Characteristics of good stove?

[Woodcutter Tom]

I am wondering what the differences are between good stand-alone non-catalytic stoves vs. bad stoves. Good stoves being ones that are controllable, have longer burn times, give off better heat, etc. Bad stove being just the opposite.
I'm sure good stoves cost more, the question is why. What are the physical characteristics that make them perform better?

Are there different internal designs?

This is the type of information I seek: "My King Midas 1M has hand polished primary and secondary air passages. The surfaces are polished to mirror-like quality. Then the passages are plated in 24 karat gold which allows the air to flow unrestricted to the firebox."

Thanks for any information.

 

[mcdougy]

Warranty and customer support with your dealer are as important as burn qualities as well. It's much like anything, research will weed out the "no go's" leaving you with many options of tried and true stoves. The deal breaker could be who your support is in times of repair/trouble. Like anything there are parts and service required within the stoves lifetime.

 

[ABMax24]

Design matters as much as the materials and build quality. Obviously no one should build a stoves firebox out of sheet metal with bubblegum welds. The problem is as consumers we can't actually see the subtle differences in design that can make the difference between a great stove and a mediocre stove. Changing the diameter of the holes in the secondary air tubes even 1/64" can significantly change the amount of airflow and the turbulence from them.

Realistically the best way to know the differences is to compare them first hand through operation or to reverse engineer the stove in a CAD program and run the model in a CFD program. The later is far to time consuming for most users even if they know how to. So we arrive at the best option, first hand experience, which is where this forum comes in to share this information.

 

[begreen]

There aren't a lot of bad stoves on the market and what defines "bad" is somewhat up to the buyer. For some it might be too small capacity or only E/W loading. To others it might be undue complexity or expensive replacement parts or a stove that self-destructs in a few years. Yes, there are many different internal designs if one includes cats and hybrids. If just non-cats there are downdraft vs updraft stoves and different baffle arrangements & materials, and different secondary combustion systems.