Cat stoves require a bit more attention to detail, but nothing that is rocket science. But in my case I decided against it because I knew others would be operating the stove at times and having to explain it all to them seemed like an unwanted hassle. If you are the sole operator of the stove and are confident that you can use it with care the cat does offer some real benefits. Maintenance costs may be a bit higher over time, but I hear varied reports on that as well.
Log Length... pertaining to stove specs
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Cat stoves need a bit more than replacing the cat every so often. There are more working parts. The cat needs to be kept clean. The bypass needs to be adjusted and may have a gasket that needs to be kept up. The seal of the door gasket can be mission critical to avoiding cat failures. One needs to watch that and adjust as appropriate. Heightened awareness needs to be paid to the fuel being burned and timing of the bypass closure. They're good stoves and excellent performers when maintained correctly. If one has good mechanical aptitude or a good dealer and burning experience they can work very well. But for a new wood burner or when there are multiple operators, or someone looking for ease of operation, a basic simple design could be more appropriate.
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firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Coming soon to a dealer near you . . . the TARDIS stove: It's bigger on the inside than the outside. Now you can stuff your 24 inch wood into a stove that appears to only be able to take 16 inch firewood.
On a serious note . . . like Kenny P. . . . I tend to cut my wood 2 inches shorter than the firebox size . . . which is 18 inches . . . and coincidentally enough the size of my chainsaw bar. So often wood isn't perfectly straight or ash builds up and it's no fun having to pull out wood when it doesn't fit in the firebox and it's starting to smoke.
On a serious note . . . like Kenny P. . . . I tend to cut my wood 2 inches shorter than the firebox size . . . which is 18 inches . . . and coincidentally enough the size of my chainsaw bar. So often wood isn't perfectly straight or ash builds up and it's no fun having to pull out wood when it doesn't fit in the firebox and it's starting to smoke.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Yup... I had a friend cut up some pine for me last year, a couple weeks ago I was burning some and went to reload on a hot bed of coals, wouldn't you know the split I put in would not fit due to other pieces being in there, well while all of this was going down the split started to catch (pine @ 12%) I left the piece in the stove and got my welder gloves, by then 3/4 of it was burning, had to snuff it out with my hands (not a big deal) then walk the piece outside, the house smelled like camp fire for a few hours after than.
Here's our current set up.
Long side is 47" long and short side (sliding door side) is 40". Rear corners of stove are 9 to 9.5" from stone facing and front of stove is 16" from front edge of floor tile. Floor tile is laid on tile backer board and walls have a 1" air gap behind.
House is 2 story, 1550 sq ft with two car attached garage (great for shedding heat when stove is producing more heat than we want). House is 25 years old with decent insulation (foam between sticks and siding) but the windows suck. I was looking at replacing them when all we had was oil fired hot water baseboard but with a wood stove, I prefer a somewhat drafty house.
I'd prefer a stove that I can burn 24/7 and never hear my boiler run unless it's making hot water for showers.
Long side is 47" long and short side (sliding door side) is 40". Rear corners of stove are 9 to 9.5" from stone facing and front of stove is 16" from front edge of floor tile. Floor tile is laid on tile backer board and walls have a 1" air gap behind.
House is 2 story, 1550 sq ft with two car attached garage (great for shedding heat when stove is producing more heat than we want). House is 25 years old with decent insulation (foam between sticks and siding) but the windows suck. I was looking at replacing them when all we had was oil fired hot water baseboard but with a wood stove, I prefer a somewhat drafty house.
I'd prefer a stove that I can burn 24/7 and never hear my boiler run unless it's making hot water for showers.
I appreciate the info on cat stoves. The more I read, the more I think I want to keep things more simple and stay non-cat. My wife also helps load the stove since she's usually the first one up in the morning so I don't want to make any more work for her, especially before she's had her coffee.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
As BeGreen mentioned, there is more maintenance with a CAT stove than a NON-CAT one (I was wrong, I felt they would be about the same...Thanks BeGreen). So non-cat it is.
My next question: what is the height of your chimney? Is it a Class A chimney? What is your budget range?
If you would like to burn 24/7, my suggestion would be a 2.5-3 cubic foot stove. 2 cubic feet is not very large and requires more reloading than a 3 cubic foot one (obviously). A friend of mine has a 2 cuft and finds it frustrating reloading every 6 hours. So to keep a fire for 8-10 hours during the night, you may want something a bit bigger. That being said, it also depends on the type (density) of wood you have. Spruce vs Oak, etc.
Models you may want to look at: PE Summit, PE Alderlea T5 or T6, Osburn 2300 or 2400, Drolet Myriad, Jotul F500 Oslo and the list can go on and on.
Andrew
My next question: what is the height of your chimney? Is it a Class A chimney? What is your budget range?
If you would like to burn 24/7, my suggestion would be a 2.5-3 cubic foot stove. 2 cubic feet is not very large and requires more reloading than a 3 cubic foot one (obviously). A friend of mine has a 2 cuft and finds it frustrating reloading every 6 hours. So to keep a fire for 8-10 hours during the night, you may want something a bit bigger. That being said, it also depends on the type (density) of wood you have. Spruce vs Oak, etc.
Models you may want to look at: PE Summit, PE Alderlea T5 or T6, Osburn 2300 or 2400, Drolet Myriad, Jotul F500 Oslo and the list can go on and on.
Andrew
Chimney is approx. 16' high from where the connector goes outside. It's stainless double wall insulated 6".
Not sure yet on budget. I can go with Englander 30 maybe (if it'll fit) and be very happy for $1k. Or I could spend $3k and also be happy and have a nice looking stove that will please the wife as well.
Most of what I have is seasoned locust. I have access to a lot of good hardwoods at no cost so my stash is locust, oak, cherry, and some ash. I've been burning 3.5 to 4 cords a year so I try to keep about 15 cords on hand so that I'm never burning anything that hasn't been under cover for at least 2 to 3 years.
Not sure yet on budget. I can go with Englander 30 maybe (if it'll fit) and be very happy for $1k. Or I could spend $3k and also be happy and have a nice looking stove that will please the wife as well.
Most of what I have is seasoned locust. I have access to a lot of good hardwoods at no cost so my stash is locust, oak, cherry, and some ash. I've been burning 3.5 to 4 cords a year so I try to keep about 15 cords on hand so that I'm never burning anything that hasn't been under cover for at least 2 to 3 years.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
Your budget will help narrow down your choices. Do you want a steel stove or a cast iron?
3.5-4 real cords? 4x4x8? That's some serious burning! Especially Ash, Locust, Oak, etc.
I wish I had access to free wood
3.5-4 real cords? 4x4x8? That's some serious burning! Especially Ash, Locust, Oak, etc.
I wish I had access to free wood
Yep, full cords. The small pile is 40' long, on regular sized skids and 5-6' high. I figure that's easily 5+ cords and we went through half of that plus 1 to 1.5 cords from the bigger pile last season. The wood might be free but it's usually a long way from the truck so needless to say, I don't need a gym membership. But it's a rewarding activity in the middle of winter when hunting season is over, the river's frozen and there's little else to do outside.
Don't know about steel vs. cast iron yet. I'm gonna let my wife decide how much we're going to spend. She's usually much tighter with money than I am but seeing as this is in the dining room, she's likely not going to allow just any ol' metal box. I really wanted to put it in the basement but without a walkout basement, that's way too much work getting the fuel to the stove.
Don't know about steel vs. cast iron yet. I'm gonna let my wife decide how much we're going to spend. She's usually much tighter with money than I am but seeing as this is in the dining room, she's likely not going to allow just any ol' metal box. I really wanted to put it in the basement but without a walkout basement, that's way too much work getting the fuel to the stove.
A good compromise between looks and steel performance is the cast-iron clad steel stove. There are several on the market from Jotul, Quadrafire, Enviro, PE, BK, Napoleon, etc..
Since the VC stove crapping the bed was a complete surprise and the fact that I hadn't yet budgeted for an equally exspensive replacement, I'm liking the England Madison a whole lot right now. Still not positive it's going to fit our hearth yet but I think it will. Local Lowe's has them in stock for $749.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
Seeing as how she's even cheaper than I am, it shouldn't be too hard of a sell.
One thing I'm having trouble with is understanding the clearances on most stoves. Many of them, including the Madison, only speak to unprotected surfaces. The owner's manual on the Madison states 5.5" from rear corners to wall for "Single Wall Chimney Connector Unprotected Surface with side shields." Since the stove comes with side shields and I have a protected surface, with a 1" air gap behind it, how close can it go? I plan on calling their tech support number tomorrow to get some answers.
At this point, I'm almost hoping VC tells me to go pound sand.... but that won't come without a letter to whoever is at the top of their chain.
One thing I'm having trouble with is understanding the clearances on most stoves. Many of them, including the Madison, only speak to unprotected surfaces. The owner's manual on the Madison states 5.5" from rear corners to wall for "Single Wall Chimney Connector Unprotected Surface with side shields." Since the stove comes with side shields and I have a protected surface, with a 1" air gap behind it, how close can it go? I plan on calling their tech support number tomorrow to get some answers.
At this point, I'm almost hoping VC tells me to go pound sand.... but that won't come without a letter to whoever is at the top of their chain.
It's hard to tell from the picture but the wall behind the VC stove doesn't appear to have a 1" opening at the bottom or top. If not then it doesn't qualify as an NFPA 211 wall shield for maximum clearance reduction. Also the manual does not mention additional clearance reduction with wall shielding so I would go with the stated 5.5" corner distance.
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