[KC8QVO]

A lot of the replies (not all) thus far are missing the boat on my issue -

I need to find places that actually have a stove I can pick up that suits.

Ordering a stove is out of the realm of reasonability as it may never show up. Im not willing to take that risk right now.

Based on that - a lot of the "stove suggestions" thus far wont work - unless there is a vendor that does physically have them.

As far as region to find one - MO as pointed out would work. Id probably go as far as the gulf coast, Dakotas, and Maine. Not sure if I would go much west of Colorado. And crossing in to Canada right now is out.

 

[KC8QVO]

We have wood. I cut some a few years ago, has to be sized up and split. That is on top of our pile of chord wood we've had for a few years we burn wood in a fireplace and chiminea outside. Things are a bit different this season - as a legitimate heat source we really need a stove - hence the post.

 

[KC8QVO]

This is the one I have been running exclusively for the past 15 years with great results. It was advertised as having the most 3/8" thick steel of any stove on the market, and weighs in around 600#.

Very efficient with a 6" flue, heading to a long straight run up the side of my house of triple wall stainless pipe. I only need to clean the chimney twice a year, and don't get much creosote when I do clean it.

https://www.dolansheating.com/product/regency-classic-f2400-medium-wood-stove/

I did a search on the Regency and came up with a large dealer in PA. Come to find out, they don't carry Regency anymore but they do deal with:
Lopi
Blaze King

They have a Lopi Cape Cod and Blaze King Ashford 30 in stock. Any thoughts on the two? The Cape Cod is significantly more expensive - does it do something better? Both are catalytic.

Sounds like they have good stock at the moment.

From what it sounds like - the catalytic stoves are the way to go as they are more efficient (burn less wood). Burning less wood would be a significant help as my plan is to process the wood myself.

The processed wood we have has been under cover, the stuff that isn't processed would get processed and go under cover. Of course, that cycle would keep going - as we use we keep restocking.

 

[KC8QVO]

Where are you located...my go-to is Lehman's Hardware in Kidron Ohio, they have an extensive showroom of mid-high end stoves that last you a lifetime (not the big box store junk that has this warping metal).

Thanks for the note. I will look them up and check them out.

 

[KC8QVO]

Check out heat reclaimers while you are looking for a stove. I had one for years until I moved. Best money spent.

Magic Heat 6" Heat Reclaimer | Woodland Direct

The Magic Heat 6" Heat Reclaimer increases the efficiency of your oil, wood and coal burning stove. When the exhaust gases from your wood stove heat the stove pipe to 280ºF, the Magic Heat's internal thermometer turns it on. The Magic Heat's electric

www.woodlanddirect.com

Yes, thank you. I have that idea on my list as I go through this also. I've seen those before but none of the stoves in our family have ever had them.

 

[KC8QVO]

I hope this isn't too much of a dumb question - but none of the stoves we've had in the family have been "catalytic" stoves, or 2 stage.

What I am looking at is the maintenance on these "catalytic" style stoves. It appears the catalyst portion is a series of "tubes" that can collect soot.

It also appears that the way you start these style stoves is to get them hot with the catalytic portion "bypassed" (or blocked off? I assume if it is blocked there is another opening for the exhaust gasses to go up the flue unobstructed). Once the stove is hot then you switch it over to catalytic mode.

With the stove in "bypass" or "starting" mode, without the catalytic portion in the circuit, does the stove run like a conventional non-catalytic, or single stage, stove? Or is there more to it than that and it actually does not function like a conventional stove?

What I am trying to get at is if the catalytic box clogs - can you bypass it and get by?

I would presume, just like having a flue cleaning brush, having a way to clean out the catalytic tubes would be ideal. Although, in some of the catalytic inspection info I've looked through - there are examples of failures of the catalytic material. If they are suspect to "fail" then that tells me that I should have a replacement on-hand if it could go and kill the stove's operation? That gets back to my question - if the catalytic box goes (either clogs or fails) - can you run in bypass mode to get by until its able to be repaired/replaced/unclogged?