Woodstoves, Catalytic vs Non-Catalytic?

[avalancher]

Excuse my ignorance, but I am tired of my local dealers and their hype about what ever type of stove they have in stock, I am looking for real world info.

I have always heated my home with a wood stove, but sadly know very little about em.I am looking to replace my old cast iron stove with something a little more efficient,sadly my days of cutting wood may be coming to an end real soon due to an injury, and I am not going to be able to crank out the wood volume like I used to, at least according to the doc.

I am looking at catalytic vs non-catalytic.which is more efficient?Which cranks out the most heat?which uses more wood?
My local dealers have very conflicting ideas.One dealer nearby says that the Catalytic will use less wood, but wont crank out the heat like a non-catalytic.Other dealer says just the opposite.

Right now we burn 8-12 cords a year to heat a 2000 sqft home and a 24X60 shop.I need to knock those numbers back a good bit.
Any ideas without relying on the gas man?

 

[Wet1]

A well designed cat stove should burn less wood, burn longer on a load, and still throw out a ton of heat. The down side is the cat may need replacing as often as every 6 to 10 years.

Take a real good look at the Blaze King "King"... that baby should put out plenty of heat for you (that's THE stove up in Alaska) and save you a lot of wood every year.

 

[husky455rancher]

when i was buying my insert i looked into it. supposidly the cat stove throws more heat and loses a bit less wood. the cat must be replaced every 5 years or so says the salesman. i passed oj the cat stove. my reasoning is (like most things i buy it seems) after a few years of owning it cant find parts for anything. i figured 10-15 years down the line the dealer would be like no they stopped making those 5 years ago.

might be twisted logic at best but i like to keep things simple too.

hope all goes well with the injury. i know you hit the woods pretty hard most weeks.

 

[Marc]

Lots and lots of information about this subject on the forums at **********.

Cat stoves tend to be a bit more efficient than non-cat stoves.

As far as "throwing heat"... just size the stove right for the space and either will work fine.

It comes greatly down to personal prefernce... I honestly believe you won't notice the difference in efficieny (as far as wood consumption goes) much between a well designed, secondary burning non cat and the average cat stove. Check the EPA rated particulate output... that gives you a general idea of expected efficiency.

 

[coog]

I have always heated my home with a wood stove, but sadly know very little about em.I am looking to replace my old cast iron stove with something a little more efficient,sadly my days of cutting wood may be coming to an end real soon due to an injury, and I am not going to be able to crank out the wood volume like I used to, at least according to the doc.


Forgive me for asking, but is it your elbow?

 

[avalancher]

I have always heated my home with a wood stove, but sadly know very little about em.I am looking to replace my old cast iron stove with something a little more efficient,sadly my days of cutting wood may be coming to an end real soon due to an injury, and I am not going to be able to crank out the wood volume like I used to, at least according to the doc.


Forgive me for asking, but is it your elbow?

Uh,yeah!Are you the neighborhood psychic or something?LOL

Elbow this year has been bothering me a good bit, a bit more than the "tennis Elbow" we all get at the end of the season of pitching wood.
Went to the doc, then to a specialist last week.Ligaments and tendons are torn in my forearm, gonna have to have surgery.Doc told me that repeative work like pitching wood is going to be off limits from now on, or at least on a very limited basis.
I aint planning on cashing in yet, what the heck to they all know anyway,but I am going to be prepared if it takes longer to heal up than I plan on.My old stove is a wood guzzler, but I never cared before.Gave me an excuse for mountains of firewood in the back.

 

[coog]

Good luck with the surgery.If you are religious about the therapy you should be good as new, without the pain.A year off will give you time to reduce that pile in the backyard.