In your opinion, does the ideal steel use less wood overall than the Isle Royale? Are the burn times much longer? Which stove do you prefer?
As for using more or less wood - I don't have a way to compare that for a couple of reasons. 1 I got the beta in the middle of January, so I can't compare how much wood I used in a season, 2 even if I could, this year has been a cold one so I have used the stove more, 3 my wood is not as seasoned as it normally is (using more Canawick blocks mixed in to keep things hot). Having said that, I could only assume, if I kept the house at the same temp, and the outside temps were the same, that the stoves would use about the same amount of wood. They are both very efficient stoves, so would we just be splitting hairs? Or is that a bad assumption?
Burn times longer - Yes. the IS has a much larger firebox, so that alone allows more wood. I can also turn the temp down, so the temp is a little lower, allowing for a longer burn, and the stove stays warmer for longer at the end of a cycle because of it's mass (stone seems to help with this). So for example, with the IR, the max I could do with the CanaWick bricks was 40lbs (one package). It could maybe fit a little more, but you risk over-firing at that point. And that would keep the house warm for up to 12 hrs (I would say 8-12, 12 is definitely on the high end, 8 more common). With the IS I can easily fit 80lbs (twice as much) and get 24 hrs of heat (again, on the high end). Now with the IS I can do more than 80lbs without concern of over-firing as the air control and the cat make it work differently, so I can dial the temp back as needed and not be concerned of it running away. I wanted to spend more time finding the true temp/heat numbers with the bricks (40lbs, 80lbs, 80+, etc), but I am starting to run out and as I mentioned before, I need them to mix with my cord wood.
Then the last question - the tough one. Which do I prefer. I almost feel like I am comparing apples to oranges. Even though the stats say the firebox is similar, they are not. The IS is a larger stove. Also, the IS is cat, the IR is not. So they each have their pros / cons. I will just ramble off some thoughts.
Getting the Cat stove to the "right" temp and everything cruising properly (that means no smoke from the chimney, to me) I find more tricky and struggle more with that, but in fairness, I have only spent 2 months with it vs 5 years with the non-cat.
The size of the IS is great. In the end, it just means less loading, so less work.
Looks - I like the looks of the IS, and love the ability to customize it, BUT both my wife and I prefer the cast iron and love the looks of the IR. My wife is not a big fan of the box look of the IS. But this is completely a taste, non performance issue.
So far, it seems I can burn less desirable wood cleaner in the IR, but that just may be because I know the IR better.
Love that the IS is so controllable. I know I have said this other places, just don't remember where, but you can basically pick your temp with the air setting. The IR has a temp cycle it likes to do. You can dial it back, but it is no where near as responsive as the IS. Oh and the Air slide with the markings, ALL stoves should have something like this. That is so simple and genius.
Honestly, they are both great stoves. I wish I could combine my likes on both.
So I guess the questions for a buyer
-cat or not
-stone or cast iron performance(I know the IS is steel, but the stone liner makes is perform like a stone, from what I have read). I think by soft heat, they are just saying it takes more time to heat it up, but then it slowly lets the heat out at the end also, so the "spike" in temp during the start of the cycle isn't as extreme.
-Appearance
-Firebox size, as the IS requires less loading because it is a bigger stove
, not on purpose. It does take time though. It won't just run off out of control. Both times were with a full load of good fuel, cat engaged and air almost completely open. Once I spaced it and the temp was 800 or so for a short time, the other time I fell asleep lying in front of it so it spent some time in the 800+ range. Well that was one HOT alarm clock. Since this thing throws so much heat out the front, it felt like I woke up on the sun. I would guess I napped for like an hour. Anyway, long story short, I was able to bring the temp back pretty easily/quickly with the air set way down and the stove hasn't shone any signs of issues from that. The only thing that did happen was the smoke shield bent. I never use it, I leave it in the up position, but the day after the second 800+ experience I notice it was bent. I think the conclusion was it expanded length wise from the extreme heat and bent itself. Of course they sent a new one a day later and sent the old back for examination (FYI, very simple design to pop that in and out).
