Elk - I agree with you on the "time tested" aspect when it comes to NEW designs. But EPA phase II certified non-cat stoves have been sold in the United States for 14 years now - that's a pretty good interval for study.
Your statement: "EPA cat stoves burn cleaner, That's why they are held to a higher standard"
is not true and doesn't even make sense. The EPA does not require stricter emissions standards for cat stoves because they burn cleaner, it is because their initial emissions ratings deteriorate over time (i.e. they burn LESS cleanly every year until you replace the cat). The EPA has to hold them to a stricter INITIAL standard because of this.
Here's one analysis on the effects of age on emissions from both cat and non-cat stoves:
http://hometown.aol.com/snewsmail/epasays.htm
"The average emissions rate for the five chimney sweep maintained woodstove systems was 4.8 grams per hour (g/hr). This is very close to the average certification value, 4.2 g/hr, derived in laboratory testing for those stove models.
All of these stoves were non-catalytic models. The certification threshold for EPA Phase 2 certified non-catalytic stoves is 7.5 g/hr.
"The average emissions rate for the 11 stoves with unknown maintenance histories was 13.8 g/hr, while the average certification value for those stoves was 3.9 g/hr. These stoves included five catalytic models. The certification threshold for Phase 2 catalytic stoves is 4.1 g/hr."
!
If they every offer an Intrepid II cat or non-cat...pass them my name. I'd love to try one of them in my basement. <edit> by the way...ever notice that they don't list a non-cat Intrepid II anymore on the website? What's up with that?
