Steel cat stoves?

[SigElec]

Going to get back into burning wood next year after a 20 year lapse. House is a 1000 sq ft 60's ranch in North Central Missouri.
Primary heat now is a gas space heater, get good circulation throughout the house so am not concerned about that. My wife likes the
simple pedestal steel stove (so do I) but I had more or less decided that I would like to have a cat stove. I am concerned that during
the shoulder seasons that a non-cat would run us out of the house if run hot enough to maintain secondary burn. Maybe I'm worried about
nothing. I plan on wood being primary heat 24/7 and need productive 8 to 9 hours of heat. The only steel cat stove I have found
so far is Appalachian 4NI xl, which is an insert on legs that a local dealer carries. Non-cats I've been looking at online include
Napoleon 1400, PE Super 27, Quad 3100 and Country Flame 2600 (made here in MO). I welcome any and all comments and recommendations
as the amount of knowledge and helpful people on this site is like no other I have been on.

Ron

 

[webbie]

Blaze King makes a steel cat.
So does Energy King...

You might be right that certain non-cats may be too much in the shoulder season, but if you size your unit right - say under 2.3 cubic feet or so, then you should be OK. A cat will give a longer burn in the same size firebox, which may be a plus. Then again, there is a lot more selection of the non-cats. Compare the firebox sizes in the exact models you are considering.

 

[SigElec]

Knew about Blaze King, forgot to mention them. I have been studying non-cats also, the ones listed are all 2 to 2.3 CF firebox units so will probably wind up going with one of them.
Thanks a lot for the info.

 

[daleeper]

Hey neighbor, welcome to Hearth.com

I have been studying new stoves also. Where is the local dealer that handles Appalachian stoves? I have not heard of them. There web site does not even mention anything about the cat. I would like to know more about them.

I too would like a stove with cat, for the same reasons you list, but are hard to find locally. My budget is short, so have been watching for good late model used stoves, with no luck so far.

Good luck in your search.

 

[SigElec]

Hi daleeper

Controlled Aire in Moberly is the dealer. Downside is they don't have any on the floor to look at but they had a brochure that had a little more info than the website. Where are you located, I'm in Macon.

 

[daleeper]

I'm south of Trenton. I will be traveling through there Monday, I will try to stop by. Are you aware of any wood stove dealers in Columbia, as I will be there a few days next week? The only wood stove dealer close to me is in Jamesport called Montana Log and Hearth. Here is their website http://www.montanalogandhearth.com/ There main brand is Harmon.

 

[crazy_dan]

best fire stove in jefferson city 1-573-893-2525
fireside supply columbia 573-474-3788
the fireplace shop columbia 573-474-4075
star heating and air columbia 877-221-1122 (toll free #)
advanced chimney columbia 573-442-4400
all weather heating and A/C columbia 573-874-8076
brunner-peters heating and A/C columbia 573-443-3660

I have only dealt with best fire in jeff and that was only for gasket rope these are the ones in the yellow pages of the phone book for columbia hope it helps

 

[daleeper]

Crazy Dan

Thanks for the list. I checked out those in Columbia, and got to view a few stoves I had not seen before. Nobody stocked any cat stoves though.

 

[crazy_dan]

glad it helped
it doesn't seem that cats are in demand around here

 

[TMonter]

My Quadrafire works okay on the shoulder season and it's a non-cat with a 2.0 cubic foot firebox. I usually just make sure to start small fires and it's not a problem. When days start getting above 60 is where it becomes tough to regulate.

 

[TheFlame]

My Quadrafire works okay on the shoulder season and it's a non-cat with a 2.0 cubic foot firebox. I usually just make sure to start small fires and it's not a problem. When days start getting above 60 is where it becomes tough to regulate.

The problem with small fires is that they are inefficient. Without getting the stove hot enough to have secondary burn your efficiency is much lower.

The more I learn about stoves the more I keep thinking that catalytic stoves are a pretty good idea.

 

[jpl1nh]

I really don't understand why people are hesitant about cat stoves. There are a few simple rules you need to follow to avoid rapid cooling of the combustor such as not adding wood with ice to your stove and then engaging the cat, not using wet wood, but DUH!! kind of basic common sense. Can't burn trash, you need to get the flue gas temps up to 500+ before engaging, that's mostly it. They are very easy to control and give great, clean long burns, and can burn efficiently at cooler temps than secondary burn stoves. You can burn them hot if you need to. Yes you have to replace the combustor every 3-4 years, sooner if you don't pay attention to the simple rules above. Combustor costs $100-125 or maybe 30-35 a year. It seems to me they offer good burns in a wider range of situations than non-cats. IMHO they are a great way to go.

 

[BrotherBart]

If the damned things would just fit into my fireplace! >:-(

 

[SigElec]

I just wish there a greater selection of cat stoves, especially in simple steel stoves.

 

[North of 60]

I just wish there a greater selection of cat stoves, especially in simple steel stoves.

Ill give you a hint! It starts with the second letter in the alphabet. A few $$$ though. Was worth it to me. ;-P

 

[SigElec]

Hint acknowledged. I'm going to call a dealer for quote, but from what I've seen online don't know if I can get the budget to streeeeetch that far or not.

 

[jpl1nh]

If the damned things would just fit into my fireplace! >:-(

Is it true that no one makes a catalytic insert??

 

[jpl1nh]

If the damned things would just fit into my fireplace! >:-(

Is it true that no one makes a catalytic insert??

Whoops, VC Winterwarm..BB would that fit?

 

[SigElec]

Country Flame and Appalachian have catalytic inserts.

 

[BrotherBart]

If the damned things would just fit into my fireplace! >:-(

Is it true that no one makes a catalytic insert??

Whoops, VC Winterwarm..BB would that fit?

From the things I have heard about the Winterwarm, and that it is being discontinued, I wouldn't have one. Of course I don't ever plan to have an insert again given the better heat output of the free stander in that fireplace.

Buck Stoves makes a cat insert but it needs an eight inch liner. If I ever did go to a cat insert it would be the Sierra 4700 TEC.

 

[dpecota]

Hi SigElec,

You might look at Buck stoves they have three cat stoves. I installed an insert into my fireplace this year and began running full time on November 4th. I decided I wanted a cat stove also. I looked at Buck stoves. I ended up installing a Kuma Sequoia model. It is trivial to operate and run smoke free. One nice thing about the Kuma is the cat is right in the front of the stove. You look through the door and watch it glow and inspect it for dirtiness. I open the front door and vacuum/blow the cat to clean any ash. I have seen some stoves where the cat is buried in the back and not visible. I would not consider this type of design. You will have to let the stove cool and remove parts to inspect and clean it. You may also do service when it is not necessary. I have burned two cords so far and the cat has never really gotten dirty. I don’t think the cat gets very dirty unless you open the door with the cat by-pass shut. Opening the stove door causes a whirlwind of embers that can get caught in the cat. With the cat in the front you get good blast of hot air and smoke smell in the face and don’t do it again with the bypass closed. I ignite the cat with stove top temp of 350 degrees and a good clean flame. I get a dull glow within a minute. You do not need a 500 deg stove top temp to engage a cat. You need 550 degree gasses and a 300 or so degree stove mass. You only want to spend the money once. The secondary burn choices make it a hard decision. I am very happy with cat technology.

One thing I found when investigating stoves with the baffle secondary burn is that some manufactures say to only fill the fire box to the top the fire brick. This resulted in a much smaller “usable” fire box than advertised. The space above the brick was included in the fire box size advertised. I assume the open space above the insulated part is needed to get good secondary burn. I bring this up since the true amount of fresh wood you can add for an “over night” is an absolute limit on the amount of energy you can possibly trickle out of the stove. Also remember you start with at least two inches of coals for an “over night” and end usually end with two inches of coals. The coal volume is less fresh wood (less total possible energy).

Dean

 

[daleeper]

Hey SigElec

Dragging up an old thread for an update.

From the looks of your sig. you have a blaze king now, so you were able to make the budget stretch that far?. Tell us the story, or is there another thread about it. When was it installed, how does it work, and where did you get it? In particular, how does it burn in the shoulder season for you, does it burn you out, or are you able to keep it low, yet burning efficiently?

Thanks.