Take part in study on PFAS 'forever chemicals' in eggs

[Daphne]

I've just returned from France where my SIL's cast iron woodburner/boiler/oven packed up before Christmas giving them a miserable fortnight. The boiler part (not cast iron) split and was irreparable (believe me, they have a neighbour who welded on the Hadron Collider and he couldn't fix it ). Now they've sourced a new one made from pressed steel and its a revelation. Its so much more powerful we all had to sleep in the nude on top of the duvets - it was 76 in the bedrooms

 

Anyway, coming home to our ancient Jotul cast-iron burner, which we have to do increasingly unsuccessful running repairs on, I am minded to buy a new one. I am told by a woodburner specialist that pressed steel technology is far better than it used to be, and I have to say I quite like the modern look, not to mention the price

 

Does anybody on here have any experiences of both or reasons not to go the steel route?

[Henslaved]

I have never heard of or used a pressed steel wood burner .

 

I would go for cast iron every time, not only is it bomb proof but it holds the heat for longer. I have a 90 yr old Rayburn No.1 and service the fire box once a year, the back boiler was split when we got it, but we had no intention of plumbing it in anyway. My mum has a Rayburn Supreme which supplies all the hot water they need. I know these are both cooking ranges but both are cast iron and seem to last a lifetime.

 

If I was to buy a wood burning stove it would have to be cast.

 

Just out of curiosity what are your running repairs?

[kevtheplumber]

cast iron dissipates heat a lot better, its a stronger material with better thermal conductivity, as said will out last steel all day long.

[Daphne]

I'm sure you're probably both right about being longer lasting and better at retaining heat, but I'm not looking to the long term and I want something that will give me a more instant heat. I am completely amazed at the difference in my SIL's house, she is heating one big room in particular and its now a pleasure to be in; and that will be my set-up.

 

The old jotul is at least 40 years old, perhaps a lot more. It has a crack in one corner of the castiron roof of the woodburning part of the stove, and now another one in the 'cooking box' which sits above the fire so heat is leaking out anyway. The bolts which hold the cooking box onto the woodburning part are completely shot, its impossible to get it off without some serious drilling or something. Its not repairable properly easily.

[kevtheplumber]

without sounding rude, im not sure why you asked the question, seems as if you have already made up your mind, you have to remember that the new cast and other material units are a lot more efficient anyway so comparing a new one to an old one whatever metal it may be is a pointless task.

[Daphne]

Actually it does seem a tad rude - I'm not used to reading answers like that to any question on this forum except in the bee section. It was an honest question, I think it was pretty clear that I was leaning towards to steel in the first place. The answers you both gave were interesting but not compelling enough for me. I take your point about the relative ages of technologies. However my SIL's old cast iron burner was only 6 and the difference in performance was staggering, same kW.

[Sheilaz]

.....The boiler part (not cast iron) split and was irreparable (believe me, they have a neighbour who welded on the Hadron Collider and he couldn't fix it )?

 

Daphne, it was worth asking the question just for this sentence! I keep going back to it as it made me laugh out loud. If I could award a prize my favourite forum sentence, this would win, so thanks for unintentionally giving me a much needed chuckle with your wonderful way with words.

 

Also Kev, your answer may well have been useful to other readers, as well as helping Daphne to crystallise her thoughts, it was a good question, and a good answer.

 

Still chuckling about that sentence.

[kevtheplumber]

id personally go to a show room, dont buy anthing unless they are doing a good deal, but ask them what the efficiency of both types are and what heat output they would generate, check what heat you would have to put in to what youd get out ie would one take less wood and give the same output at the same efficiency, there really is a lot more to it than just price and material im afraid

[Charlottechicken]

Not sure if my twopenneth is of any use but here goes:

 

I'm pretty sure my stove is steel. It is a Lovenholm. I have lit it three nights this week and put the last bit of wood on at around 7.30pm. It burns this quickly but then keeps the room at over 20 degrees (never acheived this with the central heating) for a further 1.5 hours, just with embers and the heat retained in the stove itself radiating out. The top of it is so warm I'm sure I could fry an egg on it

 

The chap who installed my stove said the output generally achieved is half that stated on the product, as the stated output is the optimum. My stove is 5kw so I am getting about 2.5kw and that's about what is needed for the size of the room.

[Redwing]

A friend of ours in Finland says that more and more poeple over there are changing to steel stoves for better output and efficiency

[Dodge]

I have a Morso Squirrel which is a small cast iron stove and when that is stoked, it blasts out the heat

 

With regards to steel v cast iron, neither is better or worse than the other. Both have some pros and cons. Steel stoves will typically heat up quicker than a cast iron stove, but a cast iron stove will hold the heat longer. Cast iron also will radiate the heat better than a steel stove. Steel stoves most always are available with a blower. Cast iron stoves usually are not available with a blower. Usually the choice between a cast iron or steel stove comes down to the preference of a customer based on looks and features.

 

When comparing steel and cast iron, you should keep in mind that the two materials are almost identical…they are both the same element - IRON. One is rolled out into sheets and then formed, while the other is melted and poured into moulds. In addition, many stoves on the market today will have BOTH materials as part of their construction.

 

To summarise:

Plate steel wood stoves heat up and cool down faster than cast iron stoves. This is ideal if you come and go a lot, both to heat a cold home quickly and to safely extinguish a fire completely before you leave the stove unattended for a length of time. Cast iron stoves, however, are able to hold their heat better than plate steel. This is ideal if you expect your wood stove to keep a house warm all night, for example, without you having to wake up in the middle of the night to feed it.

[Daphne]

Thank you all - this has been useful. Overall, it sounds to me that steel will meet my needs better; I do want a fast heat more than a retained heat; its a room which is used in the evenings mostly. I am going to take KTP's advice and see what a couple of local showrooms have in stock, ask some questions and take it from there.

[kevtheplumber]

most important if you can get it, get hard wood, lasts a lot longer