With the warnings about do not burn plywood, treated wood, painted wood and the likes. Are Eco-Bricks ok? I have a couple cubes left from 2 years ago. I also have some painted wood from remodeling cut up as kindling. Will a little bit of painted wood harm the cat? Just talking a sample taste.
I believe ECO bricks are fine as they are raw wood, the same as wood pellets (which are both OK to burn in a cat. based stove). Painted wood is not great for a cat., especially if it is lead paint. Plus, throwing the toxins into the atmosphere is probably not the greatest idea ever..... That said, to address your question, it depends on how the AS is bypassed. An Ideal Steel actually slides the cat. back and out of the way so little- to- no smoke goes through it when the bypass is open. Most cat. stoves just use a second 'slot' to vent smoke around the cat. though and I <believe> the AS is that way, which means you really cannot stop anything you burn from passing through the cat. even if the bypass is open. Plus it depends on how much paint of course. Certainly a dab of painted wood here and there is not going to destroy a catalytic combustor but a steady diet of, say, house remodeling left-overs is probably a bad idea. Brian
I agree, a few spots of paint here and there may not be a cause for concern but I wouldn’t split up painted or stained wood for kindling. The accumulative effects over a little time might be enough to do some damage. As for the bricks, I intend to try a few different ones out for future reference and I see a few manufacturers have information on their websites about how to get the best performance out of them. One suggested placing a few pushed tightly together on the bottom of the firebox with wood on top in a mixed load so it will slowly burn down into the bricks as opposed to throwing them on top where they’ll go up like a match.
There are different types of bricks. Some are mixed with wax and sold at supermarkets for fireplace use, do not use those in your car stove. Some are low density but pure wood. These puff up a lot when they burn and are only “acceptable” in your cat stove. The good ones are pure sawdust and very dense. These are fine in a cat stove but start out with just a few to get a feel for them. The common brand in my area is NIEL logs, for north Idaho energy logs. Cordwood is cheaper but if you don’t have cordwood then these logs are a reasonable substitute and likely cheaper than any other source of heat.
You may be right but I <think> pure paraffin wax, which is what is used, is OK even in a cat. stove. I believe this because the stove fire- starters are also bound with wax and they claim they are fine for cat. based stove use. Not to get too far off- topic, I believe 'pure and clean' petroleum is OK for cat. stove use too. Of course all the usual warnings and disclaimers apply and it is ALWAYS a bad idea to add any liquid fire accelerant, even fire- starting gel, to a stove that is not completely cold but.... alcohol, which is what fire starting gel uses as the initiator is OK in a cat. based stove and I believe kerosene is also when used with something like a fire- starting brick (where one soaks the brick in kerosene, then puts the brick in the stove under a load of firewood and lights the brick to start a fire). As always, the rule 'never use anything but pure wood' in a woodstove will prevent any kind of trouble. But the fact is that a lot of things can be burned in a stove, even a cat. stove, safely but there are also many things that should NOT be burned in any type of fire, such as pressure treated wood, so mfgs. typically just default to 'Nothing but pure, clean wood'. This is always the problem with 'always' and 'never'; those words almost never apply but the only replacement is common sense and a bit of knowledge which is where so many people fall down, unfortunately. That is why I always remember the wisest words of advise my father game me when he said "Son, remember, always......" wait, was it 'always' or was it 'never'? I cannot remember but it was good advice..... Brian
