Talk me into the Catalyst for my stove

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newguyjoe

Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 7, 2008
104
Monroe,NY
Hey guys,
2 seasons in with the Dauntless and im thinking about the Catalyst for next season/going forward.. is it worth it ? will it be a night and day difference in burn time? I certainly dont get 11 hours from mine without it. Thanks in advance.

Joe
 
I don't know your stove well, but even if you might get longer burns, that should be with less heat output because you are just spreading the BTUs from the wood over more hours.

There may be differences in efficiency (slightly less heat up the flue is slightly more BTUs in the room when running lower).

Bottom line: do you want to spread the BTUs over more hours, and thus have a cooler stove room? Then it's a good idea.
You can always still burn high and shorter.

It is also a good idea for the great outdoors, because no matter what, it helps put less smoke particles and chemicals in the air.
 
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I seriously looked into purchasing this stove two years ago and running it in the noncat mode but VC states 15% more efficiency with the cat so I’d be very tempted to install one.
 
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If I had this stove it would have a cat in it, no question.
 
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I happened along this thread while browsing…

We have a different wood stove (insert), but we’ve run it with, and without, the catalyst installed. It runs waaaaay better with the catalyst! We use less wood, the stove and its heat output is much easier to control, and the chimney (flue liner) stays clean. Besides the replacement cost of the catalyst when it wears out, we see no reason not to use it. And we’ll buy another once this catalyst does wear out. Cheers!
 
I’ve had one stove with a catalyst. It was a Woodstock Fireview. Best stove I ever had. Can’t comment on other cat stoves but it’s so much better than a non cat. Much longer burn times. For me the heat output seemed the same as a non cat. Just didn’t have to load it as often. I loaded it 3 times a day. Morning, then around 2 pm then before bed. Always had plenty of coals to restart in the morning. One time I shut it down and thought it was out 24 hours later still had enough coals to nurse a fire back to life. I really regret selling it. Why did I sell it you ask? I put a coal stove in. I’ll burn coal over wood any day unless it costs $575 a ton. Now I’m not burning coal. Lol.
 
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Even after replacing my catalyst every 15-20 cords, I am burning less wood and come out $ ahead for each BTU delivered into my home.