Fire or No Fire?

[EXCALIBER]

Well had the stove hot the other night, as I always do for an hour. Then I shut down the thermostat to normal. My son walks in and says "the fire went out dad". So I walked over and showed him that the temp gauge was almost pegged out on the hot side. He asked why there was no flames. I told him that's because the stove is burning the gas that the wood gives off, using the cat. I them showed him where the cat was and how it was glowing. Now the cat does not glow all the time, nor does it need to, to be working. I don't know how many people have looked at my stove while it was running and not realized it was burning. They ask why there is no flames all the time. Although I must admit I still have a hard time adjusting to the new stove's no flame heat, even after 3 years of burning. Sometimes you can see a few coals glowing under some of the wood, but that is usually it. Only time I get true flames is when I first start the stove up with a fresh load of wood. So here is my question for you guys. Does your EPA stoves do this? Does your old stove do this if dampened back a to normal operating range? Just wondering if this was normal for most stoves across the range or something unique to this stove?

This last pic shows the cat glowing and how much "fire" you can see in the firebox

 

[cnice_37]

Its a cat thing.

My secondary burner has flames until down to the coaling stage. It is what it is, Blaze King's rock for steady, long heat (so I read) and that's all based on the cat. If I had a basement stove, I'd go with one for sure. Being mine is in my living room, I opted for the Jotul based on aesthetics alone (the wife's approval is rather critical.)

We are both warm though, and to each their own.

My 3 year old will say "uh-oh, where's the fire?" when we are down to a glowing coal bed.