So, this year Ive have been experimenting with using the cat during normal daytime burns and lower night time burns. Last year, when I tried this I found that WITHOUT the cat, personally I had more control especially during the day and still had a good clean burn overnight as long as I stayed above 400 STT and set my air for overnight settings to 4th from the lowest. So im giving the cat another try during the days/nights to see the difference between two solid years of burning with basically the same wood. As Im getting into the middle of wood that I was using last year, the middle is about the same MC as last years, all mixed hardwood randomly selected so it's a fairly good comparison while not very scientific.
But then it got me thinking as Im actually paying attention to the cat temps. On cold starts it takes a long time for the probe to reach temp suggesting the cat is firing off. My question though is, for cold starts my manual basically says start a kindling fire of 4lbs wood, let that burn down then add several 2-3 inch pieces and immediately close the bypass to engage the cat. There's NO way the cat is firing off at this point, so Im curious why they are saying this? Possibly to get that chamber up to temp? Will this cause any problems with the cat though by clogging it?
The manual then says, let that burn down for an hour on high with the assumption that consumes all the wood, then pack the stove up tight, and let that burn on high for the entire load. (which would over fire my stove) This startup process is odd to me and not what Ive typically done. Ive always started a kindling fire, then added medium splits and let that burn for a good bit of time (longer than the hour they suggest), before reloading the stove fully and letting that load catch then finally switching over to secondary which, that's about the time the probe says the secondary is ready to fire off the cat.
Which is better for the health of the cat?
Also what about using creosote powders in between cleanings with a cat installed. Im assuming it's best to open the damper but Im sure some of the particles are going to get sucked through the catalyst. Any concerns there?
But then it got me thinking as Im actually paying attention to the cat temps. On cold starts it takes a long time for the probe to reach temp suggesting the cat is firing off. My question though is, for cold starts my manual basically says start a kindling fire of 4lbs wood, let that burn down then add several 2-3 inch pieces and immediately close the bypass to engage the cat. There's NO way the cat is firing off at this point, so Im curious why they are saying this? Possibly to get that chamber up to temp? Will this cause any problems with the cat though by clogging it?
The manual then says, let that burn down for an hour on high with the assumption that consumes all the wood, then pack the stove up tight, and let that burn on high for the entire load. (which would over fire my stove) This startup process is odd to me and not what Ive typically done. Ive always started a kindling fire, then added medium splits and let that burn for a good bit of time (longer than the hour they suggest), before reloading the stove fully and letting that load catch then finally switching over to secondary which, that's about the time the probe says the secondary is ready to fire off the cat.
Which is better for the health of the cat?
Also what about using creosote powders in between cleanings with a cat installed. Im assuming it's best to open the damper but Im sure some of the particles are going to get sucked through the catalyst. Any concerns there?
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