I can't believe I've been burning catalytic stoves for 20+ years and still wondering about this ... But I'm wondering whether or not I should leave the catalyst engaged (in other words, the bypass closed) when I'm going to be ignoring the stove for 8-12 hours or more and the catalyst is likely to become inactive during this time.
Many times, before going to sleep and/or to work the next day, I COULD load the stove up with wood and probably keep the catalyst active until I return. But it just seems like a waste of wood when it's not that cold, and there will still be plenty of coals to easily re-start the fire the next evening.
If I leave the catalyst engaged, I will get clean/efficient burning for a good bit of that time (until the fuel is all used up and it can't stay active); this seems like a good thing. The downside of leaving the cat engaged seems to be that once it goes inactive and the flue gasses are still being forced to pass through it, it may tend to make it get clogged. However, I'm thinking this clogging shouldn't be such a problem because by then there *isn't* much in the way of flue gasses, and to the extent they leave deposits on the cat, the next good hot fire will burn them off anyhow. OTOH, it's not that simple (on the BK, as opposed to a Dutchwest) to just pull the cat out and brush it off or gently vacuum it (yes, I noted a way in which the BK is not as good asd my old stove).
So I'm tempted to say "leave it engaged", but thought I'd seek the advice of folks here.
Many times, before going to sleep and/or to work the next day, I COULD load the stove up with wood and probably keep the catalyst active until I return. But it just seems like a waste of wood when it's not that cold, and there will still be plenty of coals to easily re-start the fire the next evening.
If I leave the catalyst engaged, I will get clean/efficient burning for a good bit of that time (until the fuel is all used up and it can't stay active); this seems like a good thing. The downside of leaving the cat engaged seems to be that once it goes inactive and the flue gasses are still being forced to pass through it, it may tend to make it get clogged. However, I'm thinking this clogging shouldn't be such a problem because by then there *isn't* much in the way of flue gasses, and to the extent they leave deposits on the cat, the next good hot fire will burn them off anyhow. OTOH, it's not that simple (on the BK, as opposed to a Dutchwest) to just pull the cat out and brush it off or gently vacuum it (yes, I noted a way in which the BK is not as good asd my old stove).
So I'm tempted to say "leave it engaged", but thought I'd seek the advice of folks here.
But I'm confused about your saying it's easy to pull. I thought it was tightly fitted in with a gasket, which would likely disintegrate and require replacement upon removal.
