NW Fuels said:
Mo, I will change my wording from burning to heating for 8-10 hours.
Did you read the Sud Chemie results?
I read the Sud Chemie literature. It made reference to being safe for their cats "when following all of the proper burning and fire starting guidelines assisted by the Super Cedar Fire Starter". Aside from this, there was only the MDE lab report comparing the Durflame and Fat Wood starters and the North Idaho brochure, interesting all. The wording of the Sud Chemie lit seems to imply more detailed and cat specific instruction, and makes me wonder if the brief instruction copy on the Super Cedar puck is augmented by additional 'guidelines'. The word 'guidelines' brings to mind so much more than the simple instructions on the Super Cedar puck packaging.
As an informed and aware cat owner, I can tell you that I'd like to see something cat specific on the wrapper. "Burn at least one hour before engaging cat" or "Burn completely before engaging cat". But I can also understand that it might just set off unecessary alarms in some cat owners.
The fact seems to be that by the time the compressed logs are covered in flames, about a half hour has passed. It takes at least another half hour to heat the stove and the cat up to light off temp when the cat would get engaged. So now the Super Cedar has been burning for an hour (at a minimum - this could easily be up to an hour and a half in reality). The MDE report shows a 53 minute burn until the Super Cedar is smoldering. I'd assume all the wax is gone by then, otherwise, it would still be flaming like a candle does.
Like most things that deal with catalytic stoves, deduction and assumption seem always required. I guess it's not surprising that Super Cedar Fire Starters are not an exception.
The actual packaging on the Super Cedars only includes these directions, as you likely already know: "Open wrapper and light edge. Once ignited do not disturb. Each starter contains cedar sawdust & wax." Nothing about cat operation here. Is there something else that comes with a full box of these things?
Also, why would one want to engage a cat if it is not needed? Seems like a clean burn with the air shut down to where the logs flicker with flame. Or does this not heat enough?
The cat is always needed until all the distillable volitiles are driven from the wood, or wood product in our case. Otherwise, BTU's go up in smoke. Once the flames stop, theoretically you don't gain anything from cat combustion, not much anyway, but in practice, the smoke (and heat) path is lengthened by passing through the cat area, and baffles in the cat path continue to conduct heat into the stove and the room that would otherwise be lost quickly up the chimney if the bypass is open.
