Yes I'm leaning towards a hybrid if I go with a cat, which sounds like my best bet For a wide range of heating ability. I plan on plenty of window's for as much solar gain as possible too.
cat and non-cat questions
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I see your point for sure, but this chimney will be 20'+, in a cold climate. Unless he's in the warm part of Wisconsin.
I probably wouldn't try a smaller BK on it, but most non cat stoves will put enough heat up the pipe. I know there are lots of stoves burned successfully this way, and I'm know there are some with problems.
But I will argue no more
Yes, its livable space. And there is a sliding patio door right near the stove. So supper easy access!
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Low and slow is ideal. The stove is at peak efficiency, burn times very convenient, and cat temps far away from too high. That active cat is way over 500 degrees so keeps itself clean.
brad wilton
Feeling the Heat
ya might have double problems i would think more with the cat they seem to make them to wussy for some reason?
Dairyman
Minister of Fire
northwinds
Minister of Fire
He is not in the warm part of Wisconsin. 
There aren't going to be many days where low and slow is necessary.
I heat a walkout basement house with 2300 square feet. If I were you, I would plan on two stoves. I would put the bigger one in the basement
because on less cold days, you will be able to heat the house with one stove. I don't use my upstairs insert unless it's -5 F or lower.
There aren't going to be many days where low and slow is necessary.I heat a walkout basement house with 2300 square feet. If I were you, I would plan on two stoves. I would put the bigger one in the basement
because on less cold days, you will be able to heat the house with one stove. I don't use my upstairs insert unless it's -5 F or lower.
We have extended shoulder seasons here. Often we will go several months in the 30's and 40s. We switch burning style and wood for shoulder season burning and find it pretty easy to maintain even house temps. The T6 has never felt too large, nor has it overheated the house in this weather. A stove with a lot of mass usually does not bring about dramatic temperature swings in the house like a highly radiant stove, though it's possible to miscalculate and overshoot. Soapstone and cast iron clad steel stoves soften the heat and release it as the fire dies down. This helps maintain an even house temperature when the stove is well matched to the area or house it is heating.
I like the simplicity of our stove. It's durable and not fussy. Feeding it 3 times a day is fine with us and the fire view is priceless. It will go longer between burns if feed hardwood, but I save that for cold weather and push the stove a bit harder then, so the burn cycle remains at 8 hrs, but with more heat.
I like the simplicity of our stove. It's durable and not fussy. Feeding it 3 times a day is fine with us and the fire view is priceless. It will go longer between burns if feed hardwood, but I save that for cold weather and push the stove a bit harder then, so the burn cycle remains at 8 hrs, but with more heat.
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velvetfoot
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
JA600L
Minister of Fire
The best thing about a hybrid stove is that whether you want a high, medium, or low burn, it provides you with the best efficiency. Doing a high burn with a cat stove is not nearly as effective as a high burn in a tube stove. Both work well, but the tube stove is built for that. A hybrid just switches from cat to secondaries. During a medium burn, the stove automatically decides which technology is most effective. A low burn settles into a long lasting cat burn.
If Woodstock teamed up with Vermont Castings to design and cast an attractive jacket on the IS they could have a winner in the hybrid market.
bobdog2o02
Minister of Fire
I always have enough coals in the AM that i just rake them around and load up, wait 4-5 minutes to engage cat another 10 min to damper down. I usually hit the bathroom then the stove and 15 min after i wake up i'm forgetting about the stove.
JA600L
Minister of Fire
The cat part of the stove is perfect for me. I am away from the stove 11+ hours a day. So I don't care about the house being toasty during that time, I just want to come home to a warm house. I don't usually get to see the magic of the cat. I just get home to a 70 degree house, load on coals, and 10-20 minutes later it's cruising again. It's so much better then my Quadra-fire where I had to come home and practically build a fire again.
bobdog2o02
Minister of Fire
Not sure I can totally agree with this statement. The best any run of the mill wood stove can do is run at approximately 700*f while burning particulates, i.e smoke. How does a tube stove do that any better than a cat stove?
My stove that cruises along at 450-550 hour after hour with no smoke would tend to disagree with you. If what you say is true, no non-cat would ever pass two of the stages of the EPA emissions testing.
northwinds
Minister of Fire
If I run my Quad at 700, it's not going to keep that up for very long and then will continue dropping off over the next 10-12 hours until a reload is necessary. What happens when you run the Princess at 700?
JA600L
Minister of Fire
My point was that there is a slight advantage using a tube stove on a high burn. The advantage may not be noticed. If all I did was high burn rates it would be sort of pointless to buy a cat stove wouldn't it? This is where I believe a hybrid gives you the best technology for however you choose to run it.
I know a non-cat will cruise for a while at 450 to 500. That's not what my post was about. My post was in dispute of JA600L's post that stated a high burn with a cat stove was not nearly as effective as a high burn with a tube stove. Why not?
The only downside I can see to buying a cat stove to burn WFO 24/7 would be a tube stove could do it for a third of the cost but whoever needs that needs a bigger stove. The only guy I can think of who comes closest to burning this way is a member of this sight and loves his cat stove!
Honestly, past the one hour mark I have know idea about how long it will run at 700*f. The most I have needed was 600*f.
The BK will run at 600*f just over the cat for hours and hours with no visible flame but this is not the same heat as 600*f with a firebox full of flames. With that in mind I don't think it would run noticably longer than any other EPA approved stove under those conditions but the long, even heat prevents the need to run the stove this hot for me most of the time.
northwinds
Minister of Fire
I'm honestly not familiar with how a cat burns on high burn. Do you open the air? Is that what you mean by WFO? (I know the acronym). I burn my tube stove the same way whether I'm going for a four hour burn or 12 hour burn. The only variable is the load size. The air setting (low) is the same once I'm at secondary burn operating temps.
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