Gas stoves: Is there a difference between steel and cast iron?

[viper7721]

Do cast iron gas stoves hold heat longer than steel ones? I have heard that gas to not a penetrating heat like wood is, therefore there is no difference in heat retention between steel and cast iron for a gas stove. Is this true?

Are steel stoves more durable?


Any information will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BrotherBart]

Do cast iron gas stoves hold heat longer than steel ones? I have heard that gas to not a penetrating heat like wood is, therefore there is no difference in heat retention between steel and cast iron for a gas stove. Is this true?

Are steel stoves more durable?


Any information will be appreciated. Thanks.

Cast iron stove owners will swear I am wrong (but I own'em both), but equivilant thickness steel and cast stoves have no appreciable difference in heat retention characteristics. The argument has been going on for decades but facts is facts.

As to durability, I think they break even there too. Steel will degrade faster than cast but is a tad more foregiving of handling errors than cast. All of which I think is a non-event with gas stoves because they don't have to suffer through being banged around like wood stoves with splits being tossed in them, pokers banging around in the firebox, overfires etc.

Let the debate begin.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Here's a table on specific gravity/density.


http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html


Iron, gray cast 7.03 - 7.13
Iron, cast, pig 7.2
Iron, wrought 7.6 - 7.9
Iron, spiegeleisen 7.5
Iron, ferrosilicon 6.7-7.3
Iron ore, hematite 5.2
Iron, ore, limonite 3.6 - 4.0
Iron ore, magnetite 4.9 - 5.2
Iron ore, specular 5.4
Iron slag 2.5 - 3.0






Steel, carbon 7.8
Steel, chrome 7.8
Steel, cold-drawn 7.83
Steel, machine 7.80
Steel, 440C stainless 7.7
Steel, tool 7.70 - 7.73



I don't think you would see a difference given similar size stove and thickness of plate/casting.

 

[precaud]

Cast iron stove owners will swear I am wrong (but I own'em both), but equivilant thickness steel and cast stoves have no appreciable difference in heat retention characteristics.

BB, if we try hard enough, I'm sure we can find something you're wrong about... but it ain't this!

 

[Roospike]

Do cast iron gas stoves hold heat longer than steel ones? I have heard that gas to not a penetrating heat like wood is, therefore there is no difference in heat retention between steel and cast iron for a gas stove. Is this true?

Are steel stoves more durable?


Any information will be appreciated. Thanks.

Cast iron stove owners will swear I am wrong (but I own'em both), but equivilant thickness steel and cast stoves have no appreciable difference in heat retention characteristics. The argument has been going on for decades but facts is facts.

As to durability, I think they break even there too. Steel will degrade faster than cast but is a tad more foregiving of handling errors than cast. All of which I think is a non-event with gas stoves because they don't have to suffer through being banged around like wood stoves with splits being tossed in them, pokers banging around in the firebox, overfires etc.

Let the debate begin.

Hummmmmmmm ...........
I've seen a lot of cracked "cast" stoves on this forum.
With all the stoves i have fixed over the years being a welder i have seen my share of warped steel stoves but not that many breaks or cracks.
Now cast stoves on the other hand i have seen many cracked / broken stoves and also the outcome was non repairable.

 

[BrotherBart]

"Hummmmmmmm ...........
I’ve seen a lot of cracked “cast” stoves on this forum.
With all the stoves i have fixed over the years being a welder i have seen my share of warped steel stoves but not that many breaks or cracks.
Now cast stoves on the other hand i have seen many cracked / broken stoves and also the outcome was non repairable."

I will never argue metal with a man that buys oxygen in tanks that weigh more than I do.

 

[Roospike]

"Hummmmmmmm ...........
I’ve seen a lot of cracked “cast” stoves on this forum.
With all the stoves i have fixed over the years being a welder i have seen my share of warped steel stoves but not that many breaks or cracks.
Now cast stoves on the other hand i have seen many cracked / broken stoves and also the outcome was non repairable."

I will never argue metal with a man that buys oxygen in tanks that weigh more than I do.

******** ********* :lol: **********

 

[BrotherBart]

Spike,

You will notice that I just ordered another steel stove. If the firebox crack in ole Brownie hadn't been a broken weld in the back, under the shroud, I would have had it fixed and kept on going.

As it was, it's time had come. I said it here last year. I am a steel stove kinda guy. I had to run a bead of furnace cement around every joint in the F3 CB before it settled down and started playing right. Never had to do that with a steel stove.

 

[Roospike]

Spike,

You will notice that I just ordered another steel stove. If the firebox crack in ole Brownie hadn't been a broken weld in the back, under the shroud, I would have had it fixed and kept on going.

As it was, it's time had come. I said it here last year. I am a steel stove kinda guy. I had to run a bead of furnace cement around every joint in the F3 CB before it settled down and started playing right. Never had to do that with a steel stove.

When i was looking at stoves and at the Flame Shop where i ended up getting my PE Summit i was looking a the two big monsters in the back sitting next to each other. The PE Summit and the Jøtul F 600 Firelight CB , the furnace cement was one of the first things the dealer had mentioned of being a big difference in the lon run of the two , I thought it was odd at the time that he mentioned this but after all the reading of rebuilds of stoves i now see why it was a big point of interist for someone looking to burn 24/7 for many years to come.

I've had steel stoves brought to me to be fixed and 9 time out of 10 it was a weld that had cracked and needed ground out and rewelded. For some one that can weld or has a welder this is no problem , but to take a whole stove down to a fabrication shop to have a small weld ground and rewelded can be a lot of work.

There was 1 time i had a guy call about a steel stove that needed rewelded and set it up for him to come down the next day ....... The guy one had a car so he rented a uhaul truck/van and had him , his wife and 2 daughters come down and they all lifted the big beast out of the truck and brought it up to the shop door ( a lot of work ) and he let me know it was here for me to fix.
I took the grinder to it to take out the old weld and then rewelded the crack in the seam. Took me all of 5 minutes.
I felt so sorry for the poor guy and had his wife and 2 daughters to all the hauling and lifting from the house to the rented uhaul and off the tuck to the shop for the 5 minute job it took to fix the issue.
I closed up shop early and the boys and i took the stove back to there house , took it into the house did all the lifting and reinstalled the stove on the hearth. That next iced tea we all got from the owners was a welcome relief. Did i mention it was around 100° that day ..............
The way it sounded at the time was that the stove was just a small stove , cant remember what it was now but let me tell you this thing was a beast.

 

[BrotherBart]

Nice guy. And a great story. Now, where ya gonna be handy when I split this Englander in half the first time I crank it up.

Yeah, I know. Warm and comfy sitting beside the Summit laughing your ass off.

Rock and roll my friend. You make this forum fun.

 

[Roospike]

Nice guy. And a great story. Now, where ya gonna be handy when I split this Englander in half the first time I crank it up.

Yeah, I know. Warm and comfy sitting beside the Summit laughing your ass off.

Rock and roll my friend. You make this forum fun.

;-)

I think it would be eaiser to ship you my welder and give you step by step over the phone if the worst was to happen. But I'd do it for you brother man !

Sounds like you made a good choice on your sierra that had served you well for many , many years so i dont think i will question you now on the Englander .

 

[BrotherBart]

I may be screwing up. Won't be the first time. But after I looked at the other stuff out there I said "Screw it". I wanna see this sucker work. Gotta have the big firebox. Not use'ta getting up in the middle of the night to feed the fire.

Still enough left in the budget to toss it out in the recycle pile if it is crap. If it isn't. well you know what is gonna happen. next. I paint it red.

 

[Roospike]

******** :lol: ********** Horehouse Red