. I find that I'm loading it quite often (every 2 hours or so) and would like to make my life slightly easier by going with a larger stove which might require less overall maintenance. When you factor in that I have to split more wood to fit in the Jotul, and then spend more of my time maintaining the fire, it becomes a pain of sorts.

So, does anyone own one of these newer VC Encore stoves? If so, can you share any comments about the stove? I'm interested in overall quality, burn time, draft controls, etc.

Thanks.....

 

[Shane]

I've sold a couple of them. Burning pine they can get an 8 hour burn time. Hardwood I would imagine the advertised 12 hrs is reasonable.

 

[elkimmeg]

I own a 1999 cat encore I just rebuilt If you are really looking for more heat and longer burn times then why not the Defiant?

 

[iburnpine]

The "new" Defiant will not fit in the existing location. The Encore will - but I'm not sure of the quality of VC these days. Is it true that their stoves aren't what they used to be?

 

[Shane]

The company went through some quality control issues in the late 90's. The wood stoves that are coming into the store now and for the past few years have been of excellent quality. I do believe that alot of dealers have abandoned VC maybe not such much due to quality but because they'll supply stoves to anyone willing to buy them. This is, for obvious reasons, bad for the small retail business model.

 

[Shaun]

I put in one of the new Encore non cat last december. It worked great and am looking forward to firing it back up shortly. It heated my 2000 sf colonial with no problems. Furnace didn't even kick on when the stove was running 24/7. Kept the main level at 74 or so and the bedrooms upstairs were at 66 - 68 depending on how cold out. Burn times have varied, but I haven't quite figured out what the best settings are for the air. On average, I could fill up the stove and get approx. 8 hours and then just stir up the coals and throw some small splits it to get it going good again.

 

[webbie]

Jotul has larger units also....all non-cat.

It is true that the top load can help with larger loads. Also true that they often need a better chimney draft, so make certain of that. VC is trying to be reborn and I have little doubt that they will succeed. One side note on the older stoves - they have a deserved reputation as being overengineered.....meaning like a car with power everything. Although this is nice, it does make for more parts - and more parts to break down, so the overall cost of ownership of these older stoves can be higher than a steel box - or than a simpler cast one for that matter.

I'll have to spend some time studying the new stuff so I can know what I speak of.