Vermont Castings Encore

[vtshredder]

A woman I work with is looking to sell her Vermont Castings Encore. Our house is about 1800 square feet which it says its good for. She only used it for a few years, and looks like it is in good shape. Any thoughts on this model?

 

[Kool_hand_Looke]

Eek...

Im getting a new stove...and was excited about VC Defiant. After talking to people on here and a few dealers, I went with Quad. Not that VC is a bad stove but theyve had a less-than-desirable business model as of late. If you can, spend another $500 on a dif new model.

 

[begreen]

Pass. It's a beautiful looking stove and their catalytic models aren't too bad. The downdraft models are costly to maintain and their inner guts (refractory core) have not stood up well to regular wood burning.

 

[Charles1981]

Guess it depends on the model and the price. I am heating 1900 sq feet, It is in the basement, and it does a good job heating the entire house unless it is below 0F (like it is now). Right now the basement is very comfortable and upstairs is pretty cool ~64-65 (but it is -10 degrees outside with -25 windchill). Very happy with my stove and burning with it for past two years.

If the price is right I wouldn't shy away from it, but the general consensus as you can see if to avoid VC unless you really know what you are getting into (can be finicky machines, require well seasoned wood, need for frequent maintenance, and in some cases they just aren't ideal and people have been very unhappy with their stove...)

But the big question is why is she selling it after just a few years?

 

[begreen]

vtshredder, can you get the exact model number for this stove?

 

[fire_man]

I heeded identical advice as posted above on Hearth.com over 5 years ago which was to stay away from VC.

History has vindicated that advice and boy am I glad I followed it!

 

[jharkin]

If you want to know what you are in for read the 2013 VC burning thread.

All Encores are downdraft, but they can be catalytic or non catalytic. Consensus is avoid the noncats like the plague. If its a cat model it will heat well, but you have to be prepared to monitor it and deal with quite a bit more maintenance than your average steel stove.

Catalytic model numbers are 0028, 2140, 2190, 2550 and the 2040 Encore flexburn with the catalyst installed.

• 0028/2140 are quite complicated internally and can be a real bear to rebuild, and you need tools just to pull the catalyst. They have double pane glass that stays cleaner. Fibrous ceramic refractory box around the cat that might last 20 years or go out in less than 10 if you run it hard.
  
• The 2190 and 2550 simplified the design and the catalyst can be removed with no tools, much easier to maintain. Glass switched to single pane, cheaper and fewer gaskets to maintain but soots up more. Still has the fibrous refractory box around the cat that might last 20 years or go out in less than 10 if you run it hard. The 2550 was built during the years of buyouts and factory QC was hit and miss. If its been professionally rebuilt thought its as solid as the earlier models.
• the Flexburn changed to a new hard cast refractory that should be more durable, but its exposed inside the firebox and is vulnerable to cracking if you throw your wood in there

If you buy any of the above used, check or ask for photos to verify the refractory is not crumbling. If you buy it check every gasket for tightness, replace the cat if needed (our consensus recommendation now is avoid steel and stick with the cheaper proven ceramic) and check the adjustment of the bimetallic thermostats (they have two). My rebuild thread is a good read for how to do all of this.



The noncat is the 1450. Stay away.