In article , cayoung61
(Stormin Mormon) says...

I've heard those "airtight" stoves are good. Allows for a
slow burn, and you're feeding the stove less often.

Airtight stoves haven't been sold in the USA in over 30 years. All
current stoves have to meet EPA pollution specs, which means either a
recombustion chamber or catalytic converter.

People
with "catalytic converter" tell me they break easily, and
gosh awful expensive to replace. I'd avoid the catalytic if
possible.

It's easy to poison a catalytic converter by burning junk in the stove.
One cup of used motor oil and you have an expensive piece of inert
platinum. Anything that contains metals is particularly poisonous.

I do believe Ed is right, cast iron will be more
effective than sheet metal. Maybe more pricey, too.

Some stoves have a water heater loop. If you're a handyman,
you may be able to use the stove to heat a tank of water,
and then use the hot water to heat with a pump and
radiators. Water stores a lot of heat. The advantage is you
could heat the tank during the day, and then the hot water
would release heat over night, so you're not getting up at 2
AM to pee and feed the stove. Just quick pee, and go back to
bed.

A water coil on a wood stove makes a great backup to a solar hot water
system. In hot weather, the sun makes more hot water than you can use.
In the winter, the wood stove makes more hot water than you can use.
All you need is some thermostats to turn on the right pump.

If you want a stove that will hold a fire all night, buy one with a
firebox big enough to hold a couple 10" rounds.

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