Has anyone more info on the VC everburn stove - how does this thing work?

[vermburner]

As a new owner / user of the VC everburn stove, I must say the I'm very disappointed in the performance of this thing. I burned for 4 weeks now. This is my 4th stove, 3rd air tight and this one is by far the most difficult to operate and produces the least amount of heat. Its interesting to read what others think of the "everburn" system - I think its too persnickety. You cant tell when the everburn is working as the air rush sound stops fairly quickly. I'm burning dry birch and some maple. A question(s) for anyone who would care to answer.

I have a double wall stack going up and through the wall. It never gets that hot. When the damper is open, the stove top gets too hot. Close it and it cools - fast. Open = high rate of burn + it gobbles the wood.

When the damper is closed and the vent closed at the bottom - very little heat. Would installing a fan get more heat out of this thing?

I am drawing in room air. Getting some down draft when the stove goes out (not the stoves fault). Would drawing air from outside help with the operation of the stove?

This thing was expensive - now is also frustrating.

 

[Shane]

Man lot's of folks are having this issue. I wish I had one hooked up to experiment with. All I have to offer in comparison is that I've been burning a competitive product with an extremely similar combustion design. I burn it at around 500-600 griddle top & 500-800 stack temp. It burns clean and doesnt eat a ton of wood. The main difference that I see is that I'm burning pine & all others are burning hardwood. Makes no sense and I can't see that it factors in anywhere but it is the only difference I can surmise. I'm baffled about the problems that MikefromAthens was having. I'm going to call tech tomorrow to try to get some sense of all this. Maybe they can look at the three threads concerning this issue and offer some insight.

 

[Roospike]

Wow , odd stuff with this stove.

vermburner , have you read the other threads on this subject ?

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/6295/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/4188/

 

[elkimmeg]

I cut and pasted your concern to VC I was hoping they would respond I'm sitting with a VC Encore, that Is going to a new owner in the donor program
I don't what to install something that needs constant babysitting. I have put off installation till, This gets explained. I wish it were a Cat stove Set it and forget it.

I'm anmost tempted to install it and work out the sequence But lugging out 400 lb beast is not child's play and once it is there I may not want to remove it
Plus the new owner has seen it..

Hey VC got a everburn Dutch west the size of an Intrepid II I can burn and work out the routine ?

I told VC that discontent is growing daily and some post have over 3000 Views.
As Much as I support VC I will not support Everburn till it is explained not how it works, but how to burn using it

Wondering out loud here, In their quest to make the cleanest burning stove ever tested by the EPA, did that compromise Draft?
and preformance making these stove too sensitive.. I know this has been the issue and that stoves can be designed to burn cleaner but only under ideal condition

Our wood is not ideal our loading is not that percise nor is the common user opperations.

So I sent another Email to VC hopefully there engineers will participate her and explain how to opperate these stoves

 

[ansehnlich1]

Once again, I burned a CATALYTIC Defiant for a year, outside masonry chimney, and the thing burned just fine. I no longer have that stove. I've read everything I can get my hands on regarding the EVERBURN system, and not much of it has been good.

I guarantee you at this point I would NOT buy one.....

My opinion....manufacturers should be producing clean burning simple to use stoves for consumers....period.

And they should be making stoves that are designed to utilize outside masonry chimneys since such a large majority of current homes are equipped with such.

I don't know about you guys, but my wife and I ride around south Pennsylvania and we see a whole crapload of brick/block/stone chimneys.....very few stainless pipes sticking out through the roof........

 

[Shane]

It's unfortunate that this country seemed to lose it's common sense when it came to chimney design. Putting them on outside walls on the far side of a house. The long & short answer is simply to line the chimney. Aside from that if the chimney is properly designed and sized it will work fine. If it doesn't then it's not the stoves fault it's the chimney.

 

[elkimmeg]

The chimney issue is not the stove designer fault, they are designed for open fireplace.
The worst place they can be located is exposed on an exterior wall . That blame has to go to home owners and builders
They are placed there for convience not preformance so they do not take up interior floor space.
Its not the the stove manufactures, Code dictates the cross-sectional requirements Their manuals detail what is required and it has been posted many time here. Telling us about a pile of code scoffers does not strenghten you arguement.
You want a masonry chimney for your wood stove do as I did interior separate 8/8 masonry flue. Inserts are a compromise solution a convience, setup in the least desirable situation.

 

[precaud]

I agree, Shane. I think the logic was to put the chimney on the coldest wall to warm it up, which makes some sense for a fireplace. Not a particularly energy-efficient concept...

My experience with venting stoves into unlined masonry chimneys is that it works acceptably well at high firing rates but not so good for normal, damped-down cruising. There's not enough heat retention in the chimney to maintain draft at low firing rates.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Man, if I were designing wood stoves, I'd sure have at least one stove in my lineup that I could advertise as being "Outside Masonry Chimney Compatible." What would be wrong with a stove company designing an optimal performer for the crappy chimney? Ya, they're obviously testing there stoves under optimal conditions, including chimney, but what average homeowner has that in their home? Again, unless they are doing new construction and highly educated on stove and chimney construction.

I mean, I think there's a market there, that's all I'm saying, heck, how many people who are buying stoves even know about the differences in chimneys.....ya, the ones who visit this site and educate themselves....

A guy or gal that wants a wood stove and goes out and buys one of these "Everburn" units, and winds up with the type of situations I've been reading about on this site......I mean really, what good is that??? Heck, the pro's here are having all sorts of problems with various stoves, what about the average homeowner that just wants to see a little fire, and warm his/her toes???

Is technology making woodburning a scientific undertaking for engineers only?


I've read the "it aint the stoves fault" argument on here a dozen times or more, AND I AGREE, but the fact remains there's a whole boatload of those masonry chimneys out there, and the consumer is using 'em.....I think a smart manufacturer would start designing and testing at least one stove on one of 'em, that's all.

 

[Roospike]

Good input ansehnlich1.

Man, if I were designing wood stoves, I'd sure have at least one stove in my lineup that I could advertise as being "Outside Masonry Chimney Compatible." What would be wrong with a stove company designing an optimal performer for the crappy chimney? Ya, they're obviously testing there stoves under optimal conditions, including chimney, but what average homeowner has that in their home? Again, unless they are doing new construction and highly educated on stove and chimney construction.

I mean, I think there's a market there, that's all I'm saying, heck, how many people who are buying stoves even know about the differences in chimneys.....ya, the ones who visit this site and educate themselves....

A guy or gal that wants a wood stove and goes out and buys one of these "Everburn" units, and winds up with the type of situations I've been reading about on this site......I mean really, what good is that??? Heck, the pro's here are having all sorts of problems with various stoves, what about the average homeowner that just wants to see a little fire, and warm his/her toes???

Is technology making woodburning a scientific undertaking for engineers only?


I've read the "it aint the stoves fault" argument on here a dozen times or more, AND I AGREE, but the fact remains there's a whole boatload of those masonry chimneys out there, and the consumer is using 'em.....I think a smart manufacturer would start designing and testing at least one stove on one of 'em, that's all.

 

[begreen]

Ansel, what is the flue dimension of the outside masonry chimney?

FWIW, this type of chimney can be notoriously fussy. Most stoves these days are designed to heat the house, not the chimney. But they do require a proper flue.

 

[precaud]

Man, if I were designing wood stoves, I'd sure have at least one stove in my lineup that I could advertise as being "Outside Masonry Chimney Compatible." What would be wrong with a stove company designing an optimal performer for the crappy chimney?

I think it's the opposite of what you suggest. More stoves are optimized as much as possible to work in installations with minimal draft than ones with modern insulated flues. (Any competent dealer will be able to point out to you the stoves in a particular product line that are known to be more draft sensitive.) I think it's been referred to as the "Florida Bungalow Syndrome."

I mean, I think there's a market there, that's all I'm saying, heck, how many people who are buying stoves even know about the differences in chimneys.....

Well it's important that they do. The chimney is the 'engine' of the system. There's no way around that. And that chimney has to be "fed" to keep it operating.

I've read the "it aint the stoves fault" argument on here a dozen times or more, AND I AGREE, but the fact remains there's a whole boatload of those masonry chimneys out there, and the consumer is using 'em.....I think a smart manufacturer would start designing and testing at least one stove on one of 'em, that's all.

You really can't expect a chimney optimized for an open fireplace to be appropriate for a high-efficiency woodstove, any more than you can drop a big-block V8 into a Honda and expect everything to be hunky-dory.

Up until this year, I vented my stoves (mostly pre-EPA units) in this house and my former lab space into unlined masonry chimneys. Yes, it worked. As long as I burned hot fires (which I tended to do anyway), it worked great. But last year I learned that long, controlled burns were not possible with such a chimney. It would work fine for maybe an hour or less and then peter out. Too much heat loss in the chimney. I kicked and screamed and said many of the same things you are saying. Then I redid my hearth and installed a liner. Problem solved.

The only solutions to this problem are to either line the chimney or only burn hot, fast fires.