I have an old Derco Grizzly catalytic insert, the top of the firebox warped bad last winter breaking welds and destroying the cat.
I have a 12' chimney from the top of the insert to the top of the masonry. We get a lot of wind all winter long so I got a directional cap which eliminated my downdraft problems. The only wood we have around here is lodge pole or fir. I really like the price and look of the Napoleon 1402. During the day we got a ton of southern sun so I don't need much heat if any at all. With the Grizzly I would put in a couple small pieces in the morning and let it burn out until dark when it gets cold again. Before bed I would load it up and top it off in the morning again. We get a couple weeks in January where it never gets above 0f and I would keep it burning good and hot all day long.
On such a short chimney will using a flex liner cause any draft problems? I have read that they tend to cause a lot of turbulence.
Does the Napoleon sound like a good fit for my setup? My mother in law has a non cat Country insert from the early 1990s and it gets very hot and burns out quick. You can choke it down all the way but it just keeps going super hot, is this how all non cat stoves work or is it just the design of her old insert?
Lastly how does the Napoleon do as far as creosote? The last thing I want to deal with is cleaning the chimney every other week. Is the top of the firebox flat or does it taper down towards the back?
Mike
I have a 12' chimney from the top of the insert to the top of the masonry. We get a lot of wind all winter long so I got a directional cap which eliminated my downdraft problems. The only wood we have around here is lodge pole or fir. I really like the price and look of the Napoleon 1402. During the day we got a ton of southern sun so I don't need much heat if any at all. With the Grizzly I would put in a couple small pieces in the morning and let it burn out until dark when it gets cold again. Before bed I would load it up and top it off in the morning again. We get a couple weeks in January where it never gets above 0f and I would keep it burning good and hot all day long.
On such a short chimney will using a flex liner cause any draft problems? I have read that they tend to cause a lot of turbulence.
Does the Napoleon sound like a good fit for my setup? My mother in law has a non cat Country insert from the early 1990s and it gets very hot and burns out quick. You can choke it down all the way but it just keeps going super hot, is this how all non cat stoves work or is it just the design of her old insert?
Lastly how does the Napoleon do as far as creosote? The last thing I want to deal with is cleaning the chimney every other week. Is the top of the firebox flat or does it taper down towards the back?
Mike