Hello,

I'm working on establishing a permaculture homestead and looking into wood cook stoves to augment the gas burning one onsite for both heating and cooking. Doing the craigslist search I see older "antique" wood cook stoves available.. Monarch seems to be a typical cast iron brand. How would an older stove like that compare with buying a new one, say like a Waterford Stanley?

Is a newer build generally more efficient?

I'm not interested in rocket mass heaters.

thanks
Ryan

Hi Ryan;  Welcome to permies !

Monarch cook stoves were probably the most common one used out west.  I personally have an old  "Great majestic" wood cook stove., that I rescued from an old homestead cabin that was caving in.
Those old cook stoves Rock ! It will heat the entire far end of our home in 20 minutes . The only thing about an old cook stove is... they use exactly the same size wood as an rmh also they burn about as long maybe 30-45 minutes before needing more wood. Like an rmh they relight easily once warm. Unlike a rmh they do not stay warm more than a few hours.

The brand new cook stoves are drop dead gorgeous ! They also cost  thousands of dollars.  I have no doubt they are more efficient than my old one. Mainly the new  one would still be tightly built and not draw air thru warped or missing plates like an old one does.

I know you are not interested in rmh but there is an option you may not have investigated.     https://permies.com/t/71700/Tiny-House-Cook-Stove-Heater   Check it out.  Matt Walker the builder has a website where he sells plans for this stove and another called a continental .    https://walkerstoves.com/index.html  

excellent, thanks for the reply. The farm I purchased has a home built in 1900. old style, wood beam spans, etc.  Building in an RMH is not in my design plans. But adding an older stove I think works well.

Any advice on inspecting old stoves?  cracks I assume really can't be fixed.. how available are parts for repair or restoration, etc.. what are typical rust out or damage spots to look for?
thanks all!

Well I hope that the ones for sale are in a little better shape than mine was.
Let's see.   The legs can be in bad shape (mine had none worth saving)  The warming ovens and back splash are prone to rotting away (mine was crushed by the roof & rusted) This is why my photo shows the stove sitting on a brick base with no warming ovens. The large cast plates inside the firebox will warp and deteriorate.  Mine has a spot for water heating but was never installed on this stove.  I would expect issues on an old stove that has that option.  General rusting.  most all would need painting / oiling / new  nickel on the shiny parts.
I'm sure that you can either restore your pieces or purchase / exchange yours for redone ones.

Any old monarch in really nice shape is now an "Antique" so worth more than a thousand dollars...  I'm sure you can still find one for $500 or so with, poor nickel , rusted body , 3 good legs and a fake one. But it will still crank out the heat !  Good luck on your search, let us know what you go with.

Couple of photo's inside my firebox showing the warped plates.