Experience with catalytic wood stoves

[ultrarunner]

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I have only good to say with my Cat stove... just wish it was still legal to use it on cold winter nights!

 

[Ken45101]

The web sites for the manufacturers of stoves all describes their performane in glowing terms. The comments here are from real experiences that is a whole lot more useful

The discussion forums at hearth.com have a wealth of real world experience with various wood stoves, pellet stoves, etc. That's what lead me to my Pacific Engineering stove many years ago.

Ken

 

[mikester]

I have a vermont castings (VC) resolute with catalyst and a pacific energy (PE) non-catalytic stove, here's my direct comparison:

VC - classic cast iron design is shallow and wide with top load feature, good for small rooms
pro: pretty, nice top load feature, can be used as a cook top or for making awesome percolator coffee during power outages
con: small, needs constant feeding of DRY wood, needs smaller well split 12" logs, you have to run it hot to activate the catalyst, needs more regular cleaning of ash from the firebox, easier to knock coals and ash out if loading from the front, is NOT an all nighter stove. Tends to burn from middle only, you need to clean the firebox of ash more frequently.

PE - modern fabricated design, narrow and deep firebox, double walled
pro: I can load big 18" logs, more complete burning from front to back, throws more heat to the room, firebox holds a lot more ash which is great for all nighter use
con: its big and throws a lot of heat more suitable for open plan living or large rooms

If you are buying as a supplemental heat source for the house that is easy to start in the mornings because you have nice coals the PE wins hands down. If you want a pretty parlour stove for occasional use and enjoy constantly feeding your plentiful source of small cut dry wood boards get the VC. I use my VC more for ambience and as supplemental heat during extended power failures.

Wet wood and cool smouldering fires will kill your catalyst fast. Also a recipe for creosote buildup in your chimney.

 

[m7040]

I am concluding that a non catalytic stove would be best for us. Will be more forgiving on the firewood quality and with provisions for overfire air it should be operating at low emissions

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I miss the old fashioned cast iron parlor stoves. Fifty years ago I had one that was primary heat for my first house. It was great during power outages because of the huge firebox and the two burners on the top. I could pull the burner and put cast iron pans directly over the flames to fry or make popcorn, heat a laundry tub of hot water, or replace the burner covers and space a pot a bit for stewing. It was leaky and inefficient, but I had a whole forest and didn't care.

I hear good things from owners of the reburn chamber stoves, and may replace my old Fisher air tight at some point. That installation is pushing 50 years old, and could use some updating. I still have a whole forest and don't care about efficiency.

 

[Ken45101]

The other point I will make about modern "EPA" non-cat stove is low emissions. Normally with ours, if it is reloaded properly, I only see smoke coming from the chimney for the first few moments when reloading. Otherwise, you can't tell from the chimney that a wood stove is operating.

IMO, this means two good things: low pollution and little wasted fuel, aka, good efficiency.

Ken

 

[CalG]

I've thought about adding a baffle and secondary air tubes to the Fischer log wood stove that has heated our home for over 30 years without fail.

But the nature and position of the baffle plate and air tubes, would mean I would need to stand much closer to the open door when chucking 32" lengths into the fire box. ;-)

Life gives so many options, it's hard to choose......

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I've thought about adding a baffle and secondary air tubes to the Fischer log wood stove that has heated our home for over 30 years without fail.

But the nature and position of the baffle plate and air tubes, would mean I would need to stand much closer to the open door when chucking 32" lengths into the fire box. ;-)

Life gives so many options, it's hard to choose......

My Fisher has a 3" screw adjusted air inlet on each side, and an air curtain duct in front. Air entering from the side blows directly at the center of the firebox, while the air curtain in front blasts straight up. Wood distillate migrates forward, flashes into a hot flame right in front of the door and convects upward to the plate top. I don't know if it would be possible to improve on that fabulous old stove. The new stoves are a complete redesign with a totally different combustion flow.

The big wood is nice, isn't it?

 

[jyoutz]

I had a Lopi stove for years. It was very efficient with heating and low wood use. It is not catalytic but does have an upper combustion chamber that functions similar to a catalytic stove without the problematic honeycomb. Check them out.

 

[CalG]

My Fisher has a 3" screw adjusted air inlet on each side, and an air curtain duct in front. Air entering from the side blows directly at the center of the firebox, while the air curtain in front blasts straight up. Wood distillate migrates forward, flashes into a hot flame right in front of the door and convects upward to the plate top. I don't know if it would be possible to improve on that fabulous old stove. The new stoves are a complete redesign with a totally different combustion flow.

The big wood is nice, isn't it?

Can you send me a pic of that stove?

Mine has a pair of "air screws" on the door, but the rest of your description goes right past my imagination.

I've got a "Mama Bear" out in the shop, Not piped in/ I've never used it after pulling it out of the house when we bought it. It's a leaky Double door type... I really should hook it up...