Dutchwest experiance

[rollingflame]

Hello everyone,i am new here.i purchased a vc dutchwest catalytic stove to heat my new house i am building,the house is in the dry and i am working on the inside.I love the rugged looks of this stove,but i am not that fond of the way the catalytic works.My wood is about one year seasoned,white oak,blackjack,cherry,hickory.The catalytic secondary chamber does what it should do but here is my complaints,the top of the stove puts out the most heat,the front and sides not a lot,the catalytic temp runs around 1100 deg,the glass gets really dirty,and it is very hard to get actual flames to watch,if you put in a stick of wood off the top of the pile that is a little wet the catalytic shutts down.To make a long story short my neighber has a catalytic stove of a different brand,he had the same problems with his,he said her removed the catalytic element and runs the stove just like he would with the element in,using the secondary chamber an all,he said his stove works ten times better and uses the same amount of wood.So i tried it,i removed the element and i ran the stove the same way i would with the element in place,my results are beautifull slow dancing flames,even heat coming out all parts of the stove,the glass is staying much cleaner,the stove is very stable,i maintane around 600 deg on the temp probe in the secondary chamber,burns very good on wet,dry wood,the only drawback is some smoke out the chimney all the time,i am actually getting more heat on the same amount of wood,i slow it down to lazy flames with the secondary chamber engaged,the secondary chamber pulls more heat out of the exaust.

 

[kevinmerchant]

I have burned with mine for 3 seasons now. As long as I use seasoned wood it will crank up to 1400 internal.

 

[Todd]

If you see smoke out your chimney your wasting heat that the cat can use to save you wood. Cat stove can be picky when it comes to your fuel supply and they really love 2 year old or older hardwoods. There is no way your stove or your friends stove is more efficient without it. Many people run into the same issue learning a EPA new stove with less than dry wood and when they get their hands on some good dry wood they really see the difference. Some things to try are smaller splits, waiting to engage the cat longer and giving it more air. Here's a good blog with great cat stove info.

http://www.firecatcombustors.blogspot.com/