Stupid question on a rainy day

[Oldhippie]

What's so complicated about a cat stove? You get the fire going ~500'F on stove top, get the stove hot and then engage the cat and feel the heat output rise.

My CDW cat was a breeze to operate. I'd still have it but it fell apart after 25 or so years.

 

[firecracker_77]

Non cats are more forgiving of slightly less than seasoned wood. Not that it's advisable, but life happens.

 

[rideau]

I would have strongly considered a cat stove except for one thing. The aesthetics of watching an active fire was an important aspect for us. Otherwise, cat's have the functional advantages such as efficiency if you don't mind the extra fiddling.

Go to Woodstock's site and look at some video - or on utube for that matter. Cat stoves put on fantastic light shows. You'll never want to leave the stove room. I don't know where people get the idea they don't....

 

[BrowningBAR]

What's so complicated about a cat stove? You get the fire going ~500'F on stove top, get the stove hot and then engage the cat and feel the heat output rise.

My CDW cat was a breeze to operate. I'd still have it but it fell apart after 25 or so years.

• You can destroy the cat if you aren't careful.
• An uneducated user could have the tendency to smolder the fire.
• Owners have a tendency not to replace the catalyst and do basic maintenance, which greatly hinders performance.

 

[Ashful]

Keep in mind catalytic and non-cat stoves are doing exactly the same thing. They're burning wood at some rate controlled by the user, producing exhaust gasses, and then reburning those exhaust gasses in a secondary burn chamber supplied with fresh air. The only difference between the two is that the catalytic stove has the aid of a catalyst, enabling it to accomplish this at roughly half the temperature (~500*F instead of ~1100*F).

The primary advantage to the catalytic stove is a wider range of selectable burn rates for a given load of wood. You don't hear of non-cat owners stuffing their stoves full of wood for 24 hour burns at 200*F stovetop temperatures in the shoulder seasons.

Two often claimed downsides of catalyst stoves are that you can damage it by overfiring or that you need to buy a new catalyst every few years. To the former I'd say that I've seen a lot of questions on this forum about damaged non-catalytic reburn components, and to the latter I'd say that - while there are exceptions - the average amortized cost of scheduled catalyst replacement amounts to roughly $25 per year. For me, the primary down side to the catalytic stove is that you can't burn painted or treated wood, as this can poison the catalyst.

 

[David Tackett]

There are no stupid questions, only stupid people.

 

[Woody Stover]

I live in a moderate climate with a lot of shoulder-type burning required. As Joful mentioned, the cats can burn over a greater output range. If it's not very cold out, I can run the stove at a low output on a full load and still have no smoke out of the stack. The cat, with the soapstone, gives a very even, steady output of heat into the space. Low wood consumption is another plus. I'm not real close to a lot of neighbors but I still like to burn clean.
We have a Buck dealer here but the Woodstocks are purchased direct. The other dealer carries Lopi, which recently came out with the Cape Cod, a tube/cat hybrid (that stove looks like a sweet piece...when is someone going to take the plunge and give us some real-world data?)

• You can destroy the cat if you aren't careful.
• An uneducated user could have the tendency to smolder the fire.
• Owners have a tendency not to replace the catalyst and do basic maintenance, which greatly hinders performance.

I'm also a detail guy so I enjoy the nuances of cat burning. The Fireview is a cat-maintenance dream; Lift the lid, grab the cat and pull it out.

 

[suprz]

My stove is a cat stove, and i bought it without knowing it was a cat stove. Would i have bought it had i known......no. But we will see how she works out this season especially after the first fire

 

[BrowningBAR]

I'm also a detail guy so I enjoy the nuances of cat burning. The Fireview is a cat-maintenance dream; Lift the lid, grab the cat and pull it out.

As do I. But we are the exception, not the norm.

 

[Ashful]

As do I. But we are the exception, not the norm.

As with all things in life, the enlightened have a responsibility to educate and change the ignorant.

 

[Woody Stover]

As with all things in life, the enlightened have a responsibility to educate and change the ignorant.

OK, I'm out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It's kinda like Auto/Manual transmissions in vehicles.
Though Manuals (and CAT stoves) eek out more performance and controlability, but they require more user input and understanding.
Anyone and their 10 yr old kid can use an automatic (or non-CAT stove) if they're just looking to get the job done.

It primarily boils down to potential customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction - Put a person who prefers manuals in an auto and you get "This isn't quite what I wanted, but it does work."
Put a person who has no idea/care about a manual in one, they'll come storming back to rip your head off because you sold them a POS that couldn't even get off the lot.

I don't need to tell you which side the dealers would rather err on, but it's the same in both the stove and vehicle worlds.

Nice words but lacking a bit. The cat stoves can be operated very easily by that 10 year old kid! It is not complicated at all. Put wood in, when fire gets going nicely, turn 2 levers. If that is complicated well......

And yes, I have always driven a manual transmission and yes, I do get better performance and gas mileage with it, thank you.

As for the people not knowing how to operate a stove, cat or non-cat, there simply is not much to help them because if they did not take time to learn how to use it properly (can be said for many things), it is their fault and not the stove.

 

[HotCoals]

I burnt a non-cat BK stove for years.
I'm on my third season with this cat BK and noway would I ever go back.
Saving 30% or more on wood and the house stays way more even!
I did have to replace the gasket around the cat but the cat itself was really clean.
You guys might want to check your gasket mine was shot after 2 seasons.
Very easy task to replace.
She's down there just idling away with a ir temp of 560 or so right above the cat with just a little orange glow below the wood.
With the old BK I would have been roasted out at the temps we have.
I can get a 20-24 hour burn on a 2/3 load no problem when its 40-50 out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nice report HotCoals. Gaskets are something one always need to check but rarely have to replace. I think too many replace when they really don't need to. Like on the firebox door. Over the years we rarely change them. I think the last time we changed one it was at least 15 years old.

 

[HotCoals]

Nice report HotCoals. Gaskets are something one always need to check but rarely have to replace. I think too many replace when they really don't need to. Like on the firebox door. Over the years we rarely change them. I think the last time we changed one it was at least 15 years old.

I went to pull the cat out towards the end of last season and as it was coming out i could tell pieces had already fell out..it was all brittle.
The reason I checked it I noticed it was taking longer to get the cat temps ups and it was stalling at lower temps.
It seems like a new stove now!
Good to see you are still around posting!
I'm burning some 3 year old ash and oak ..what a huge diff 3 years is over 1 year seasoned wood with this stove.
Now I'm always at least burning wood that is seasoned for 2 full years..I'm ahead of the game!
My meter says the wood is high 10's low 11's..not sure how accurate it is but one year wood use to be around 20-25% with the same meter.
The oak is around 15-18% yet though...after splitting again.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks HotCoals. I could not agree more on the dry wood. I hate to burn wood that has not been in the stack for at least 3 years with a few exceptions, like soft maple or popple or something similar. I have no idea what moisture content our wood is but know it is right to burn. We took some 7 year old wood to Woodstock a couple years ago and they checked the moisture. I don't remember for sure what it was but it was low. When they put it into the stove it burned very nicely.

Not sure if you saw the thread I made showing our chimney. We've not cleaned it for 3 years and cleaned only once in the 5 years we've had the Fireview. So, that means we've taken about a cup of soot from our chimney in 5 years and no sign of creosote anywhere.

 

[HotCoals]

Thanks HotCoals. I could not agree more on the dry wood. I hate to burn wood that has not been in the stack for at least 3 years with a few exceptions, like soft maple or popple or something similar. I have no idea what moisture content our wood is but know it is right to burn. We took some 7 year old wood to Woodstock a couple years ago and they checked the moisture. I don't remember for sure what it was but it was low. When they put it into the stove it burned very nicely.

Not sure if you saw the thread I made showing our chimney. We've not cleaned it for 3 years and cleaned only once in the 5 years we've had the Fireview. So, that means we've taken about a cup of soot from our chimney in 5 years and no sign of creosote anywhere.

Wow on the chimney!

For me a cat stove works well and now there are more choices.
I would love to see a Fireview in action!
Very nice looking stove!

 

[Ashful]

Non cats are more forgiving of slightly less than seasoned wood. Not that it's advisable, but life happens.

I've seen this posted many times, and don't have a non-cat stove with which to compare... but I heated half my house with only months-old wood last winter (I was about two months ahead on my splitting), and the chimney sweep just told me my chimney was actually pretty clean when he swept it. Another cat stove owner posted similar experience earlier this month.

I see the comment above so often, but I wonder how many of these folks have tried several of each type, and really compared them on this criteria. Maybe one guy went from one finnicky cat stove to one forgiving non-cat stove, made a comment about his non-cat being more forgiving, and it stuck? Entire religions have been founded on less.