Any of you cat stove owners reloading a hot stove - 400 to 500 stove top temp or higher?
Sometimes, I've got a hot stove top, but I'm down to hot coals - yet the stove is still showing 400 to 500ish stove top temperatures. I know the temps are going to fall, but to keep momentum, I'm thinking - now is the time to reload. This is for daytime burns, not overhight ones and the goal is to keep pumping heat out of the stove and keep those 500 degrees stove top temps going. Note that in my case, the continued high stove top temps are in part driven not by sustained heat in the firebox, but by heat stored in my soapstones so on other non-soapstone stoves, where I am seeing hot coals, they may be also seeing lower stove top temps. I'd be courious as to what cast iron and steel stove top temps are with respect to the above.
Also, when you load hot and your wood IS dry and the stove top temp is 400ish to 500 degrees, any reason not to go ahead and engage the cat vs waiting 15 or so minutes? It would seem to me that if your wood is dry, why not go ahead and engage the cat and recover some of the smoke heat and further help keep the chimney clean. I don't know that I would engage right away, but perhaps after a few minutes that would allow the surfaces of the wood to become at least charred.
Lastly, I have read that some of the non cat stoves with secondary tubes can have their stove tops run super hot - in an out of control way with a hot reload. I have reloaded my Keystone cat stove at 300 degrees, but found it very easy to control the fire and haven't found myself anywhere close to a that uncontrolled situation. Anyone had their cat stove go out of control after a hot reload?
Thanks
!
Bill
Sometimes, I've got a hot stove top, but I'm down to hot coals - yet the stove is still showing 400 to 500ish stove top temperatures. I know the temps are going to fall, but to keep momentum, I'm thinking - now is the time to reload. This is for daytime burns, not overhight ones and the goal is to keep pumping heat out of the stove and keep those 500 degrees stove top temps going. Note that in my case, the continued high stove top temps are in part driven not by sustained heat in the firebox, but by heat stored in my soapstones so on other non-soapstone stoves, where I am seeing hot coals, they may be also seeing lower stove top temps. I'd be courious as to what cast iron and steel stove top temps are with respect to the above.
Also, when you load hot and your wood IS dry and the stove top temp is 400ish to 500 degrees, any reason not to go ahead and engage the cat vs waiting 15 or so minutes? It would seem to me that if your wood is dry, why not go ahead and engage the cat and recover some of the smoke heat and further help keep the chimney clean. I don't know that I would engage right away, but perhaps after a few minutes that would allow the surfaces of the wood to become at least charred.
Lastly, I have read that some of the non cat stoves with secondary tubes can have their stove tops run super hot - in an out of control way with a hot reload. I have reloaded my Keystone cat stove at 300 degrees, but found it very easy to control the fire and haven't found myself anywhere close to a that uncontrolled situation. Anyone had their cat stove go out of control after a hot reload?
Thanks


Bill