I have been looking at a couple of the Quadrafire wood stoves, the 5700 model and the Isle Royale. On the website, these stoves are rated to burn for as long as 20-21 hours. Is this just hype from the company or are they actually legitimate numbers?? Anybody who has one of the Quadrafire stoves please feel free to chime in with your burn times. I would like to find a large non-cat stove that has a long burn time and these stoves are interesting me very much. The catalytic stoves would probably suite our family a little better since my wife and I are away from the house for approximately 10-12 hours each day, but I am worried about the maintenance as well as damaging the combustor inside. That was one of the main reasons why I was looking for a long burning non cat wood stove. I'm heating around 3,000 square feet and I live in Western Maryland where our winters are usually around 20-30 with lows in the teens and down into the single digits at times. My house is also insulated fairly well. As always, any input is much appreciated.
Quadrafire wood stoves or a CAT stove
- Thread starter corey148
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northwinds
Minister of Fire
On the Isle Royale, it's hype from the company. I say that as a very satisfied owner of the Isle Royale. I typically do three loads per day in the middle of the winter when temps are in the single digits or teens.
I guess I should add that I could get the stove to theoretically "burn" for 20 hours, but the coal or two that would be left would not be sufficient to heat my home.
Marketing hype. You 'might' have some hot coals left after that time, but the stove would not be putting out much heat at all. There are only a few stoves that are going to give you a 21 hr burn and that will be at low heat output. If very long burn times are your goal, look at the Blaze King line of stoves.
I have no doubt had burning coals at the 24 hr time frame, but it was at a stove temp of "warm" at best. My experience mimics that of Northwinds. If I really need the heat - I will need to reload every 8 hrs. In a hyper cold snap - even more.
So it appears as if I might want to look towards the catalytic wood stoves. Is there a lot of work involved with these stoves. I have read quite of few horror stories about these stoves, but I believe it might have been the person themself not knowing how to operate the stove. The idea of having long burn times would be great for me
northwinds
Minister of Fire
Sounds like you are a strong candidate for the Blaze King line of stoves. They aren't cheap. They aren't beautiful. But they do have long burn times. Like any modern stove, you will need good seasoned/dry wood for easy operation. I cannot overemphasize that point.
The Sirocco and Ashford stoves go a long way towards looking like just about any other modern stove out there.
Having burned both I can't see a non cat finding it's way into this place again. Although there are plenty that I'd like to try out.
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There are a small handful of stoves out there - and a couple more in the making that are big cuft. I am not trying to make this complicated, but it really comes down to how many BTU per hour your home needs to keep warm, how much fuel can the stove hold, and how well does the stove hand those BTU to the living environment. The IR likes to run, it is not a stove that you will dial in to cruise at 350F. It is a 600F + stove.
Chrism
Feeling the Heat
aansorge
Minister of Fire
How soon are you looking to buy? The new Woodstock stove, which should be released in early 2014, I think, might be perfect for you. Take a look. It sounds like it will burn longer and even lower than the Progress hybrid.
I would wait at least a season before promoting a yet to be released stove. There are bound to be kinks to be worked out with the real world usage.
jharkin
Minister of Fire
the horror stories come from:
* early catalytic add on kits for old smoke dragons that didnt work
* People who tried to operate catalytic stoves like old airtight stoves... toss some wood in and close the door and ignore it
* People who burned garbage, treated wood, wet wood or other bad things in them
In other words... With a few exceptions of bad design, more often operator error that real fundamental problems.
Yes, cat stoves have one more part (the cat) that might need to be replaced every 5-10 years. They also have one more control (bypass damper) than your typical non-cat and require just a bit more care in the operation. And they are somewhat less tolerant of poor fuel. All of that you will quickly learn to deal with and it becomes second nature. Most of us here who own one get the hang of it quite quickly and come to love them.
Call Woodstock, they'll answer the phone and answer your questions as to what your needs are.. As to any of their stoves, new or old they stand behind what they build 100%.. As far as their new stove, or last years Progress Hybrid, any updates or changes are sent to you free of charge concerning updating a burning issue.. And they make sure any updates will fit an earlier model.. So you really are never left out in the cold with an investment in a Woodstock stove... Plus you get their great use it for 6 months policy, don't like it , get all your money back,,, or trade in towards a different stove model.. So the money you spend can be put right back in your pocket if you don't like what you bought.. That my friend is security in knowing your getting a well built stove and dealing with great people.. Just thought you'd like to know a little about Woodstock.. Ask who else will let you use there stove for 6 months and then get "ALL" your money back if you don't like the stove or it's too big or small to heat your home. Good luck in your search!
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Corey, you sound like we did before we bought our Woodstock Fireview. We had heard nightmare stories about cat stoves and had written them off. I'll spare you the long details of how we ended up with a cat stove but we have loved it ever since we put it in. They are super easy to run and as for maintaining the cat, it is so easy a child can do it. With ours, we just let the stove burn down to a few coals and then with gloves on, lift the top lid up. Then it is a simple matter of reaching in, usually with one hand and pulling out the cat. We take it out on the porch and brush it with an old paint brush. We also sort of tap it lightly on a piece of wood and white fly ash will fall out of the cat. Or one can use the canned air for use on keyboards but never use regular compressed air. Then we set the cat back in and light the next fire. We can clean our cat in 2-3 minutes so it is not a long process.
We really hesitated before buying this stove and also relied on that 6 month guarantee. We never considered sending it back as we love it. We also found out we cut our wood needs in half with this stove compared to our old stove.
No doubt. Blaze king is well known for this. I do want to stress my point above though...for a 12 hr burn, does he need 25 thousand BTU per hour or 50? That is a huge difference when you take into consideration the load of fuel that a stove can hold.
Looks to me that you would be better off with a Coal stove and leave the wood stoves to people with more time. My stove burns 50 pounds of coal a day on just one loading, Yep, just one loading per 24 hours. It produces approx 20K BTU's an hour to the house. It can burn much faster but that is the general rate of the burn most of the year. My stove is also on the small side. They make much bigger ones that will produce much more heat for the same long burns.
In western Maryland your just a hop skip and jump from the West Virginia coal fields or if you got a good baseburner you could be burning local Maryland Coal, for less than 70 dollars a ton(a ton of bit coal equals about a cord of good hardwood well seasoned). Your fuel source will be cheap, local, and plentiful. FYI wood is only cheaper than coal if it's comes cut to length, stacked, seasoned, and free. If you have wood like this... Sell it and buy coal!
Forget the QuadraFire 5700... 8 hour burns... Mine sits up in my barn , burned it for 2 years... If I ever get an insulated workshop, it will go in there..
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
To be fair Dennis, that process ONLY applies to a sinlge model of woodstock stove. Only the Woodstock fireview has such superior cat access. All other cat stoves on the market require tools for cat removal or require you to clean the cat in the stove.
I am a newish cat stove burner and I can tell you that the cat maintenance on my BK is a non-issue. You just don't have to do anything. They don't require cleaning or brushing, always look like new. They have a 10 year warranty on the cat and it's not expensive or hard to replace anyway. The princess sized BKs which include the scirroco and ashford 2.8 CF size fireboxes are rated for 30 hour burntimes at the lowest setting which is pretty low. That same firebox full of wood can be burnt in 12 hours at a much higher output. The long burning cat stoves offer the very important option and ability to either burn low and slow or to burn hot and fast depending on your needs. Non-cats are all hot all the time, which in my case was pretty dumb.
Too bad coal is not readily available to more folks. We don't have this option is the NW. I wonder how many people burn coal when it is even available. Doesn't it stink and soot your house and clothes?
No dirty house at all. You do know that wood burners stink a lot and wood brings bugs into the house.
Anthracite burns with no soot or smoke at all... Except the pesky wood fire needed to lite it. I believe a lot of folks burn coal where it's local. But as you say it fall off sharply with distance. Tho, it is available in the NW I'm sure. It would take a bit of effort to get. Coal is shipped world wide and available just about everywhere.
We have a lot of coal locally. There's even a town called Black Diamond not far from here. The old gasworks that powered Seattle from coal gas is still in place, now as a park. But what we have is the same as in most of the country - bituminous (soft) coal. It's dusty, grimy stuff to work with, sooty and stinks of sulfur when it burns. Ironically this state may have a whole lot more coal soon. They want to train it up from Wyoming and Utah to our ports, to ship to China. 
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My Esse cookstove came with very thick coal grates .. Never have tried coal in her.. Also a really nice deep ashpan as well.. Right now I run the deep wood box for firewood..No dirty house at all. You do know that wood burners stink a lot and wood brings bugs into the house.
ddddddden
Minister of Fire
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
We have a lot of coal locally. There's even a town called Black Diamond not far from here. The old gasworks that powered Seattle from coal gas is still in place, now as a park. But what we have is the same as in most of the country - bituminous (soft) coal. It's dusty, grimy stuff to work with, sooty and stinks of sulfur when it burns. Ironically this state may have a whole lot more coal soon. They want to train it up from Wyoming and Utah to our ports, to ship to China.
The coal trains are here and have been here for a long time. They plan on greatly increasing the coal export.
I'll be in Black Diamond tonight finishing up my daughter's hunter's safety class. Lot's of coal mining has been done in my area, we still visit the coke ovens that I guess they used to cook our soft coal into hard coal? I have never seen coal for sale or seen a coal stove in this state. While it may be available by special order, it will likely be in bags and cost way way more than cordwood.
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