VC defiant Encore 2550

[creggh]

Hello. I have been waiting to pull the trigger on a used Vermont castings stove for a while now. I've found a brand new, still on the pallet, Defiant encore model 2550. Comes with both warming racks as well. Guy bought it 10 years ago and never installed it. I would like an efficient stove for my UP Michigan cabin that is yet to be built. Will be roughly 32 x 32 with a cathedral ceiling with a loft.

Guy wants $1900 , but I can buy it for $1100 because it's been sitting there. Price sounds great.

Question. Is this the right stove for a cabin that's 1000 SQ feet? Is it too finicky to get the catalyst to reburn? Any thoughts?

VC stoves are beautiful and I will be building a beautiful cabin, so I'm hoping this is the stove for me. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[bholler]

Hello. I have been waiting to pull the trigger on a used Vermont castings stove for a while now. I've found a brand new, still on the pallet, Defiant encore model 2550. Comes with both warming racks as well. Guy bought it 10 years ago and never installed it. I would like an efficient stove for my UP Michigan cabin that is yet to be built. Will be roughly 32 x 32 with a cathedral ceiling with a loft.

Guy wants $1900 , but I can buy it for $1100 because it's been sitting there. Price sounds great.

Question. Is this the right stove for a cabin that's 1000 SQ feet? Is it too finicky to get the catalyst to reburn? Any thoughts?

VC stoves are beautiful and I will be building a beautiful cabin, so I'm hoping this is the stove for me. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I am not a fan of vc stoves of that era they are finicky to run hard to maintain and parts are expensive.

 

[begreen]

All the caveats are true, but if new, that's a decent deal. The 2550 is better than the neverburn VC stoves and most folks report going 5-10 yrs on this stove before needing a rebuild. It's a bit overkill for 1000 sq ft, especially if the place is well insulated. Most of the heat will rise so the loft in particular may get pretty hot. A ceiling fan will help with circulation.

 

[bholler]

All the caveats are true, but if new, that's a decent deal. The 2550 is better than the neverburn VC stoves and most folks report going 5-10 yrs on this stove before needing a rebuild. It's a bit overkill for 1000 sq ft, especially if the place is well insulated. Most of the heat will rise so the loft in particular may get pretty hot. A ceiling fan will help with circulation.

Yes they absolutely are better than the never burns. But the fact that 5 to 10 years between rebuilds is considered good for a vc stove says something.

 

[Diabel]

1100 is a good price for a brand new stove, even if it sat in a box for a long time.
On this forum you will find detailed (extremely helpful) instructions on how to properly operate this stove. If you think you can follow these and be diligent about it, then this stove will give you many years of good heat. I say many because it sounds like you will not use this stove every day in the burning season.

No matter what stove you end up with......make sure you have seasoned firewood! And when I say seasoned.....I mean split and stacked for at least two years.

 

[creggh]

All the caveats are true, but if new, that's a decent deal. The 2550 is better than the neverburn VC stoves and most folks report going 5-10 yrs on this stove before needing a rebuild. It's a bit overkill for 1000 sq ft, especially if the place is well insulated. Most of the heat will rise so the loft in particular may get pretty hot. A ceiling fan will help with circulation.

Thanks for the input

 

[creggh]

1100 is a good price for a brand new stove, even if it sat in a box for a long time.
On this forum you will find detailed (extremely helpful) instructions on how to properly operate this stove. If you think you can follow these and be diligent about it, then this stove will give you many years of good heat. I say many because it sounds like you will not use this stove every day in the burning season.

No matter what stove you end up with......make sure you have seasoned firewood! And when I say seasoned.....I mean split and stacked for at least two years.

I didn't realize it needs to be seasoned for 2 years?That will be hard to find in my property.

 

[creggh]

All the caveats are true, but if new, that's a decent deal. The 2550 is better than the neverburn VC stoves and most folks report going 5-10 yrs on this stove before needing a rebuild. It's a bit overkill for 1000 sq ft, especially if the place is well insulated. Most of the heat will rise so the loft in particular may get pretty hot. A ceiling fan will help with circulation.

Question. What do you mean the " VC never burns?" I'm assuming this is "code" for the newer VC stoves that don't heat or work as advertised?

 

[begreen]

VC made, downdraft, non-cat versions of the Encore and Resolute that were notoriously cranky. They were called Everburns, but the owners soon added an n to call it the neverburn. These stoves had refractory packages that would fail in a few years of 24/7 heating.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Okay, I'll put this here as it's taking to long to find the VC owners thread. Was/am trying to sell/get rid of a VC Encore 2 in 1, year and a half old that I've replaced with the new Intrepid Flexburn (Totally different stove now) so the Encore used 1 1/2 seasons. Thought I would get maybe $700 - $800 at least for it. Haven't been able to get rid of it yet. The biggest hang up seems to be the weight and nobody has enough family/neighbors to help with the moving/installation (weighs at least 400). So guess it will end up as scrap metal by end of this year literally(maybe $50 ?). The stove has it's issues but didn't think it would be this bad to this extent. Just have to vent a little.

 

[bholler]

Okay, I'll put this here as it's taking to long to find the VC owners thread. Was/am trying to sell/get rid of a VC Encore 2 in 1, year and a half old that I've replaced with the new Intrepid Flexburn (Totally different stove now) so the Encore used 1 1/2 seasons. Thought I would get maybe $700 - $800 at least for it. Haven't been able to get rid of it yet. The biggest hang up seems to be the weight and nobody has enough family/neighbors to help with the moving/installation (weighs at least 400). So guess it will end up as scrap metal by end of this year literally(maybe $50 ?). The stove has it's issues but didn't think it would be this bad to this extent. Just have to vent a little.

I am curious why you replaced a stove that didn't work for you with one that is so similar. Yes they are better but many of the inherent problems are still there.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Actually they're not similar now. The cat system in the new Intrepid does not use any downdraft components in the exhaust besides being smaller stove. Smaller is what I needed mostly due to room size. Ash pan underneath now like it's bigger sisters. Metal cat now not ceramic. But yes, there resemblance otherwise. I'll give a report in the VC owners thread probably in early December.

 

[bholler]

Actually they're not similar now. The cat system in the new Intrepid does not use any downdraft components in the exhaust besides being smaller stove. Smaller is what I needed mostly due to room size. Ash pan underneath now like it's bigger sisters. Metal cat now not ceramic. But yes, there resemblance otherwise. I'll give a report in the VC owners thread probably in early December.

I am fully aware of the differences between the old ones. I am also aware of all of the parts I have already replaced in flex burns. Like I said yes they are better. But good luck

 

[begreen]

Okay, I'll put this here as it's taking to long to find the VC owners thread. Was/am trying to sell/get rid of a VC Encore 2 in 1, year and a half old that I've replaced with the new Intrepid Flexburn (Totally different stove now) so the Encore used 1 1/2 seasons. Thought I would get maybe $700 - $800 at least for it. Haven't been able to get rid of it yet. The biggest hang up seems to be the weight and nobody has enough family/neighbors to help with the moving/installation (weighs at least 400). So guess it will end up as scrap metal by end of this year literally(maybe $50 ?). The stove has it's issues but didn't think it would be this bad to this extent. Just have to vent a little.

Bad timing, that's all. If the stove is in nice shape you should be able to get $800 for it in Sept or Oct.. Clean it up, inside and out, and take some beauty pics for a Craigslist posting.

 

[webby3650]

Okay, I'll put this here as it's taking to long to find the VC owners thread. Was/am trying to sell/get rid of a VC Encore 2 in 1, year and a half old that I've replaced with the new Intrepid Flexburn (Totally different stove now) so the Encore used 1 1/2 seasons. Thought I would get maybe $700 - $800 at least for it. Haven't been able to get rid of it yet. The biggest hang up seems to be the weight and nobody has enough family/neighbors to help with the moving/installation (weighs at least 400). So guess it will end up as scrap metal by end of this year literally(maybe $50 ?). The stove has it's issues but didn't think it would be this bad to this extent. Just have to vent a little.

Too bad you aren’t closer. I pay $100 for used VC’s pretty often. I completely refurbish them and sell them off. Not to friends of course!

 

[Kevin Weis]

Bad timing, that's all. If the stove is in nice shape you should be able to get $800 for it in Sept or Oct.. Clean it up, inside and out, and take some beauty pics for a Craigslist posting.

Yea, we did the Craigslist posting late this past winter and got responses but once they found out the weight of it and manpower needed to get it where they want it they never called back. Was a bad time of year. Going to try again in September. We'll see what happens then.

 

[begreen]

The weight is not a big deal and not untypical for a quality stove. Our stove weighs close to 600#. Once it has wheels on it, moving is not too hard.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Actually got the stove out of the house and into the garage. I can pick it up with the small loader I have and loaded onto a trailer now so that should make it more palatable.