PH soft heat vs. IS steel heat

We love the feel of the soft heat that we get from our Fireview and have our sights set on a PH refurb but all the talk about the IS has us considering that stove too but we wondering how the heat felt from the stove since it is steel. We have read that the heat from a steel stove is a harsher heat. Any beta testers want to comment?

 

I had a Hearthstone Heritage which is a soapstone stove. When that stove was at 600+, the term "soft" would not be an accurate description. Felt no different than the cast iron and steel stoves I have used.

 

After running the PH for a season I consider "soft heat" to be nothing more than low heat. There were a few times I wished I could of removed the soapstone "insulation" and let that " harsh" heat escape.

 

I guess when you come right down to it, radiation is radiation.
I think if you've got the IS crankin', the convective sides will temper the radiation a bit.

 

Our prior stove was a Fireview. Our Beta Ideal Steel just puts out way more heat in general. It does not feel any more harsh or less soft than the Foreview but the soapstone stoves level out the peaks and troughs of the burn cycle. They don't heat up as fast or cool off as fast. The Ideal Steel compensates for this with its wide range of easy controllability and larger firebox.

If money were no object our family would still opt for a PH. We just like the soapstone stove looks better. But as far as the soft heat aspect goes, the Ideal Steel doesn't suffer from increased "harshness" because the air control levels out the highs and lows.

 

Thanks Brian, that was the info I was looking for concerning the IS. We are in the same boat with the affordability of the PH and are on a waiting list for a possible refurb PH. The IS is looking better and better.....

 

I can compare it to my cast iron Hearthstone. I do notice it takes a little longer to heat up. Not much, and certainly not enough to make it an issue. I attribute this to the stone liner instead of firebrick, rather than the shell material. Once it is going hard the heat is not "softer" than the cast iron. What you have to know about this stove (and is tough to tell fromthe pictures) is that the window is HUGE and much of the air radiated from there when it is running hot. When it settles down I think you do see the heat mitigate a little from the stone, and the combination of stone and air channels. Some of my feedback was that this really behavies like two different stoves depending on how you run it.

 

Depends a lot on your house, my old Nashua had a ton of harsh heat but it was in a large area so never a problem, put it in a small room and you are going to think you died and went to hell.

 

Having burned steel and now a soapstone, I think the "soft" that I feel now is the lack of high heat temp swings that the stone absorbs and releases at the end of the burn. Probably any well behaved cat stove will feel softer than it's steel of iron counterpart due to the cat's more steady burn rate. When I run my stove (relatively) hard, I burn three loads per day. Stove top temp only varies about 175F, maybe less (I think). So, instead of STT swinging from 250F to 750F (<HARSH) it stays soft and the house temp doesn't drop to the point that I need harsh heat to warm it back up. Well insulated, high heat sink homes are more likely to respond this way. My home is a huge heat sink and well insulated, so burn rate isn't that important, mainly the amount of wood burned per 24 hours. Some homes in some climates need harsh heat to stay warm, a stove running steady at 375F isn't going to cut it.

 

I agree. Great explanation, thanks.

 

I was thinking about this question today and specifically why it is so hard to answer. I don't think you can compare the IS to other stoves very easily. It has soapstone, but not nearly as much as the full soapstone stoves. It has steel, but much of it is lined with stone. It has strong secondaries, but also a cat to run it lower and longer. There just isn't any good comparison like you can do with something like a Manchester vs. Oslo. The IS has elements from every stove thrown together with an extra automatic damper. I'd love the other testers thoughts too.

 

I read this question last night and wasn't sure how to answer it, but many of the replies above are exactly what I have experienced. A lot of the time, with either the PH or Ideal Steel, we are running at high temps, and I really don't notice the difference between soapstone "softness" and steel "harshness". I was thinking that perhaps I'm just insensitive to such refined differences, so I'm quite glad to read your replies.

As noted above, the Ideal Steel has quite a bit of soapstone in it; I think it is less than 15% lighter than the PH.

Tonight we are at 9 degrees and falling, with the bottom expected well below zero, and the coming week's lows are all expected to be below 20. The Ideal Steel is at 600 degree stovetop and 400 degree flue temp, and I am going to have to dip into next winter's wood before the peepers start singing.

 

I do not own the hybrid steel stove or a soapstone stove. I would say that the aspect that these stoves being Cat stoves means these stoves can be turned down to really low levels for less heat over a long period of time. The non-cat stoves are the ones that have higher steep peak heat curves. Now I have read that you have to learn to get the stove in the cat only mode as with a hybrid stove the secondary air can kick in if the stove is left too long with the air opened up and temps fire off the secondary air flames. If you keep the stove at low level burn only the cat is active and lower heat is produced.

 

I had the same conversation with WS today when they were looking at my stove. We both think I have been trying to run it like a non-cat stove. I am going to try and turn it down sooner and let the cat take over. This backs up my theory that the IS behaves like two different stoves depending on what you want it to do.