Cast Iron Stove that gets hot fast, and stays hot?

[sciencefan]

With a firebox that size, I think you should look at a large stove like one of the big Englanders like Brother Bart bought. All stoves sold today will produce a lot more heat for the amount of wood you shove into them than that beast ever did.

I also think you bought wayyy too small. A Napoleon 1100 is a very small stove, and for the way you want to use it you should be looking at something that has a firebox that's like 3.0+ cuft.

Elk explained a bit more on this, but I'll say some additional words here.

An EPA stove like your napoleon should produce usable heat within about 30 minutes, and be full glory in maybe an hour. 24 hours? That person is burning an alternative bio material in their stove that is grown in Columbia.

LOL!

Folks like RooSpike here have larger stoves (as does Elk) that they run in a more temporary mode during the warmer weather, so how about it Spike. How long does your PE take to produce any serious heat?

Also, What's a log mean? 4 logs? I tend to talk about splits where a split is a peice of wood 16" long and rougly as big around as a 64oz coke bottle.

My stove will produce usable heat for about 4 hours on 4 peices of wood that big, maybe a bit longer

mine too

but Given that same 4 logs, a big VC Defiant, Pacific Energy Summit or a Lopi Liberty would not produce any more heat. They all burn with roughly the same effective real world efficiency and there are so many BTU's in the wood. They all will produce more overall BTU output than your current stove.

I think the reason Elk was indicating overfiring was in part that there's no latch, and no gaskets, and your stove is getting very hot quickly. That all adds up to a very hot fire heating up that beast of a stove quickly.

Yes, all the modern stoves will take longer to feel hot. But, a Jotul 600 that is running a full load with a surface temp of 650 is a very large very hot thing that will be capable of getting your 500 sqft room to 85 degrees easily after a couple hours. the difference is that if you fill that Jotul to the brim, cut the air control down to minimum, at 10 pm, at 7 am the next morning, that Jotul will still be quite hot, there will still be wood burning in it, and your kitchen will still be warm AND the oil heat will not have kicked on all night.

The material of the stove is not quite as important here as the size is. Actually, your stove is not cast. It appears to be welded sheet steel...at least the outside is. The fastest heating stoves made today are the steel stoves like your napoleon. Next come Cast iron, then soapstone. But on the heat retention, the order is reversed. Steel cools fastest, then cast then sopastone.

If you want fast heat, look at a big englanders, Lopi steel stoves, Big Osburns, Harmon, Pacific Energy, The list goes on and on.

Thanks for your input on Jotul. I don't think we could afford the 600; the 400 is at the very top of our price range. The 400 is rated at 55,000 btus. So is the Napoleon. But I'm thinking that the Jotul Castine 400 would "feel" warmer because it would give more radiant heat than the Napoleon. Or am I wrong about that?

 

[sciencefan]

One more small point here. I have a basement room that is about 450 sqft. Based on my experience with a smallish Osburn insert, I'm extremely hesitant to put ANY wood stove in that room for fear of so over heating that room as to make it unusable. My Osburn heats 2200 sqft with a 1.8 cuft firebox.

Wow. So you have to be a rocket scientist now to run a fire?

What's an Osborn? Got links?

 

[sciencefan]

Your existing stove requires 36" from combustiables thats code. New stoves that are tested can be reduced to tested manufactures specs. sSngle wall stove pipe is 18" to combustiables unless they have a heat shield double wall pipe is 6"

I have been in my current occupation for quite a while National certified Building inspector and Mechanical inspector. I know the symptons of what metal looks like when over heated it turns a bit whiter than surounding cooler metal Grant it I am lookingh at you photos I see too many indications of overfiring

Thjere are many fine Cast Iron stove to choose from Moroso Jotul Vermont castings Harman Dutch West again Vermont castings
tell us more about you current replacement how you opperate it ect maybe from there we can get a better icture of its limitations and advise

You came here looking for help and to be educated as to how modern stoves work. It a little more than brand x vs brand y sizing a stove is important.

I also suspect freshly cut , even dead trees, have a higher moisture content than season split and stacked a year in advanced . The modern stoves require well seasoned wood
less than that stove preformance suffers in heat output

Draft is another issue not yet sescribed how long is your verticle length and is the chimney safe to be used ? If it is the age of your initial stove and metal then it is safe to say it would never pass today's codes which leads me to another question did your local inspector pass your latest installation? with those clearance issues?

I'm out there trying to prevent incidents and to uphold safety protect your well being. Everything I have said is to make you aware your situation may be compromised

My existing stove is a Napoleon 1100.
My old stove is in the garage, not hooked up.
We just had professional chimney people in who did everything up to the latest codes.

My husband cuts the trees the year before and they are dry. He makes two stacks; we always burn what he cut the year before.

We have only put 3 fires in the new stove since it has been 40-50 degrees here.

It backwashed smoke into the room the first time, when I was starting it.

Even with the excessive warmth outside, it took me over 6 hours to get the heat upstairs with about ten 18 inch sticks. It was a waste of wood. The inside of the firebox was plenty hot - around 450 on the steel top.

 

[babalu87]

Thjere are many fine Cast Iron stove to choose from Moroso Jotul Vermont castings Harman Dutch West again Vermont castings

I never though I would see he day

:golf clap:

 

[sciencefan]

INDEED,sf, I was funnin' ya. The Oslo is an excellent stove.

BUT, let's review....cause I'm a little confused. Your original stoves heated likle gangbusters, correct?? If so, that's prolly because it's a rather large stove with LOTS of radiant surface. Personally, I'm surprized, though, that you weren't going thriough wood mighty fast.

Yes. about one stick an hour

Next, you purchased, installed the Napolean, but were disappointed...correct?? Is this likely because the Napolean is small?? Anyone?? Certainly it should be more stingy with the wood. Again, anyone??

Right, but it's what we could afford. We got a floor model for $999.

Lastly, sf, you're clear on the difference between cast-iron and steel stoves?? Cast will afford NICE (decorative) design features that are often neglected by the marketers of steel stoves.

The looks don't matter too much because it's more of a utilitarian stove. We don't have seating nearby to sit in front of it and watch it. It's just to supplement our oil heat.

From what I have been told about the difference between radiant heat and convection heat, I'm guessing the reason I don't like the way the stove "heats" (doesn't heat) is because I have just learned that I prefer radiant heat.

 

[sciencefan]

I have been in my current occupation for quite a while National certified Building inspector and Mechanical inspector. I know the symptons of what metal looks like when over heated it turns a bit whiter than surounding cooler metal Grant it I am lookingh at you photos I see too many indications of overfiring

I don't doubt your expertise. Keep in mind though, I have run the stove for 6 years but it's probably 30 years old.

 

[sciencefan]

Just because the 118 in the store was not making the store 85 degrees, doesn't mean anything. That stove should be able to cook you out of a 500 sqft basement EASILY!!

How can you be so sure about that?

 

[Andre B.]

If you are going to burn witha modern wood stove you will have to modify your burning habits Modern stoves are not quick heat ups they are designed to be run 24/7

I was in much the same situation as sciencefan when I switched from a homebuilt simple steel box stove that I had been using for 12 years or so to the Drolet. I now have some time on the new stove and with some simple changes I can get the magnetic pipe surface temp to 600°F and climbing fast in 15 to 20 minutes, at that point you HAVE to be standing by the stove because 900° is only a few more minutes away.
By this time the heat exchanger with the blower on is making a lot of hot air even though the main body of the stove (fire brick) still has a lot of heat to soak up. If I have some time I will do up some drawings and a description of how I build the fire.
I do not think I want to take the temperature up much faster, thinking about the ceramic baffle plate. Just saying that the modern stoves do not have to be slow getting heat to the room.

Sciencefan I see you are in Maine you may want to check out the Drolet stoves, they are made in Canada so should be available to you. From what I have seen mine is a good but inexpensive stove. Record so far is a single load 12 hours with 1.5 inches of live coals left in the stove, covering the bottom not just in one corner .

It did come with a broken glass in the door but they sent out a new one right quick. There was a bump of glue or something between the glass and the gasket that caused the glass to be bent when it was clamped in the door, temp changes and/or mechanical shock in shipping caused the glass to crack.

 

[sciencefan]

If you are going to burn witha modern wood stove you will have to modify your burning habits Modern stoves are not quick heat ups they are designed to be run 24/7

I was in much the same situation as sciencefan when I switched from a homebuilt simple steel box stove that I had been using for 12 years or so to the Drolet. I now have some time on the new stove and with some simple changes I can get the magnetic pipe surface temp to 600°F and climbing fast in 15 to 20 minutes, at that point you HAVE to be standing by the stove because 900° is only a few more minutes away.
By this time the heat exchanger with the blower on is making a lot of hot air even though the main body of the stove (fire brick) still has a lot of heat to soak up. If I have some time I will do up some drawings and a description of how I build the fire.
I do not think I want to take the temperature up much faster, thinking about the ceramic baffle plate. Just saying that the modern stoves do not have to be slow getting heat to the room.

Sciencefan I see you are in Maine you may want to check out the Drolet stoves, they are made in Canada so should be available to you. From what I have seen mine is a good but inexpensive stove. Record so far is a single load 12 hours with 1.5 inches of live coals left in the stove, covering the bottom not just in one corner .

It did come with a broken glass in the door but they sent out a new one right quick. There was a bump of glue or something between the glass and the gasket that caused the glass to be bent when it was clamped in the door, temp changes and/or mechanical shock in shipping caused the glass to crack.

Thank you Andre. I think I was using a simple steel box, too. At least that is what I have been told. At this point I know much more about woodstoves than I ever dreamed I would. My brain is starting to burn out.

All I want is to be warm, and I don't want to spend a lot of wood doing it. Why is that so hard?

 

[sciencefan]

From what I have been told about the difference between radiant heat and convection heat, I'm guessing the reason I don't like the way the stove "heats" (doesn't heat) is because I have just learned that I prefer radiant heat.

I s'pose I should take your word for it, but me thinks you're simply NOT getting your space as warm with the Napolean.

No. I'm not. But when I open the door, it is hot as blazes in there.

 

[sciencefan]

From what I have been told about the difference between radiant heat and convection heat, I'm guessing the reason I don't like the way the stove "heats" (doesn't heat) is because I have just learned that I prefer radiant heat.

I s'pose I should take your word for it, but me thinks you're simply NOT getting your space as warm with the Napolean.

No. I'm not. But when I open the door, it is hot as blazes in there.

Does the Napolean have firebrick inside?? Firebrick helps radiate more heat back INTO the fire (and makes it burn hotter and cleaner) but at the expense of reducing the rate of heat UPTAKE by the sheet steel. Of course, in so doing, it helps PROTECT the steel from excessive heat.

How much stovepipe do you have UPSTREAM of the closest penetration, ie, between stove and penetration?? Is it all double wall or is some of it single wall?? Where/how does the stovepipe exit the heating space??

The stove pipe is single wall 4 feet up.
Then it elbows into 18 inches of metalbestos.
Then it goes up straight to the outside, including 3 ft above the roof, for about 16-18 ft.

 

[sciencefan]

Does the Napolean have firebrick inside?? Firebrick helps radiate more heat back INTO the fire (and makes it burn hotter and cleaner) but at the expense of reducing the rate of heat UPTAKE by the sheet steel. Of course, in so doing, it helps PROTECT the steel from excessive heat.

How much stovepipe do you have UPSTREAM of the closest penetration, ie, between stove and penetration?? Is it all double wall or is some of it single wall?? Where/how does the stovepipe exit the heating space??

The stove pipe is single wall 4 feet up.
Then it elbows into 18 inches of metalbestos.
Then it goes up straight to the outside, including 3 ft above the roof, for about 16-18 ft.[/quote]

From a heat recovery standpoint, that's just about ideal.

THAT's good to know. Thank you.

 

[elkimmeg]

I have yo find this post to reproduce it Another member calculater the heat transmitted reflecting stove top temps
His base line was 450 at 600 degrees the stove produces 100% more heat than the 450 How doy you feel when you stove is cranking 600 degrees
surface. witha steel stove one can also bring it up to 650 /700 Really at 450 is like judging it half way

Productive heat my deffinition and shared By the head of enginnering at Vermont castings Productive heat is a range of heat varing between 450- 650 lasting the full load of wood In my case the Vermont casting Encore esilly obtains 8 hours in this range Night after night I have had 7 hours of 550 to 650 range another hour cooling down to 450.

As mentioned given fire box sizes no matter what stove brand the same amount of wood produces the same amount of BTUs this is true

However advanced secondary burn processes can burn the smoke particles and squeeze more heat out of the smoke and less particles means less emmissions cleaner burning
The stove that does the best job of secondary burn will produce more BTUs Thus the stove that burns the cleanest produces the most BTUS per lb of wood

The cleanest Burning stoves ever tested By the EPA are made in New England No other stove has tested less than one gram particulates before thes tested at .7

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5224/

And here how they do it
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5172/

the explanation of the Ever Burn Technology

 

[Hogwildz]

I don't think she is looking for a blower to increase the amount of convection heat. For her the radiant heat was what she liked. She wanted the searing radiant heat. Cast iron or Steel is irrelevant, she want's a radiant stove. The 1100 is a convection stove. I would not expect a convection stove to over heat a single area as much since it does tend to heat the immediate objects.

I think we could debate convection vs radiant again for the 1000th time, but not get anywhere. She wants radiant.

She also want's cast iron. I think that's debatable also, but if cast is what she wants....

A neighbor of mine had a Jotul 600 that I helped her get started one day, and it took that stove a long time to produce any usable heat. It was a very large stove that would be quite capable of cooking the raised ranch it's in, but would take a bit.

Thank you for being a good listener

I haven't seen any of those debates;-) Shucks!

It's that "usable heat" thing I'm having a problem with. I've got heat inside the box but not outside.

The reason I think I want a cast iron stove is because I want radiant heat.

Another thing to realize is that ALL stoves today do take some time to heat up and will have internal firebox temps that are quite high, actually higher than your old stove, and those temps take a bit to achieve before any real useful heat output happens. This is true regardless of technology.

This scares me. Maybe NO stove out there will make me happy?

She also want's cast iron. I think that's debatable also, but if cast is what she wants....

Well, I am flexible on this. What do you suggest? Cause really I get it over 85 degrees in my kitchen when I'm running the woodstove.

As far as the size of my previous stove: the firebox was about 18 x 13 and over 15 inches high.
Here's a picture:

Um is it just me, or does that sucker look severely overfired? No wonder you hade it up to 85 degrees, was the stove cherry red also?

 

[sciencefan]

I have yo find this post to reproduce it Another member calculater the heat transmitted reflecting stove top temps
His base line was 450 at 600 degrees the stove produces 100% more heat than the 450 How doy you feel when you stove is cranking 600 degrees
surface. witha steel stove one can also bring it up to 650 /700 Really at 450 is like judging it half way

Productive heat my deffinition and shared By the head of enginnering at Vermont castings Productive heat is a range of heat varing between 450- 650 lasting the full load of wood In my case the Vermont casting Encore esilly obtains 8 hours in this range Night after night I have had 7 hours of 550 to 650 range another hour cooling down to 450.

As mentioned given fire box sizes no matter what stove brand the same amount of wood produces the same amount of BTUs this is true

However advanced secondary burn processes can burn the smoke particles and squeeze more heat out of the smoke and less particles means less emmissions cleaner burning
The stove that does the best job of secondary burn will produce more BTUs Thus the stove that burns the cleanest produces the most BTUS per lb of wood

The cleanest Burning stoves ever tested By the EPA are made in New England No other stove has tested less than one gram particulates before thes tested at .7

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5224/

And here how they do it
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5172/

the explanation of the Ever Burn Technology

I was comfortable at 600 degrees, but it took too much wood and time to get there. I didn't notice how long it stayed there. I think after about 8 hours I was able to keep it warm enough by throwing in 2 sticks at a time, but I thought they burned too fast. AND it was 45 degrees outside.

 

[sciencefan]

Um is it just me, or does that sucker look severely overfired? No wonder you hade it up to 85 degrees, was the stove cherry red also?

That's what someone else said.
One time we did have an accident with it after my son had put some more wood on the fire.
I went downstairs to see it, and one door was ajar about an inch.
The fire was blazing.
Both of the doors were glowing red.
It was very frightening.
I was able to calm it down by closing the door and the air intakes.
But yeah, that did happen one time.
It was about 95 degrees at the top of the stairs.
I would say "LOL", but it was quite serious.
Thankfully, we won't have to worry about that any more.

 

[Hogwildz]

Um is it just me, or does that sucker look severely overfired? No wonder you hade it up to 85 degrees, was the stove cherry red also?

That's what someone else said.
One time we did have an accident with it after my son had put some more wood on the fire.
I went downstairs to see it, and one door was ajar about an inch.
The fire was blazing.
Both of the doors were glowing red.
It was very frightening.
I was able to calm it down by closing the door and the air intakes.
But yeah, that did happen one time.
It was about 95 degrees at the top of the stairs.
I would say "LOL", but it was quite serious.
Thankfully, we won't have to worry about that any more.

When any part of your stove is "glowing red", that IS overfiring.
I am not picking on you in any means. Just trying to point out, although you feel you are experienced in burning & also feel you have not overfired the stove.
The pictures you submitted and the story you just told us, shows that the stove was overfired. Overfired does not necessarily mean it will burn the house down. But after enough times, it warps the metal, weakens the metal, and will compromise the integrity & performance of the stove. And also in time more inportantly compromise you & your families safety. By quick hot fires, that also would lead me to think of overfiring. It takes alot of heat to highly heat steel up quickly, once your stove temp starts getting over a certain temp. its all overfiring from that temp on. You will see many posts on these forums that the chimney pipe temp outside temp is somewheres around 1/2 the temp of internal pipe temp. Same for the stove, if it feels really hot on the outside, its much. much hotter on the inside.
I can only suggest searching overfiring and such in the forums & site and research for yourself, and come to your own conclusions of your burning habits. Not judging, just trying to see that others are safe.

 

[sciencefan]

Um is it just me, or does that sucker look severely overfired? No wonder you hade it up to 85 degrees, was the stove cherry red also?

That's what someone else said.
One time we did have an accident with it after my son had put some more wood on the fire.
I went downstairs to see it, and one door was ajar about an inch.
The fire was blazing.
Both of the doors were glowing red.
It was very frightening.
I was able to calm it down by closing the door and the air intakes.
But yeah, that did happen one time.
It was about 95 degrees at the top of the stairs.
I would say "LOL", but it was quite serious.
Thankfully, we won't have to worry about that any more.

When any part of your stove is "glowing red", that IS overfiring.
I am not picking on you in any means. Just trying to point out, although you feel you are experienced in burning & also feel you have not overfired the stove.
The pictures you submitted and the story you just told us, shows that the stove was overfired. Overfired does not necessarily mean it will burn the house down. But after enough times, it warps the metal, weakens the metal, and will compromise the integrity & performance of the stove. And also in time more inportantly compromise you & your families safety. By quick hot fires, that also would lead me to think of overfiring. It takes alot of heat to highly heat steel up quickly, once your stove temp starts getting over a certain temp. its all overfiring from that temp on. You will see many posts on these forums that the chimney pipe temp outside temp is somewheres around 1/2 the temp of internal pipe temp. Same for the stove, if it feels really hot on the outside, its much. much hotter on the inside.
I can only suggest searching overfiring and such in the forums & site and research for yourself, and come to your own conclusions of your burning habits. Not judging, just trying to see that others are safe.

Thank you.

 

[Roospike]

#1 Sounds like the stove is in the wrong spot in the house to need so much heat and or the house is too big for the stove and or the house needs better insulation.

What sciencefan is wanting in a stove is what most buyers do not want ....... a hot spot stove in the house.

The stove is thin steel and no fire brick and not air tight ........... there is no exact replacement for this stove . The closest might be something like the old "earth stove" thin steel and low fire brick and arounf 4.5 cf firebox , air tight but not up to EPA standards.

Steel stove vs cast stove: there is going to be hardly any difference if both stove are build well. The thinner steel stove will get hot faster as well as the cheap cast stove that are not air tight.

The Napoleon 1100 is a small steel stove and is not designed for what sciencefan is doing and hating steel stoves because of it is out of line , its like asking a small car to pull a big trailer.

A good modern EPA steel stove that is made to get up to higher BTU should be built to handle such heat and normally is going to have thicker steel for the high heat and to hold the heat longer ( kinda like soapstone ) My Pacific Energy Summit is rated around 100,000 BTUs ( 97K ) I normally run the stove 375°-450° ( top temp) 70% of the time and when it gets down below -0° then it get kicked up higher from 500°-650° and thats when she really puts out the heat.

Getting a "cast" stove to replace the steel stove is not going to change a darn thing if you dont buy the right size for your needs in the first place. You "need" the correct size stove !
There are too many people buying stoves by price point and not the right stove for there needs.
Just because a new steel stove was $1200. to upgrade from the old one dont make it the "right stove" . Your old stove was likely to be a 3.0 +++ size fire box with no brick to the new stove of half the size. When buying a new stove your should of went with a Napoleon Model 1900 , again changing to a cast stove of the same size as the Napoleon 1100 is not going to change a thing.

 

[BurningIsLove]

My VC stove (large size) using Everburn heats my place (two floors, 2700 sq ft) with ease, but like Elk sez, the everburn is just icing on the cake, I dont run it at outdoor temps above 40. It is new construction, so good insulation, acceptable windows, and large rooms vs. older colonials that have lots of small rooms. The fan kit is great at distributing heat to the rest of the house when the house is cold (e.g. I havent been home in a few days). Once the house is comfortable, I find the fan is unnecessary and I turn it off (read: Im cheap and dont want to spend the miniscule $$ on electricity to run the fan).

It's construction also doesnt require much clearances to the back/side wall (except for the edge w/ the side loader).

 

[sciencefan]

Steel stove vs cast stove: there is going to be hardly any difference if both stove are build well. The thinner steel stove will get hot faster as well as the cheap cast stove that are not air tight.

The Napoleon 1100 is a small steel stove and is not designed for what sciencefan is doing and hating steel stoves because of it is out of line , its like asking a small car to pull a big trailer.

A good modern EPA steel stove that is made to get up to higher BTU should be built to handle such heat and normally is going to have thicker steel for the high heat and to hold the heat longer ( kinda like soapstone ) My Pacific Energy Summit is rated around 100,000 BTUs ( 97K ) I normally run the stove 375°-450° ( top temp) 70% of the time and when it gets down below -0° then it get kicked up higher from 500°-650° and thats when she really puts out the heat.

...changing to a cast stove of the same size as the Napoleon 1100 is not going to change a thing.

So you're saying that the heat from a steel stove rated for 55,000 btus and a cast stove rated for 55,000 btus feels the same?

Are you of the opinion that radiant heat and convection heat feels the same?

 

[sciencefan]

My VC stove (large size) using Everburn heats my place (two floors, 2700 sq ft) with ease, but like Elk sez, the everburn is just icing on the cake, I dont run it at outdoor temps above 40. It is new construction, so good insulation, acceptable windows, and large rooms vs. older colonials that have lots of small rooms. The fan kit is great at distributing heat to the rest of the house when the house is cold (e.g. I havent been home in a few days). Once the house is comfortable, I find the fan is unnecessary and I turn it off (read: Im cheap and dont want to spend the miniscule $$ on electricity to run the fan).

It's construction also doesnt require much clearances to the back/side wall (except for the edge w/ the side loader).

Yeah. I don't think the Napoleon is big enough, but I also don't think I like convection heat.

 

[Roospike]

Steel stove vs cast stove: there is going to be hardly any difference if both stove are build well. The thinner steel stove will get hot faster as well as the cheap cast stove that are not air tight.

The Napoleon 1100 is a small steel stove and is not designed for what sciencefan is doing and hating steel stoves because of it is out of line , its like asking a small car to pull a big trailer.

A good modern EPA steel stove that is made to get up to higher BTU should be built to handle such heat and normally is going to have thicker steel for the high heat and to hold the heat longer ( kinda like soapstone ) My Pacific Energy Summit is rated around 100,000 BTUs ( 97K ) I normally run the stove 375°-450° ( top temp) 70% of the time and when it gets down below -0° then it get kicked up higher from 500°-650° and thats when she really puts out the heat.

...changing to a cast stove of the same size as the Napoleon 1100 is not going to change a thing.

So you're saying that the heat from a steel stove rated for 55,000 btus and a cast stove rated for 55,000 btus feels the same?

Are you of the opinion that radiant heat and convection heat feels the same?

Yes , there going to be about the same both being 55,000 BTU stoves. There not going to be any big difference.

Also: wood stoves are not rated like a home furnace , a home furnace rated at 80,000 BTUs is going to come on , blow heat for a wile and turn off.
a wood stove rated at 55,000 BTUs is not going to run 55, 000 BTUs per hour , it will likely to run 20- 30,000 BTUs , if your running a 55,000 BTU stove a t 50,000 BTUs for long periods of time the stove is not going to last and also you bought too small of a stove in the first place.

 

[sciencefan]

Steel stove vs cast stove: there is going to be hardly any difference if both stove are build well. The thinner steel stove will get hot faster as well as the cheap cast stove that are not air tight.

The Napoleon 1100 is a small steel stove and is not designed for what sciencefan is doing and hating steel stoves because of it is out of line , its like asking a small car to pull a big trailer.

A good modern EPA steel stove that is made to get up to higher BTU should be built to handle such heat and normally is going to have thicker steel for the high heat and to hold the heat longer ( kinda like soapstone ) My Pacific Energy Summit is rated around 100,000 BTUs ( 97K ) I normally run the stove 375°-450° ( top temp) 70% of the time and when it gets down below -0° then it get kicked up higher from 500°-650° and thats when she really puts out the heat.

...changing to a cast stove of the same size as the Napoleon 1100 is not going to change a thing.

So you're saying that the heat from a steel stove rated for 55,000 btus and a cast stove rated for 55,000 btus feels the same?

Are you of the opinion that radiant heat and convection heat feels the same?

Yes , there going to be about the same both being 55,000 BTU stoves. There not going to be any big difference.

Also: wood stoves are not rated like a home furnace , a home furnace rated at 80,000 BTUs is going to come on , blow heat for a wile and turn off.
a wood stove rated at 55,000 BTUs is not going to run 55, 000 BTUs per hour , it will likely to run 20- 30,000 BTUs , if your running a 55,000 BTU stove a t 50,000 BTUs for long periods of time the stove is not going to last and

Ah. Kind of like running sound speakers full blast.

also you bought too small of a stove in the first place.

Yes. I've been told. It was hard to decide how much of a stove we needed because we didn't know the rating of the stove we were using before.

Based on the square footage it seemed like it was going to be adequate.

 

[Roospike]

Ah. Kind of like running sound speakers full blast.

exactly !

My home is 1800 sf , 2 story , 100+ years old , ( up dated/up graded ) and i run a 100,000 BTU stove.

When looking for a stove look at the rating as being 2/3 of what it is listed as.

If you NEED 50,000 BTUs of heat per hour then you need to be looking at 70k-100k BTUs stoves.