WHICH LOG BURNING STOVE

[biffvernon]

Once you have your stove you will need some firewood.
There's a bit spare in Taiwan:

A bulldozer cleans away driftwood at a beach in Hualien yesterday. After Typhoon Sepat passed, large amounts of red and yellow cypress washed up on Hualien's shores.

 

[tom.harrigan]

What a shame that Nemesis couldn't quite be bothered to explain what he means by "iron diffuses heat better than steel". I was so looking forward to a good laugh!


T

 

[Nemesis]

Nemesis is a she and she is very rapidly finding that rather than contributing anything of value to this forum you are exhibiting all the qualities of a troll.

I have not stated that iron diffuses heat better than steel. I have quoted others who have. Please read and digest. These are not the only manufacturers making such claims.

If you wish to disagree with those manufacturers then I suggest you take it up with them.

If you have anything of value to say about heat transference then say it but stop behaving like a tw*t. You are I admit affording some people a good laugh but it's becoming a spot tedious now.

I repeat - I have had several decades of cast iron stove ownership. Two have been manufactured by Stovax. I have never had any problems, and I would buy another without hesitation.

 

[Schoolmarm]

What a shame that Nemesis couldn't quite be bothered to explain what he means by "iron diffuses heat better than steel". I was so looking forward to a good laugh!


T

You rude person.



I agree with Nemesis, cast iron is the best jobby wotsit. Ours is a cute cube shaped one from machine mart.

 

[Lady_Mari]

I also have a cast iron wood burner, don't know its make but it's brilliant & holds its heat superbly.

Incidentally, I was also an AGA owner & these are also cast & take at least two days to cool down - err what needs explaining?

 

[Nemesis]

Tom Harrigan wrote:

My favourite small stove is the Jotul F602.

Here it is:


http://www.firesonline.co.uk/acatalog/Jotul_F602_Wood_Burning_Stove.html


Er - according to the marketing bumph it's cast iron...

 

[Fizzer]

touche!

 

[Nemesis]

To get back to the original post:

I can't help with the cheapest. A google for stoves will bring up many sites as you know and suggest a search! I also suggest you have a look at the Machine Mart ones as well as those you mention, but I would add that check the stove manufacturer is one which has been in business a while in case of problems and the need for spare parts.

For those fires with linings, grates etc you need to be sure that you can get these in future.

As far as pipes go, again, search around for deals as prices can vary hugely. We found Machine Mart carried a decent range at fair prices, but check that the stove you choose hasn't some odd size or shape requirement.

What we have done with stoves is buy the more expensive black pipe where it's seen and then join to a less expensive stainless one for the gathers leading to the liner, but that will depend on fireplace opening.

If you can do it and want the usefulness, some stoves can carry a back boiler. That gets complicated though.

Remember to consider how the chimney will be cleaned - the pipe may need an opening for that too.

 

[biffvernon]

I bought a very cheap Chinese stove from Machinemart for our yurt. It works just fine. I bought a much more expensive Norwegian one for in the house. It works just fine too. Horses for courses and all that.

 

[tom.harrigan]

Where did I say cast iron was bad or would break? Cast iron stoves have been around much longer than plate steel and modern welding techniques.

Steel is tougher than cast iron, which makes it less likely to crack due to differential heat stresses. Why doesn't someone take issue with the facts?

We have been told that that "cast iron diffuses heat better than steel". This is errant nonsense. In fact it is an utterly meaningless unphysical statement. At first I thought it was a joke!

The Jotul F602 is a beautiful stove. There is no contradiction in my admiration for the beauty and simplicity of that stove and my understanding of metallurgy. If they did a plain steel one, then I would have that in my garage.

It turns out some manufacturers like steel too:

Stovax
AArrow
Hunter
Yeoman
Charnwood
Dunsley
Dowling
Clearview... and you thought they were cast iron.

 

[Nemesis]

Suggest you take up the claims with the Advertising Standards people then.

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/

Tom Harrigan wrote:

This is errant nonsense.

Actually though before you do fill in the forms, I'd check the meaning of errant. I suspect the word you were trying to use was:

arrant

And go play elsewhere. Trolls are not really welcome on this site. Rudeness of the type displayed by you, as Carol has stated, doesn't go down too well either.

You rude person.

I doubt any of us thought anything was 'cast iron' when it wasn't. Ha ha indeed. Some manufacturers use both - Stovax does, despite your earlier post. And frankly I have grave doubts about your abilities to post sound information here. I would urge anyone reading your posts not to take much notice.

Cast iron rarely in reality cracks in use for a stove. Steel can rust. Both have pros and cons.

 

[tom.harrigan]

Nemesis,

I stated a reason to prefer steel over cast iron. You attacked me over Stovax steel stoves. You call _me_ a troll!

You said you believed "cast iron diffuses heat better than steel". I asked you what you meant, you told me to go do some research. You call _me_ rude! You call _me_ a troll!

You then call me a tw*t, and claim I'm incapable of passing on sound information. You also claim _I'm_ rude!

I have posted a brief summary of the technology of small woodburning stoves, some things to look out for depending on whether you use the stove frequently or not, and a tip on how to keep your chimney clean when using a basic stove. I have explained why steel is good and reminded readers that many top quality stoves are actually steel. I have also disabused readers of the ridiculous idea that "cast iron diffuses heat better than steel".

T

 

[Tom]

I also favour cast iron over steel and suggest that the main reason cast iron cracks (apart from blatant abuse) is when people light a huge roaring fire from cold. I would go for cast iron every time

Jaqy

 

[Nemesis]

He's clearly incapable of reading and understanding before leaping into print. I wouldn't trust him with matches let alone a whole stove to himself.

Carol has desribed him as rude, and I agree. Total twit too, IMHO. If you read though his posts there's some problem with actually remembering what he's said from one to another.


Just ignore him Jaqy - he's rapidly getting on a number of people's tits I think. I wouldn't believe anything he posted to be correct. Anyone who uses such bizarre punctuation is bound to be shifty.

 

[tom.harrigan]

That's precisely what might cause cast iron to crack. Another typical form of differential heat stress that is better coped with by steel is if you have a back boiler.

Apart for abuse (and accidents in transport etc.) cast iron is more sensitive to manufacturing faults because it has lower fracture toughness and is brittle.

T

 

[Nemesis]

I think dear boy we are aware of all this.

I think that you are scaremongering.

Now this is all getting really, really tedious and unless you can come up with a study showing failure of cast iron stoves by the thousand then I suggest you shut up and accept that some of us prefer our cast iron. We do know how to treat them.

If you consider the claims of major manufacturers as posted on their websites to be porky pies then you have been given the link to the ASA. Take it up with them.

 

[tom.harrigan]

Interestingly, Vermont Castings, the famous manufacturer of cast iron stoves guarantees its cast iron stoves like this one:

Dutch West Cast Iron Small -- FOR 3 YEARS!!!!!

http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=312

The same company guarantees this one:

Dutch West Plate Steel Small -- FOR LIFE !!!!!

I rest my case.

T

 

[tom.harrigan]

"Wood Stoves Built to Warm and Built to Last."

http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=317

Limited Lifetime Warranty on the steel ones..

 

[Mark]

:roll:

Who needs a stove?

Stick a couple of PP members in the opening.

Plenty of heat (and I'll say nothing about hot air)


I have no idea what makers mean when they talk of diffusing heat. I can only assume they mean that cast iron retains heat better so you get a smoother temp variation?

Historically Steel wasnt a good material for stoves, but really thats down to manufacturing techniques more than anything else.

Cast stoves do fail with cracks, but equally steel stoves can fail with weld failures.

If you look at the new stoves being introduced you will see that Steel is taking over, especially with more contemporary/clean line designs. The casting process for manufacture tends to mean flat slabs which need fixing together (I'm not saying it has to mean that but it generally does for cost reasons).

Steel stoves do heat up quicker than cast iron, and equally they cool down faster (all things being equal - you can of course pack them with firebrick to alter the characteristics).

I wouldnt choose steel or cast on the basis of potential failure. I think how its going to be used makes a difference and also there is the appearance thing.

Of course there is always masonry stoves to consider...

for a smaller stove the morso squirrel has a good name (although I personally think it is an ugly beast) although it is quite tall so may not fit easily in the opening available.

Aarrow make some nice (and cheap) small stoves - the ecoburn 5 springs to mind.

Stovax do a small (steel I think ) Stockton 3 or 4 (you can look it up on their site) which is designed to fit into a standard modern fire opening.

You could also look at insets - which are very popular in europe. In effect the stove is a box that fits exactly into the fireplace opening.

The last one I bought, I got from these people
http://www.harridgestoves.co.uk/

prices were very good and they were helpful on the phone.

 

[Nemesis]

There's no heat here, and as for hot air...

As I have stated - some manufacturers now make both, although Tom seems unable to be able to grasp that fact. I don't find that cast stoves are slow to heat - the one I currently have heats up very rapidly from cold. When we have been away and the house is freezing the first thing we do is light it and it soon gives out a great deal of heat. It also retains heat very well indeed. It's quite a splendid piece of equipment, although I appreciate that it's not the latest closed stove technology. It's a handsome thing too, and when polished up is a thing of great pleasure. My cast iron hobgrate is the same - the hobs get extremely hot in a very short space of time. They stay hot.

I suspect in reality that manufacturers are finding steel cheaper and easier to manufacture than cast iron.

I prefer cast iron, but apparently I am not entitled to personal preference. I wouldn't buy a large number of the stoves I see, so many are terribly ugly.

I have had cast iron stoves and fireplaces for many years, and never had the slightest problem with cracking or breakage.

As for warranties - possibly Tom could expand on what a LIMITED lifetime warranty means in reality.