- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
Has anyone had experience with using the solid commercial fire-starters? They come in squares or rectangular bars and are made by Rutland and Pine Mountain to name a couple. There is also Fatwood available. My question is, are these safe to use in the newer non cat EPA wood stoves. The label on the Pine Mountain states they are usable in wood stoves, but also warns "never use without a grate." Well, how many modern stoves use a grate?
Answer:
I have used a number of these products, from Supercedar to Fatwood and Lightning nuggets. They definitely make it easy to start a fire.
That said, if one has perfectly dry small splits of kindling (such as small branches, construction lumber, splitter scraps, etc.), it is easy to start a fire with just newspaper.
You are right about the grate thing. I'd stay away from that particular brand if they warn that.
As far as catalytics, this should not be a problem. Most fire-starters are mostly all real wood and have an oil-based binder. Since the use of cats is OK in automobiles (cars use similar cats) which of course burn oil-based products, there should be no problem with a small amount of wax, etc.
Furthermore, cat stoves are started in bypass mode, which means the smoke does not usually go through the cat when most of the fire-starter is burning.
The main thing with cat stoves is no painted wood, particle board, etc. Of course, you should not burn these things in ANY stove or fireplace.
Has anyone had experience with using the solid commercial fire-starters? They come in squares or rectangular bars and are made by Rutland and Pine Mountain to name a couple. There is also Fatwood available. My question is, are these safe to use in the newer non cat EPA wood stoves. The label on the Pine Mountain states they are usable in wood stoves, but also warns "never use without a grate." Well, how many modern stoves use a grate?
Answer:
I have used a number of these products, from Supercedar to Fatwood and Lightning nuggets. They definitely make it easy to start a fire.
That said, if one has perfectly dry small splits of kindling (such as small branches, construction lumber, splitter scraps, etc.), it is easy to start a fire with just newspaper.
You are right about the grate thing. I'd stay away from that particular brand if they warn that.
As far as catalytics, this should not be a problem. Most fire-starters are mostly all real wood and have an oil-based binder. Since the use of cats is OK in automobiles (cars use similar cats) which of course burn oil-based products, there should be no problem with a small amount of wax, etc.
Furthermore, cat stoves are started in bypass mode, which means the smoke does not usually go through the cat when most of the fire-starter is burning.
The main thing with cat stoves is no painted wood, particle board, etc. Of course, you should not burn these things in ANY stove or fireplace.
