rmcfall said:
Right. But isn't it true that a noncat soapstone stove produces a more gentle even heat for longer periods of time than a cast-iron noncat stove?
So does a catalytic cast-iron stove give off the same kind of blasting heat that a noncat cast-iron stove gives off? I would think there would be a difference because of the different burn characteristics...in that the cat stove would be able to burn at a steady rate for a longer period of time?
Taken a step further, how would all this compare to soapstone stoves--both cat and noncat?
The cat vs. non-cat thing is incredibly complex. For instance. My VCWWL cat cast iron (convection) insert has max 50,000BTU/hr. It can warm the 1000 sq ft hearth room in a few hours and keep it warm. Even with an ENORMOUS amount of window area and a slab basement floor (carpeted). And, if you sit in front of the huge glass, you get REALLY warm. Or, you can damp it down, sit right in front of it and keep toasty warm with just a couple splits in there, letting that big room stay pretty cool (65 - 66), and if you do it right, the glass won't even get very dirty. The big trouble with the VCWWL is combustion control with full loads due to the NON-air-tight cast iron design and assembly issues. This is not a good long burn heater for that reason, even though I can squeeze an 8 hour burn and still rekindle without a lot of fuss. And that's not even filling the box, which I'm still afraid to do.
Now, take the Blaze King cat stove that Chesley recently installed. It has twice the wood capacity, about half the glass size (I'm guessing a bit here from looking at photos), is made of steel instead of cast iron, and claims burn times of 40 hours. And yet, the maximum BTU per hour is 40,000. Why? Probably because it has firebrick in there insulating a lot of that high heat transfer steel from the serious flame. But that keeps things efficient AND reduces the steel heat transfer rate. Add a couple fans to the back to convect the cat compartment heat and allow lower burn rate with lots of heat extracted and you start to see why those incredible burn times are at least possible while milking every available BTU out of the load, but without driving you out of the room even though it's a steel stove. Chesley has easily gotten 24 hour burns with only half a load after only firing this thing for a couple weeks. Wow! That's impressive. His only real complaint has been dirty glass, and from my experience, he'll probably learn how to fire this thing to prevent that in a year or two. It heats quick (being steel) but can still be burned slow. It has both convection and radiant capabilities (again, being steel it probably radiates like a banshee if you really crank it). In my mind, this may be the best of both worlds. Great (quick and efficient) heat transfer AND a LONG, SLOW burn rate. Or crank 'er up and get run out of the room. I hope Chesley will post more as he gets more familiar with his stove.
So anyway, there are all sorts of ways to look at things. I was once 'sold' on soapstone, but I am strangely leaning back towards steel (currently, I'm in the middle with cast iron). Having a cast iron stove that does NOT seal well and allow precision control over firing levels is a pain. Steel stoves are welded air tight and can be computer robotic manufactured. They may not be as pretty, but that's the trade-off. Some now-a-days have much nicer ornamentation. Maybe you don't even care about this or clean glass if you're a serious wood heat seeker. Add an ash pan to a steel stove and you increase the possibility of air infiltration, but if you can get that one additional gasket right, in my mind this is near the perfect stove WITH A CAT!
Of course, I've never had a non-cat EPA stove, so my experience is limited to my brother-in-law's Jotul Kennebec, but that little guy just seems to burn fast and consume a lot of wood for my taste when compared even to my drafty VCWWL with more gaskets and leak potential than an old convertible car top.
Design really comes into play with both CAT and non-CAT stoves. Soapstone adds more design complexity. In my mind, you almost have to be familiar with a specific stove, the wood you burn, the house it's in, your presonal firing objectives, your own biases, your mechanical abilities, etc., etc. Buying a cat stove seems similar to buying a car with a standard transmission. These days, a lot of people I meet have never even driven a std shift. It boggles my mind. I watched the smog inspection punk kid put my VW in reverse and drive off the dynomometer! Then he threw it in third for a second try before I made it out there and ask for someone who was born in a previous generation to get my certificate for a price less than a transmission repair.
So many things to consider... No easy answers.