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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Wood stove question
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caducus
Member
# Posted: 6 Mar 2018 13:16 - Edited by: caducus
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I'm working on a 14x20 cabin with a loft. I've read up on the BTUs recommended for that space, but I'm worried about taking up too much room and overheating the space with a stove that's too large. I'd assume many of the metrics for this apply to very cold properties.

This is in coastal California. Temps generally vary between 45 and 80. Occasionally they can dip down to freezing, or nearly so, but just barely and rarely.

Can anyone recommend a stove for that space and the rather comfortable temps we'll be experiencing? Ideally it would be one that is a small foot print, but take log sizes that are fairly normal in size. I don't want to have to cut everything down to 10".

Or just an idea of how many BTU I need to look for, given the volume of the cabin and the temperature range I gave.

Thanks.

UsandThem
Member
# Posted: 6 Mar 2018 14:54
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How about something like this: http://www.vermontcastings.com/Products/Aspen-Non-Catalytic-Wood-Burning-Stove.aspx?p age=Overview

Not sure what your budget is, but if you don't want to cut down logs to small sizes, the narrow and long model is what you will probably need to go with.

There is also this one: https://www.amazon.com/US-Stove-Certified-Cast-Logwood/dp/B01CT9RK7K

But the reviews were less than stellar.

Good luck!

rockies
Member
# Posted: 6 Mar 2018 19:34
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I tend to dislike all metal stoves since they heat up really fast, pump out a ton of dry heat and then cool off quickly. Why not try a soap stone stove, which will absorb a lot of the heat and radiate it slowly into the room?

http://www.woodstove.com/ideal-steel-hybrid

jaransont3
Member
# Posted: 6 Mar 2018 20:40
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Don't knock the short wood. I have a Drolet Eldorado stove and the firebox is 20 wide x 11 deep so it can handle 18-19" logs if you load them in the wide way. The problem is that it does not have much a lip on the front edge of the stove. I didn't like the fact that logs wanted to roll out when you opened the door or tried to add more wood.

So I started cutting my wood at 9-10 inches and loading it end-wise. I found I could get more wood in the stove and I didn't have to worry about the rolling out when I opened the door.

It does require more chainsaw work since you are making almost twice as many cuts. However, the splitting is significantly easier when you are doing it manually with a maul. The individual logs are easier to handle too.

fiftyfifty
Member
# Posted: 7 Mar 2018 11:45
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I have a Jotul 602 in my 16x24 + loft cabin. It is the smallest woodstove I found that could take ~full-sized logs. I have found it to be undersized for my space but only because we use the cabin as cold as -20F. Doable, but we have to feed it often. In your climate, however, I think it would be way too much. I personally wouldn't waste the space (our Jotul takes up 9 square feet with clearances.) In your situation I would go with the Grizzly Cubic Mini. No, it doesn't take standard logs, but in your climate you will seldom need a fire at all. A little kindling fire will give you all the ambiance and warmth you need, and snapping kindling down to size is no work at all.

DaveBell
Moderator
# Posted: 7 Mar 2018 18:27
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http://survivorcampstoves.com/

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