VC Winterwarm Insert Question

[VTToday]

Hello,

We bought an old house (185 years old) with a newer (30 years) fireplace that has a Vermont Castings 1280 Winterwarm insert - age unknown. Our last house had a VC Reliant which we loved.

The fireplace is in good shape as is the insert. (We had an inspection done by our usual fireplace repair/sweep whom we've used for about ten years but they had no experience with this insert although going over it wiht the manual they didn't find anything wrong.)

We have used the insert and it seems to be in really good shape. It looks like it has been well-maintained over the years with no evidence of over-firing. The fans work quietly as do all moving parts. My question is about the catalyst. Is there a way to test a catalyst to tell how much life is left in it or if it even still works? Replacements are available for about $200. We haven't used the catalyst yet and have just run the stove in "normal" operating mode which has kept the entire house warm so I'm also wondering if we even need to bother with it.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[webby3650]

Well there really is no "normal" operating mode. It's designed to be used with the bypass damper shut utilizing the catalyst. Running it with the damper open all the time can cause an overfire and possibly warp parts.
Do you know how old the cat is? Did the service guy remove the fire back and inspect the combustion box and cat?