Catalytic soapstone vs. cast iron stove vs. jacketed steel

With that cast iron jacket acting as a buffer and a heat sink, that should even out the heat curve in the room quite a bit, closer to what you'd have with a cat stove. A plus would be that with the welded steel box you don't have to deal with the eventual air leaks at the seams.

Well, I might toss in just a few splits in the spring or fall but obviously to get the long burns in winter weather I jam the box full. And like you guessed, you will have control of the output, even if it's not super-cold out but you have the box full. You soon get the hang of how to run the stove low if you want, with no flame and the cat dimly glowing.

I had to deal with ashes every few days during winter full-time burning.
Since you are using this stove not as a main heater, but only in a smaller area, you might consider the Keystone. I took a slight hit in heat output going from the Fv to the Ks but I sealed some air leaks in the house so it's worked out OK. One reason I made the switch from the Fv to the Ks was to get the big window. I can see the cat glowing from the couch, or its reflection off the cat scoop if I'm standing up. It's also easier to see what's going on in the box as you ramp up a fresh load. Secondly, I got spoiled on the grated ash-handling system when I burned the Dutchwest 2460. Shoveling 'em out isn't too horrible, but nothing beats just sticking a poker in there, sweeping it back and forth a few times, and having full firebox volume back. Then just pull the ash pan a couple times a week, walk outside, and dump it in the ash bucket. No muss, no fuss, no dust. I can't go back...I won't!
Are you using the grate on your Jotul? Does it work well?

 

fishingpol you're a good man so I got a chip in here, as you know I have the IS. And my stove works better if it's fully loaded. So therefore, if it's above 30 I load Pine and if it's not I load anything else. I absolutely love the ash pan, the nc30 type when I had to scoop out I ended up scooping more coals then Ash.. Full I get 12 to 16 hour burns easy.

 

Great information Woody Stover. We have some unknowns on what size stove is going to be the best one for the room it would be going in. I'm basing it on square footage and from other comments and outputs from other stove users. Dennis made a good comment that when they installed the Fireview, they did not need a fan to move the air around.

The ability to adjust the primary air to where it is needed is another plus. Our Castine seems to have air settings in the ball park of where it is needed. Does the Fireview use notches to set the primary air or is it a slide type?

I've had a few stoves with ash pans and I had a situation where I raked ashes into the pan. When I removed the pan, some embers fell down into the ash pan area and I could not close the ashpan door when I put the pan back. I had to use the poker and remove the embers. It was enough for me to not use it again. Also the ash pan door gasket was another potential air leak location, especially if the pan was not pushed in all the way.

 

We should have plenty of access to pine for shoulder season. Pine is fine.

 

I thought I hated ash pans also until I used Woodstock.. Easier to shovel out.. Boy was I wrong!!!
Stove Really depends on how much your heating.. Can't help there My home is NOT normal.. We can discuss further at a GTG with pizza and beer

 

You might think so, but as I said, the cast iron on the Alderlea is pure cosmetic. You can easily touch the sides when the stove box is at maximum temp. This stove is convective and radiant (glass front) only. No real heat buffering from the cast iron either. You just cannot do the super long and low burns like a catalytic. That said, it has been a rock-solid, super efficient fantastic heater for our home.

 

As I was writing, I realized that there are two separate issues here: 1) materials: steel, jacketed steel, cast iron and soapstone 2) reburn method: cat vs. secondary air.

My observations based on my limited experience are as follows. Materials are largely (but not entirely) cosmetic. All things being equal steel heats up slightly faster than iron heats up faster than stone. On the cooling curve, at least in my house, the buffering/thermal mass effect is mostly due to heating up the house rather than the stove. The house weighs a whole lot more than the stove.

Reburn is a major difference. Secondary air needs to get up to a much higher temp than a catalytic stove, so cats can do more even temp burns whereas secondary stoves need to do a quick peak followed by a long diminishing tail. That said, the PE fireboxes are very close in efficiency to cats, just a different cycle.

P.S. The ash chute on the PE's is useless. No big deal.

 

The Fv and Ks both use a lever that slides a cast iron door across the intake air opening.

 

Thank you Dennis. For some reason I thought the Fireview primary air clicked in little notches as it was adjusted. Maybe it was another Woodstock stove. I like the numbering a lot.

 

Here’s mine, and as you can see it hasn’t changed very much. It takes very little effort to adjust and is very responsive.

 

Looks simple and stout.

 

That rear heat shield doesn't look stock, though..??

 

Another question: When is the primary air adjusted after a start up or reload? Before or after engaging the cat? I'm curious if the air setting is affected by the cat.

 

fishingpol I usually leave air wide open to get smoke up to temp. Engage cat and lower primary air.

 

Sure is. Did they make a change possibly? I noticed my air control looks a little different than Backwoods Savage but not much.

 

I usually cut the air to 1.5-2 then engage the cat immediately. If it’s a reload and STT is 300-350 I only wait long enough to see a little flame unless I’m looking for a lot of heat soon. Often by the time of reload I’ve already opened the draft all the way to keep the STT up and reduce coals. I honestly don’t see a huge difference in the air setting engaged or not with just coals. It’s still a pretty unobstructed path for the flame/smoke, not very convoluted like some stoves so unless the cat is plugged I don’t expect a huge difference.
I hope that answers your question.

 

It does answer it thank you. Thank you Canadian border VT too.

 

fishingpol you asked earlier about burning at low heat levels and up until yesterday I’ve been at least half filling the box every reload and my answer reflects that. Your question got me curious so I’ve been burning 1-2 splits at a time in this balmy stretch the past 2 days and having success keeping it down below 500. Starting with morning coals one medium split of pine keeps STT between 350-500 for about 4 hours and maintains house temperature. At 350 I pull coals to the front, put one split on, and close the bypass immediately and set draft at 1 1/4, then down to 3/4 once STT starts to climb again. By late evening coals are reduced nicely for an overnight reload. So 3 decent splits all day. The cat stays engaged and runs at lower temperatures for a surprising amount of time. If I want a little more heat I’ll put 2 splits in. Just thought I’d share my experiment

 

Pretty impressive heat range with controllability and interesting about the heating ability with pine. It sounds like this stove performs very well for shoulder season.