Question for all Catalytic stove owners

I'd recommend putting a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector near the stove. If you are smelling smoke, I'd be more worried about the things you wouldn't otherwise be able to smell or notice.
I'd also like to know what stove make and model you are using. I can understand not wanting to bash a reputable company, but without being more specific, I don't know how else people could zero in on what might actually be occurring.
Last but not least, my house doesn't smell like "smoke" but it definitely smells like a house with a wood burning stove in it.

 

Thanks RGrant. Yep, smoke detector and CO2, both boxes checked. I'm actually not interested in troubleshooting what's occurring, been there done that and it's been discussed ad nauseam on other forums. I am just looking for a point of reference from other stove owners as to what if anything you smell coming from your stove.

 

Question slightly off topic for folks who have cat stoves. Bear with me as I have zero cat stove experience and only have a basic understanding of them.

When you retire for the eventing do you leave the cat engaged? If so, is it safe too? From my little understanding/knowledge cat shouldn't be engaged till stove reaches certain temp so I guess another question becomes what if the stove falls below that temp throughout the night? Can it be damaged should that happen?

I am interested in learning more about them as perhaps one day I seek a stove with longer burn times. Thanks!

 

Seldom. Usually weather related. or cold start.

Nature of the beast. Can't change the weather.

I've had a few back puffing issues with the IS (hybrid).
Don't remember any with the Fireview.

 

The reason that you need the cat to be at active temperatures before engagement is so that the cat is ready to eat the nasty smoke just as soon as you engage the cat by closing the bypass. Otherwise the smoke can condense on the cold catalyst and coat it with goo which would mask the metals from exposure to smoke. At the back end of the fire, there is no smoke to burn or condense into goo so the cat just runs out of food and cools off cleanly.

So no, you leave it engaged until you open the bypass and to reload.

I fill the stove after I get home from work at 6 or so, walk right past it in the morning as I leave for work, come home and eat dinner before reloading it again for the next 24 hour cycle. The long burn times are hugely important, especially for folks that are away from the house for long periods of time. The house just stays warm without cycles.

 

THIS..........Wow, that is really impressive to be able to have that type of burn time!! Am just looking to make it through from bedtime to morning time with a good heat output. Really makes me re-think things going forward if I have the chance to upgrade in this house or another house. Longer burn times & and using less wood

Thanks Highbeam for shedding some light on it, much appreciated!!!!

 

I have had 2 straight catalytic, a CDW and a WS Fireview, and also have a WS Absolute hybrid.

No smells. Sometimes a smell can come from around the 90 bends where the flue pipe enters a chimney. Or other locations where some creosote can build up. That can cause a bit of a sniff when you get that burning/melting. Just a thought.

 

My experience has not been good for over 3 years now I have chased, a burning metallic smell from my absolute steel, it smells like burning paint/metal, ( only smells over 350deg, tried different gaskets,pieces, and tear down of stove to see if I could find the problem, but no change)not sure if this is the normal with a steel stove or we have overly sensitive noses, or something is wrong with the stove,but it has to go.

 

Have you contacted WS about this? I’d heard they are outstanding to deal with and are very helpful. Sorry for the issues and hope you can get it handled.


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How strong is the smell? I know if I get my Ideal Steel cranking, like it is right now with the stove top around 400 plus I can smell it a little. Smells a little sweet. I ithink it's the catalyst doing its job. whenever I go outside and the wind is right I can smell the catalyst "exhaust " for a lack of a better term, and it has a slight sweet smell to it. Call me crazy I guess....

 

Yes I have spoke to them about it, they shipped me a new gasket and block off plate which did not help, they have been very helpful but have not heard back from them now in 5 weeks,Its a very distinct burning metal smell, so either the catalyst emanates it or the stovetop when hot, my wife cant take it she starts coughing nonstop and has to retreat to the bedroom and block off the bottom of the door with blankets, not exactly what we had planned on....... so for now I had give up burning with it ,just a decoration for the living room... and at least I am not depleting my firewood hoard, I hope to hear back from them someday...

 

andrew a

Have you started a separate thread to address this issue? Possibly get some input that will get some wheels turning! If I missed it, disregard...

 

That's really a shame, hope you can figure this out or get some help to resolve your problem.

 

Yeah, those burn times do sound impressive until you factor in the "good heat output" that you want. If you look at his signature you'll see that he's located in the PNW where average winter low temps are about fifteen degrees higher than what I see here, where winter's not that bad to begin with. Even my dinky 1.5 cu.ft. box will get low-output "long burns" in mild conditions. People who have run his model of stove next to their not-cats in more average winter climates report similar burn times to get similar heat out of similar amounts of wood.

 

I’ve burned a non cat in the same place as my BK. It’s in my family room not my basement. My BK heats circles around my Lopi stove in any weather condition. Highbeam has the same experience.

If the stove is in an uninsulated basement a non cat will be fine most the time, in the living space a cat stove from BK or Woodstock can’t be beat.

 

I have an Ideal Steel, and the only time I smell “chimney” or creosote is when there is a reverse draft and the stove isn’t running. Usually this happens in the fall or spring, when we get air inversions or whatever they’re called.

 

I sometimes get a "hot metal" kind of smell as well when my stove is really rolling along. Same for when I get a whiff of exhaust outside. I dont know if it reminds of a sweet smell., but definetly a distinct smell. Doesn't drive us out of the house or cause irritation. When I smell it, I know the stove is cranking along.

 

Heheh.

The guy I've seen comparing the two most often, most recently, is heating from an insulated basement, but also had it uninsulated before that. But I don't see why running upstairs or downstairs would make too much difference in comparing cat to non-cat as long as both stoves were in the same place on the same chimney with the same wood, and you get an apples-to-apples comparison of output.

I've seen several other posters (besides 'basement guy' ) say that if they need more than shoulder-season heat, they have to shove down the accelerator on the BK and use the blower, and they report burn times in line with other stoves. It's hard for me to understand how the BK can "run circles around" your non-cat, since there's a set number of BTUs in a pound of wood. Not sure how big the firebox was on your Lopi, but I don't think any difference in efficiency would be enough to change the BTU output of a set load all that much. Highbeam had the NC 30, so that's about equal in firebox size to his Princess I think.
I've never owned a non-cat so I can't compare one to the cat stoves I've run, and I've never run a BK. However, I'm getting a bit of non-cat experience since I picked up a PE T5 for my SIL, which I can compare to her previous cat for output. We've only burned partial loads so far but the T5 seems to be getting long heat output even on the short loads. We'll see how it does this winter with full loads..I know PE is supposed to get some of the longest burns of the non-cats. No stench noted, and I drafts like crazy.
It should be informative, once the EPA gets the efficiency and output numbers more standardized. I know that they started basing the efficiency numbers on LHV in 2015, so those changed from earlier reported numbers. Sweep's Library - Wood Stove Efficiency Ratings
Now, I don't discount your evaluation of output in the least; You make many, many good points in your posts and I respect your opinions. That Highbeam guy can be a little dodgy, though..

Well, I've successfully de-railed another thread, so I'll try to get it back on track. I've heard a few reports of some smoke smells or draft issues with the Woodstock steel stoves, but I can say that with the models I've run, there has been virtually no smell. Now, I can whiff a little creo smell if I stick my nose on top of my Keystone, right above the top flue cover (stove is rear-vented) but I'm thinking that gasket should be replaced since it's the original and is eight years old. "Near the stove" I smell nothing. I ain't got a super-sniffer though. I'd have confidence recommending a Ws straight cat stove, but they never made a big one with a 2.5 or so cu.ft. firebox. Not sure why they have that hole in their lineup, but I bet a straight-cat Ws of that size would be capable of super-long burns. The Fireview just isn't going to be big enough to heat a lot of folks' homes..
Maybe if InTheWoods is super-sensitive to any kind of odor, he'll need to go back to what he knows will eliminate that for sure, one of his previous non-cats..

 

Woody Stover. I view the benefit of cat stove as it’s ability to burn low and control the burn rate. For my space my Lopi wasn’t controllable, it overheated the space and blew through wood faster than needed/wanted.(even when cold) In a basement type space most people probably won’t be able to enjoy the low output of a cat stove and have it heat their space. If a higher burn rate is required cat and non cat stoves are more even and firebox size is what matters.(sounds like we agree on this part).

 

Don't forget that a catalyst, when ignited, utilizes the waste smoke as fuel that would otherwise be going up the chimney having gone past the secondary tubes. Enough heat to incinerate a few more micrograms of Particulate Matter than the secondary tubes do. With most catalysts right under the stove top, that extra heat is being transferred to the stove top. Not all of it, but enough of it.
I view the benefit of a catalyst as giving the wood stove the ability to take advantage of ( and even function when there aren't the temps available for secondaries to function) a low burn rate, not control it.