Catalytic Wood Stove

The catalytic wood stove was the result of a wave of environmental standards started in the 1980s. During those times, the EPA moved to reduce the amount of particle emissions that a heater could emit. In addition, several states began their own environmental regualations on stoves, and so manufacturers needed to react.

For many companies, the simplest and quickest way to get in compliance was to simply add a catalytic converter. While the stoves would meet the regulations, many other issues would crop up. The converters could not be turned on until the stove reached a certain temperature, which many times was a manual process. Also, the converter was an expensive piece that added quite a bit to the stove cost, as well as being costly to fix. Burning certain materials could also cause issues with the stoves as well.

After the EPA further increases their requirements, most steel stove models got upgraded with new technology that did not require a converter to burn clean. However, many cast iron models still had to use the converter to meet the standards, as cast iron is a more precision process.

Most cast iron stoves are in process of getting updated by the manufacturers to use non-catalytic technology. Some may still use it, but newer catalytic converters are better than they were in the 1980s. They are usually easier to repair and less prone to breaking or failing. However, most stove owners tend to prefer non-catalytic wood stoves in general.