As others here will certainly agree, no one should ever burn unseasoned wood. Regardless of the technology employed, the amount of particulates increases greatly with increase in moisture content. Throwing wet or ice laden pieces of wood into the fire can cause thermal shock. Thermal shock in a catalytic wood stoves is when the combustor is exposed to a rapid change in temperature. Thermal shock can also occur when there is a constant room air leak into a firebox. Thermal shock can occur to all sorts of substrate materials (metal and ceramic) and also to other metals used in wood stoves.
It is often suggested in threads that catalytic wood stoves are less "accepting" of fuel that is not properly seasoned. A friend of mine that owns a stove company once pointed out during his comments to EPA during the promulgation of the 2015 NSPS, data that showed catalytic wood stoves are LESS sensitive to increased moisture content that other technologies. NESCAUM, a New England based environmental agency, just posted to their site (nescaum.org) several (6) reports. In those reports, the data supplied to EPA by my friend is verified that in fact, catalytic wood stove emissions are influenced less than other technologies when subjected to higher levels of MC. They are also less "fussy" about species of the wood being burned, in terms of emissions. I point this out only to say there is data to support my friends contention...and not just his own.
Also, to be abundantly clear, DO NOT BURN UNSEASONED WOOD regardless of what wood stove you select. While it is true PM (particulate matter) does contribute to the formation of creosote, we must all be good stewards of wood burning. Someone that does not burn wood driving by a house with smoke pouring out of the chimney can still vote!!
There are several other good data points in the studies referenced above making them a good read. As to combustor lifespan. I have written this many times before, combustors are like tires. On day one, traction is amazing. Depending upon how you care for your tires and maintain air pressure, accelerate etc., you can influence how long the tire will last. And no matter how well you care for the tires, they will one day need replacing. If you drive race cars you can tell the tires need replacing sooner than let's say a regular motorist. These professionals are, for all intent and purpose, one with the car.
Well, here on this site, we have some race car drivers. Many of them are in fact engineers. They are very educated, experienced and contribute to wonderful degrees of wood stove academia. If I were researching a wood stove for my home, this site is the first site I would visit. We get hundreds of phone call every day, from all over North America. Very often these callers reference this site as a contributor to their understanding of wood stoves 101. I am 100% certain lives have been saved, homes preserved and burning practices improved from these contributors. But it is still a very tiny subset of folks that burn wood. (It is growing)
The actual lifespan is of course measured in hours, as pointed outed out by others. However, the vast majority of BK owners experience much greater lifespan than just 3-4 seasons. Applied Ceramics or Clariant (the only 2 actual manufacturers of wood stoves combustors based in the USA) can both verify this point. To be 100% clear, combustor do diminish in efficacy over time. 90% of BK owners experience 8-10 years, that is why we offer a 10-year, 100% warranty (not against manufacturers defects) but against any failure. We see these limited failures as a teachable moment. Thankfully, many here also help to remind stove owners to maintain a tight door seal and burn properly seasoned wood, both are contributors to thermal shock. But even if you do everything correctly, you will at some point, need a new combustor.
There are a few BK owners here that regularly suggest they are willing to purchase a new combustor at specific intervals to save on the amount of fuel burned and produce less PM (smoke).
The data just produced by NESCAUM states there are 12.5 MILLION wood and pellet burners (households) is the USA. If this is accurate and assuming there are 500 "contributors to all the above", that means 0.0004% of households are sharing their experiences here. We need more. We send thousands of folks to this site each year. Some are looking for parts for other stoves, looking for a used stove (we do not sell them), input of stove placement etc. We also send folks that have issues here because they want a second, third or more opinions.
And don't even mention backwards spring or decals with numbers, that really gets the nest humming! Seriously, a incredibly finite, less than 5 people a year (of stoves with varying age) have any issues at all with the thermostats. Many of those are our fault because the set screw in the black knob was not torqued correctly and when fixed, the problem is resolved. That's not to say we should have gotten it correct in the first place!
Thankfully the troops here rise to the occasion and regardless of what stove you select, they all truly want you to be happy, safe and warm!
BKVP
