I didn't know this: Cat vs non-Cat

  • 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.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.
Nah, no need to phase them out. Video drones will cruise over neighborhoods looking for smoke. If you can't figure out how to run yours clean, you'll get your wood license revoked.

:-)
 
This an interesting thread since I might buy new instead of repairing my Harmon. Are you saying a cat stove can be run with cat removed?
They can. But they run like an old pre epa smoke dragon. And in some cases it can damage the stove. The good thing is most modern cat stoves are much easier and cheaper to maintain and run than a downdraft Harmon.
 
If the choice was between freezing to death and running without a cat I would run without a cat. Sure it will pollute, sure it will not be as efficient, sure it could damage the stove, but I won’t be dead!

Honestly, a cat stove is a high performance machine that requires extra care to achieve that extra performance. If you aren’t willing to take care of your stove then you’re better off with a noncat since they tolerate abuse better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MtnBURN
You don't HAVE to replace it every couple years, if taken care of and washed properly they can go up to 10 years.

As per BK website:

Q. Do catalysts need replacing?


A. Yes. After a number of years, catalysts can loose their efficiencies. It is not uncommon to get up to 10 years or more service from a catalyst. Burning well-seasoned dry cordwood only can best prolong the catalyst life. If you are planning on burning boards with nail, paint or chemical treatments, or using your stove to burn household trash, you should not use a catalytic wood stove. Of course, all catalysts installed in Blaze King wood models are covered by a 10 year prorated warranty.
 
You don't HAVE to replace it every couple years, if taken care of and washed properly they can go up to 10 years.

As per BK website:

Q. Do catalysts need replacing?


A. Yes. After a number of years, catalysts can loose their efficiencies. It is not uncommon to get up to 10 years or more service from a catalyst. Burning well-seasoned dry cordwood only can best prolong the catalyst life. If you are planning on burning boards with nail, paint or chemical treatments, or using your stove to burn household trash, you should not use a catalytic wood stove. Of course, all catalysts installed in Blaze King wood models are covered by a 10 year prorated warranty.
Yes that is true if you only burn 1000 hours a year.
 
You don't HAVE to replace it every couple years, if taken care of and washed properly they can go up to 10 years.

As per BK website:

Q. Do catalysts need replacing?


A. Yes. After a number of years, catalysts can loose their efficiencies. It is not uncommon to get up to 10 years or more service from a catalyst. Burning well-seasoned dry cordwood only can best prolong the catalyst life. If you are planning on burning boards with nail, paint or chemical treatments, or using your stove to burn household trash, you should not use a catalytic wood stove. Of course, all catalysts installed in Blaze King wood models are covered by a 10 year prorated warranty.

I believe that this is misleading at best and I'm a BK fan. There is some liberal use of the term "up to" going on here. I would go farther and say that the cat can last up to 100 years if you never burn the stove! Anytime you see a cat life expectancy in years then you need to know that there are some very specific assumptions being made about how much you use your stove and also what determines end of life.

The 10 year warranty from BK does not cover simple wearing out of the cat due to use which can easily happen after just a few years.
 
They can. But they run like an old pre epa smoke dragon. And in some cases it can damage the stove. The good thing is most modern cat stoves are much easier and cheaper to maintain and run than a downdraft Harmon.
Enlighten me please, why is my Harmon a downdraft? These Harmons(TL300) are not user repairable friendly which is why I'm considering new nextnseason. I personally don't care about the EPA until they can stop China and volcanos from spewing.
.
 
This an interesting thread since I might buy new instead of repairing my Harmon. Are you saying a cat stove can be run with cat removed?
I have my Harman TL-300 for 10 yrs and has yet to need anything replaced. If and when i ever need to replace the fire dome package it will be similar in cost to replacing a worn out cat. Well worth it for the long burn times i get, which are much longer than my EPA Burn tube stoves.
 
Enlighten me please, why is my Harmon a downdraft? These Harmons(TL300) are not user repairable friendly which is why I'm considering new nextnseason. I personally don't care about the EPA until they can stop China and volcanos from spewing.
.
Because the smoke path travels down through the combustion box which has caused problems for every manufacturer who has tried it.

So your thinking is there is no reason to reduce pollution untill we can reduce all forms of pollution? Can you give us a rational reason why that is the best course of action?
 
Enlighten me please, why is my Harmon a downdraft? These Harmons(TL300) are not user repairable friendly which is why I'm considering new nextnseason. I personally don't care about the EPA until they can stop China and volcanos from spewing.
.
Down draft refers to the air movement within the stove. With the bypass closed,the flue gas exits the stove at the bottom of the firebox instead of the top
 
I have my Harman TL-300 for 10 yrs and has yet to need anything replaced. If and when i ever need to replace the fire dome package it will be similar in cost to replacing a worn out cat. Well worth it for the long burn times i get, which are much longer than my EPA Burn tube stoves.
No they cost allot more than a cat and most people struggle to get 5 years out of one.
 
No they cost allot more than a cat and most people struggle to get 5 years out of one.
They were around $300 unless they went up.
 
They were around $300 unless they went up.
The last one we did was almost 400 plus 50 or 60 for the gasket kit. That was on a 4 year old stove and it needed a shoe brick and 2 side bricks that the customer was going to do. That is pretty typical of what we see as far as maintenance time frames on them. 600 or 700 every 4 to 5 years.
 
The last one we did was almost 400 plus 50 or 60 for the gasket kit. That was on a 4 year old stove and it needed a shoe brick and 2 side bricks that the customer was going to do. That is pretty typical of what we see as far as maintenance time frames on them. 600 or 700 every 4 to 5 years.

Probably a good bit of labor cost too.

Cat for the comparable princess is still under 200$ delivered and pops in like a vhs tape. Even cheaper for the Woodstock stoves.
 
Probably a good bit of labor cost too.

Cat for the comparable princess is still under 200$ delivered and pops in like a vhs tape. Even cheaper for the Woodstock stoves.
Usually only an hour unless bolts break but that is uncommon.
 
Weren’t the old Defiants all downdraft and quite reliable? Only when VC introduced the frigile refractory boxes the issues started......me thinks
 
Weren’t the old Defiants all downdraft and quite reliable? Only when VC introduced the frigile refractory boxes the issues started......me thinks
They down drafted a little bit but nothing like the modern ones that cause so much trouble.
 
Weren’t the old Defiants all downdraft and quite reliable? Only when VC introduced the frigile refractory boxes the issues started......me thinks
The two piece Fireback design maybe could be called reliable. The original single piece design was a major design flaw and effectively renders all of them unreliable. Sure, there are probably a few folks on the original single piece Fireback with no issues, but that was not the majority. It costs about $800 in parts to retrofit the original to use a two piece Fireback, but you basically have to completely rebuild the stove. Otherwise the orignal defiant is still a finicky stove, but it can put out some serious heat.
 
Kind of like people buying hybrids they don't seem to grasp that where the electricity comes usually is burning coal
Some of the electricity does yes. But the percentage is going down more and more every month.

So can you tell us why you think doing nothing until we can fix all of the issues makes more sense than working at a problem one part at a time?
 
Some of the electricity does yes. But the percentage is going down more and more every month.

So can you tell us why you think doing nothing until we can fix all of the issues makes more sense than working at a problem one part at a time?
Because that's not going to stop India and China who are the major polluters of this atmosphere to change their ways. So why should the American people pay the price for something they can't fix.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wildbilljp
Because that's not going to stop India and China who are the major polluters of this atmosphere to change their ways. So why should the American people pay the price for something they can't fix.

You can't stop yourself from aging. Might as well kill yourself now.
 
[Hearth.com] I didn't know this: Cat vs non-Cat
Weren’t the old Defiants all downdraft and quite reliable? Only when VC introduced the frigile refractory boxes the issues started......me thinks
Because that's not going to stop India and China who are the major polluters of this atmosphere to change their ways. So why should the American people pay the price for something they can't fix.

I would like to know what you are drinking?
 
Because that's not going to stop India and China who are the major polluters of this atmosphere to change their ways. So why should the American people pay the price for something they can't fix.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. I was taught this back in preschool. Come on man...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.