Category Archives: Alpine stove

Cast Iron or Steel?

If you’re speaking of great quality steel stove versus quality cast iron stoves then, giving that the stove is used directly with the manufacturer’s intended instructions, it shouldn’t really matter. Poor quality cast iron stoves have well known reputation for cracking under high temperature exposure, that as well as poor quality steel wood burning stoves have a reputation for warping when at high temperatures. The difference between the two types of stoves are that steel wood burning stoves heat up quicker and expel more heat to the room it is in much faster than cast iron. In which is the traditional material for wood burning stove building, since it is much heavier than steel and provides a greater mass of the metal, it tends to take longer to build up heat and expel it to the room.

In history steel was regarded once as a poor material for wood burning stove manufacturing, this would result in warped steel stoves. Steel quality however has now greatly improved so there really is not that much difference between cast iron anymore. In some cases cast iron wood burning stoves are built more heavily and more sturdy than their counterparts steel stoves, and in some cases may have the quality edge.

Cast iron stoves, which are known to be generally heavier than steel bodied stoves, they have the advantage that the mass of the metal in the body of the stove acts like a heat storage radiator dispensing the heat stored into the room for few hours after the fire been expelled. A steel bodied stove will do this too but it won’t retain its heat for quite as long. So, essentially it’s a lifestyle choice – if you need fast heat then chooses steel and if you want longer lasting heat, say overnight, then choose cast iron.

What size of stove do I need?

Here at alpine stove we will help you in choosing a wood burning stove, the task of buying one in itself is difficult, to know what size stove to buy for your home. An important thing to note is that people buy stoves that is often really too big for the room they are placing it in, whilst it may seem simpler to just buy the biggest stove possible, this however isn’t the best option. One of the first thing anyone should know is any stove over 5kw needs an air brick or ventilation kit for the room that the wood burning stove is installed in to ensure good air flow, but it is recommended altogether for any burning appliance.

An important factor to consider and one that Alpine stove recommend researching is when buying what is the physical size of the wood burning stove?, you need to have enough room for the stove as well as allowing 6 inches of clearance to the sides and rear as well as 9 inches to the front of the hearth to comply with the necessary building regulations. Your wood burning stove should also be 40 inches away from any combustible materials.

All alpine stove wood burning stoves have optimal performance efficiency, they achieve this by running at their nominal heat output. If they run at less or more than the output they of course become less efficient, meaning the cost of fuel goes up as well as the exhaust is more damaging to the environment. Getting a wood burning stove with a nominal heat output that matches the room it is installed in is what you should be aiming for, to get a better idea of what heat output you will need from a wood burning stove you can use our heat output calculator. You should remember that this is only a guide as factors such as how well insulated your room is.