Cat stove question

[bjorn773]

I've been using a non cat for the last 6 years. It's a cheapo Century and I'd like to upgrade and take advantage of the tax rebate. After posting a couple times looking for recommendations, it looks like the Blaze King Princess may be the best fit. I am trying to heat my whole house, using the ductwork to distribute air around. Most of the replies I got felt that convection heat would be ideal for this. Since both my wife and I work full time, the long burn times and large firebox would fit well also.

So, I know nothing about cat stoves. I am a career auto tech, so I understand the purpose. My question is, once lit off, do the cats continue to stay lit simply by burning the unburned hydrocarbons from the main combustion chamber? If I set the BK stat on low, will there be enough hc and air to keep the cat lit and burning clean for the duration of the long burn?

 

[Fsappo]

Once the cat is lit the gases on a low burn should keep it going. From personal experience you will get longer burn times from a cat stove, but after year one it seemed that the efficiency slowly declined until 4-6 years down the road when you just need a new catalyst. For me, not cat seems much easier. No temps to monitor, less things to replace and clean. But I know the BK Cat stoves have a strong following on this site, so I'm ready to take my punishment.

I heated my home for 2 years with an Enerzone 3.4 non cat. 12 hour burn times, huge firebox and loads of convection heat. Also lifetime warranty on the glass and reburn tubes, which makes me feel better.(even though I am the GM of a store that sells them so I can get parts at cost)

 

[Fsappo]

ductwork heating = furnace?

I think this is the same guy who had posted earlier about having a stove in the basement and using fans to push the heat towards or away from the ductwork

 

[bjorn773]

That would be me. I have a chopped down furnace(heat exchange removed and just blower housing remaining) mounted in a wall next to the stove. The aux blower is plumbed directly into my furnace ductwork. The intake of this aux furnace blower is mounted in the wall next to the stove. It pushes the warm air from the stove throughout the house fairly well. It's all in the basement, so the stair case acts as the return duct from upstairs. The better convection I can get off the stove, the warmer the air I push through this system. As soon as I figure out how to post a pic, I will.

 

[bjorn773]

I hope this works.

 

[bjorn773]

Here's another angle.

 

[fbelec]

how well does it work? at the farthest room from the blower does the air coming out of the vent feel warm? and does this blower push air out the other furnace so that air is coming out at the furnace or the return air duct in the house?

 

[bjorn773]

The air coming out is warmer than in the room it's in, but not hot by any means. I have to supplement with either electric panel heaters or my furnace for the bedrooms. It's not a perfect system by any means, but the most effective I've found yet. I don't seem to get any air through the furnace or return ducts. When the furnace kicks on it gets interesting. The two air fronts collide in the duct. Basically the furnace only heats the 3 bedrooms at the far end of the house, which is exactly what I'm after anyway.

 

[stockcarver]

I have the princess, a 1992 model, and heat my entire home with it. The new princess Ultra is what you are thinking of as the "convection" model (also this model offers the higher pedestal with the ash cleanout bin). They added some sheet steel panels on the sides and top of the stove to direct the heat to the front of the stove. Good idea if you have limited clearance behind or beside the stove. I believe the side and top panels can be removed if you want to use it without the convection feature. This might be a good thing if you position the stove to point towards your ductwork.
There are other wood heaters that are designed to connect directly to your ductwork that you might also want to consider, I doubt they are as efficient as the princess, but it might be worth looking into.
The catalytic combuster actually works harder at the lowest burn setting, it is less effective when the fire is getting all the combustion air it wants. You will see little flame, often none, when the cat is working at its most efficient.
You will hear arguments against the cat system, but you won't hear that from blaze king owners. If you want to leave the stove un-attended for long periods, as I do, there is nothing else to consider. The thermostatic air intake alone is enough to satisfy me. If you had a manual air intake, you would not be able to leave it alone without nagging doubt.
While it is possible to set a manual draft on a typical stove to its lowest setting and walk away, you will come home to find your stove pipe lined with creosote, no big deal if you clean your chimney about once a week. Without the combustor, you would also have thrown out at least a third of the heat, and the cost of that wood.
If you have a wood dealer that gives you a free cord for every two cords you buy, then that also is no big deal (I would like his phone number when you find him)

When somebody comes out with a stove that is better than the blaze king in all ways, I will be the first to buy one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

My question is, once lit off, do the cats continue to stay lit simply by burning the unburned hydrocarbons from the main combustion chamber? If I set the BK stat on low, will there be enough hc and air to keep the cat lit and burning clean for the duration of the long burn?

To give you a precise example, our stove is a cat. stove. We have a thermometer on the top of the stove. We never engage the cat. until that gauge reads 250 which should be 500 interior temperature.

On reloads, we wait 10-15 minutes or until the wood is charred before engaging the cat. Once the cat is engaged, we simply forget about it until it is time to reload. The cat. will work as long as there is smoke for it to burn. You would have no problems with the cat. on long burns at all. I hope this helps.

 

[BigBlockChevy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBSNWKI-d-A

The manufacturers are using coorderiete, mullite and stainless for the catalytic converters. Most of the early cat stoves had a cat as an afterthought to pass EPA. My Blaze King 1102 catalyst in 8 years old. It seems to be burning just as well this year as it did in the first year. I guess it all has to do with stove model and combustion design and how long your winters are where you live.