Wood stove advice needed

[RidgeHunter]

You stole my coyote!

Works like a cat on your car exhaust. It's a honeycomb coated in precious metals. It burns the particles in the wood smoke and turns it to water vapor and carbon dioxide. Hence the white steam instead of smoke.

The process of burning the particles causes a chemical reaction that makes more heat. So you essentially have 2 "burns" going at once.

The efficiency ratings can be deceiving, because they are based on low, medium and high burns. At a high burn they are not much more efficient than a non-cat stove as the cat has nothing to burn. Low burn rates are where they shine with their efficiency. They are designed to run continuously at a lower burn rate, not be a roaring fire. When I engage mine and shut the air off, it barely makes a flicker of flame.

Even after the firebox temp drops, the cat is still making heat because it will burn the gases as long as they pass through it. Fire can be smoldering and the cat will still be 450+ degrees. You can look up at it through the window and it will be glowing.

Only half chick, I have a old drafty house full of kids. I like it in mid 90's and I dont have any other heat source.

Mid 90's? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you a nudist?

 

[Chard]

I heat with a Ashley on the coldest days. Works well but not like a cat stove.

From my understanding, there is a learning curve to cat stove to get the best out of them. You need seasoned wood. Cats don't like hi moisture wood.

Next stove will be a cat style for me.

 

[Daryl Licht]

Been heating and old drafty house with a Vermont Castings Dutchwest since 1994. It's a catalytic stove, and we usually burn around 5 ricks a year. It's our only heat source. Very little chimney maintenence is needed.

 

[71buickfreak]

I use a double-barrel stove in my shop. 3,000 sq foot with a 24-foot ceiling. It gets pretty warm when I have it chuggin' like a freight train. I wouldn't use one in a house though.....

 

[11b1776]

What do the cat stoves run, cost wise? I got a big ugly old burner, that is not very efficient. I didn't know they made these type of stove's.

 

[jspurgeon]

I've been using a non cat, quadra fire, isle royal stove. Its one of the best things I've done. I don't know about the cat stoves, but I've been pleased with this one. I burned about 4 to 5 ricks of wood through it last winter.

 

[dennishoddy]

Read all of this. We have a conventional masonry fireplace with a country flame insert and two squirrel cage blowers. I can cook meat in the living room, but freeze in the back of the house.
I know why this is. For every cubic foot of air that goes up a fireplace chimmney, that cubic foot of air has to be made up somewhere. Older homes with leaky windows, doors, etc leak enough air to make this happen. Our home is very tight and energy efficient, but the make-up air has to come from somewhere to create a draft up the chimmney.
We have had problems with back drafting, and had to open windows, defeating the purpose of having a fireplace to start with.
We are looking for an insert that uses a plenum or something to take in outside air for combustion, then exiting up the chimmney.

 

[Paulinok]

We found a tl300 on craigslist and ran out and bought it last night....but I don't have an existing place to put it, so now I have to decide where I want it and how to install it.

 

[Danny Tanner]

85 degrees? 90s? Holy f'ing cheese balls, people, you need to invest in some wool socks or something. That's crazy! During active times in our home, our thermostat runs at 75. Even at that temp, our electronics tend to get fairly warm, cooling fans kick on, etc. I couldn't imagine adding 10+ degrees to that. I sweat enough standing still in our house already.

 

[Kid Glock]

What about pellet stoves... do they have the cat feature?