1st night with the Intrepid, learning a lot...

You need a blower for your stove. Fans help, but a factory made blower, made just for this unit should make a big difference.

If my stove did not have a blower it would NEVER heat my house.........warm it up a bit but not as well as it does now......as it is it will almost run us out.


Robbie

Robbie said:

You need a blower for your stove. Fans help, but a factory made blower, made just for this unit should make a big difference.

If my stove did not have a blower it would NEVER heat my house.........warm it up a bit but not as well as it does now......as it is it will almost run us out.
Robbie

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This is our modified 27" blower. 27" Hampton Bay 3 speed on the column monster that blows the competition away! ;-)


Life us good except my Giants are losing,
Jim

Encore cat - the big brother to your stove, with the bypas open, I have trouble even getting the griddle temp up to 400. The one time I did, I had the air wide open, and the flue pipe was getting a nice glow - but the griddle was only about 450.

Once you close the cat, the stove starts to heat as you've found out. I usually run 4-600 degrees on my griddle top thermometer, and when I first kick in the cat on a fresh load I've seen it get up to 700 and more for short periods. As long as you don't leave it at that temp, not a big issue. (If I see it going over 600 or so, I shut the air down all the way)

The ceiling fan makes a big difference - we have one in the 24' cathedral ceiling living room with the stove, and it keeps the entire first floor uniform to within a couple of degrees.

Gooserider

A galvanized 5 gallon bucket at the hardware store goes for about $25.00
I built a wood box after using fish totes, wheels on that new wood box makes me wonder why I didnt build one before.
Wheel it over to the window/door and load it from the outside. Less mess =

Once you get used to running the stove your furnace will get lonely

Sounds like you are well up the learning curve. One thing I might add is to have you wife engage the CAT when the temp is up enough to do so. The CAT stove will burn better with it engaged and its simple once you've done it a few times. I have to second that ceiling fan thing. I have a room with two of them and they make a difference of 9 degrees when they run. (at night we shut them off an let the heat float to the 2nd story. (where the bedrooms are)
Griddle temps on that stove can run 500-600 without a problem. At temp of 600 will engage the CAT 99% of the time. You will be better served by burning at least 3/4 loads with the CAT engaged, let them burn down to coals and load again. (if heat is needed).

Well, three pages of replies and not too much to add - obviously you have to engage the cat (consider it the clutch) in order to get the vehicle moving forward. In newer stoves, you should not have to worry too much about the temp at which you engage.....the cats light off at very low temps.

Real heat, IMHO, starts at about 500, so I would like to see 700 degrees on that griddle.....

Lastly, and not least, I have mentioned before that the Intrepid is a small stove.....one of the smallest out there, and the smallest in the VC line. Having sold the VC line in my store for over 20 years, this tends to be the model we sell less than any other in that line....because of it being small. Most situations can easily handle the next size up.

I'm not saying that this particular installation is suspect, just posting this for future reference. Anytime there are excess heat loss parameters (northern location, lots of glass, high ceilings, stairways, etc.), it would do little harm to step up a size.

Anyway, I think you will be happy once you hit that 600-700 degree with the cat. Keep in mind the location of the cat! It is in the rear of the tove, so the heat it is producing will likely come off the rear and rear top of the stove....hold your hand in that area when the cat is working and you should feel some good radiation. Perhaps you have a rear heat shield? (a good thing, with this stove, IMHO).

Not sure if anyone asked you about the install, but if it is in a fireplace that can make a difference on the negative side. Please inform if this has not already been hashed over.

To summarize, the Intrepid and other small cat stoves (in general) are friendly and consistent producers of heat, but they do not have the "wow" factor of some non-cats in terms of the instant heating and high outputs.....rather they tend to produce the heat at a lower level on a constant basis.

"need a kettle or lattice pot though, buy 4:00 my lips were stuck to my teeth and i couldnt swallow."

For me it is a nasty cough and the kids sore throats also. We use a soapstone kettle but on your cast iron stove a generic black cast iron kettle should help a little.

"woke today @ 61 inside, (furnace still had not been on since 6am yesterday) turned thermostat up to 66, lit the stove. "
an hour later stove is pumping, house is 67....
I think heating the house w/the furnace and letting the stove take over is a good idea, at least until I get the ceiling fan in.

With my stove and fuel the temps swing from 77 at night to 62 in the morning where the electric heat keeps it. For many folks the stove can't replace the thermostat and the furnace still is used despite best efforts of 24/7 burning.

"need
- a tuperware tub to hold wood inside. (its raining today and crawling under the tarp stinks… wife is using a garbage bag of logs)
- a poker-- thats really it no shovel/broom or stand.
- and an ash bucket… but i need to find a cheapo. $30-50 is a lot to thow ash in. "

I bought the 21 gallon rubbermaid tubs at walmart and use two of them to transport and store wood for each day. Less mess and the 21 gallon size full of wood is still manageable. I tried a harbor freight cart which is easier to manage but much too messy for the ladies.

I own a poker and dont use it. Select a nice stout piece of kindling and use that as your poker. It should last as long as you can remember to not use it as kindling.

My ash bucket is full right now and is simply a home depot galvanized pail. I wouldn't store it inside anyway so function beats form and as I recall it was only like 12$. You'll want some sort of shovel to scoop the ashes into the bucket real slowly as not to stir dust.

Glad you got your stove to heat. I too was at first baffled at how your stove could be 500 and heating or 500 and not heating depending on cat engagement. The winning piece of information was that the 500 before cat engagement is only at the stove top where the 500 after cat engagement is all around. Some time spent with an infared temp gun could verify this.

Webmaster said:

Lastly, and not least, I have mentioned before that the Intrepid is a small stove.....one of the smallest out there, and the smallest in the VC line. Having sold the VC line in my store for over 20 years, this tends to be the model we sell less than any other in that line....because of it being small. Most situations can easily handle the next size up.

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I thought it was their largest selling stove but could be wrong. Technically speaking, even the Intrepid II puts out enough heat to fire a much larger house but it gets tough with the high ceilings and no fans.

Can only speak for NJ, but in our mild (southern NJ) climate, it was our slowest seller. Obviously, we directed people toward their needs - some wanted longer logs, longer burn times, etc - but at the same time, we always liked that stove against most of the competition because of the top loading. And while we (at Hearth.com) repeat the general mantra that one should not oversize a stove, at the same time two factors come into play. First, as stated above, tall ceilings, exterior walls, northern exposures, masonry mass (fireplace) and other factors should be considered. Also, it is not as harmful these days to step up one level in stove sizing due to the fact that stoves are designed to work decently over a wider range of heat output (than before).

Anyway, looks like this baby is doing the job now! One thing about most stoves is that it takes a couple weeks (and some hearth.com tips) to become familiar with them and get the max out of them!

I suggest you take the time and show your wife the proper way to use the stove. It's a great asset for her to fill the stove while your at work. As long as you have a nice supply of good dry wood, show her how to let it rip. My wife is spoiled by the constant heat output of the stove, she loves to be warm. There is also a nice feeling of not having to use the furnace as much, or better yet not at all. My wife is even involved in splitting and stacking, and she is good at stacking. She realizes that running the stove saves money and you can keep the house as warm as you like it. I showed her how to monitor the two thermometer's, while I am away.

I like to run the stove 24x7, it seems to work better that way for me. I didn't use the furnace at all over the holiday, it was 20* one morning and the house was 76*.

Pictures!!

moondoggy said:

well.... , at one point she filled the yard w/smoke....., .

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Not unusual for any type of stove with the low barometer and misty/rainy conditions we are experiencing in NY/NJ.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful Lady who enjoys the outdoors and take equal parts in servicing our VC Defiant. We often discuss plans of jacking wood or stacking arrangements and have fun (yes I said FUN) moving wood around. Hopefully your other half will come around and it may take some time for her to see that it can be a safe alternative to burning oil/gas/electric.

Good thread! I only have 2 things to add.

If you are experiencing dry air in the house, try sealing it up better by checking all weatherstripping, vapour barrier, etc.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/Weatherstripping.html

The cold air coming in is what normally dries up the interior of a house in the winter.

Also, ash pails may be gotten for FREE @ some body shops, and some mechanical shops since some of the products they use are shipped to them in those pails.
http://www.foxvalleycontainers.com/Steel Pails.htm#Non-UN Steel Pails

Well, we have the Defiant and have had several other stoves. We all get some affect of the dry house in the winter. A while back we began running a humidifier on the 2nd level of out home, we have an open floor plan and the air circulates throughout. This has resolved this issue for us all. And, it gives us lucky ones another chore to go with the woodstove; filling the humidifier. Give that a shot and you will feel better.

MD, Ahhhh..! a cat stove!! I switched from a pre-EPA cast stove that kicked heat in a snap of a finger to a cat - soapstone stove. The switch was almost as extreme a change as you could make. But I have to tell you, I love a cat stove. My house used to range from 60 to 78. With this stove it ranges from 67 to 74. I could get 78 if I wanted it but I don't and it would stay ther for hours. Ugh!! Loaded it at 8AM this morning, the house was 72. Came home at 7PM, the house was 68. Stirred the coals a bit, threw in a bit of kindling and some junk pine, punky red maple and some white pine, and 2 hours later it's a gentle 70. It's 40 out tonight, not too cold, I'll put a moderate sized load of medium BTU wood in, put it down low and tomorrow AM it will be 69 perhaps, decent bed of coals for the AM load. The stove you have is an awesome little stove for 24/7 burning, not really at its best for on again off again use, it'll work that way but not shine. As others have mentioned, you're heating the mass of your home and once you get it there, a cat stove will do a great job of keeping it there. I think that's really key. Yeah, also, the ceiling fan is a MUST, get the heat back down where you are or put your living space up there. Yes, you're wife needs to learn all about it too. My wife is not a technical person, but after some resistance to learning about it up front she's come around, runs the stove well, and says it's the easiest stove she's ever used, and she's used a few. And you need to get past your initial concerns about firing it up a bit. I was reading the Intrepid manual and it says if you get the stove top up to 750, it's time to cut back the air a bit! Your cat fires off at around 450 stove top and you really want your cat to fire off. If you need more heat faster, give it more air, 600 stove top is fine, no problem for the stove, 700 is okay, you can run it at that all day long if you want, by 750, time to cut back a bit. But I think you will find in the long run that you'll fill your stove full, crank it up to 550-650, engage the cat, settle the air back a bit and just let that baby cruise..and cruise and cruise. You want a steady 72 degrees, you'll learn the setting that holds it there, 74?, 68? same thing. Read and re-read your manual. Play with it and try different things. Once you understand how the cat works and learn your stove in your house in the different weather conditions, I think you'll find a cat stove is one of the easiest to live with. After using that stove for a few months, I don't think you'll be selling it. Enjoy!! Lucky guy, a cat stove!!

glad things are going well. they are a great little stove. i find myself wanting to hug mine every now and again but i know i'll burn my face.

by the way, both my stoves were smoking the other day in the rain/fog and i knew they were running fine so that should be temporary.