Choosing the Right Wood Stove

These stoves achieve reduced emissions by introducing secondary combustion air at the top of the stove (usually with stainless steel tubes)to burn the gases driven off the wood.  It works, but the additional air makes it very difficult to achieve an overnight burn.

These stoves achieve reduced emissions by passing the smoke through a catalytic combustor, much like your car.  A catalyst (remember high school chemistry) is anything that speeds up a chemical reaction or lowers the temperature at which it will occur.  In this case the reaction we are looking for is combustion.  By passing the smoke through a ceramic honeycomb coated with a metallic substance the smoke will burn at about half the normal temperature required.

What does this mean to me, you ask?  It means that because the catalytic stove is still air tight it will hold a fire all night.  If you are going to using the wood stove for primary heat, then this is a must.  Who wants to build a fire every morning when they could have one left from the night before?  It is also more efficient because it is recovering heat from smoke that would have been wasted.  It is cleaner when the catalyst is operating (when you have a hot fire) and when the catalyst is not lit (when fire is smoldering), it is still air tight and able to burn for a longer time.

Rumors are abound about the catalyst being fragile and easy to ruin.  The only requirement for protecting your combustor is that you burn only wood in the stove.  After all, they are wood-burning stoves.  Green or dry wood is acceptable, but dry is preferred as it takes a hot fire to light off the catalyst.

The catalyst will last about 10 to 12 years.  I know this because I have been selling the stoves for that long and am just now beginning to sell replacement catalyst.  The replacements range in price from $100 to $300 depending on size and model.  It has been reported that some people are replacing the catalyst with a solid fire brick and using the stove without burning the smoke.  While this will work it is not recommended as the emissions will not be abated.

Some experts say don't buy a big stove for a small house.   Wrong!  A small stove will not hold a fire all night.  What you need to do is burn a hot fire (not necessarily a big fire, but a hot one) twice a day to heat up the chimney and your home (once in the morning and once after work) then close the stove up.  If this is done without exception, very little creosote will build up in the chimney.  Remember, creosote condenses on a cold chimney, not a warm one.  Avoid a low, smoldering fire for more than a twelve hour period and your chimney will never get cold.   It's also a very good idea to have the chimney cleaned and inspected by a professional chimney sweep once a year.