so basically what you get for heat on an active cat is after your burn cycle on a regular stove is done but constant
is a cat stove really worth the hassle?
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I did read your post and I liked it. I thought it made sense. I do burn hot. I do think undersized for a small part of the season. If was doing it again I wouldn’t go any bigger. There’s probably not more than a week or two out of 7 months that I could use bigger. Out of that probably only four or five days that are really cold.
But by what you are seeing in your chimney you are wasting lots of heat the whole time. A larger stove would allow you to shut down further which would mean wasting less heat out the chimney and more of the available BTUs in your wood ending up in the home.
What are your normal cruising pipe temps when it's say upper 20s low 30s out?
i'm assuming an active cat smolders like a regular stove at the end of cycle it's to burn the smoke to make longer heat runs .same heat output? i don't know if i'm explaining it right lol
I had a somewhat unique experience after I bought my BK Princess...the day it was installed a arctic front like I have never experienced was nipping on our heals...minus single digit temps and minus double digit windchills...brutal cold...I had to push this stove hard as my home was very leaky...,poor insulation and single pane windows that would allow enough air in to move the curtains...cold drafts across the floor...it was all this stove could do to keep the temps up...fast forward a year and I had gutted my home installed new insulation and double pane argon windows ..new roof...foam board and house wrap...really tightened things up...now its rare that this stove sees a 8 hour cycle...in fact it hasnt since that first year...now when we see a cold snap its 12 hours and the majority of this milder winter it has been 24 hr burns and thats coming home to a stove room that is in the mid to upper 70s...todays 24 hour burn resulted in a 78 degree stove room as the wife loaded the stove yesterday with 100% locust,,,lol...burns like coal...my point to all of this is if you have a tight home a cat stove is more than capable of getting the job done...
Well somewhat. A cat stove is able to sit and smoulder the wood creating smoke that the cat then burns that smoke. A noncat needs to burn at higher temperatures in order for the secondary air to be able to burn off the smoke. At the end coaling stage both types work about the same. There is little to no smoke being produced so there is no secondary combustion going on. And yes cat stoves can absolutely be run at higher burn rates. But if you are doing that the benifits get to be less and less
I know that wasn't directed at me but figured I would add mine. I heat a ranch from the finished walk out basement 1100 SQ ft a floor. Basement insulated very well upstairs walls standard 2x4 with fiberglass house wrap and decent double pane windows. R40 attic.
With both the regency and bk I load 2 times a day down to lower 30s. Then 3 times down to lower teens. The regency kept up a bit more when it was really cold and windy. Single digits and windy I have either the oil furnace or propane insert help out a bit. I very rarely run the bk 24 hours. It certainly can do it I just don't see the need often
Once my stove gets going good. Stovetop 300-350 degrees I shut it all the way down. All the flames are now coming out of the tubes at the top of the stove. I let it run that way until the flames stop. Then I open the air all the way. Sometimes I get a little more flame but not much. Just red hot coals. When the stove is closed down stovetop temperatures climb to between 500 to 575 degrees. Once the flame goes out temperature doesn’t climb any more even after opening the air.
What do you use to check pipe temps? I have double wall pipe if that makes a difference.
So are you saying it's possible to burn a good-quality secondary stove pretty low? I'm early in the learning curve playing with my SIL's PE, so I don't know yet. Can you burn it with no flame off the wood in the box, only secondary? That's what I'm hoping is possible.
I've seen stoves that have heat fins on top of the box, like the old Manchester, so that should save more heat into the room I would think. What are the stove design features that you're referring to?
Right, a secondary stove has a temp output curve which peaks earlier as the wood gasses faster in the first part of the burn, after that stove temps slowly fall as the load gets to the coaling stage. A cat stove flattens out that curve a bit since the wood can be made to smolder once the cat is lit, relatively early in the burn, and the load's gassing stage is longer. Once gassing tails off, the cat stove also slowly falls during the coaling stage.
There's a set amount of BTUs per pound of wood, so an equal size load in either a cat or secondary stove has the same amount of heat in it. Then it's a question of how much of that heat you can get into the room, and not send up the flue. Cat stoves can run lower flue temps, indicating that less heat is lost up the flue, so they are a bit more efficient.
Yes, or at least you can on a T5. I can keep my stove top 350 on a reload. That’s also supposing my thermometer is accurate.
Low exhaust temps yes. Low stove temps no not nearly as low as good cat stoves. Secondary air stoves need to run at much higher firebox temps to burn cleanly. But that heat can be scavenged so you don't loose more up the chimney
I have a little flame off the wood and light secondaries
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