VC Encore - to blow or not to blow that is the question

[Slow1]

I started to reply to the recent thread regarding a Lopi insert and how wonderful the blower improved that stove, then realized that it would be a bit of a hijack to ask this question there...

Ok - for an insert it makes quite a bit of sense that a blower would drastically improve performance since a good part of the stove may well be stuck in a wall. My question is how much of a real improvement does it make on a stove? In particular on a VC Encore NC.

I have noticed that a lot of the burn does happen in the back of the stove here - the everburn area seems to be the hottest part during much of the active part of the burn cycle (i.e. before coaling happens). Since the blower attaches back there I wonder if it may help to push air across the back and perhaps pull more heat from that area?

Anyone have the Encore NC or similar stove try running it with and without the optional blower and have results to report on it?

Thanks.

 

[fossil]

Don't know about your stove, but we have the factory blower kit on our freestanding Lopi Liberty, and I'll never have another stove without one. Thermostatic on/off in auto, infinitely variable speed within its range, manual shutoff if I don't want to listen to it. The stove's in a big room at the south end of our house...the combo of blower, ceiling fans and a few other tricks makes it all work for us. Can't imagine the stove without it. Rick

 

[Slow1]

Do you run it without the blower much? How much noise does it make? I had not actually considered the noise factor yet... of course any fan will make some noise...

 

[Diabel]

Do you run it without the blower much? How much noise does it make? I had not actually considered the noise factor yet... of course any fan will make some noise...

Slow,

Before you buy one of these blowers try sticking a small fan behind there & see if that makes a difference. Hey I should do this too!

 

[fossil]

Do you run it without the blower much? How much noise does it make? I had not actually considered the noise factor yet... of course any fan will make some noise...

The blower on our Liberty is always switched on in auto. We typically run it at ~1/2 speed. It makes some noise, but not much. Certainly not enough to disturb normal conversation at the dining table ~4 feet away. Turned all the way up, we can probably hear it pretty much throughout the house if we listen for it, but we rarely run it that high. I almost never turn it off. It shuts itself down as the stove cools down below ~200F or so. Rick

 

[Slow1]

Not a bad idea really. The only time I've had a fan on the back was when I had my overfire scare a week or so ago. The problem I had then and still would have is how to position a fan to get the air to flow between the back of the stove and the heat shielding. Blowing the shield from the back really doesn't seem to be of much value. From what little bit I think I understand about the optional blower, it looks like it blows right up under the heat shield - perhaps I'm wrong there. I am rather hoping that someone with our stove who has the blower will respond. I may have to call around to dealers to see if I can find a shop with one installed on a display (didn't see one before though...). In any case, the effectiveness should be much better if the air is being forced to flow faster against the hot back of stove I would think - the heat shielding being so close to the stove must limit the convection currents there and thus forcing air in my mind just might be helpful, but I don't want to drop the $'s before I get a bit of experienced report from someone here if possible.

 

[Diabel]

So, if the blower is to push air in between the shield & the back plate then it makes a lot of sense to install one (there is lots of heat trapped there) however there is only about an inch gap between the two. And at one point I saw a picture (diagram) of the blower attached & it looked like it blows to the side of the stove... not up.

 

[Valhalla]

Contact your VC dealer about the Encore blower kit for more information.

 

[Northern NH Mike]

I've run the Encore NC w/o any fan or blower, with a fan behind it and with the blower installed. I've found for my corner set up that the fan blowing off the flue collar heated up my 600 sq ft living kitchen area into the high 60s, low 70s. Adding the blower unit allowed me to heat the entire 1000 sq ft first floor to 84 degrees (with the help of a doorway fan pulling the hot air). The house gets HOT with the fan, just what I wanted.

For those unfamiliar with the setup, the fan mounts on the bottom of the stoveback, blows up the backside and exits out the upper sides. The fan is variable and on high the sound is distracting, however at medium it is like faint white noise.

My only complaint is the thermostat switch is set to go on (close?) at 109 degrees. Because of where the switch is mounted (bottom left corner of the stove) it takes a good 90 minutes to get the stove heated evenly enough to turn on. It also shuts off while there is usable heat from the stove. I suppose I could put the old circular fan behind, but its buried in the garage under the christmas stuff now. I've been running it for about a month, glad I have it, but will be curious as to how it impacts the electric bill.

Hope that helps