Slow1 said:
So back to your question "where is all the waste?" - the answer is simply "up the flue." Basically my understanding is that older stove designs required more air to get to a clean burn. Thus more air in = more air up the flue. That is heat headed right out of the house.
Sorry, no way in hell am I sending an extra three cord of wood up my chimney as lost heat. I'm not using an old Franklin-type stove, my stove is as air-tight in design as any of the newer stoves, even more so. My flue temps end up being the same as most folks here report - about 300ºF when cruising in downdraft mode (which is where my stove sits 90% of the time). My stove temps (600-650º) at those same flue temps are much higher than these same people report (450-550º), so my stove is putting out a load of heat by comparison with newer radiant designs. Then my flue temps drop as the coaling stage begins, just like everybody else. It's not unusual at all for me to find the flue temps at 225º and the stove still at 500-550º with a big bed of orange-hot coals on the bottom, and it will stay that way for a pretty long time. So I think most of the heat produced by my stove is going out into the living space, not up the flue.
I agree that older 'smoke dragon' stoves CAN be operated such that they burn clean and if everyone did so then it would be great... but then again, new EPA stoves CAN be operated to smoke just as much as a 'smoke dragon' so where does that leave us? Hmmmm - bottom line seems to be the responsibility lays with the operator.
Uh... yeah. The EPA has removed the intelligence factor from burning, doesn't mean the new stoves are magic. It's like putting cats and rev limiting devices on a chainsaw. They'll produce less emissions, but they'll also produce less power. I want power in a stove, so I will likely use the one I have and produce a few more emissions. Those emissions, however, are not wasting half my potential heat. Insulating the crap out of a non-cat stove in order to get the burn chamber hotter for cleaner combustion is a sure way to limit the potential power of a stove.
I do believe it is easier to get an EPA stove to burn cleaner on a consistent basis and that overall the efficiency will be greater.
No one is doubting this, it just a matter of degree. 20%, possibly 30% I might be able to accept. But claims of a 100% increase in efficiency? C'mon.