Catalytic vs. Secondary Burners

[sunfish]

Non-cat here. FS118CB Jotul. Love it!

 

[CrappieKeith]

my my my ...boys will be boys. I doubt Logbutcher is Pook...I know Pook's Pook'ese and Logbutcher does not speak it...plus we surely would have seen some mention of his heat-a-lator and cat piss soaked saw dust for fuel.

It's been said before by another furnace rep...and I agree...most...I'll repeat most of the wood burners out there are pretty good at what they were designed for...however for someone to make a claim..."claim" ..."I get 40 hours of burn time on 5- 8" rounds 20" long heating a 3000 s/f home when it is 0 outside...makes me go back back to the physics of it all. Even kiln dried wood is only capable of making 12,000 btu's per lb. Given the heat load..like I said 2 months ago...foul.

Now to have a smaller home in a warmer climate you might get longer burn times but then your talking about a whole lot of smoldering...but then the poster making the claims is saying no smoke is coming out of the flue and there is no creosote build up.

Maybe I'm missing something...could be...wouldn't be the 1st time...sure it wouldn't be the last...

As to the OP gas vs cat...it's not just the unit...it's the entire system....appliance,flue,fuel,operator's ability to properly operate it.
You could have the best wood burner in the world,but if you do not take responsibility in wood dryness levels or put in the right flue to match that appliance or if you add too many 90's or too long of a horizontal run...we just has a customer do a 20 foot horizontal run with no rise... or ,or,or,or...yup my seal imitation...point is there are so many variables in burning wood....at the least the install and fuel should be spot on for your best chance at success.

 

[Chillybilly]

Hey, good to hear of someone else with a Royal Heir. There were two sizes of that stove made, plus an insert. Which one do you have? I'm guessing the 2100 based on the size of house you are heating. I purchased a used 2200, which is the smaller one two years ago, and am on the second season of burning with it, and like it real well.

Purchasing used, I was afraid my cat would need replaced, but it seems to be working well. My bypass door does not seal as well as it probably should, but the gasses do appear to be going to the cat well enough, as the flue temps are low, no smoke out of chimney, and the cat temp gauge responds correctly.

You guessed right, we have the 2100. Super happy with it, don't see how it could be any better. It holds a fire for up to 20 hours and after 16 yrs, all I've done is replace the door gasket. This year I'm replacing the catalyst and the firebrick for the first time.

After a phone conversation with a long time factory employee last year I bent the 'safety tab' that keeps one from completely closing the door during warmup. I always wondered why that was there, and when I asked him about it he told me basically it was one of those 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' type features 'suggested' by the testing labs. Really love the stove.

Last year we bought a wood splitter after splitting all our wood with a maul for the last thirty years. My wife kind of decided I needed to not work quite so hard. (At least at wood splitting) Can't say enough about how great this stove is though!

 

[daleeper]

my my my ...boys will be boys. I doubt Logbutcher is Pook...I know Pook's Pook'ese and Logbutcher does not speak it...plus we surely would have seen some mention of his heat-a-lator and cat piss soaked saw dust for fuel.

It's been said before by another furnace rep...and I agree...most...I'll repeat most of the wood burners out there are pretty good at what they were designed for...however for someone to make a claim..."claim" ..."I get 40 hours of burn time on 5- 8" rounds 20" long heating a 3000 s/f home when it is 0 outside...makes me go back back to the physics of it all. Even kiln dried wood is only capable of making 12,000 btu's per lb. Given the heat load..like I said 2 months ago...foul.

Now to have a smaller home in a warmer climate you might get longer burn times but then your talking about a whole lot of smoldering...but then the poster making the claims is saying no smoke is coming out of the flue and there is no creosote build up.

Maybe I'm missing something...could be...wouldn't be the 1st time...sure it wouldn't be the last...

As to the OP gas vs cat...it's not just the unit...it's the entire system....appliance,flue,fuel,operator's ability to properly operate it.
You could have the best wood burner in the world,but if you do not take responsibility in wood dryness levels or put in the right flue to match that appliance or if you add too many 90's or too long of a horizontal run...we just has a customer do a 20 foot horizontal run with no rise... or ,or,or,or...yup my seal imitation...point is there are so many variables in burning wood....at the least the install and fuel should be spot on for your best chance at success.

Crappie, it could be what you missed is the fact that nobody made the claim "I get 40 hours of burn time on 5- 8" rounds 20" long heating a 3000 s/f home when it is 0 outside". Cats do not change physics, but they do work well. Add a thermostatic air control, and they work even better.

I do think you have a real valid point on it being an entire system. It is interesting to me that we North Americans seem to design and insulate home heating systems to a level that we can afford to heat, instead of designing it for maximum efficiency. I have heard of folks from Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas all having the same heating/cooling costs. Think about what the heating/cooling cost of that Wisconsin home would be if built in Texas, I would think significantly less. If Chip_365's home only takes 2 cord of wood to heat, think how little wood it would take here in Missouri?

Now, Chip_365, go measure that wood storage, so we know if it were 2 cord, we don't need to be stretching things too far, it's hard enough for non BK owners to believe how well they work.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Now we are getting somewhere...so when does the 40 hr. burn time come into play...when it's 30 or 40 degrees outside and what size was the home...1000 s/f??????

I've made this point before...when talking about what your getting...it is better to know the heat load...you know...how much heat will a guy need. Also what temp does the home stay at 60-65-70-72...also what kind of wood is being burned.

Way to many variables to just make a blanket statement of I get 40 hrs...and that label...too funny.
Also..never said the BK's are not efficient.

So ...heading out on the ice this weekend....crappies & gills beware.