Catalytic wood burning appliances

Well, if this shop can be heated with a couple birthday candles, then yes, I'm sure you are right.

 

Again, and I must not be saying this clearly enough so it's my fault, the stove can be burned on low or on high to match your desired heat load. Maximum burn time is on low. It's this WIDE range of outputs and corresponding burn times that make these cat stoves so special.

The stove is certainly making some heat on low which as I recall for the King the EPA says something like 15000 btu per hour which may be enough for just freeze protection or may be enough to keep a building fully warm depending on the specifics of the shop and the outdoor conditions. The flexibility to allow a very low and long burn OR a normal fast and hot burn is what makes these cat stoves so attractive.

People are building some pretty excellent shops these days with spray foam and such. Built better than most homes.

As far as heating with candles, yes, candles heat too. They put off a certain amount of btu as HEAT to the space. The interwebs say 80 btu/hr. Usually not enough heat for one or two to make a home warm in the winter but yes, they add heat to the space.

 

I hear what you saying brenndatomu, burn times are relative, I think I have had a 4o+ hour burn, I loaded stove on a Friday night and left for a wedding returning about 2 pm Sunday afternoon. I raked the ash into ash pan and loaded very dry wood and it flamed up.

it was the end of March so warmer about 50 out, house temp had dropped 15+ degrees and stove top was around 150*. If I had been home would have reloaded, if January backup heat would have been on, No question

 

That's all I'm saying...all I was ever saying...I'm sure the BKK is a great heater, and my point was just don't expect it to heat the typical "shop" in Wisconsin like it would a brand new super-insulated 1200 sq ft ranch in northern Kentucky. 2 different heat loads there...and 2 different burn time results, even for the almighty BKK.

 

I was looking at 1000 square foot of heating space. And yes, enough heat to keep from freezing. I know that no stove is designed to run on low for the majority of the time. But once I’m done working in the shop, I can fill it and turn it down to low and have heat till next morning or night. I would put forth efforts to prevent water lines from freezing. I also understand that firebox size plays a big factor in to how long of burn you get. I was looking more a cat vs secondary burn vs hybrid style on how to extend heat output. Cat stoves seem to burn longer because then the throttle back the air farther then a secondary burn type stove. But if firebox size is more of a factor then cat vs mom cat, I’ll just look for a furnace like my kumma. That has a 4.5 cubic foot fire box.


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The BK really is designed to burn on low for the majority of the time. That's how I burn mine 95% of the time. Cat stoves, the good ones at least, burn most efficiently and with lowest emissions at the low burn rates. This is because the slower moving smoke has more residence time in the cat. On low they make a constant even heat that is very comfortable and keeps everything warm.

Firebox size is a big factor (4.5 kuuma is big) but burn technology is more important for accomplishing maximum burn times at minimum burn rate. The kuuma being a noncat can't burn as slow but can easily make it overnight as you know. Put the same amount of wood in a BK king and it can be burned 3 times slower (at 1/3 the output) if you want. BK used to make a wood furnace with a cat that had these extended burn times but the market demand didn't justify recertification with ever tightening EPA regs. The smaller Woodstock IS at 3.2 cubic feet has been shown to accomplish 24 hour burns pretty dependably by forum members. It's a bit cheaper and can really make a lot of heat at the top end which is very important when you want to warm up that cold shop in the morning.

I was thinking about this thread and want to be sure that readers realize that the thermostat on the BK is for the stove temperature and not the room temperature. Wood furnaces can have room temperature thermostats.

I am in my house right now and there is a fire burning in my shop stove to warm it up since I have water lines in there like you. Kinda spooky. If my shop stove was a BK I would be happier knowing that the thermostat is keeping the stove from getting too hot and damaging something or too cold and smoldering. A wood furnace has controls that would accomplish this too.

Do you really need a longer burn time than a kuuma furnace on low? The best I can do on my noncat 3.5 CF stove is 6-8 hours. I depend more on thermal mass of the shop to carry me through the cold and windy nights without freezing anything. That big slab does a pretty good job of it.

 

Probably a little off topic, but we have a 1200 sq ft ranch on a crawl. Open floor plan with stove centrally located. If I were to install anything bigger than our Fireview It would be too much. We have had the stove for many years and have burned everything from pine to hickory and all other types in between. Overnight burns are commonplace, but it only has a 1.8 cu ft firebox. The company states 10 t0 12-hour burn time. True if loaded with the good stuff. Easy to operate and virtually trouble free over the years. My earlier comment on this thread about not getting on the 30 hour burn time train is only an opinion. I still have my doubts about such a long long time between loads with anything except OSBs.

 

Please dont fight about stoves. The OP asked a question and liked BK stoves long burn times, then we get into an argument about the merits of this?

BK does have the controls to go 24, 30, 40 hours on a single load. At first I thought this was not possible. But they do. And I'm impressed. It takes some very good control to take a stove down to the limit of the cat and hold it there without the cat going out. Also noted that a 30 hour burn spreads the same energy over much more time. Could be useful if the weather is merely cool and that is what you want.

I personally decided that I do not want to have a stove run for 24 hours or longer. The difference between night and day heat needs for me are such that I'd rather decide what/if to load 2+ times a day. I do want a stove that will easily go 9-10 hours overnight and still have hot coals in the am. 9-10 hours is long enough for a good nights sleep and to warm up some coffee so i can have a cup before thinking about what needs to be done for a reload. I'm sure a BK stove can be run this way too.

Someone else commented on another forum that he could only attend to his stove 1x a day in the evening. For him the BK was perfect. I'm glad it was there to meet his needs.

 

I don't know a ton about Wisconsin but cold / long winters come to mind.
If this is a shop that you work in daily- understanding that you're comfortable with how the air reburn stoves work- I think a benefit you might realize with a cat stove is being able to have it loaded and cut the air down so the stove burns through the night to keep some amount of heat going in your shop and allow for a quick reload in the morning.

The tough part in my mind is how pricey these stoves can tend to be. The Woodstock hybrid stoves run in the 2-3 thousand dollar range. These are the stoves that I'd recommend having the smallest of the stoves offered and being a really content user of the Survival.

If it's any help, I don't think I could see myself going to a non-cat stove after my experience running one. I'm on year 3 with the same catalyst. I bought a backup and I think I paid $160.
$160 across 3 years is like 53 bucks a year.

 

I feel same With IS yes the cat has gone up in $$ but I burn 60% less wood and am warmer! So if it costs me an extra $100 dollars a year for a cat AND I save 5 cord of wood and time and $
That’s a no brainer for me.

I also load heavy at night because my house is easier to keep warm than get warm

 

This is the tightrope I walk. Stove's been burning all day so the house is warm & I don't need it to be in the 70's through the night while we're all asleep- but I do want there to be coals in the morning so I can quickly get the stove up and going before I head out to work.
When it's frigid through the night I load it to the gills and let it rip through the night- but then again I don't get temps like you get.

The IS is a fantastic looking stove. These things are so much prettier in real life than when you see a picture of them.

 

Go with a non cat if your thinking of burning occasional scrap wood that could contain glues, paint, preservatives or other chemicals. This would destroy a catalyst in no time.

Years ago I burned a BK Princess in a 2000sq ft home in Western WI. Yes it did burn 24-30 hours and it was nice during the shoulder seasons but in the middle of winter it was burned just like a non cat doing an 8 hr reload schedule. Many non cats can go 12+ hours during the shoulder seasons which I feel is good enough.

 

I did have the Blaze King King at one time on a 6 inch pipe.I got 17 hrs of good heat out of it even though it wasn't installed up to specs.I could have gotten more burn time out of it but like it was mentioned the heat output wouldn't have been enough for my needs. I get 14 hrs of good heat out of my Heartstone one and nine to ten hours out of the Mansfield and that's good enough for me.They both have pipe dampers which prolongs the burn.

 

sorry to hear that...maybe your not experienced enough to run it to its output,or possibly had very poor fuel.

 

The seconday burn kicks in at a little higher burn rates. To me it makes too much sense to give the combustible gasses more air to burn efficiently. At lowest rate, a little air is fed to the wood, and more prehested air to the gasses coming off the wood. Secondary only systems dont give you as low a burn rates as cats since a higher temperature is required which necessitates a higher burn rate. In a hybrid system you get both - super low cat only burn plus the secondary kicking in at higher rates so that all the load isn't on the cat.

Thermal mass also contributes to burn time. A heavy stove holds its temperature and keeps the firebox temps hot and even. Its like an inductor. Downside is it takes longer to warm up a space when cold.

 

Nothing to be sorry about.I didn't want to install the eight inch pipe and I didn't really want the King.It was a deal I couldn't pass up since it was going for half price brand new.I had to go pick it up in Bangor Maine in February from a old timer who was going out of business.Anyway the only thing I look for in a stove is that it gives me the heat I need and burns long enough for me to get a good night's sleep and allows me to go to work and back while still putting out the btu's until I get home.I have the set up that allows me that and I'm happy.

 

I’m not so sure hybrid stoves can deliver both, maybe a few of the better designed stoves but many look to be set up for the cat to clean up whatever the secondaries miss.

 

That is the difference between a well designed hybrid and a poorly designed one. Lots of poorly designed hybrids flooded the market with the newest 2020 regs. It will take time for owners of these new models to form consensus on which are turds. I’m hoping that some of them turn out to be on par with the offerings of companies like Woodstock or kuma that were developing this hybrid technology before they had to. We all benefit from competition and options.

 

I'm learning lots do this is a good thread.