Cast Iron Vs Steel Wood Burning stoves (Which one suits your needs better?) 

I welded a very old “separating” cast iron stove seam. I used preheat and nickel-rod to seal up a cracking seam. The stove still works to this day and 8 years after the repair.

Removed a section in my camper where the entertainment area is and installed. Works great. Instead of propane furnace heat, I can use this ru-vid.comUgkxATHBlMJwipGgVWseuAFKvDQ_5R4_lywo to heat the camper as long as it's hooked up to shore power. Only thing I do not like is there does not seem to be a thermostat. I'm presuming it has a built-in one so it does not overheat. Really like all the other color options it has to offer.

Still using my Fischer mama bear 35 years . Bought it used , has kept me warm for many VT winters. It's lined w/ firebrick easily replaced. Paid $250 for it in 1985

We have had (and enjoyed) a Hearthstone enameled cast iron stove for the past ten years, and it's still going *strong* !! Heats our little house (

I had a store selling woodstoves in Western WV back in the '70s. I carried one of the best models of the day and the ones most others later copied, the Norwegian Jotul. They introduced to the US the efficiency of an air-tight stove with a baffle and secondary burning. Unfortunately for me, they were too pricy for my market. I still heat my house with the Jotul #4 combi-fire 43 years later and it is still in excellent condition, I haven't even needed to replace the door gasket. One Pro for cast iron stoves you didn't mention that Jotul utilized is the dimpled outer surface, my #4 has it and they claimed the dimples added something like 25% more surface area thus giving you 25% more radiated heat, you can't really do that with steel. That said, I have an old brick-lined steel stove in my shop that does a fine job! Thank you for your informative video, and Happy New Year!

We bought a 30yo Vermont Castings with catalyst...after pulling the entire stove apart and rebuilding/resealing, the thing works like it is brand spanking new....we burn as much as 3-4 cords of wood every year continuously for 4 months straight and have been using the rebuilt stove for 10 years in a row with zero issues

I find your videos so interesting as I work in the premium end of the UK market. Here we almost exclusively use steel stove at the top end and cast iron is the bargain basement! You are so right about cast iron stoves releasing the heat more slowly due to thermal mass- we try and remind people that there is often the same efficency- iron is slower to start heating the room but will still be releasing the heat you paid for after you have gone to bed! That said the mass of the iron stove acts as a thermal flywheel over the burn cycle. PureVision stoves in the UK get the best of everything- Steel stoves for total airtightness, cast iron doors- free from stress and gives a huge variety of style options, but to make the steel stove gain some of the advantages of the iron stove they fit refactory porcelian liners to give it thermal mass and much greater longevity than vemiculite used on cheaper stove. One point you did not metion is steel gives the option to fit convector boxes into the stove to move the heat from the stove right round the room, but is of course by no means standard. Keep up the good work, I love to see shops helping customers to make educated choices!

I've had a VC cast iron stove for 20 years in a weekend cabin. Once you get it going, it performs well, but it is true that when you get up there on a cold night it takes a while to get things warm. I view running it in three stages (1) establish the fire, (2) heat up the stove much like preheating an oven, and (3) close the bypass damper and heat the house. The stove doesn't care that you want heat immediately, it takes about a half hour or so before it is putting out significant heat. But once it gets ripping it runs great and it does throw off a very nice, even heat that makes it very easy to regulate the temperature once you know what you are doing.

Had a Vermont Castings multifuel stove, now run a steel woodburner. The problem I had with the Vermont was the firebars in the rocking grate. They'd distort to the point they had to be replaced regularly, mostly due to bubbles in the castings. Now have a welded steel 7Kw woodburner, with tile side panels, and am much happier with it. Replace the firebricks ~every 5 years, and that's it. Heats the house to +27C when it's -25C outside, with no effort. Sure, it doesn't have the mass and thermal inertia of the Vermont, but it's reliable and understandable. With that I mean you can get used to its quirks and work with it. It becomes a member of the family and needs to be treated with respect!

Built my woodstove over 35 years ago from a transformer like you see on telephone poles. Cost me less than $50 with kit, fire brick and steel works great. With a seilling fan it heats my whole house....$50 dollars.

Glad you mentioned the warping of steel stoves, it happens more often in the baffles, doors and other components more so than the firebox. It's not that uncommon in my experience.

I've lived in the same house in New England for over 30 years and have used VC Encore as the primary source of heat using at least 6-7 cords/ year and only burning dry hardwood. I get about 10 years from each stove and have used 2 with catalytic and one without. Over time, each stove will start to be less air tight and be more difficult to control the rate of burn and the cast damper outlet and flapper will warp and not seal well. The refractory pieces (non cast iron) will severely deteriorate and begin to fall apart gradually to complete failure. A rebuild "kit" is available with just the parts that I need for about $1000. The catalytic lasts about 3 years each and yesterday, I paid over $350 for a new one to replace the 3 yr. old one. Doing the math, the stove is now about $3000/ 10 years is $300/ year. The cat is $350/3 years is about $120/ year. So to have this stove costs me about $420/ year. I think that it's time to try another brand.

Cast iron for me all day everyday.The thing is it stays warm long before you go to bed,steel cools down way to fast and if it's heat dispersion just get a fan.Now that being said, Morso stoves have a special grade cast iron, which in my mind makes them a superior cast iron stove.

Every stove we had when I was a kid was a hybrid of cast iron and steel. The firebox was cast. Then a steel radiator section. Capped with a cast top. They also had cast iron shaker grates and an ash pan. And were rated for wood or coal. Stoves like I see in the video were called box wood heaters. Back when everything came in boxes there was always free wood. But they were only enough for a single room or a shed. And you had to stoke them continually. They had a burn time of a half hour. And seldom got hot enough to boil a teapot.

I had a VC Defiant replaced with a Jotul Carrabassett which is steel and cast with only one seal at door works great!

My steel Arctic Flame has ran 24/7 ,8 months a year,for 25 years with only one gasket change.I run 5 cords a year,so it just sips the wood too.Red alder and Western maple are my favorite fuels.

I maybe in MA but i have learned so much from your videos. Thanks. I am more knowledgeable because of them and ready to purchase my first wood stove.

Trevor, Colorado Springs here. One other thing to point out between cat vs non-cat is that a non cat will give you beautiful flames to watch vs cat stoves typically will have less flames when the cat is active. So be sure to weigh that into your decision when choosing a stove. Great job on the video

You’re a delight Thank you for this video Asking people adds to confusion Vs this non bias comparison.

Here in the UK I went with steel due to the quick warm up time and zero joints other than the door. Its a multi fuel Clear View and as its not our main heat source its enough at just 3.5kw

We have the red VC, love it! We have a small home, works great! Our dogs LOOOOOOVE it. LOL

Congrats on 25k subs!

My 1st car was a 1972 Buick with a cast iron block 350. The car rusted out quick but that cast iron engine is still running today being used to pump water onto cranberry bogs. Great point about steel being better to heat large areas & cast iron being panels with gaskets. Having learned this I'd lean towards steel stoves 99% of the time. My pellet stove is steel & it cranks out the heat keeping my 2000 sq-ft of living space 75 degrees all winter.

I have a 35 year old Earth stove. We go through 4-6 cords a year. Very good home heater. Replaced the bricks twice and gaskets, and had to straighten out the bent door. Much better at heating than the newer stoves.

Great information - I didn't know about cast iron vs steel. I have a small cast iron WP4 from ACR here in the UK but it's modern looking.

I had a Vermont I used about five years. I loved the stove but it warped to the point the gaskets wouldn't work the parts were very expensive. I bought a blaze king catalytic and havnt had any problems other than the catalytic converter. I live in northern Canada so need to put around five cords through it each winter.

My cast iron stoves are over 120 years old. I did refurbish them by replacing the firebricks and seals but they are still as good as new and absolutely beautiful. Give me cast iron any day!

Perfect video! Thank you!

While my comment doesn't apply to this video, a massive stone or masonry heater is what much of the Scandinavia and other cold regions have used for centuries. Instead of feeding a wood stove every couple of hours, a masonry heater gets a fast hot fire and then radiates heat for the rest of the day. 😊

Good review I noticed the extension to the flue is on top of all of these stoves. I want to put a free standing stove into my fireplace so that I don't need electricity like I do with my Osburn insert (great stove by the way). My parents had a steal stove that the flu connected to the back of the stove. Do these still exist? This way I can just run the pipe in the fireplace and up the flue.

Good Show Thanks for the information DomIJ

I've been heating (don't use the boiler except for hot water) with a Vermont Castings Defiant Encore for 30 years in northwest CT, 1500 sq ft house and I burn 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cord of wood. I have 12' ceilings in an open floor plan with 2 ceiling fans and 50% of the south wall is glass. Let me tell you cast iron does warp but I heard that steel doesn't. It isn't air tight but still functions well. The beauty of cast iron is so much more appealing to me than the modern look of steel stoves but that is personal preference. The one bad thing about this stove is the door that closes and forces the smoke over the cat which disintegrated 25 years ago. That linkage sometimes binds and I have to use a poker to push the door to open and I suspect it is wear in the linkage or warping. It doesn't happen often but I'm concerned I'll break something, you wouldn't have that problem with steel.

Do you sell many wood burners that are epa exempt? I dont recall a video on it, i have a napoleon nz6000 largest firebox in the industry and i think maybe the best looking, but not the most efficient. But gets around epa because of the amount of air it uses.

Great info. Just subscribed and liked.

When I was young our family had a coal/wood furnace and a cast iron cookstove. Occasionally they’d burn coal in the cookstove. I doubt she needed coal for cooking but it may have been to supplement the furnace heat in that part of the house. I don’t know if a steel stove could’ve handled the temperatures.

Thank you for this one. Looking at getting a Drolet model (Canada)

What’s your thoughts on the two combined like steel box with cast iron plates? I have the Jotul F45 Greenville which incorporates this unique technology.

Well done

We’re building a new house next year and I’m considering the Lopi Rockport.

Thank you!

Great information thanks 🇨🇦👍

Good morning I just wanted to know how hot can I get this wood-burning stove, I know the inside of the stove will be 800 and the surface temperature will be 700 with no signs of over firing. The stove does not turn red or growing red is these temperatures okay ? The flue is 450

Some good info, . A lot of good constructive comments here for once. My wife and I rented a fishing cabin once with a cheap thin steel stove. As cheap and thin as it was, could it ever put out the heat and very quickly as well.

I learned so much! Going to look for the cat vs non cat now.

Masonry .. Con : takes time before any heat reaches the room. Pro : few tons of red brick has a lot of thermal mass .. when it's hot it stays hot for long time. Few hours intense burn and you'r good for day or more .. depending on weather and insulation of house. And you can make best stew or pulled pork in it at the end of burn .. that smoky flavor ;)

One con to cast iron is it cracking. We had an old 'Ben Franklin' stove years ago and with the first firing of it one of the panels cracked - when it did, it sounded like a rifle shot! You need to 'break in' a cast iron stove with progressively hotter fires.

I've heard nothing but good regarding woodstock soapstone stoves. Both in quality and customer service, and I've never heard anyone complain about their cast cracking.

Have a bronpi monza stove which is just for wood and mostly steel but they're popular in Spain on the haciendas and man they give off huge heat.

Ok. Looking at getting a Vermont casting wood burning stove...just came across something saying wood stoves need a straight vertical exhaust pipe...is that the only way or can a 90 be done through a foundation wall and to a straight vertical pipe? Late to this video but hope get some input....thanks

What kind stove would you recommend for a one story ranch house, one you can cook on if power goes out? We have electric, but we have been thinking of getting a wood stove for when the power goes out

Which would you recommend if you want to cook on top?

my question is would the defiant be the way to go for my 1600 SQF House? So if I have a blower on my Vermont cast. . Would help it kick butt

Would it be bad if you put a cast iron griddle plate on top of a steel stove, so that you can cook on it. Or, might that somehow damage the steel stove? Thank you man

I went from an old buck insert to a Vermont castings , I miss the old buck. But I can run the Vermont castings without electricity.

I love my old fisher probably not the most efficient but can’t knock how they look

I have a small cabin off grid. Want to cook on the top. Cast or steel?

What is best for outdoor open patio.

I sold both over the years as a small hearth dealer. They all have their pluses. I have an Avalon insert I have fired faithfully for about 20 years. I have never even replaced an air tube. I highly advise anyone to buy any hearth product made by Travis Industries .

Looking to replace our traditional Ben Franklin Pennsylvania Stove in our 81 year old, 800 sf Northern Michigan cabin. Leaning towards a Reburn system but Torn between Cast and Steel. What’s your take or comparison on the Cast Iron over Steel hybrids (I.e. Pacific Energy Alderlea T4 line)?

I believe the firebricks in the steel stove needs to be replaced over time. That's a definite con for steel then isn't it? Does the cast iron stove have a consumable part as well? (Besides the fuel obviously) Lucien from Caoe Town

What's your personal favorite? I need a cook/heat stove.

Cast iron can be brittle, but parts are replaceable. Nice vid.

We had the VA porcelain coated stove that you are sitting next to in a rental we owned. The Renter pulled the door gaskets because they had failed and decided they didn't need to be there and was to lazy to call me to fix it. She used it anyway and it sucked air and got way too hot and cracked the stove top and ruined the cat. converter. the parts to repair that thing were going to be much more than most Steel stoves cost. So we put it on Craigs list and sold it for parts and bought another (steel) stove and got a new Renter. Not as pretty, but much more durable and cheaper and used way less gaskets and way more user friendly than the Vermont is. Those VA Defiant stoves cost as much as our Kitchen Queen 480 cook stove did at the time with all the extras. It's cast iron folks, not Gold Plated. NOPE.

If you want to see a good stove you have to visit Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Hungay. I mean a Kachelofen. They are made of stone and use less wood. Here in Hungary we have stoves you can cook on. They call it a sparhelt or something like that. I prefer european gear from Scandia and central Europe.

I installed my steel wood stove in 1987 and many thousands of fires have provided most of the heat ever since. I'm a firebug! I have had the side of the stove crack, decades ago, no doubt due to overfiring. I've had some of the steel parts on one of the sides of the front of the stove warp, likely again due to overfiring. I'm planning to pull the stove out and remove the heat shield and to weld on a patch to seal up the box again. I'll inspect the warped part and may just remove it. I've only replaced the stove brick once, about five years ago. I've repainted the stove and stove pipe with high temperature stove paint, which works like a champ, but isn't a brilliant shine. I'll repaint again when I disassemble the stove this summer for maintenance. The air flow into the stove seems to have gotten weak in recent years ---I'm guessing that the air passages are plugged with dust being drawn into the stove. Again, when I disassemble the strove this summer I'll aim to inspect and clean those passages. When I've tried to do that in the past, I don't recall a way to get access to those passages, but I'm guessing I was not determined enough. When I'm initially firing the stove, the air supply to the fire is weak, which is why I suppose those air passages need cleaning. When the stove is hot, it get plenty of air. In short, I've been happy with decades of experience with my stove.

Hi, got an old cast iron here, been using it for four years. However, this year for some stupid reason we got rather wet batch firewood delivered to our home in September. A truck load! -- Should we open the bottom vent at all time this winter while using it to get a stronger burn? I don’t want to get soot built up too quickly and have to clean it before April 2022….. Help….!

Is there much difference in the ability to cook on top of either?

Can you put a wood stove on a floor made of floor joists? Or does it absolutely have to be concrete?

I have a vented fireplace that vents through the attic. My chimney has flown off twice and im about to get my roof replaced, thanks Ida. I want to do away with the chimney.... what are my options. I'm getting a new roof next week so I need to make a quick decision. I do have a gas outlet at my fireplace.

In Uk I dont think there are many cast iron stoves left on the market. They have to be costlier to produce vs laser cut steel. My parents had one and it cracked so thats a huge risk, so I think they are a bit obsolete here.

How about the difference when it comes to cooking on top?

Nice video

Wrapping his my chief concern for steel stoves.

How much money for an install for both?

If its -20 to -30°C and you go to cold start cast it will crack on you if one part gets hotter than the other. Its happened to me.

Steel wood stove could be made better if you build them in the shape of a mailbox out of at least a half inch thick plate steel and also reinforce the interior of the stove and then encase in a 16 inches of of concrete in the shape of the stove and have at least 1 foot off the ground with a total height of 5 and a half feet tall by 3 and a half wide by 4 and a half feet deep the stove itself measurement is 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall feet deep in the shape of a mailbox and only have the front of the stove is not encased in concrete so you can add in firewood the concrete acts like a radiator absorbing heat then radiating it out once the fire has started to burn down so even if the fire dies out you can still have heat for a few more hours the concrete does the same thing that brick walls do when exposed to direct sunlight for about 6 to 7 hours during the summer the brick wall still radiates heat for up to three hours after the sun has gone down and have it encased in concrete you could also have copper pipes embedded in the concrete ti heat up water/antifreeze that could be used to heat the floor or run into a vehicle radiator with a fan blowing air through it to speed up the heating of a large room.

You forgot to mention that the top plate on the cast iron stove can crack, I have had three cast iron stoves and all three eventually developed a hair line crack.

Do you suggest anyone in the central Indiana region?

I went with steel because I didn't want to pay 4 times as much for a cast iron stove that might break a seam and cause a dangerous over fire, which is an issue with these new airtight designs that have secondary burn tubes.

I have a barrel stove in my home. Painted with wood stove paint

Cast iron stoves are nice but if you have a water pot on top of it and you feel it and drop water on the cast iron it will crack also if you get cast iron too hot the bottom could possibly crack and fall out of it and then you've got hot ashes in the floor still will warp it will not crack and fall apart

Also cast iron is more brittle than steel. If you spill water on a hot cast iron stove it may crack.

Load the cast iron stove up with hedge and itll warp.😲

I have an old Jotul 602 clone. You wanna see a warped cast iron stove... I can show you one lol

Not all cast iron is equal! Many companies 'cast iron' is simply made from melted scrap steel, so maybe the difference is not so large.

try using a fan to move the air around . place the fan on the top of a cupbord to move worm air from the celing to the floor or point the fan at the heater to circlate the air from the stove

They make wood stove paint in all colors that you can paint a steel stove with. And EPA are junk. Also, as far as cast getting hotter? My two steel stoves reach 700 degrees when fired up. Cast must get a lot hotter. And that’s hot!

One problem ! Bryssel whant to stop firewood use

We have a. Steel wood fired range with back boiler, it heats 9 1.5mtr double radiators which get almost to hot to touch, we have a heat sink radiator in the cellar, to stop it getting too hot, very happy with it for last 10 years, an anti corrosive fluide is essential, just add it to the header tank

The salesman hasn’t really the experience to just brochure knowledge. I’ve had 3 Vermont castings Defiant Encore, I really loved them but it’s old technology. Cast iron dose not like fast heating and cooling, inner cast iron plates fractures, crack & fall apart. VC need to be heated slowly and kept at a relatively constant temperature for a longer cast plate life. I’ve had the same welded steel County Hearth stove for 25yrs and changed the fire bricks 🧱and door gasket once.

You forgot one thing the steel stove when fire goes out cools off faster cast iron with fire going out will still put off heat for a couple hours

Conn. Looking for the one pc full body cast iron 1930s stove. Something that requires maintenance and fails in 15-20years...uh..no thank you.

Yes. Thank you😃🌈🤙

I burn lump coal in my stove in my shop to try to heat it

My steel was a waste of $$$$$..got me a old fisher more love it...

Cast iron crack easy and at high temperatures

It all comes down to personal preference...blonde, red head, brunette. Hmm, decisions decisions. 🤔

Have you ever seen a cracked cast iron stove?

Heat Reclaimer

Is he Kyle Chandlers brother or something lol