EXCALIBER
ArboristSite Guru
Well Hmm...where to start. I really don't believe that the majority of cats are wearing out at 12000 hours of use. IF you burned 6 months straight 24/7 that would be 3 years of burning instead of 6? If they wore out so soon why would the manufacturer warranty the cat for 6 years? I am sure it is like many things, example car batteries. I have seen cheap car batteries go bad in a couple of months or less, however, I have seen good name brand ones last 12 years or more. Quality of the product and how it is used will have a great effect of its useful lifespan.
Second the cat (at least new ones, do not run 1200 degrees to light off). In my stove the cat is about less than an inch from the top of the stove. I have used a infrared temp gun, on the stove top it's usually 350 when cat is active at normal setting. If the cat were 1200 to light off (getting hotter as it burns) the stove top, less than a half inch away would be like 600 plus degrees all the time the cat is active then increasing as you increased the stove burn. Blaze King says active zone of cat is 500-1700 degrees, not 1200 and up.
I would not suggest using wet wood in any stove, unless this was the very last option, not to mention the owners manual, if you read it, will tell you to burn wood between 12-18 percent moisture. Burning wet wood in a cat is bad for the cat and will shorten its lifespan. You can tell the cat is burning right with seasoned dry wood. 1.) Run stove on high then check for the cat glowing. 2.) open damper then close it and you will see a huge difference. 3.) Cat thermometer that fails to stay active when set at normal setting on the stove (for Blaze King cannot attest for other stoves).
Now I am not sure about other stoves but a cat stove from Blaze King is not difficult to run, light, or otherwise operate.
1.)To light my stove you fill the bottom of it with newspaper, then put small pieces of wood on top of the paper, then larger pieces on top of the smaller wood and so on. Same as on any stove.
2.)Turn the thermostat to high, open the cat bypass lever, light the newspaper, leave the door cracked for the first couple of minutes of burning until fire is established sufficiently, then close door.
3.)Watch temp on thermometer on top of stove until it reaches active on the gauge. Close bypass lever and set thermostat on side of stove to normal, or desired setting.
Sure maybe a few extra simple steps to do, but even a stove without a cat you have to wait a few minutes to allow fire to get established before you set the damper or air control. If this is considered complicated then you should really consider not driving a car, as that is far more complicated than a good cat stove.
Now the downside of a cat: You have to check the cat every so often to make sure the front of cat is clean. Simple to do, run stove on high, then look at glowing cat, if cat is not equally glowing across it's entire face then you have blockage on front of the cat. You can easily see when this happens if it does. To clean simply let fire go out or cool (this will take quite a while with a Blaze KING), remove a metal plate in front of the cat and brush with soft brush (I use the one off the vacuum). AT this time you can also blow the cat out with air if you so wish. DO NOT USE TO MUCH AIR use your head. I use my shop vac at the end of the season. Cats do need to be replaced depending on how much you burn and how you use your stove, but usually 6 to 10 years of usable lifespan burning 6 months a year. You need to burn only wood that is dry. Do not burn trash or paper that is shiny, ect. because the chemicals of such will ruin a cat over time. You don't put diesel in a top fuel dragster so don't put trash in a high performance stove. Cats are around $300 for my stove to replace and its a simple and easy thing to do, no technician needed you can do it yourself, takes maybe 10 minutes to change one out if that. For me it's simply far cheaper to have, and replace a cat every so often, than it is to burn more wood every year. Even if your not buying your wood, fuel is so expensive anymore that the less you have to haul, split, stack, the better. If you want to keep cutting you can always sell the extra wood you would have normally just had to burn to stay warm.
Now high performance secondary burn stoves without a cat still have downsides. You are not supposed to burn trash in them either, they too need dry seasoned wood, and they too have parts that are maintenance items. The secondary burn tubes in these stoves need replaced, as well as the top fire baffle curtain, or whatever they call it, every so often. I would say in the same amount of time that you would normally have to replace the cat in a cat stove. The fire curtain is fairly easy to replace on most stoves, however the secondary burn tubes are a different story. Most of the tubes are spot welded into the top of the stove, thus to replace them you have to grind the welds off to remove them, then get new ones and re-weld them back into place. Maybe some are bolted in but I have not seen any this way. You also have to clean these tubes to make sure the holes are open and remove ash from inside the tubes as it builds up. Not so easy to do.
Good and bad in both designs but for my money its a good cat stove every day and twice on Sunday. Not all cat stove are created equal as not all secondary burn stoves with tubes are created equal. Find a good stove and spend the extra money the first time, instead of buying a stove then having it work OK, eventually having to replace it with a better stove. Of course finances will play a role but I would rather do it once right, and not have to re-do anything the second time. Each to their own and I hope this helps.
Second the cat (at least new ones, do not run 1200 degrees to light off). In my stove the cat is about less than an inch from the top of the stove. I have used a infrared temp gun, on the stove top it's usually 350 when cat is active at normal setting. If the cat were 1200 to light off (getting hotter as it burns) the stove top, less than a half inch away would be like 600 plus degrees all the time the cat is active then increasing as you increased the stove burn. Blaze King says active zone of cat is 500-1700 degrees, not 1200 and up.
I would not suggest using wet wood in any stove, unless this was the very last option, not to mention the owners manual, if you read it, will tell you to burn wood between 12-18 percent moisture. Burning wet wood in a cat is bad for the cat and will shorten its lifespan. You can tell the cat is burning right with seasoned dry wood. 1.) Run stove on high then check for the cat glowing. 2.) open damper then close it and you will see a huge difference. 3.) Cat thermometer that fails to stay active when set at normal setting on the stove (for Blaze King cannot attest for other stoves).
Now I am not sure about other stoves but a cat stove from Blaze King is not difficult to run, light, or otherwise operate.
1.)To light my stove you fill the bottom of it with newspaper, then put small pieces of wood on top of the paper, then larger pieces on top of the smaller wood and so on. Same as on any stove.
2.)Turn the thermostat to high, open the cat bypass lever, light the newspaper, leave the door cracked for the first couple of minutes of burning until fire is established sufficiently, then close door.
3.)Watch temp on thermometer on top of stove until it reaches active on the gauge. Close bypass lever and set thermostat on side of stove to normal, or desired setting.
Sure maybe a few extra simple steps to do, but even a stove without a cat you have to wait a few minutes to allow fire to get established before you set the damper or air control. If this is considered complicated then you should really consider not driving a car, as that is far more complicated than a good cat stove.
Now the downside of a cat: You have to check the cat every so often to make sure the front of cat is clean. Simple to do, run stove on high, then look at glowing cat, if cat is not equally glowing across it's entire face then you have blockage on front of the cat. You can easily see when this happens if it does. To clean simply let fire go out or cool (this will take quite a while with a Blaze KING), remove a metal plate in front of the cat and brush with soft brush (I use the one off the vacuum). AT this time you can also blow the cat out with air if you so wish. DO NOT USE TO MUCH AIR use your head. I use my shop vac at the end of the season. Cats do need to be replaced depending on how much you burn and how you use your stove, but usually 6 to 10 years of usable lifespan burning 6 months a year. You need to burn only wood that is dry. Do not burn trash or paper that is shiny, ect. because the chemicals of such will ruin a cat over time. You don't put diesel in a top fuel dragster so don't put trash in a high performance stove. Cats are around $300 for my stove to replace and its a simple and easy thing to do, no technician needed you can do it yourself, takes maybe 10 minutes to change one out if that. For me it's simply far cheaper to have, and replace a cat every so often, than it is to burn more wood every year. Even if your not buying your wood, fuel is so expensive anymore that the less you have to haul, split, stack, the better. If you want to keep cutting you can always sell the extra wood you would have normally just had to burn to stay warm.
Now high performance secondary burn stoves without a cat still have downsides. You are not supposed to burn trash in them either, they too need dry seasoned wood, and they too have parts that are maintenance items. The secondary burn tubes in these stoves need replaced, as well as the top fire baffle curtain, or whatever they call it, every so often. I would say in the same amount of time that you would normally have to replace the cat in a cat stove. The fire curtain is fairly easy to replace on most stoves, however the secondary burn tubes are a different story. Most of the tubes are spot welded into the top of the stove, thus to replace them you have to grind the welds off to remove them, then get new ones and re-weld them back into place. Maybe some are bolted in but I have not seen any this way. You also have to clean these tubes to make sure the holes are open and remove ash from inside the tubes as it builds up. Not so easy to do.
Good and bad in both designs but for my money its a good cat stove every day and twice on Sunday. Not all cat stove are created equal as not all secondary burn stoves with tubes are created equal. Find a good stove and spend the extra money the first time, instead of buying a stove then having it work OK, eventually having to replace it with a better stove. Of course finances will play a role but I would rather do it once right, and not have to re-do anything the second time. Each to their own and I hope this helps.
