In pursuit of even heat

I am looking to buy a new wood stove. I have some general things to learn before I look at specific models. For instance:

If my goal is to have even heat, should I always opt for a soapstone clad stove or can a good quality cast iron or steel stove be burned in a way that does not create big spikes of heat and cold in the house? Can it be done safely?

 

Absolutely

I would say that would depend on the stove and burn practice.

If you determine when the stove will need a reload before temps drop, you should be able to keep temps fairly consistent.

Soapstone is great at moderating and retaining heat, but comes at a price.

Ultimately.. your budget influences your options.. and therefore certain burn habits.

Not the best help.. but things to consider.

$.02

 

Thanks Chaz.

The VC Encore I am replacing had a hard time going longer than 4 hours between stoking and dead coals so keeping the heat/cold spikes from happening required lots of attention. Granted, I am new to this and have much to learn.

I am hoping that a new stove, made well, will allow for more control and longer burn times and that this may help with the uneven temps.

 

Wow... a bit of deja vu going on there.

That sounds like our first stove.. purchased cheap & second hand. It ate wood with low output.

It needed fed about every 4 hrs or so also.. meaning I usually woke up around 3 AM to fill it again.


We now have a Woodstock Ideal Steel, and it can easily burn 10-14 hrs depending on load size.

It does have soapstone, and delivers great, consistent heat.

Was quite pricey on our budget, but worth every penny.

 

Perhaps you should use the one you have for another season. Get good dry wood, learn to burn it well. Then you will have a better idea regarding your needs and desires for the next stove.

 

Long, steady, even heat is what led me to a cat stove. The catalyst allows you to cleanly burn the wood at a low steady rate for a consistent output level over long periods of time. If the cat is doing it’s job then it doesn’t matter what the stove is made of, the steady heat comes from a steady burn rate that matches your needs.

Stone looks pretty though if that’s what you’re into.

 

Does a cold soapstone stove take longer to begin radiating heat than an all metal stove?
I’m thinking of those shoulder season days when the house only needs to be warmed from the night’s chill then not fired again.

Or maybe I’m looking at this wrong...
We don’t want an 80 degree house and like to sleep with it between 65 and 70. What do we do on the days that don’t need much heat? Is it easier with, or without soapstone?

 

I had a stone stove for many years and yes, it took a long time and a lot of burning to heat it up before the room started to warm up. It looked great but stone sucks for stove material unless you keep it hot all of the time. Lots of people do just that in the winter, keep it hot because it’s steadily cold outside. Rather than depend on thermal mass to even out the peaks of heat from a fire I chose a cat stove that just sits there and burns for 30 hours at the same output level.

I live in a climate where a lot of the time I don’t need much heat compared to those east coast folks that have zero degree temperatures for weeks and live in leaky old farmhouses with wind. We highly value long burn times and low burn rates to keep our home warm.

 

Thanks Highbeam
I live near Lake Superior in the most northern bit of the upper peninsula of Michigan. For 4 months we will need heat most all the time but for a month or so on either side of winter we only need intermittent heat.
Dilemma.
What we need is 2 stoves.

 

You are getting some great advice so far. I'm very surprised that you are only getting 4 hrs with your current stove. What kind of wood are you burning? Hardwood, softwood, mixed, what species, is it really dry? If you have the stove working at top performance and you're still feeding it every 4 hrs, then you may need a bigger fire box? If you are looking for "even" heat then a catalytic stove will do that better. If you want to K.I.S.S. then the Pacific Energy stoves are awesome. Don't get too hung up on stone v. cast v. steel. One thing I've noticed, is that my house itself is way more important as a heat sink/source than whatever the stove is made out of, if that makes sense.

 

That does work well...we have a whole house wood furnace, and a small stove in the fireplace upstairs for those small spring and fall "take the chill off" fires

 

That fire view is a great stove, you had a pre epa steel noncat before right? Do you credit the increase in comfort as being from the stone or the catalyst? I predict you’ll say both!

I had a stone noncat stove and in that stove the stone did help smooth out the peaks and valleys in output from a noncat combustion system.

I think the secret to a steady home temperature from a woodstove is a long steady burn from the fuel that today is only provided by stoves with catalytic converters. With a good cat I don’t miss the stone.

 

Since I don't have a cat stove I would suggest you get a soapstone with at least a 3 cubic inch firebox for a non-cat. With a good draft and a pipe damper you'll get at least 8 hrs of usable heat.That way you can keep that even heat going without always feeding the stove once it's up to heat. I hear you folks get some real cold up there.If you get a cat the firebox can be a little smaller but on second thought I'd stay in the 3.1 and up firebox range.Don't play around with the cold or it will bite you real good.

 

Rich L ... somehow I think your stove suggestion is going to be too small.

 

Yup, I am inclined to agree. Unless by "non-cat" he means a birdhouse.

 

Then again, 8hrs of heat from a 3 cubic inch firebox is nothing to sneeze at. Likely the longest running and most efficient firebox in history.

 

Thank you.I meant to say Cubic ft not inches.

 

I figured that. Just having some fun with it.