can I add wood with an active cat?
- Thread starter jimehrhard
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Dieselhead
Minister of Fire
Absolutely. Open the bypass and turn up the thermostat. Wait about 2 min. Open door and add your load. Close door and let char for a few min or as long as needed. Relatch the bypass. Continue on high burn for a few more min. Slowly start to dial back your thermostat to desired setting.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Yes, I do this at least 2x per day. Open bypass damper several minutes before opening loading door, to give the cat every best chance to cool a bit before slamming cold air upon it.
Jeff in Maine
Feeling the Heat
Ashful
Minister of Fire
BKVP has said he does the same, although I thought the manual used to include a wait period. Maybe they've updated it?
I usually wait 5 minutes after reload, before closing bypass again. I figure it gives the cat a few minutes to warm back up, after filling the stove with cold wood from outside.
I'm also running ceramic cats in both stoves now, which in theory are more fragile, although they hold up pretty well in this house.
Seems like we're seeing a lot of the metal cats failing physically. Haven't seen a broken up ceramic in quite a while. My ceramic cats always look great, no cracks or anything.
My metal cat was taken out for the first time today after 6600 measured hours and a few hundred unmeasured ones from the first season I had the stove.
Looked perfect.
But, I think the important piece here is "wood from outside".
I keep the bypass open for a minute or so - by then the little space I have is full filled with flame, thus exhausted or heated the cold air. BUT my wood is right next to my stove in the basement. The wood is between 80 and 85 degrees when I load it.
Looked perfect.
But, I think the important piece here is "wood from outside".
I keep the bypass open for a minute or so - by then the little space I have is full filled with flame, thus exhausted or heated the cold air. BUT my wood is right next to my stove in the basement. The wood is between 80 and 85 degrees when I load it.
Depends how hot the cat is, you don't want to thermally shock it with cold room air. But if it's on the lower end of the active range it should be ok.
Btw, I tried a metal cat for the first time, and it is the first one that has lasted more than 1.5 seasons without crumbling (VC Encore).
Btw, I tried a metal cat for the first time, and it is the first one that has lasted more than 1.5 seasons without crumbling (VC Encore).
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I ran two OEM steelcats for 3 years, then one steel with one of those special "beta.2" ceramics for something like 5 or 6 years, now onto two ceramics the last year or two. I'm definitely never going back to steel, as long as ceramic is available, I find it performs better and clogs less.
Honestly, if not for the clogging, the steel would be fine as well. But these 30.1 stoves seem to kick up a good bit of fly ash on any tall pipe, and that makes the narrower passages of the steelcats more problematic than ceramic.
I guess every little bit helps, but when thrown against a cat running 500F - 1000F, I'm really not convinced the difference between 30F wood and 80F wood really amounts to much. The flames rolling off my wood by the time I close that bypass damper, probably aren't any colder than someone who keeps their wood indoors.
