Is your VC Encore the Non-Cat/ Cat Model 2040 ? I have access to my fathers as he used it one year. Been sitting in garage so some rust on the ash lip. I've been hesitant on using it. Not sure why he took it out since I can't ask him.
Will a Vermont Castings Encore heat the house?
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Do you think the firebox is big enough to heat 1350 sq ft in western NY as a full time heater? The house is 1970's insulated and not much else I can do to change that due to the roof being flatter. Windows and doors sealed. Used 3.5 tons of coal last winter in a 90k btu stoker.
Maybe. Started a new thread with this question. The old thread was 3 yrs old and a different house. The coal stoker comment gives me a pause without knowing the quality and type of coal. But let's say hypothetically that is about 66,500 BTUs for the 3.5 tons. If so, the Encore could work on the assumption that the stove is in proper working order, has good, fully seasoned hardwood for firewood, and it run properly.
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The coal was very good Lehigh anthracite rice coal. Completely burned very well. I just don't want to get caught in a real bad cold snap struggling to keep up. The stoker will keep up. The wood is almost free. Coal is $500/ton here. Hence looking at the switch to wood. I burned wood as a kid growing up with a huge wood furnace in my parents basement that I tended a lot.
I would not attempt using the Encore without knowing the first 2 factors are satisfied. That is, 4 cords of fully seasoned hardwood and the stove in great working condition with a good or new cat installed.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Yes.. my stove is the 2040 2n1.. cat non cat.. definitely run the stove with the cat it.. it runs way better.. make sure you have really good draft
My Encore 2040 Cat-C heats my whole house. I have a mini split in the bedroom above my garage on the far side. The stove does the rest. 2600 Sq ft cape. And I live in NH so it gets cold. Last winter 4.5 cords of wood, 1/4 tank of oil. Stove keeps the house around 70
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
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1870farmhouse
New Member
You said the encore keeps your place at 70 but are you burning low and slow 24/7 or burning hot certain hours?
How cold is your average winter day/nights
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I live on the seacoast in NH. The last few years we've had what I would call mild winters. That looks like a week of single digit highs and lows at night at or below 0 with wind chill. Those 5 or 6 nights I use my oil heat as help. Generally I would say our avg winter day is at or a touch below freezing. Nights in the mid teens. 2500 is sq ft house
My normal process is wake up for the gym at 430-500, house is about 64-65. I open all the air and throw some smaller splits bring the stove back up to 650°. Then load a few splits run the air wide open till I get back around 630. This gets it back to 68 ish. My next load goes half and cut air to half if I am home which is most days. This will keep my house 68-70 and hold it there. If its a colder day I just run it wide open a little longer till it reaches a comfortable temp. Overnight my air is 90% closed house drops from 70 to 64. My bedroom upstairs sits around 65-66. If I ran the stove hotter it would be 70 upstairs too. Often I close the bedroom door to keep it 64 or below so it is comfortable to sleep.
My normal process is wake up for the gym at 430-500, house is about 64-65. I open all the air and throw some smaller splits bring the stove back up to 650°. Then load a few splits run the air wide open till I get back around 630. This gets it back to 68 ish. My next load goes half and cut air to half if I am home which is most days. This will keep my house 68-70 and hold it there. If its a colder day I just run it wide open a little longer till it reaches a comfortable temp. Overnight my air is 90% closed house drops from 70 to 64. My bedroom upstairs sits around 65-66. If I ran the stove hotter it would be 70 upstairs too. Often I close the bedroom door to keep it 64 or below so it is comfortable to sleep.
If I just run this stove wide open my house would be 80 and all the windows open. But all depends on your layout and where the stove is. Furthest away on my main level stays cooler, I run a box fan to help move the heat to that room
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
JD pretty much heats his house with the stove. You run the stove based on heat demand. So sometimes you run it low and sometimes you run it hotter depending on the needs of the home. He's in New Hampshire so his weather is much colder then yours. You're outside of Philadelphia like myself so at this time of year it's low.
1870farmhouse
New Member
So how do you find the heat traveling upstairs?
What’s the farthest distance from the stove do you find the heat reaches on the first floor?
Do you fans to move air around?
The photo I’m including is my 1871 house. First floor on top and second floor bottom. Red square is my encore. Green mark is where I plan to cut a new door opening to the kitchen as currently you must walk though the dining room to get to the kitchen and the proposed door would improve air movement. The current door will be changed to a rectangular serving window connecting the kitchen and dining room or I’ll wall it off completely.
A member recommended installing a vent fan drawing air from kitchen to living room(heat source)
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Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
What's up JD haven't seen you around, how was your summer. Iv had some super nice fires going on
Summer was great. Lot of traveling from NH to NY to watch the Mets break my heart again.
Stove running great so far. Couple warm days last week but snow on the ground right now. But it's warm in the house
How about you?
Stove running great so far. Couple warm days last week but snow on the ground right now. But it's warm in the house
How about you?
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Working on projects around the house, and out back in the garage. Welded up the doors on my trailer yesterday. We're making the garden smaller. Tomorrow I have to weld one of the tanks on the splitters because it's leaking hydraulic oil. At some point I'm going to make chicken Florentine soup tomorrow also
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Here's my stove this morning after 10.5 hours of burn time last night. I loaded the stove last night a little before 7pm it wasn't loaded full but enough to get me to morning. The first picture is just opening up the stove and the 2nd is with a little rake and some air in it
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Project don't end. Redoing my downstairs bathroom currently. Christmas lights gotta go up this weekend too. And now apparently I am heading down to Jersey tomorrow for dinner
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
If your in South Jersey.. let's hook up and say hi if you have the time.
Probably won't have the soup until late afternoon. I just got my last crop of tomatoes and my wife is making gravy with it in the morning.
Probably won't have the soup until late afternoon. I just got my last crop of tomatoes and my wife is making gravy with it in the morning.
I’m a little late to the party, but assuming you have a reasonable layout that is plenty of stove to heat 1350 sq-ft. I’m heating a little bit smaller shop with 13-1/2 ft ceilings with this stove. I’ve seen 80s in the middle of the winter, when I leave it cranked up forget to turn it down.
For the rusty lip you can try some stove oil when it gets installed; that’s on my list of things to do, but not a high priority as it’s in my shop.
For the rusty lip you can try some stove oil when it gets installed; that’s on my list of things to do, but not a high priority as it’s in my shop.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
This not to say that the.OP can achieve the same result. Heating a drafty house with poor insulation will not yield the same result. Also add in how the warm air will travel through the house.
