Deciding between Cat and Non-cat: advice?
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I have a 1993 Dutchwest (My parents old XL after they decided they wanted to see the fire) XL that I heat 2400 sg ft with very easily and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this brand of stove to anyone as long as it's not an Everburn model. My family has had at least two Dutch west stoves in their home since the mid 80's and all of them are still being used 24/7 during heating season so if they are taken care of and not overfired they will last.
It is true that the newer Dutchwest models have an airwash system over the front glass and it works quite effectively at keeping the glass clean. With that being said my stove was built before the air wash was designed and within 3 hours of lighting my stove up the glass looks like crap and pretty much stays that way. Hope this info helps in some way.
It is true that the newer Dutchwest models have an airwash system over the front glass and it works quite effectively at keeping the glass clean. With that being said my stove was built before the air wash was designed and within 3 hours of lighting my stove up the glass looks like crap and pretty much stays that way. Hope this info helps in some way.
certified106 said:
Hey Certified,
Sounds like you have a Federal Airtight Model? They put out the CDW's with the airwash in 1993, yours must have been made in 1992 or early 1993?. I have the LG "post airwash" and the glass stays clean. The fire is lively at times, but I must say I wish it was livelier at times. Sometimes I have ghost flames that are clearly present at the window. Other times there are faint flames that are barely visible. Right now, an hour after a reload, the cat is glowing temp probe reads 800, the side door reads 570ish. It is heating like crazy, but the flames are not visible because a log in the front is not fully engaged. You can see the flames if you look up past the first log. They are straight up in shape and bluish in color. After all the logs catch fully, the flames are more visible. No visible smoke in the firebox and the glass is clear. It does get some spots at times, but burns clean during a cycle and stays clean 90% of the time. As we speak the flames are starting to break through to the front of the log and are quite visible ghost like flames.
It seems to me that the Woodstocks hold the visible flames much longer than the DW's. At least that's what I gather from the videos and pictures I've seen.
No complaints here about the Dutchwest, I picked it up rebuilt for $550 a year ago. It has made me very happy over the past year! I must say I'd like a stove that can heat my house for a period of 12 hours on one load during single digits and below zero temps. I guess, that's the beauty of those monster Blaze Kings and some of the soapstones. I suppose any large stove that can heat for 12 hours would do that for me.
VC Burner, You are right my stove was purchased in January of 93 but it is a 92 model. You can tell the difference between the 91 and the 92 model by the floating web piece which sits between the damper and the catalyst. I agree with you on the fact that there isn't much lively flame action even when you can see through the glass. My parents have a 2004 large model and the glass stays clean on it without a problem however when it is shut down you mainly just see an orange glow with a few blue flames licking off the wood.
Certified,
Does yours say Federal Airtight on the front ash lip? Does it have the screw type air intake on the ash pan door? Does it have the double doors?
Does yours say Federal Airtight on the front ash lip? Does it have the screw type air intake on the ash pan door? Does it have the double doors?
So from what I'm hearing, I can expect an increase in heating power combined with a decrease in wood consumption over my '89 Jotul 3. In other words the Cat does the best job of converting the most wood into the most heat? And with newer ones, I'll get a pretty good view of the combustion action?
hotprinter said:
I am green with envy. I wish my bank account was similarly green as I could then get a Blaze King.
Most EPA stoves, cat and nc, are fairly efficient in turning wood into heat, cats a little more so.marsfarmer said:
I see flames when I'm establishing the burn in a new load, and maybe for a while after the bypass is closed. Once the cat is lit off and I cut the air back more, I don't see much but glowing coals.
marsfarmer said:
Most new EPA stoves do a pretty good job of turning wood into heat in a clean way and sending less heat up the flue. Weather it is a secondary burn chamber, catalytic converter or secondary burn tubes. They all serve the same function. Reburning the smoke so it comes out of the chimney cleaner. This makes them all good at wasting less of the wood. The catalytic combustor tends to be the best at getting rid of harmfull chemicals that get released into the atmosphere. As it does on cars it does on stoves, turning the harmful gasses such as methane into heat. I would not automatically assume that one is better than the other at creating heat, this would be a very broad statement.
I like the catalytic stoves, but TBH, I'd love to have secondary burn tubes and a cat, like the new Woodstock stove. The secondary burn tubes make really nice light shows. If you'd like to hear more about these technologies check out this link:
http://woodstocksoapstoneco.blogspot.com/
How much is the small DW cat going for? Feel free to PM with the answer if you'd like.
richg said:
REPLY:
They save enough on wood and oil to pay for themselves. They dont cost, they pay! Think of it as an investment.
hotprinter said:
Yep,and you can get a nice light show ...even huge flames just for kicks if you want.
Thing is I have to carry up two arm loads of wood from the basement to fill the beast!
But I really like this stove...even if some think it is ugly..lol.
Bobforsaken said:
I have a non-cat stove and on medium to high burn, the emissions are listed as 1.1; on low burn the emissions are listed at 0.8. So with some non-cats, you can burn slow and keep it clean too.
My third season with the Fireview. You can have a nice flame show, looks a lot like regular secondary combustion - just depends how much air you give it. Burn it a little hotter in the evening, then turn the air down for overnight. Dirty glass? Depends on the wood. If dry wood the glass stays clean. If burning hot, the glass stays clean. In three seasons I've had to light a fire in the morning only once. I burn about 1/3 less wood than with my little Lopi Answer. Not hard to run at all. Very rugged and sturdy, plenty of times I've basically hammered splits into the thing. Sweep chimney once a year, get maybe 2 quarts of creosote. Right now burning a lot of pine, which burns hot and clean but does need more frequent loading. Cat does not seem to light off as easily as when new, will probably replace it soon ($125). i think its a great stove.
Good luck with your decision.
Good luck with your decision.
Just a thought but if you would like a bigger stove with long burn times how about looking into the Englander 30,good price and nothing but great reviews from what I have read on this forum
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