2025/26 VC performance discussion thread

[arnermd]

Same strategy....maybe a 4th split if I've got nothing to do in the afternoon.

Are you able to get it to burn through the night with that small a load? At least have enough coals for a relight after 8-10 hours?

I do not want to be lighting off a new burn everyday!

 

[davargo]

Are you able to get it to burn through the night with that small a load? At least have enough coals for a relight after 8-10 hours?

I do not want to be lighting off a new burn everyday!

I have an Encore installed in 2022. Similar issues to everyone else here. I have given up on overnight burns, we only put 3-4 logs in at a time and expect to light it from cold in the morning. Quite disappointing but we had a couple late, tense nights early on hoping the thing wouldn't burn the house down, so no overnight burns for us. I won't even put wood in past 8pm usually, just let it burn down so we can sleep at night...

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have an Encore installed in 2022. Similar issues to everyone else here. I have given up on overnight burns, we only put 3-4 logs in at a time and expect to light it from cold in the morning. Quite disappointing but we had a couple late, tense nights early on hoping the thing wouldn't burn the house down, so no overnight burns for us. I won't even put wood in past 8pm usually, just let it burn down so we can sleep at night...

How exactly are you loading for a long or overnight burn

 

[Turbo89]

I have an Encore installed in 2022. Similar issues to everyone else here. I have given up on overnight burns, we only put 3-4 logs in at a time and expect to light it from cold in the morning. Quite disappointing but we had a couple late, tense nights early on hoping the thing wouldn't burn the house down, so no overnight burns for us. I won't even put wood in past 8pm usually, just let it burn down so we can sleep at night...

There’s a troubleshooting thread here that helped me get my encore under control.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/encore-2040-cat-c-burns-too-fast.205794/

FWIW I ended up plugging two second air holes and part of the secondary air intake on the back of my encore, and it’s like a totally new stove, I was getting 10-12hr burns last year with sort of sub-par wood. My stove also prefers a full ash tray, despite the gaskets passing a leak test… I should just replace them, but for now I just leave it full.

 

[davargo]

There’s a troubleshooting thread here that helped me get my encore under control.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/encore-2040-cat-c-burns-too-fast.205794/

FWIW I ended up plugging two second air holes and part of the secondary air intake on the back of my encore, and it’s like a totally new stove, I was getting 10-12hr burns last year with sort of sub-par wood. My stove also prefers a full ash tray, despite the gaskets passing a leak test… I should just replace them, but for now I just leave it full.

Yes, I read that thread a few times this summer and have made some changes in my setup. I fixed a handful of cold air leaks in my chimney, found the ash pan was leaking air due to a loose set screw on the locking lever, and am making a blockoff plate for the secondary air intake as we speak. I plan to run the ash tray full at all times this year, with two secondary air holes plugged, and will adjust the blockoff plate as needed. I also installed a key damper as my chimney is about 30' tall and I suspect the draft is too strong, especially in the dead of winter.

How exactly are you loading for a long or overnight burn

The first couple winters we would level out the coals, let ash fall into the tray, stack up 3-4 pieces of wood, leave the damper open for a minute to let them catch, then close it up with reduced primary air for the night. Last winter we tried pushing the coals all the way against the back wall or to one side, hoping to reduce the volatility of the offgassing and rapid cat temperature rises. We did not see much difference with this method. I do have a raspberry pi based temperature monitoring system and we are now typically able to catch the stove before it goes nuclear, but it still requires constant attention. Last winter, a typical load of wood (fuel box ~50% full, 3-4 splits) would run for 3-4 hours. We have not had a fire yet this year but I would be thrilled to get into the 6-8 hour range with minimal attention

 

[Turbo89]

First fire of the year in the shop encore:

Lit around 7:30, shops 68F now with air turned down about half, cat settled in around 1230. I’m burning some of the my oldest, crappiest wood stack. Looks like a mix of maple and ash, with a little punk.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Yes, I read that thread a few times this summer and have made some changes in my setup. I fixed a handful of cold air leaks in my chimney, found the ash pan was leaking air due to a loose set screw on the locking lever, and am making a blockoff plate for the secondary air intake as we speak. I plan to run the ash tray full at all times this year, with two secondary air holes plugged, and will adjust the blockoff plate as needed. I also installed a key damper as my chimney is about 30' tall and I suspect the draft is too strong, especially in the dead of winter.


The first couple winters we would level out the coals, let ash fall into the tray, stack up 3-4 pieces of wood, leave the damper open for a minute to let them catch, then close it up with reduced primary air for the night. Last winter we tried pushing the coals all the way against the back wall or to one side, hoping to reduce the volatility of the offgassing and rapid cat temperature rises. We did not see much difference with this method. I do have a raspberry pi based temperature monitoring system and we are now typically able to catch the stove before it goes nuclear, but it still requires constant attention. Last winter, a typical load of wood (fuel box ~50% full, 3-4 splits) would run for 3-4 hours. We have not had a fire yet this year but I would be thrilled to get into the 6-8 hour range with minimal attention

So don't take the coals at all don't put the ash down in the pan just let it burn as a normal fire. Normally I don't let the wood catch fire. With the stove already up to temperature and a decent bed of coals just put the wood in and close the damper. I routinely cut the air back as soon at the damper closes. Depending on the previous cat temperature I may wait slightly to cut the air all the way back.

Allowing a lot of wood catching will lead to significant off gassing. Pushing the coals back on a already up to temperature stove will least to the stove spiking super high cat temps.. putting your wood on an even bed of coals is the best way to go.

I burn my stove 24/7 with overnight burns daily. It gets loaded to the gills and 12+ hour burns doing it this way. The sweet spot for my stove is to reload with a cat temperature of about 1k

I wouldn't reload fully if my catalyst was 1200 I'd wait until it drops

 

[davargo]

The sweet spot for my stove is to reload with a cat temperature of about 1k

Interesting, this is significantly hotter than we have been reloading. I don't have any data in front of me now but I would estimate the cat temp to be around 500-600 when we reloaded previously. This would be a STT of about 350. Should we be reloading sooner? How high does your cat temp go after a full reload? Maybe I am getting cat temp spikes because it is not igniting immediately on reload, letting too much combustible gas build up?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Interesting, this is significantly hotter than we have been reloading. I don't have any data in front of me now but I would estimate the cat temp to be around 500-600 when we reloaded previously. This would be a STT of about 350. Should we be reloading sooner? How high does your cat temp go after a full reload? Maybe I am getting cat temp spikes because it is not igniting immediately on reload, letting too much combustible gas build up?

Yeah that's way to cool for a full reload. You put all the wood in there and the stove cold and struggles to get going

I suggest an alber at 100 for your cat

Sometimes I reload at a little below 1k but not super often

If you look at last years thread and the prior year I've done a few how to with pictures and STT and cat temperature

 

[Turbo89]

Yeah that's way to cool for a full reload. You put all the wood in there and the stove cold and struggles to get going

I suggest an alber at 100 for your cat

Sometimes I reload at a little below 1k but not super often

If you look at last years thread and the prior year I've done a few how to with pictures and STT and cat temperature

That’s sort of interesting, do you stuff it to the gills with it that hot?! I’d be worried about a thermal runaway if I did that then turned it down within an hr.

I’m typically reloading around 4-600 deg CAT temp (almost always just coals left). I rake the bed of coals back, stuff the firebox and run it wide open with the CAT bypassed for 15-30 minutes. I only engage the CAT when I see a firebox full of flames, typically this puts my STT above 450.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Iv posted this before. I know some of you are newer. I run my stove pretty much by cat temperature only.. once it's going.

From a cold start it's the normal get the stove warm I don't worry about STT at all I strictly go by stovepipe temp, engage the cat and get it going.

On a hot reload I look at the cat temp and see where it is. If it's say 1k there is nothing to do except put wood in it and close the bypass and set the air, REGARDLESS of STT because the cat is already lit and running. You don't need to let the wood catch my friends.. it will do this ALL BY ITSELF. A cat temperature of 1k is not hot at that temperature it's mostly coals at that point and your done off gassing your current load.

If the cat is say 1200 I let it ride, wait till it off gasses more then reload. If it's like 800 I'll add a little wood and get the cat temp up some and when I say a little wood I mean a couple really small pieces like 2"x2"

Yes.. I stuff it to the gills with a cat temperature that hot.. STT may be 400/450

You guys do realize that putting wood in a warm stove starts the off gassing process. Putting it in a cool stove will delay the process and most times the load will off gassing all at once.

 

[Turbo89]

Iv posted this before. I know some of you are newer. I run my stove pretty much by cat temperature only.. once it's going.

From a cold start it's the normal get the stove warm I don't worry about STT at all I strictly go by stovepipe temp, engage the cat and get it going.

On a hot reload I look at the cat temp and see where it is. If it's say 1k there is nothing to do except put wood in it and close the bypass and set the air, REGARDLESS of STT because the cat is already lit and running. You don't need to let the wood catch my friends.. it will do this ALL BY ITSELF. A cat temperature of 1k is not hot at that temperature it's mostly coals at that point and your done off gassing your current load.

If the cat is say 1200 I let it ride, wait till it off gasses more then reload. If it's like 800 I'll add a little wood and get the cat temp up some and when I say a little wood I mean a couple really small pieces like 2"x2"

Yes.. I stuff it to the gills with a cat temperature that hot.. STT may be 400/450

You guys do realize that putting wood in a warm stove starts the off gassing process. Putting it in a cool stove will delay the process and most times the load will off gassing all at once.I

I’ll have to go look at your old posts, this seems like a tiring ordeal, having to load the stove every 4-5hrs. I’ve never done this with my conventional stoves, doesn’t mean it’s right, just seems like a lot more handling than I’d like for a CAT stove. Realistically once I get this thing lit and up to temp, I don’t want to touch it for 8-10hrs.

Edit: I believe this is thread wood splitter is referring to, lots of good temp info here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2023-24-vc-temperature-discussion-thread.200148/

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I’ll have to go look at your old posts, this seems like a tiring ordeal, having to load the stove every 4-5hrs. I’ve never done this with my conventional stoves, doesn’t mean it’s right, just seems like a lot more handling than I’d like for a CAT stove. Realistically once I get this thing lit and up to temp, I don’t want to touch it for 8-10hrs.

Edit: I believe this is thread wood splitter is referring to, lots of good temp info here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2023-24-vc-temperature-discussion-thread.200148/

So just a heads up.. it's not 4/5 hours my stove will burn for 12 hours easily. I've had it run for over 14 hours with a load of white oak and hickory. I don't load my stove a lot.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I’ll have to go look at your old posts, this seems like a tiring ordeal, having to load the stove every 4-5hrs. I’ve never done this with my conventional stoves, doesn’t mean it’s right, just seems like a lot more handling than I’d like for a CAT stove. Realistically once I get this thing lit and up to temp, I don’t want to touch it for 8-10hrs.

Edit: I believe this is thread wood splitter is referring to, lots of good temp info here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2023-24-vc-temperature-discussion-thread.200148/

There's a couple of other posts that are more detailed. I may be able to look later. Most of the time I do a how to like the latter part of December beginning of January because that's when I get the time and people struggle

Someone did ask what my cat temperatures get to with a full load. Usually in the low 1400s very rarely do I exceed 1500 and if it does I do absolutely nothing. The worst thing that will happen is I lose some life on my cat

Just so we're all on the same page . If your cat temperature gets past 1500 degrees.. the world doesn't end and you and your family don't spontaneously combust... Just saying

 

[Turbo89]

So just a heads up.. it's not 4/5 hours my stove will burn for 12 hours easily. I've had it run for over 14 hours with a load of white oak and hickory. I don't load my stove a lot.

Yea, I’d be interested in how you’re achieving that. I was scrolling that other thread with arnermd and others temp plots and they’re consistently 4-6hrs above 1,000, then they droop down. This is consistent with my experience with the encore.

Can you point to a thread and/ or explain what you do? If I could get 12hrs above 1,000, I could easily get 16+ hr burns, which would be a game changer. I’m working really hard to get 12hr burns, even with big seasoned oak splits. This year I cut a bunch of stuff to 18” vs 16” lengths, hoping I could get longer burns.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Yea, I’d be interested in how you’re achieving that. I was scrolling that other thread with arnermd and others temp plots and they’re consistently 4-6hrs above 1,000, then they droop down. This is consistent with my experience with the encore.

Can you point to a thread and/ or explain what you do? If I could get 12hrs above 1,000, I could easily get 16+ hr burns, which would be a game changer. I’m working really hard to get 12hr burns, even with big seasoned oak splits. This year I cut a bunch of stuff to 18” vs 16” lengths, hoping I could get longer burns.

It's really in how you process and stack the wood in the inside of your stove

I process my own wood so I split my wood just for this stove. I cut my wood 18/19"long. All of my wood. As I process my wood, some wood is for day burning and some is for overnight.

The larger rounds like 20"round and up normal get split for overnight while the smaller diameter stuff just gets quartered for during the day. The stuff we burn during the day is just your average triangle looking pieces, limb wood ect

Overnight wood is split differently. This wood is split in squares and rectangle. I use all the Heartwood and it's super dense. I burn all oak for overnight red, white, pin. I scrounge all my own wood so I can be picky.

Before bed I load the stove to the gills. It's like a Jenga puzzle in there. I basically form a large hunk of wood in the stove with no space in-between. I'm pretty sure I can get at least 50lbs of wood in there. There is room on the sides and just enough space to shut the griddle.

Once loaded I immediately close the damper and cut the air all the way back. Cat climbs back up and it's done for the night. I normally load the stove for overnight like 7/8pm and at 5/6am it's still going strong. Normally the catalyst is about 500 I just drop in a bunch of wood and let it rip, that cleans the glass off engage the cat and let it cruz. I'll load it 3/4 full before going to work and put the air to half way. Wife turns the air all the way back before she leaves for work and when I get home around 4 the stoves still going.. I'll drop in some more wood and set the air to half for a bit, and repeat process.

 

[Turbo89]

That makes me feel better about cutting 18” chunks, I like the idea of using only squares at night (like you I source, cut and split my own wood). I’ve been raking coals to the back, and laying a big square pieces or piece at the bottom, then jenga stacking whatever else I have.

I’ll give your all squares approach a whirl when it gets a bit colder and see how she burns. Right now I’m sitting on a few cords of nice ash that I split in 18” squares, so it’ll probably be that. I’ll have to sort through my oak pile for the coldest months.

Is that last hot reload typically with a CAT temp above 1,000? Do you rake the coals typically? I had some success last season pushing them to the back right, resulting in a right to left, bottom to top burn.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Processing

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I'm sitting on 14 cords CSS and 6 cords in log length ready to go

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

Are you able to get it to burn through the night with that small a load? At least have enough coals for a relight after 8-10 hours?

I do not want to be lighting off a new burn everyday!

It depends on some things. If I have a huge coal bed built up by say 9pm, yes I’ll have some to get going again in the morning after loading 3-4 splits. I’m getting more comfortable with this strategy and I’m hoping this is the season I put it all together. Cat temp though will only be like 100-200 in the morning around 6am, so it’s almost like a restart anyway. I live in the woods - endless kindling supply and the kids still enjoy helping Dad collect sticks.

I’ve read this forum for the last 3 years and have referred to the strategy described by @Woodsplitter67 as “the way of the wood splitter”. I’ve tried a lot of what you describe, some things have worked and others didn’t. I have not had luck with loading wood on a 1,000 degree cat. It results in either a backpuff or a super hot stovetop, both I don’t care for.

But again, I don’t hate this stove. It heats my house.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It depends on some things. If I have a huge coal bed built up by say 9pm, yes I’ll have some to get going again in the morning after loading 3-4 splits. I’m getting more comfortable with this strategy and I’m hoping this is the season I put it all together. Cat temp though will only be like 100-200 in the morning around 6am, so it’s almost like a restart anyway. I live in the woods - endless kindling supply and the kids still enjoy helping Dad collect sticks.

I’ve read this forum for the last 3 years and have referred to the strategy described by @Woodsplitter67 as “the way of the wood splitter”. I’ve tried a lot of what you describe, some things have worked and others didn’t. I have not had luck with loading wood on a 1,000 degree cat. It results in either a backpuff or a super hot stovetop, both I don’t care for.

But again, I don’t hate this stove. It heats my house.

So just out of curiosity what is your STT if your cat is 1,k and how do you measure it and what is the air usually set to. Also how are you measuring cat temperature.

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

So just out of curiosity what is your STT if your cat is 1,k and how do you measure it and what is the air usually set to. Also how are you measuring cat temperature.

Cat temp monitored via an Auber.

I don’t have backpuffs when loading at cat temps in the 600-800 range. Stove top cruises around 500.

If I’m in a backpuff situation I will have to add more primary air, resulting in a more active firebox. I’ll then work to turn primary air down in like 25% increments over the next hour. Griddle temps can rise to 600-650. A big pot of cold water on the griddle helps. But this is the period where I’m tied to the stove babysitting.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Cat temp monitored via an Auber.

I don’t have backpuffs when loading at cat temps in the 600-800 range. Stove top cruises around 500.

If I’m in a backpuff situation I will have to add more primary air, resulting in a more active firebox. I’ll then work to turn primary air down in like 25% increments over the next hour. Griddle temps can rise to 600-650. A big pot of cold water on the griddle helps. But this is the period where I’m tied to the stove babysitting.

So all you do is turn up the primary air when back puffing

How are you measuring STT

How high do your cat temps regularly go/what are your normal running temperaturesnlook like

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

STT - a magnetic inferno from Condar on the back of the griddle. I also have a cheap infrared that I don’t use much.

Normal cat temp runs anywhere between 900-1400. I like trying to keep it in the 1100-1300 range. Highest cat temp I’ve seen is like 1650 when I’ve gotten brave and packed the stove or while the cat was new and hyper.

With a cat temp in the 1100-1300 range I have a STT running 500. No smoke out of chimney. I have a magnetic chimguard 18 inches up at a 45 elbow, running around 275-300.

It sounds all decent, but this is like a 3-5 hour burn cycle…maybe 7-8 if conditions are absolutely perfect.

 

[Burnin Since 1989]

STT - a magnetic inferno from Condar on the back of the griddle. I also have a cheap infrared that I don’t use much.

Normal cat temp runs anywhere between 900-1400. I like trying to keep it in the 1100-1300 range. Highest cat temp I’ve seen is like 1650 when I’ve gotten brave and packed the stove or while the cat was new and hyper.

With a cat temp in the 1100-1300 range I have a STT running 500. No smoke out of chimney. I have a magnetic chimguard 18 inches up at a 45 elbow, running around 275-300.

It sounds all decent, but this is like a 3-5 hour burn cycle…maybe 7-8 if conditions are absolutely perfect.

Welcome neighbor. Have you verified the STT with the IR to be sure that thermometer is accurate?

Other than that, have you checked all the gaskets to be sure they're not pulling in air? You can use incense or something a little smokey to see if it pulls into the stove around the gaskets.