Beating My Expectations

[FireWalker]

As of last night I now know I have made as excellent decision with the Equinox. (This hardly ever happens to me)

The following is a quote taken from another thread here "If I fell behind the curve it was very, very hard to catch back up and I ended up having to burn oil." This was a huge issue for me using my old Duchwest, I would spend hours farting around trying to get the house from 60 to 65 degrees and all the while I would get complaints from the wife and kids. That was frustrating, putting all that work into maintaining a good wood supply and then have to put up with crummy results.

The Equinox to my pleasant surprise produces heat much faster and with much less fuss than the Duchwest. (I should add to this statement, if one was willing to really let the Duchwest blare with the ash door open for a while, heat up times were better but I considered this to be kinda dangerous and the better part of a wood load would be used up in no time at all). I was very concerned about this initial heat up time, but I have found the stove top is warming after just 10 minutes from cold start and based on the collective here this is not what I expected. After 20 minutes we are heating and after that well you get the idea.....

Last night I started a fire with a 12 round x 26" long piece of white birch junk that had been broken in half during logging and was a mass of splinters at one end. I used no kindling, just one match and I had enough fire to build on with regular splits. I moved the indoor temp up 10 degrees in 90 minutes and my stove top never went above 220. It was in the lower 40's outside and yes I checked the stack, no smoke.

So far I am very happy.

 

[efoyt]

What kind of Dutchwest did you have? I just got a Dutchwest!

 

[FireWalker]

What kind of Dutchwest did you have? I just got a Dutchwest!

I had a Duchwest Xtra Large Cat stove. You, if you have a new unit have the everburn system which addressed many of the issues I had with my older DW.

 

[Todd]

220 degrees is barely luke warm, just wait til you get that baby up to 500 plus!

 

[Corie]

Issues with the old dutchwest eh? Hrmmm, I was always under the impression that was a pretty capable heater.

What were your problems?

 

[wellbuilt home]

I never had any problem with my DW . I loved it . The new Equinox realy pumps out the heat . It not as cold here as it is at the lake but it can be nasty . The EQ really puts out a great fire show.

 

[FireWalker]

Issues with the old dutchwest eh? Hrmmm, I was always under the impression that was a pretty capable heater.

What were your problems?

In a nutshell, I found the stove very difficult to operate at a consistent heat output. To much fiddling around (babysitting) to get a good cat burns.

Mostly though, the stove was not capable of making enough BTU's for my heat load, I selected the wrong stove for my needs. The stove is rated for 55,000 btu's max which one can only achieve during non cat (bypass) operation. I would never leave the DW unattended while maintaining max heat output, something would overheat and I would be out of wood by mid February. Normal cat operating range seems somewhat limited from 10,500 - 27,700btu's. Fact is I needed more heat than it could safely and efficiently produce.

 

[North of 60]

Your latest description of max heat was totally backwards to how a CAT stove puts out heat. Iam happy to here about your success on the EQ its a beautiful behemoth but the comments on the other stove seem out of wack..... for the way it should operate.

 

[FireWalker]

Your latest description of max heat was totally backwards to how a CAT stove puts out heat. Iam happy to here about your succes on the EQ its a beutiful behemith but the comments on the other stove seem out of wack..... for the way it should operate.

I contend the maximum heat rating of 55,000 btu's can only be achieved in bypass mode with the dampers wide open. Maintaining high (max) btu settings during cat burns I found difficult to sustain and the thought of going to bed or leaving for the day with the stove out there cranking on high made me more than a little nervous. Not to mention at full on cat settings, a full load of wood will be gone in 2-3 hours.

 

[wellbuilt home]

Wow thats not how my stove worked, I would only run the stove with the damper open when i was starting it up . I would run the DW with the damper closed and the air around 1/2 to 3/4 open . My house is over 3000 sq feet and the DW worked for me . When i closed the damper the heat would start to crank . My flue was over 30' tall . My wife told me i cant burn my new equinox until it gets cold . She was all sweaty last night.

 

[pumiglk]

My EQ has also received a cease and decist order until at least mid October; mostly because were not sure how much wood this thing is going to consume and I would hate to run low in late february early march when I will feel much colder than I do now. The last time I fired it up on one of these 30 degree nights though everyone was throwing off the covers. Very capable heater.

 

[North of 60]

Your latest description of max heat was totally backwards to how a CAT stove puts out heat. Iam happy to here about your succes on the EQ its a beutiful behemith but the comments on the other stove seem out of wack..... for the way it should operate.

I contend the maximum heat rating of 55,000 btu can only be achieved in bypass mode with the dampers wide open. Maintaining high (max) btu settings during cat burns I found difficult to sustain and the thought of going to bed or leaving for the day with the stove out there cranking on high made me more than a little nervous. Not to mention at full on cat settings, a full load of wood will be gone in 2-3 hours.

I cant argue with your personal experience Firewalker but it just doesnt make sense to me. The CAT is supposed to keep the heat in and raise the radiation of the stoves temp while conserving the wood by using smoke as the main fuel. Running it with the bypass open just lets the heat go up the stack with my experience of operating a CAT. Iam glad your results are better for you on the new investment. When winter comes Iam pretty sure you will be exited to put it to the test.
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