Hearthstone Manchester stove

[jimswms]

First post looking to learn more about my new stove!

We had this installed about 10 days ago. It pumps out plenty of heat pretty much heating the first floor of our 3500sq ft home. I've only cleaned ash once and had to restart a fire once. Every morning, I come downstairs, give the ash a good stir, toss a log on top of the bed of burning embers and start it over again. I'm happy with the stove.

The part I'm not happy with is the catalyst. I need to learn whether I'm using the stove right, or what my expectation should be. It's easy enough to get the catalyst thermometer into the "active" zone, but keeping it there is another story. I work from home, so its easy enough to toss a log on occasionally balancing the heat output and keeping it in active, but it's gotta stay hot and keep fed with wood. It's not happening overnight or, if the house is getting too warm. The stove works so well, we often have the air dialed way back. The catalyst drops down pretty quick. Manual says heat and smoke should keep catalyst thermometer "active" no problem.

I've followed manufacturers instruction closely. Right now, I'm feeling like this is a gimmick at best, but it is one of the reasons we chose this stove, beyond the stellar aesthetic.

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the report. This is a hybrid stove. I'm glad to hear it is working well for you. The catalyst is to keep the stove burning cleanly, which it does exceptionally well. It has lower particle emissions than some pellet stoves.

 

[Woody Stover]

This is the model 8362, I assume?
Tell us about your wood supply. What species are you burning, and how long has it been split and stacked in the wind, top-covered? Many woods take two years in the stack to dry, Oak can take even longer.
With a moisture meter (available at a home center or Harbor Fright) test a large split that has been inside a couple days, then re-split and test in the center of the freshly-exposed face, pressing the pins in firmly.
If you are trying to burn wood that has over 20% moisture content, it's harder to get the cat burning, and it will drop out sooner.

 

[Woody Stover]

My stove is different; Straight cat, no secondary burn, small firebox. Anyway, the cat glows for a few hours, then stove top temps above the cat begin to fall as the load gasses out. At about 300 I open the air a bit and run on the coals for several more hours and the stove top holds at 300 until it's time for the next load. That's enough heat for my small house. These times are stretched if I'm loading high-output wood such as Hickory or Black Locust.
My point is, the cat burn is only at the first part of the load and the coals burn is the second part. If you need higher heat output, you can burn a couple smaller splits of lower-output, low-coaling wood such as Pine or soft Maple on top of the coal bed to burn down the coals and keep the cat firing until you have enough room to reload.

 

[weatherguy]

Put a full load in the stove, these stoves operate best when you load them full instead of tossing a split or two here and there.