Vermont Castings Resolute I efficiency

[Komrade]

I searched, but couldn't find any info. Are there any official or estimated numbers?

I know it's old, but it also burns wood gas. Any way to determine that's actually happenning, btw?

 

[webbie]

I'd say you are lucky if it's 45% or so efficient over the complete length of a burn. This would be the original resolutes. The Acclaim is probably 60%.

 

[Komrade]

How are the more modern non-catalytic stoves more advanced that they achieve efficiency in the 60 percent rage?
(broken link removed to http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/publications/monitoring/caa/woodstoves/certifiedwood.pdf)

 

[webbie]

Mostly just like any fuel burning appliance - proper mixing of the air with the fuel and keeping the temperatures high in the right places, etc. etc.

An engineer explained it to me as the three T's. Time, temperature and turbulence.

 

[Komrade]

Revisiting the numbers EPA posts, looks like they pull them out of their you know what..
All stoves with catalytic seem to have efficiency 72, all modern non-catalytic stoves seem to have efficiency of 63, all pellet wood stoves seem to have efficiency of 78.

I highly doubt stove performance is that uniform,

 

[webbie]

Revisiting the numbers EPA posts, looks like they pull them out of their you know what..
All stoves with catalytic seem to have efficiency 72, all modern non-catalytic stoves seem to have efficiency of 63, all pellet wood stoves seem to have efficiency of 78.

I highly doubt stove performance is that uniform,

Those are default efficiencies. Reality is very different. Each stove, wood, operator, chimney is going to differ - sometimes greatly.

It's probably smarter to underestimate in most cases...closer to the truth. Common sense will indicate that a free standing stove with an interior chimney and a few feet of exposed stovepipe will do much better than an insert with panels around it back in a cold fireplace. So a non-EPA old resolute burned correctly in the middle of a room will probably beat many EPA inserts in actual delivered efficiency into a room.