Running without cat??

Not the best but you can run it temporary till you get the cat in, keep an eye on your temps. Have you had the whole setup inspected and cleared for use?

I don't know your stove, but in general, if you close the bypass damper, you'll send the exhaust on a more convoluted path to exit the stove. This will slow the exhaust down a bit allowing more heat to stay in the stove. It shouldn't hurt to try it both ways to see which works better.

Well, taking out the cat would alert me to the previous owner not running it correctly, I find that even the most stand up people can be ignorant on how to properly maintain and run a wood stove.

I would check all the gaskets and get the cats ASAP. It will cost around $200.00 for them. You can run the stove with out the cats but do not load it up you will have to baby set the stove more with out the cat so it don't over fire. The stove is design to run at a low burn with the cats.

I've heard everything from "youll burn your house down" to "it'll use half the wood".

I was tempted to try it after my cat took a dump. But, I resisted the urge and got a new one for $120. I will say that Idk if it would damage refractory though, which in my case is needed as it redirects smoke and gases to prevent pressure and back puffing.

If you get new cat, don't forget interam gasket...and you might as well replace refractory as well

None of that refractory crap in these steel stoves. You will need to get the cat holder gasket.

mellow said:

None of that refractory crap in these steel stoves. You will need to get the cat holder gasket.

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Must be nice. Considering the refractoring is more than the cat.

My old country comfort has ran all last winter and this winter so far without a cat. It eats wood like I didn't think was possible and had previous damage when I moved in last winter. I think they ran it to hard and warped some of the housing and the baffle . I was going to repair but decided to get a free standing and put the old insert in one side of my garage. It currently has very short burn times and is a pita to keep up but it is our only heat source along with kerosene

AppalachianStan said:

You can run the stove with out the cats but do not load it up you will have to baby sit the stove more with out the cat so it don't over fire. The stove is design to run at a low burn with the cats.

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+1
The cat doesn't just burn smoke; it also acts as a baffle and reduces the draft, so if you remove the cat, the draft through the stove will increase. Good advice from Stan. . .start with small loads of wood and watch the stove closely until you get a good feel for how it burns. . .good advice when learning any new stove, really.