add on cat?

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sleepie

New Member
Dec 2, 2007
65
elmira, new york
i have a smke dragon and would like to purchase a catalytic add on---is anyone familiar with these,,do they work?,where do they mount,,in the stove or pipe?,,and will i actually get a better burn in the stove,,and therefore incresed heat output?--where did you buy it? cost?,, longevity of the product?,,ease of cleaning and time frame between cleans?----sorry for all the questions,,but i know you guys will help me out here...thanks --pat
 
I've never done it, but I have been reading up on cats and stoves in general. I'm planning to build a cat stove pretty soon.

It depends where you put the cat. If it's inline with the chimney pipe then your chimney will not clog up as quickly but you probably won't see more heat. If it's inside the stove somewhere then you could see more heat.

You might try the inline cat and then one of those heat reclaimers above it. Everybody talks bad about them because they cool the chimney down and cause creosote problems, but with a cat right before it your creosote problems would be solved. If it works then you get more heat in the house and a cleaner chimney.

http://heating-and-cooling.hardware...-stove-pipe-parts/heat-reclaimer--613509.aspx
 
For all the hassle, performance and possible safety problems of adding a cat to an old stove, you can get higher performance, cleaner burning and use less wood with a modern stove. The prices on EPA certified stoves start in the $500 range and go up from there. I'd be surprised if you could add a catalytic for much cheaper than that and it likely won't work as well as a modern non-cat stove.
 
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