Soapstone Wood Burning Stoves

[TRAPnHUNT]

I'm curious about soapstone stoves. Does anyone here own & operate one of these? If so, does it retain and radiate heat better than a regular wood burning stove? In other words... Are they more efficient than cast?
I have often thought about this but never asked.

Ron

[Admin]

I had a huge one a few years ago. I think it was a hearth stone or something like that. The stove was gorgeous but just didn't draw very well. Fricken smoke poured out of it everytime I opened the door just as if the damper was closed. I ended up selling it. To tell you the truth I couldn't say it put out any more heat than any other stove, it just took a lot longer for the heat to penetrate the stone. You had to have a fire burning for a while before you enjoyed any good heat from it.

A couple months ago I bought an airtight cast iron stove from Tractor Supply and love it. It's pretty, got a glass door and a large flat top that presently has 4 kettles of water on it. It's got an ash pan and holds a fire all night. My only gripe is that they could have added an extra 4" or so to the height of the firebox. Other than that it's awesome.