Is a catalytic converter stove right for me?

[lumbering on]

Reading most of these threads, you can get the idea that cats are difficult and fiddly but that noncats are hands off. But even with a non cat like ours, you do have to watch it and you should have a stove top thermometer and a flue thermometer and you still have to control the air. If you aren't careful, you can have problems like overfiring, backpuffing, creosote buildup, etc.

I would like to add that the downdraft style non-cats are especially finicky. Not only from my personal experience but also from what I've read.

 

[Oldhippie]

I'm a cat man but honestly, take away steps two and three, and you have a non-cat. The cat stove has TWICE as many steps and requires reading a thermometer.

Highbeam, I guess that's true. But it amazes me that anyone thinks CATs are difficult or any more problematic than any other stove.

 

[Sprinter]

You might think you have to do all those things with a non-cat but you can be a whole lot less diligent and at the end of the burn the glass will be fairly clean and the wood consumed. So long as you use dry wood I don't think it is possible to snuff the fire and the EPA's tricky measures assure that it will burn cleanly. Get er going good and slam the draft closed, walk away.

The way I look at the issue is that both types require some attention and proper procedure, but they're all simple enough to master that neither one should be precluded do to operational differences. Now, when you start allowing someone else to come in and operate the stove who is not well briefed, that can be a real problem!

 

[Dave A.]

Any stove with a bypass control (and there are several non-cats with them) is going to present a problem for someone who comes right in thinking they know how wood stoves work and need no instruction or briefing.

 

[Sprinter]

Any stove with a bypass control (and there are several non-cats with them) is going to present a problem for someone who comes right in thinking they know how wood stoves work and need no instruction or briefing.

Yeah, that's asking for it, and there are some interesting threads on the results of well meaning relatives and overnight guests helping out.

 

[Dave A.]

Had that/him in mind

Edit: For wife's cousin in the "someone used my stove" thread am picturing Blanche Morton's brother Roger (been watching Burns and Allen reruns on Antenna TV from the 1950's. Blanche (Bea Benaderet) has a "no-good" brother who comes to visit -- recurring character (King Donovan from original Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and wears Blanche's husband Harry's (Larry Keating) good suits, takes his money, drives his car and thoroughly infuriates him, while Blanche and Gracie (picture Lucy and Ethyl Mertz as neighbors and cohorts) just adore him).

If Harry Morton had a wood stove with a cat, Roger would have been lighting it with shiny colored newspaper ads with the bypass closed when Harry was away.

 

[Highbeam]

Highbeam, I guess that's true. But it amazes me that anyone thinks CATs are difficult or any more problematic than any other stove.

It shouldn't amaze you, cat stoves are absolutely more complicated to run than non-cats. Neither one is so complicated that it can't be mastered by an adult but you need an adult that wants to master the operation. So often, owners of cat stoves give up and run with the bypass open all the time just to avoid the cat "complications".

Remember now, those of us at this forum are stove enthusiasts. I am looking forward to my next fire this week since it is cooling off and raining again.

 

[Oldhippie]

It shouldn't amaze you, cat stoves are absolutely more complicated to run than non-cats. Neither one is so complicated that it can't be mastered by an adult but you need an adult that wants to master the operation. ...

yeah..even the "Adult" part is tough to come by I guess but seriously.. I'm amazed that people find them problematic or even finicky.

 

[fox9988]

My 2 cents:
Cats need to be engaged at 550F min. Wet wood will kill the cat. Needs dusted a couple of times a year. Replace cat at 2-10 years.
Non cats are more likely to run away/ over fire which can ruin a stove immediately. May need new tubes at 2-10 years. Less efficient. No low and slow.

 

[Ashful]

Needs dusted a couple of times a year.

Seems to be more a problem with the Woodstock design than other cat stoves. There have been a few past posts discussing this issue, if you care to search.

At the end of a full year of burning, my steelcats both look like they did at the beginning of the season. Any dust and fly ash is sitting at the bottom of the cat chamber, 6" below the cat.

 

[Highbeam]

I concur that no dusting is needed with the BK ceramic cat. Ash does not plug anything up either. Lots of light ash in the firebox though from my low btu wood.

 

[ddddddden]

Yeah, lots of epic threads on this, but it does give us something to talk about during the warmer months.

My $0.02 for this particular discussion:
thermal shock / crumbling of the cat is supposedly a non-issue with the stainless steel cats.

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[rideau]

Jon1270 is on fire!

I think your description of how "wet" your climate is threw a couple folks off their game. Wetness is a relative term. There is no climate in which wood can not be seasoned into a prefectly acceptable fuel source for any stove.

What is more important about your climate is the long and moderate burning season. I may not get as cold but my burn season is 9 months long. This is unknown territory for most folks on the forum that live east where they actually have four seasons. That long burn season is why you would benefit from a cat stove with long burn times at lower outputs.

The cat stove is slightly harder to run in that you need to take an extra step during light off but once you're cruising, the cat stove can be left alone, yes alone with no adjustments for 30 hours. You need to do a lot more babysistting with a non-cat since their burn times are short and they have no automatic thermostat.

Fires in September, still burning now. As are lots of other folds east of the Mississippi.

Just saying.

 

[Highbeam]

Fires in September, still burning now. As are lots of other folds east of the Mississippi.

Just saying.

We have been in a warm spell so not burning for about a week but the house was just at 70.0 and we know that with the cooler weather predicted that I don't dare summerize the stove just yet.

 

[begreen]

Seem like this thread has played out. OP dropped out a few weeks ago. Maybe he grabbed that deal on the PE?