Woodstove: Cast Iron or Soapstone?

We have 'pretty' old cast iron stove that my Dw bought. It is nothing more than a heavy boat anchor. It is badly cracked and can not be fixed.

Our primary heat source is a Vogelzang two-barrel stove. It heats our home and it heats our water.

We also have a Vogelzang cast-iron potbelly coal stove. We use it mostly for heat through the night. Problem is that such a design is not capable of keeping a fire going for many days at a time. It must be cleaned and re-started from wood kindling each and every day.

__________________
http://www.mofga.org/

http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx

We heated with a cast iron stove our first year here, only because it was the only one in our budget. It did the job, but DH found himself getting up around 3 each morning to add another couple of logs.

We were very happy when FIL offered us an old soapstone stove from a farmhouse he was selling. It has a much bigger log capacity, the stove itself holds heat better, and it's prettier despite being 25+ yrs old and well used.

HTH!

I think not wanting a catalytic stove is a mistake. That catalytic works best when it has smoke to burn and the unseasoned wood and pine produces exactly what the catalyst is supposed to combat, thick smoke that produces creosote!

My Federal Airtight stove is catalytic and I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. It uses a generic catalytic disk that only costs 80$ and I expect it to last for several years. Takes less than a minute to pop it in or out. First time I used it I had to rush back inside the house because there was absolutely nothing coming out the chimney. Nothing! Thought the stove had gone out. Found the catalyst burning the smoke completely clean at 1500 degrees F.

That's what I get with the catalytic stove, absolutely clear exhaust, and absolutely no visible creosote buildup yet. Even without the catalyst, the stove has an exhaust flap that redirects the smoke, so it will burn just like any other traditional stove. So, it's the best of both worlds. I could use the catalyst whenever I want, but if there was any reason I wouldn't want to, the flap lets me burn just like any other traditional stove.

By the way, expect to pay as much or more than the stove itself for the chimney pipe. I payed 100$ for my used Federal. I payed 850$ for new chimney pipe that I installed myself.
Good luck,
Michael

Again, thanks for all the great suggestions and advise. I intend to look up each one of them. We do have one good wood stove store in the next town over that I'll pay a visit to, just to see what brands they have available. I know they have some soapstone stoves.

I have done a lot of research on the cat versus non-cat debate and I know for the kind of wood we have available and the kind of fires we like to burn, non-cat is the only kind of stove we will consider. The house is one story with a high pitched roof and a framed up chimney chase so getting the pipe cleaned out is easy enough to do. And yes....I will most certainly not skimp at all on the pipe, expecially since my fireplace opening and chase are framed. Whatever stove I get it has to be approved for alcoves since that's where it will be going. My original plan was to use a zero clearance wood fireplace and I built the house around that plan. So now I'll have to create a fake fireplace opening and put the woodstove partially into that space. I will take the proper precautions with clearances and non-combustable materials and such.

Modern EPA-rated stoves using "secondary combustion" will perform equally to those using ceramic catalysts in terms of reducing air pollution and creosote build up. IMHO, secondary combustion is the way to go because there is really nothing to break or plug like there is with a catalyst.

__________________
This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Personally I use a Fisher, best steel stove around and at $120 for mine the price was right. When talking stone your talking thermal mass and not all stoves are created the same. Alot of wood stoves sold as soapstone are just covered in thin soapstone tiles. With those it's mostly a sales pitch, the limited thermal mass really isn't more effective then firebrick or a piece of soapstone cut and set on any woodstove. A true stone stove can't be beat for even heating but they cost a fortune and wiegh a ton. By far the best design is a Russian fireplace, a single burning for a several hours will heat a house for 24 hours or more. Many include an oven which can maintain baking temps for 6 hours after the fire goes out. This is because Russian Fireplaces (despite the name they are enclosed with metal doors) can weigh 10 tons or more. It's all about the thermal mass and in stone wood burners more is better. I'm not recommending you have a Russian Fireplace built (unless your rolling in the greenbacks) just using the example to illustrate the Thermal mass effect. Understand the theory and apply it to any stove or apply thermal mass theory to home renovations to control temp swings.

Thermal mass is one reason I thought about a soapstone stove. I am familiar with the Russian woodstoves. A old neighbor of ours was planning on putting on in the house he was building. Never finished it though. My house has very little thermal mass. The floors are hardwood and not tile. The hearth where this stove is going is 1 1/4" thk granite though, so that will help a little. I just don't see any way I can afford a soapstone stove right now. I may install the pipe for a good stove and just get a used stove to get me buy for this winter. I can always replace it next winter with a good one.

My neighbor has a 55 gallon barrell stove in the basement. He built a hugh thermal mass out of brick that covers the stove and part of the chimney. The opening is big enough that he can replace the barrell when it burns out. He builds a hot, fast fire using jack pine and popple (the typs available on our land). It heats up the thermal mass but burns so hot and fast that creasote is not a big problem. The thermal mass radiates the heat for 12 hours so he only builds a fire twice a day. There are grates in the basement ceiling/first floor floor to let the heat upstairs. If it's 40 below he may need a third fire a day. I think you could make the thermal mass out of native rock as long as it wasn't saturated with water. Water saturated rock can explode if it is heated to boiling.

The benifits are; cheap, works really well, only stoke twice a day, little creasote, and burns scruffy wood.

We used a barrel heater in the first house we built during that first winter. It worked great! But it's a little too scruffy looking for my current livingroom and I could not maintain the required safe clearances. They get too darn hot on the outside. We had ours glowing cherry red on occasion.

Ever thought about a zero clearance fireplace with a set of gas logs?

Pretty efficient and not quite as messy as wood.

a well seasoned cast iron stove will handle all your cooking needs in the winter

__________________
Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

We are on propane and it's very expensive. The whole purpose of burning wood is to save $$. We can get wood free. I agree though that it's a whole lot cleaner than burning wood.

We purchased a Soapstone last year. It is fabulous. It is in the basement of our home and it heats both floors well. We fill it up at night when we go to bed and when we get up in in the morning it is still radiating heat!

We purchased a Mansfield model for our home. I have 1300sf on each level of my home.

I only used it for a few weeks last year, so I don't know how much wood will be required for a full winter. I just lit it for the first time this season yesterday!

Good luck- Kimberly

My mom and dad have a soapstone stove and they love it. It has the glass front so you can watch the fire. Theirs came with a catalytic converter but daddy took it out and they love theirs. When they first got it though they were a little worried at first because the soapstone takes a while to heat up but once it does look out it will radiate heat long after the fire has died down. It is also a very efficient stove it uses half the amount of wood that their old stove used. They have had theirs for around 12 to 15 years with no issues what so ever. Hope this helps with your decision.

We bought a soapstone (Hearthstone) about 14 or 15 years ago. We really like it, very pleased.