Has anyone ever burned books in their catalytic stove?

[Ricky8443]

If so, what were the results (if any) other than burning normal hardwoods

Please do not respond by saying you should not burn books in a stove, esp cat stove. I already know this. Please do not respond by saying it will void the warranty or ruin the combustor, etc. Please do not ask me to donate them, etc etc.

I'm really on curious to hear from people who have supplemented their stove with old books, cat or non-cat and if they experienced any positive or negative results outside of the normal heat output, thanks in advance,

 

[Highbeam]

I've burned a lot of phone books in my outdoor firepit over the years. Best case is they burn completely without smoldering, you will have a lot of ash from the books. Ime they smolder and smoke for hours because the pages lay so tight so as to limit air.

I wouldn't risk it in my cat stove but would gladly toss a book into the noncat.

 

[Ricky8443]

I guess I'm curious to know if the 'smoldering' of a book with compliment the cat combuster while the remainder of logs/coals keep the combuster itself hot. Knowing how these stoves work, it seems it would work well. Cookin the books if you will

 

[Tenn Dave]

I guess I'm curious to know if the 'smoldering' of a book with compliment the cat combuster while the remainder of logs/coals keep the combuster itself hot. Knowing how these stoves work, it seems it would work well. Cookin the books if you will

Not all smoke is created equal. I would guess that smoke from processed paper is chemically different then smoke from natural logs.

 

[Ricky8443]

that's a very good point. I guess the next step, other than hearing from someone's personal experience (which i'm sure is a small audience), is to figure out if there is less or more potential energy in the smoke create from printed paper versus hardwood per pound. If you cut a piece of wood 'paper' thin, it would be much less dense than a piece of paper itself. now what the paper is composed of is an entire other subject i suppose.

 

[DougA]

I know that a thick, bundled newspaper does not burn well and creates a lot of messy ash. If you take a few pages and twist them, that burns great as a fire starter.
Another thread here warns against burning any newspaper containing color pages as the chemicals in the colored ink will damage the cat. Seems odd because I know most newspapers in our area now use vegetable based inks vs. petroleum based inks. Non-poisonous vs. poisonous so I was told. I can't see how a colored ink would be any different than black, which is OK. I have no expertise in this so I can't say one way or the other.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

biggest thing with a cat stove is to avoid dyed paper such as christmas wrapping paper or construction paper and the like,as the chemicals which the colored papers are treated with can damage the catalyst

 

[Treacherous]

My first thought when when I read this thread was Fahrenheit 451.

 

[Woody Stover]

Just guessing, but I bet they burn like paper.

 

[begreen]

Books burn crappily. They tend to not burn in the middle without frequent stirring and they create a lot of ash. The fly ash can get trapped in the honeycomb of the convertor and the cap screen.

 

[Ricky8443]

good info, so you've tried it i assume

 

[begreen]

Yes, not regular books, but manuals. I regretted doing it and never tried again.

 

[David.Ervin]

The paper is actually a great insulator and will keep the center of the book from burning at all. You'd be opening the stove pretty often to stir it and keep exposing new paper to the flames.

 

[firefighterjake]

All I know is from fire scenes . . . typically books char up on the outside and are more or less unburned on the inside. I would not stick any book in any woodstove and expect a good burn.