Cat/noncat

[Kylecrane913]

Iam looking to purchase a new stove.
Wood is my primary heat source with oil burning boiler as back up.
I have a 1500sqft ranch with basement.
Stove will be in my unfinished basement.
Previously had a Sierra cast iron stove that heated pretty well with decent burn times.
Currently running a fisher grandma bear that heats well with to short of a burn time for my schedule.
I need roughly 12hr burn time on my stove.
I've been researching the blaze king (princess & king) and like what I'm learning but I'm not entirely sold on the cat stoves.
My wood supply is pretty well seasoned but everyone knows life happens and I like the idea of being able to burn not ideally seasoned wood if needed. Looking for opinions in good non cat stoves that still have a good heat production with 12 hr burn times. Or should I just bite the bullet and spend the dough on a blaze king.
Thanks

 

[BKVP]

If you can't burn well seasoned wood, don't burn any stove. The PM combined with moisture cause deposits in the stack, regardless of combustion technology.

Both technologies will burn wood under 20% just fine. If you fall behind on seasoned wood, you can burn manufactured fuels like BioBricks or North Idaho Energy Logs.

BKVP

 

[Todd]

Insulating your basement will make a huge improvement. And yes dry wood is a must for any stove.

 

[kborndale]

No modern stove will do a good job burning semi seasoned wood. If you attempt 12 hour burns with wet wood you will be creating a ticking creosote time bomb in your chimney. What is your current chimney? A modern stove also requires either a class a chimney or an insulated SS liner in a masonry chimney.

 

[Kylecrane913]

I have a ss liner in a clay flue surrounding by block chimney.
I'm not trying to burn wet wood. But I like being able to have a little more wiggly room with a non cat stove

 

[stovelark]

Every stove will burn great with dry wood, the most expensive and all other stoves will burn poorly on wet wood. Its that simple. Doesn't matter cat or non cat. And trying to burn wet wood is frustrating, it would help adding 2x4s, bio bricks but its still frustrating, been there.

 

[bigealta]

What did you get?

 

[MRD1985]

What did you get?

You must be bored he hasn’t been on since February lol

 

[Highbeam]

I'm not trying to burn wet wood. But I like being able to have a little more wiggly room with a non cat stove

You have lots of wiggle room. Between 20% and about 12% moisture content. Dry or drier.

 

[bigealta]

You must be bored he hasn’t been on since February lol

Exactly

 

[BKVP]

I have a ss liner in a clay flue surrounding by block chimney.
I'm not trying to burn wet wood. But I like being able to have a little more wiggly room with a non cat stove

I have posted this in the past. Just like "you should not burn pine in a wood stove", certain statements seem to continue, even in the absence of recent data or testing.

In 2022 PFS-TECO under contract with Environment Climate Change Canada, studied the effect of moisture content in different technologies in wood heaters. (Including Pellet Models).

It was the opinion of the scientists that performed the study, the catalytic wood model had a wider range of clean burning with wet wood that a conventional stove.

The study is 100% public. If the mods could figure out a way to get it posted to these forums, it would be incredibly insightful and it just might help correct the misstatement about one technology being easier to burn higher moisture content fuel. There are 3 documents and only this one is small enough a file to upload.

To end this point...ALWAYS burn dry, season fuel.

BKVP

 

[Todd]

I have posted this in the past. Just like "you should not burn pine in a wood stove", certain statements seem to continue, even in the absence of recent data or testing.

In 2022 PFS-TECO under contract with Environment Climate Change Canada, studied the effect of moisture content in different technologies in wood heaters. (Including Pellet Models).

It was the opinion of the scientists that performed the study, the catalytic wood model had a wider range of clean burning with wet wood that a conventional stove.

The study is 100% public. If the mods could figure out a way to get it posted to these forums, it would be incredibly insightful and it just might help correct the misstatement about one technology being easier to burn higher moisture content fuel. There are 3 documents and only this one is small enough a file to upload.

To end this point...ALWAYS burn dry, season fuel.

BKVP

The cat stove may temporarily burn better with wet wood but for how long until masking sets in and it clogs up?

 

[BKVP]

Those "clogging" materials go somewhere. Maybe a combustor in a cat stove...but definitely the flue in ALL stoves. I guess a clogged cat and a chimney fire are both teachable moments...one may be less scary.



BKVP

 

[begreen]

IIRC, the test data for one of the BK stoves said it was with 23% MC wood.

 

[BKVP]

IIRC, the test data for one of the BK stoves said it was with 23% MC wood.

Yes, lots of great stuff. The cleanest burn was an old PE....but as the author pointed out to me, they intentionally ran it with the driest fuel load. The point being, even old stoves can burn clean with dry fuel.

There are two more parts to the study...anyway to post?

BKVP