On 10 Aug 2005 12:12:25 -0700, "Muttley's Dad"
wrote:

We are looking at buying a woodburning stove and do not know the pros
and cons of cast iron versus steel construction.

What's your budget? The real difference between steel and cast iron is
that an expensive steel one is like a cheap steel one, but perhaps more
elegant, whereas an expensive cast iron one is very good but a cheap
cast iron one may simply not last very long. If you're looking to not
spend too much, go for steel.

There's a lot of difference between good and bad woodstoves, but not so
much between iron and steel necessarily. Look for general quality of
fittings, good design and good baffles (important if you want efficiency
with softwood)

If it's portable, then steel is lighter, less prone to damage, and
easier to repair if it is damaged. Steel stoves are basically
indestructible - they just get repaired like brooms do, with new heads
and handles as needed. As a general rule, you can't weld broken cast
iron stoves.

Iron is typically heavier for a given capacity, which improves the
warmth keeping overnight after it has gone out. If you care about this
though, consider brick surrounds or tiled stoves.

You may also get an efficient baffle design into a small steel stove,
where a comparable iron stove is baffleless - this makes a difference if
you're trying to heat a boat or caravan and actually live in it.

Speaking as a stove maker, then it's steel every time for me. I can do
more interesting things with it and the raw material is cheaper. As a
user though, then so long as it's not a Machine Mart crappy, then iron
stoves are fine.