Hi Everyone,
This is my first posting and thank you very much in advance for your help! My beloved 1995 Defiant Encore (cat) will soon be replaced by an Isle Royale and, after reading many of the comments on this site, it looks like I may have been operating my wood stove improperly for the last 14 years. I've always controlled stove temperature by the amount of wood in the stove while keeping the primary air control lever full open to achieve clean burns. Now I'm wondering if the catalytic converter in the Defiant would have taken care of the additional deposits if I loaded the stove up with wood and shut down the air control to 3/4,1/2, or whatever? I once tried to burn all night but the stove got pretty dirty from this one try. Probably operator error. However, burning all night isn't real important anyway where I live in Northern California.
I have the same question for the new Isle Royale. From the postings I've read it looks like the new stoves "assume" some adjustment of the air control and that the secondary burn systems take care of any resulting additional pollutants so there isn't much impact (i.e. creosote, smoke, etc.). So should I just load it up and adjust primary air as required to control temperature? It may not be as simple as this but thought I'd ask.
Thanks again for your help!
Jim
P.S. For the record, my Defiant Encore has been a great stove and is still as beautiful red as the day I bought it. However it needs a catalytic converter and refractory assembly and this $500 worth of parts, the 30% tax credit, and mostly my wife's desire...I still love our old stove...led us to the Isle Royal.
This is my first posting and thank you very much in advance for your help! My beloved 1995 Defiant Encore (cat) will soon be replaced by an Isle Royale and, after reading many of the comments on this site, it looks like I may have been operating my wood stove improperly for the last 14 years. I've always controlled stove temperature by the amount of wood in the stove while keeping the primary air control lever full open to achieve clean burns. Now I'm wondering if the catalytic converter in the Defiant would have taken care of the additional deposits if I loaded the stove up with wood and shut down the air control to 3/4,1/2, or whatever? I once tried to burn all night but the stove got pretty dirty from this one try. Probably operator error. However, burning all night isn't real important anyway where I live in Northern California.
I have the same question for the new Isle Royale. From the postings I've read it looks like the new stoves "assume" some adjustment of the air control and that the secondary burn systems take care of any resulting additional pollutants so there isn't much impact (i.e. creosote, smoke, etc.). So should I just load it up and adjust primary air as required to control temperature? It may not be as simple as this but thought I'd ask.
Thanks again for your help!
Jim
P.S. For the record, my Defiant Encore has been a great stove and is still as beautiful red as the day I bought it. However it needs a catalytic converter and refractory assembly and this $500 worth of parts, the 30% tax credit, and mostly my wife's desire...I still love our old stove...led us to the Isle Royal.