Leaving house but cat not ready to close!

[edge-of-the-woods]

Hi all, I had a fire started this morning, but since it's been damp out, the wood isn't as dry as it was, and it took longer to start than I thought.

I had to leave the house to get to work on time, but the cat wasn't up to temp on the stove yet, so I shut down the main damper and left the cat open. Is there anything else/better that I could have done?

Thanks!

 

[Jags]

Every wood burner experiences this and those that don't are lying. Every year I get at least one load that just doesn't want to do normal stuff. Its always when you are on the way to work or to a meeting or some dang thing that you don't want to be late for. I think mother nature does this just to remind us of whose is the boss.

There probably isn't much more you can do. In my non-cat I simply shut it to normal position and hope I don't come home to black glass. More often than not - I find that the fire turns around and acts right at some point.

It just happens.

 

[firefighterjake]

Every wood burner experiences this and those that don't are lying. Every year I get at least one load that just doesn't want to do normal stuff. Its always when you are on the way to work or to a meeting or some dang thing that you don't want to be late for. I think mother nature does this just to remind us of whose is the boss.

There probably isn't much more you can do. In my non-cat I simply shut it to normal position and hope I don't come home to black glass. More often than not - I find that the fire turns around and acts right at some point.

It just happens.

Same here . . . happens occasionally . . . as I pull away and see smoke coming from the chimney I find myself imaging all kinds of creosote building up, woodstove glass gunking up with a thick, black crud and a bunch of half charred wood in the firebox . . . and then I get home and find nothing but ash and some small coals, the glass is fine 9 times out of 10 and when I clean the chimney it looks the same as it always does.

I suspect there is a world of difference for folks that routinely choke down their stove and folks that do it rarely when they have to leave their home without getting things set . . . .

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

Thanks for that! What about letting it burn half open or 1/4 open on the main damper, with the cat fully open? Is that better for the stove than everything choked down?

 

[Jags]

Thanks for that! What about letting it burn half open or 1/4 open on the main damper, with the cat fully open? Is that better for the stove than everything choked down?

I would for sure practice this before implementing. Without knowing how your stove reacts to those settings there is no way I can tell you if it will over fire or not.
Sounds like a weekend experiment to me...

ETA: I "know" where my normal draft setting is on a "normal" burn, that is why I can set it and be comfortable with the fact that it isn't gonna run away from me. It could go the other way (smolder), but I would rather have that possibility than an overfire.

 

[MJFlores]

I flip the CAT on and leave...the fire will catch up eventually. To be truthful, with my new liner I can engage the CAT now within 10 minutes of lighting a fire. No more waiting for temps to slowly creep up!

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

I flip the CAT on and leave...the fire will catch up eventually. To be truthful, with my new liner I can engage the CAT now within 10 minutes of lighting a fire. No more waiting for temps to slowly creep up!

See that's what I would do, if there wasn't so much advice against it.

How is it bad to run the stove with the cat engaged before it gets to temp, when eventually, if you burn overnight....the temps are going to fall and you'll still be running the stove with the cat closed?

If running the stove with the cat closed at too low a temp is a problem, shouldn't everyone with a cat stove be waking up at 4am to either load more wood or open the cat?

 

[mustash29]

Wood off gasses earlier in the burn, not later. I'm sure every species does this at a different part of the burn cycle. If your wood is damp (recent precipitation) or wet (unseasoned) off gassing will be delayed until the wood dries out & the stove gets up to temp.

I've never burnt a cat, but my understanding is that repeated choking, smoldering & use of less than seasoned wood will clog the cat.

So the general rule is to get up to temp, then engage the cat. IMO, occasionally engaging early should not be much of a problem.

As far as the late stage of the burn, the gasses have already baked out by the time you get into the coaling stage, at that point, you are not doing any harm having the cat engaged at lower temps.

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

Wood off gasses earlier in the burn, not later. I'm sure every species does this at a different part of the burn cycle. If your wood is damp (recent precipitation) or wet (unseasoned) off gassing will be delayed until the wood dries out & the stove gets up to temp.

I've never burnt a cat, but my understanding is that repeated choking, smoldering & use of less than seasoned wood will clog the cat.

So the general rule is to get up to temp, then engage the cat. IMO, occasionally engaging early should not be much of a problem.

As far as the late stage of the burn, the gasses have already baked out by the time you get into the coaling stage, at that point, you are not doing any harm having the cat engaged at lower temps.

Ahhhhhhh, thank you! I like knowing the science behind something. Much obliged!