Steel and Cast Iron – best of both?

[E.Merckx]

I have a steel wood stove with a cast iron door and feet. I like that it gets to temp quickly and some other features of steel, but don’t like that it also cools quickly. So I was thinking that if I put a bunch of cast iron cookware on top of the stove it would perform a little more like a CI stove.

What are your thoughts on that idea? It’s summer now so I haven’t actually tried it yet – just thinking about how I could have the heat radiate more like a CI stove and also retain the heat longer like a CI stove.

 

[bholler]

I have a steel wood stove with a cast iron door and feet. I like that it gets to temp quickly and some other features of steel, but don’t like that it also cools quickly. So I was thinking that if I put a bunch of cast iron cookware on top of the stove it would perform a little more like a CI stove.

What are your thoughts on that idea? It’s summer now so I haven’t actually tried it yet – just thinking about how I could have the heat radiate more like a CI stove and also retain the heat longer like a CI stove.

Cast iron stoves and steel stoves really don't perform very differently at all. Iron and steel retain heat in pretty much the same way so unless the cast is allot thicker than the steel it won't change much. There are steel stoves that are then clad in cast iron panels. Those have more mass and the space between the 2 softens the heat allot.

 

[E.Merckx]

Interesting. I’ve found that CI stoves give off a deeper/heavier type of heat and that they emanate the heat differently – slower and kind of more dense. And that they retain heat a good amount longer than steel so will be warmer after an overnight burn. Could all be psychological but that’s kind of what I was going for – longer retention of heat and richer/heavier heat.

 

[bholler]

Interesting. I’ve found that CI stoves give off a deeper/heavier type of heat and that they emanate the heat differently – slower and kind of more dense. And that they retain heat a good amount longer than steel so will be warmer after an overnight burn. Could all be psychological but that’s kind of what I was going for – longer retention of heat and richer/heavier heat.

I have burnt both cast and steel and really havnt seen that. Adding mass to the stove will make it retain heat a bit longer but will also take longer to put out heat.

 

[begreen]

Sometimes the difference is felt because the cast iron stove has no side shielding, making for a very radiant stove. Side shields are added to most major brand steel stoves to reduce clearances. This makes them more convective in nature.

 

[stovelark]

Well MFRs would disagree that they are similar in performance-ha.
Cast stoves are more radiant, warming objects in the room vice the air, so the heat appears softer. Steel stoves are more convective, they warm the air coming around the stove and send it on its way warmed up. Having experienced both, I have come to like steel stoves more, heating upstairs from a lower level (finished basement) in my house, my steel stoves outperformed the cast ones, did not have stove blowers either, just fans pulling upstairs. Steel stoves (to me anyway) are easier to run, they start quick and draft easier, but there is something to say about the asthetic attraction to cast stoves and soapstone (espec enameled ones). I still think steel stoves are the best heating value. Of course, dry wood is always the key with any of them, even there though steel stoves seems to tolerate more damp wood than their cast sisters. My 0.02 Hot here in CT today, no wood stove needed today...

 

[bholler]

Well MFRs would disagree that they are similar in performance-ha.
Cast stoves are more radiant, warming objects in the room vice the air, so the heat appears softer. Steel stoves are more convective, they warm the air coming around the stove and send it on its way warmed up. Having experienced both, I have come to like steel stoves more, heating upstairs from a lower level (finished basement) in my house, my steel stoves outperformed the cast ones, did not have stove blowers either, just fans pulling upstairs. Steel stoves (to me anyway) are easier to run, they start quick and draft easier, but there is something to say about the asthetic attraction to cast stoves and soapstone (espec enameled ones). I still think steel stoves are the best heating value. Of course, dry wood is always the key with any of them, even there though steel stoves seems to tolerate more damp wood than their cast sisters. My 0.02 Hot here in CT today, no wood stove needed today...

Yes an unshielded cast iron stove will be more radiant than a shielded steel one. But an unshielded steel stove will be pretty much the same as an unshielded cast one.

 

[begreen]

Yes an unshielded cast iron stove will be more radiant than a shielded steel one. But an unshielded steel stove will be pretty much the same as an unshielded cast one.

That's been my experience. Case in point would be the unshielded Drolet Austral vs the same stove body but shielded in the Drolet Myriad & Legend. However, some cast iron stoves have cast iron inner liners instead of firebrick and that design may be a bit more radiant in some cases?

 

[bholler]

That's been my experience. Case in point would be the unshielded Drolet Austral vs the same stove body but shielded in the Drolet Myriad & Legend. However, some cast iron stoves have cast iron inner liners instead of firebrick and that design may be a bit more radiant in some cases?

I don't know about how cast iron liners change things

 

[begreen]

I don't know about how cast iron liners change things

I'm thinking they would be more conductive, less insulative. Without instrumentation it's more hypothesis than theory.

 

[stovelark]

Agreed- but I'm thinking most steel stoves have a convective shell (ala the cast jacketed stoves with steel shells for convection) to kinda direct the airflow around the body of the stove (espec with the optional blower that's always avail with steel stoves). I know Jotul went to a blower for the Oslo and Firelight needing the rear heat shield to act as a convection path along the back of the stove, a very expensive option, some folks liked it, I thought at best it was a compromise...

 

[bholler]

Agreed- but I'm thinking most steel stoves have a convective shell (ala the cast jacketed stoves with steel shells for convection) to kinda direct the airflow around the body of the stove (espec with the optional blower that's always avail with steel stoves). I know Jotul went to a blower for the Oslo and Firelight needing the rear heat shield to act as a convection path along the back of the stove, a very expensive option, some folks liked it, I thought at best it was a compromise...

That is very true most steel stoves are shielded. I was just making the point that it's the construction not material that makes the difference