BrowningBAR said:yooperdave said:i also have a pre epa stove that i am very satisfied with. i have absolutely no experience with "cat" stoves nor have i ever made enough wood in advance to satisfy the norm for a cat stove. what i've learned from the site, make about 3 years of wood to make sure it is dry enough for when you burn in the cat stove. also sounds like cat stoves don't last anywhere near as long as regular steel stoves. i was looking for a colored stove but am glad i didn't go with it as the stove i have performs great and cost only $125 when i bought it used. my big steel stove is black and in the middle of the place (cottage). Yes kathleen, a green one would be a lot better since it is on "display" but i have to side with bart on this one.
at some point, i will probably have a basement installed and maybe then i'll put the steel down below and a used one (colored) up on the main level. until then, i have plenty of time to learn about the cat stoves...which i'm still not convinced about their longevity or cost justification or reliability-with all the air adjustments i read about.
Not sure how you got that from reading this site.
wasn't there a recent post (within the last month) about someone asking questions about how long a cat typically lasted?? i think one of the answers was 5 years or so.
the stove i'm using now is from the 70's---over 30 yrs, right?