Perhaps this has been discussed before, but I could not find anything via search.
The question is basically the same as the title: Why, exactly, do catalytic stoves have a lower exhaust temperature than non catalytic stoves? The air coming out of the cat is as hot (or even much hotter) than that produced in the firebox of a non-cat. Is it simply that there is less air movement through the cat so that by the time it gets to the flue it has given up much of it's heat to the stove body? I've not drilled a hole in the flue to allow a thermocouple to be inserted for testing at various air settings. My guess is that at higher airflows, the flue gas temps would rise proportionately.
In the video below, the presenter actually sticks his hand into the demonstration section of a flue pipe to show how little heat is coming out of the BK stove. When I did my paint curing burns outside, I used a 5' piece of HVAC duct as a flue and was able to verify that this is not a special effect and the low exhaust temps are not limited to the BK stoves.
You'll find the "hand in the flue" part around the 2:00 mark.
The question is basically the same as the title: Why, exactly, do catalytic stoves have a lower exhaust temperature than non catalytic stoves? The air coming out of the cat is as hot (or even much hotter) than that produced in the firebox of a non-cat. Is it simply that there is less air movement through the cat so that by the time it gets to the flue it has given up much of it's heat to the stove body? I've not drilled a hole in the flue to allow a thermocouple to be inserted for testing at various air settings. My guess is that at higher airflows, the flue gas temps would rise proportionately.
In the video below, the presenter actually sticks his hand into the demonstration section of a flue pipe to show how little heat is coming out of the BK stove. When I did my paint curing burns outside, I used a 5' piece of HVAC duct as a flue and was able to verify that this is not a special effect and the low exhaust temps are not limited to the BK stoves.
You'll find the "hand in the flue" part around the 2:00 mark.