Non-Cat Insulation Question?

[Dilier23]

Reading through the "how to choose a stove" article on another site i ran across a confusing comment about the cat vs non-cat comparison that I need some clarification on.

The article states the non-cat need to have a very insulated firebox to achieve a temperature high enough to achieve the secondary burn required to meet EPA regulations.

With no experience in the stove world this suggests to me that the firebox insulation would prevent the heat from reaching it's target, the outside environment the stove sits in? I also gathered that the cat stoves did not require that amount of insulation because the cat dropped the temps required for re-burn. If this is the case, it leads me to believe that the cat stoves by design would offer more usable heat because of the lack of insulation. Are my assumptions off base?

 

[CTYank]

Reading through the "how to choose a stove" article on another site i ran across a confusing comment about the cat vs non-cat comparison that I need some clarification on.

The article states the non-cat need to have a very insulated firebox to achieve a temperature high enough to achieve the secondary burn required to meet EPA regulations.

With no experience in the stove world this suggests to me that the firebox insulation would prevent the heat from reaching it's target, the outside environment the stove sits in? I also gathered that the cat stoves did not require that amount of insulation because the cat dropped the temps required for re-burn. If this is the case, it leads me to believe that the cat stoves by design would offer more usable heat because of the lack of insulation. Are my assumptions off base?

Insulated firebox, which can greatly increase combustion efficiency, is not a problem. Sure isn't in my Morso. Any proper stove doesn't just dump the gases from there, but rather routes them through areas of the stove that function as heat exchangers. (They're not just dumb box-stoves anymore.)

Refractory insulation material inside a stove's firebox provides another major benefit- protecting the iron/steel from the extreme heat of the fire. A major benefit. Some stoves used to use cast-iron protective liners, but they were reportedly of little help.

Insulating the firebox would seem to be a big plus for cat as well as non-cat, since cat stoves are often run with the cat "disengaged".

IOW, off-base.

PS: Firebrick has insulating effect, too, just summat less than the mineral wool above the baffle.

Check out stoves like Rais' from Denmark. Firebox insulation is blocks of sintered vermiculite. Quite a bit more delicate than firebrick, but excellent insulating properties. I like firebrick.

 

[Ronaldo]

My Pacific Energy has a blanket of ceramic wool on the top of the secondary baffle to help hold heat in the top of the firebox. This, according to the manual, helps keep the top of firebox temps higher and promotes the secondary combustion. This is the only insulation my model has.