Another new stove thread from a newbie

Long time lurker, first time poster.

We recently bought a house with a fireplace on the main floor, and a chimney for a wood stove in the basement. It's laid out like a single story ranch upstairs, but it's actually a split level. The stairway is open down to the basement where the wood stove will be. Since the previous owners removed the wood stove, the house is left with mini splits, eletric radiant in the attic, and good old electric space heater style units in a few of the rooms.

I have a csia certified sweep coming in a few weeks to check out the status of everything, and to discuss some options for the wood stove.

After lurking here, I had pretty much decided on a IS, but the sweep is a Napoleon dealer, and suggested I take a look at them. He doesn't seem to love cat stoves, but he did say he would do the install, if I decide to buy an IS.

I understand the technological difference between the different types, but I'd like to hear some opinions on controllability, maintenance, and general ease of operation for an absolute newbie. Everybody talks about firing up the IS, then choking off the air, and letting the cat run. Is there any other way to run it?

I would be looking at a Napoleon independence or s4, and an IS if I go cat.

Also, I can't find efficiency numbers for the Napoleon stoves.

 

First off, casualty , welcome aboard.
Secondly, this should get interesting, as there are lots of folks here that have an IS (and other cat stoves). I'm sure they'll be along any minute now.
In the meantime, I'm grabbing a big bowl of , and I'll watch this unfold.

 

^^^^ what he said

And welcome casualty! It's good to have you here!

papadave got anymore of that ?

 

Sure....here ya' go....

 

Welcome casualty.
I’m a new cat stove owner myself with a WS Fireview with just a few fires in it. Prior to that I have decades of experience owning smoke dragons and secondary burn stoves. Based on my limited expectations so far I’m amazed at how much more efficient and easy to control this stove is compared to anything I’ve dealt with in the past. I can only imagine from the specs and the experiences shared on this board and others I’ve visited, the IS is even more so.
I have no knowledge of the stoves your dealer sells but maybe someone else here does. I’m sure you’ll get more input on the IS.

 

Thanks for the welcome.

I'll also mention that efficiency(real, not claimed) is probably the most important factor for me. I am looking forward to cutting some wood, but I don't want it to consume every free moment.

 

I can relate. I've cut our firewood use at least in half since we installed the HE furnace system.
Another thought, and it's a big one...........find the driest wood you can get your hands on. You'll find the whole process of burning wood MUCH more enjoyable when using dry instead of wet wood.
Is the house actually IN Lansing, or on the outskirts?

 

I am planning to cut wood this winter, and building a solar kiln to dry it out for next winter. Hopefully I can get enough cut this winter to get onto the 3 year plan ASAP. I've already got a meter, and intend to only burn it dry.

I am out in the country approx 15 miles west of Lansing.

 

Welcome to the club, casualty !
I think your gonna like it here!
You have found the best forum on the web!

I ran a Fireview (cat stove) for 3 years then switched to an IS (hybrid). (I've never used a non cat stove). The cat stoves are easy to run, you just have to get used to it... like any other stove.

I don't think there is a stove that is much more controllable than a Woodstock. I don't usually choke mine back till there are no flames and (cat burn). Mine is in the basement so it takes a good bit of air input to heat the main level.

There is a little maintenance to perform on the cat. (maybe 4-5 times per year) Usually it's just a couple minutes of brushing to get the dusty ash off the bottom side of the cat. Sometimes I'll use the shop vac to suck the dust out along with brushing with a paint brush. I'll use the vac to get the ash out of the top of the stove a couple times per year. Other than that, I clean the connector pipe once per year and I have only brushed the flue out once in 5 years. It runs that clean.

Like any other stove. Light a fire, bring it up to temp, and cut back the air as needed, engage cat over 300* stove top temp, cut air back again for desired output.

Maybe there is a reason for this...But
beware there are a few companies out there that inflate their numbers or use a different rating system that makes their stoves look more efficient. So it is hard to compare some stoves in the real world.

At the end of the day you can only compare how many BTU's you get out of the stove vs the pounds of wood you put in. You will get a more even temp out of a cat stove and it will burn longer (and give you enough hot coals to reload on at the end of the burn cycle) compared to a secondary air stove. And of course, the hybrid stove will give you the best of both worlds.

 

This is why I was hoping the efficiency would be listed in the EPA spreadsheet, but it isn't.


The hybrid/best of both worlds comment is one of the big selling points to me. It seems like it could be run in a variety on configurations, depending on different factors. That being said, nobody seems to deviate from the "get it hot, damper down, engage cat" method.

 

What other method would there be?

 

It isn't listed because the company didn't let the EPA test it....which tells me they don't want it EPA tested...
In my opinion...

 

I don't know, as I've never used one before. One of my questions is how they differ in use. My assumption was that there is a different process for each, but I couldn't tell you where that idea came from.

 

Grand Ledge?

 

Lots of family there, but I'm a bit further out.

 

Welcome aboard casualty

I look at my IS more in the sense of a traditional secondary stove, with the added heat output from the cat, as well as lower particulate emmissions.

Therefore the stove burns cleaner, and more efficiently.

Like many, I enjoy cutting and splitting wood, but also have no desire to be a slave to the stove.

Our old stove was terribly inefficient, and we burnt over a cord of wood before installing the IS in January.
Now, temps were moderate until December, and we went through 90% of the 1.3 cord in that month alone.

From January till around April, we went through about 1.7 cord of wood, with some prolonged nastiness during those months.

I am hoping to cut my wood use by at least 1/3, perhaps even 50% this year.

Ultimately, you run this stove the same as any other, aside from the cat.

 

Welcome aboard casualty .
Scotty Overkill is a Napolean stove owner.
Myself I really like my cat stove.

 

Welcome casualty To the FHC.

I have run cat stoves and non cat.. I really liked the efficiency of the cat stove. I'm on the phone, but a few years back I had a thread on the efficiency of wood stoves.
There is a federal EPA site that lists the efficiency numbers of a wood stoves.

In my experience, when I went from a non cat to Woodstock Ideal Steel my wood consumption, went from 11.5 cords to 4.5 cords the next year.

So basically I will do the 5-minute cleaning out the cat three times a year and whatever else they cost, with a smile on my face every time!

 

I run it this way because, I get more heat and burn less wood! You can run it with a cat open, or pull the cat out and run it like a regular wood stove.
But why would you want to burn more wood and get less Heat?