Heat -resistant steel or cast iron?

inspired by the past weekend. a bathhouse . What is the best way to make it?
In the design of any bath furnace, one compassionate contradiction is laid. The most important consumer parameter - the speed of set of the temperature of the steam room and stones - is inversely proportional to the thickness of the walls of the furnace, and its durability is directly proportional.

And the question arose - which metal for a metal furnace is better? Cast iron or steel? There is an opinion that, they say, cast iron is more expensive, but more durable. Heat resistance is scale resistance. And heat resistance is mechanical strength when heated. In the furnace for the bath you need both. An important factor is the speed of heating the furnace to optimal temperature.

Want a cast -iron stove? Then order a team of movers and a truck to bring it to the bath, mount a healthy foundation under it, stock up with firewood and coal, wait 3 hours while its fat, fireproof walls warm. The use of heat -resistant steel this contradiction removes. The resource of the stove made of thin-leafer heat-resistant steel, or even more, its weight is 2-3 times less, “rate of fire” is 2 times greater.

The notorious durability of cast -iron fireplaces of fireplaces - the concept is very fragile in the most literal sense of the word. Cold water accidentally spilled onto a hot cast iron - and a crack is ready. Therefore, 10 mm steel or special heat -resistant steel here is absolutely competitive. Now about dialectics. Cast iron products can only be cast and only at the factory. Therefore, there is no progress in cast -iron furnaces yet. What is listed from cast -iron bath furnaces is far from the top of perfection, and most of the furnaces are a derivative of serial cast iron bourgeois. Yes, steel gives more scale, but ... but thick steel is an incredible scope for creativity and development, with a good head and a good welder from it you can make bath masterpieces.

In any case, the choice is yours. And the bathhouse is always an excellent and useful pastime.