# need a small woodburning stove or pipsqueak



## Earthworm77 (Jan 18, 2016)

I have a small cabin that I am turning into an off grid mini homestead on 18 acres in NC. The cabin is 12x24, has 2 lofts and a raised ceiling in the middle that is 12ft high. I would like to put a small wood burning stove in for heat during the coldest months. Wood is something we have in abundance. I don't think I need a large wood burning stove for such a small area but I'm having trouble locating something I consider small.

Anyone have an recommendations or websites I might be able to see some smaller models?

I also wouldn't mind a pipsqueak stove if I could find one.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Jotul F 602

WWW


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

If you can get a good price on a larger woodstove.....buy it! Just build small fires in it.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I like Quadrafire I have a 3100 step top , but that is too big for your 12x24 even the 2100 their smallest model is for 800 square feet but I would probably get it any way , they burn so clean and without a catalytic converter it also lets you get 3 inches from a combustible wall in the back and 8 inches on the sides 

I can cook on mine but I am not sure about the 2100 

a cousin had the little Jotul as I see it it had 2 issues 

first it needed 24 inches to the sides and 15 to the rear so that little stove still had a big foot print 

the second was you had to cut the wood very small ti fit an everyone always seems to try a piece that is just a little to long then tries to close the door on it this pushes it into the rear of the stove , the cast iron cracks under the heat and pressure , he had to replace the back and install a shield further shortening he fire box inside to keep this from happening again 

I would spend the money on a rated stove with good clearances to a combustible wall 

a bonus on the quadrafire , even though I check and clean every year and I run the brush through my chimney it really hasn't ever needed cleaning when I did it , the small amount of grey ash I knock out is minimal each year been 9 years now.

like cabin said you can build a small but hot fire in a larger stove to do what you want and it will run clean 

it sound like your wood supply is easy , cheap and plentiful so burning a bit more even if you have to open a window the larger stove might be more cost effective


spring and fall what I do is build a fire first thing in the morning and it will take the house from about 66 to75 then it cools all day , I may do a small fire at night if it has cooled to much or if I feel like it


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## Earthworm77 (Jan 18, 2016)

awesome info, thanks fellas


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Prior to the new generation of 'gasifier' type stoves (like the ones Pete mentions above), you had to be careful not to oversize a stove in a small area, because choking down the air intake was the primary cause of creosote in your chimney. A slow, cooler fire even with seasoned hardwood will produce a lot of creosote....to prevent this, you had to feed the stove a lot of air, keep the combustion temps up, and open the windows if you got it too hot.

BUT with the new technology, you go just the opposite. Buy the BIGGEST model with the largest firebox you can get. That way, you can pack enough wood in it to last overnight, and simply choke down the air supply. The 'gasifier' re-burn technology eliminates most of the creosote by re-burning the smoke in the fire, and doesn't produce much creosote at all. 

You can tell if the stove has this technology by looking up inside the fire box and you see a couple or more stainless pipes with holes in them....that where the gas burns..with a glass door on one, you can actually see flames shooting out of those holes like a gas grill, except you're burning wood gas instead of LP gas.....the wood gas that used to condense into creosote in the flue.

The other advantage of this type of stove is you'll use a fair amount less wood, because you're getting about a high burn efficiency, in the 85-90% range, compared to about 1/2 that on older model stoves.

This is one case where 'new and improved' actually IS...


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

I use a Colorado Cylinder stove, very happy with it for both heating and cooking. Small enough to not totally roast your cabin out also.


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## Habitant (Jul 21, 2010)

How about a Waterford 104? If you can find one.

Throws a fair amount of heat from just branches and small logs. You can cook on it


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## Fulgfarm (Nov 2, 2014)

That is a really small space to heat. Probably any freestanding wood stove would do the trick, if it's centrally located and you have a decently open floorplan.

My own experience is that I have a much larger home (2000 sq feet or so, closed floor plan) with a wood stove not at all centrally located, but located at one far end of the house. When I moved in we had a late-70s era Black Bart stove that put out a ton of heat but required frequent refulings. 

A year ago I upgraded to a High Valley catalytic stove, that has drastically cut back our fuel consumption, and, most crucially, can get through a normal night of sleep on a single load of wood without going out. The catalyst is also just really cool once it kicks in and you can watch it burn smoke. It also has a nice transparent door that we can watch the fire through. Due to it's non-central location, it's only supplementing the central heating system. I am playing around with transfer fans and a variable rheostat on the blower to maximize efficiency. 

In short, you could probably buy any old free-standing wood stove off of CL and heat the dickens out of your small cabin. But if you want to not have to reload the thing every few hours (or have any environmental qualms) consider a catalytic stove.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

http://www.coloradocylinderstoves.com/Mesa-Stove-Package-MSP-17111G.htm

Here is a link of the stove I have, like you asked for in your OP. These are made to be installed inside of canvas tents. I figured this would provide me with some sort of...safeguard against fire when I installed it in my 32ft. travel trailer. I have had it about a year and a half now, in constant use during cold months and do not have a single solitary complaint except for the cheap spark arrestor that goes on the stovepipe which I modified later. This isn't a gasifier stove, there is no way I could have afforded that. But it works well. I heat water in the water jacket and cook on the stove top, for my own stove purchase I felt that was important as we are totally off grid here.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

excuse the dirty glass I haven't cleaned it all season but this may help you see that you can have a clean burning small fire

you can see the tubes at the top that feeds air to the wood gas rich fire when it is a larger fire , the other air enters in the front under the window an fans the coals 

it has start up air in the rear but that is shut off once you have a decent fire established 

I don't use kindling just dry wood split to rough 4x4 16 inches long for starting a fire 2 pieces one on the right and one on the left font to back , and 2-3 across the top right to left this forms a nice air tunnel place some junk mail in the air tunnel and light in about 15-20 minutes the stove is going well and it is time pull the lever for the start up air to close it off then it starts producing heat 

it burns it hot and clean and the ash comes out fluffy and light grey


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## FireMaker (Apr 3, 2014)

Take a look at marine stove.com. They have some really nice stoves.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Heating the small space is easy. Anything from a Voltzgang boxwood heater on up will make enough heat. 

The trick is to get one that will produce heat all night long so you can get your 8 hours of uninterrupted beauty sleep. For that you need a big firebox and an airtight stove. You can fill the firebox with wood and control the burn with the damper so it puts out the right amount of heat for at least 8 hours. If you can't control the air then a full load of wood will all go up at once, maybe setting the house on fire. 

I am a big fan of getting one with a secondary burn. It's more efficient if it burns the smoke. I don't like the catalytic ones because the cat gets plugged up and has to be replaced and it's expensive. 

It doesn't get as cold in NC as here, although you just found out how cold it can get, so you don't need the biggest one made. 

My Drolet HT2000 keeps this place toasty, even at -60.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

An important issue that hasn't been mentioned yet is the cost of the chimney, which most likely will excede the cost of your stove. Good triple-wall chimney pipe is expensive and even more expensive if it's a commercial installation that gets inspected. I've install my two stoves myself and even with my own labor, the materials cost of the chimney was double the cost of my stoves.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

The above is a really good point! Stove I bought came with some single wall job that nests into itself. Ended up getting a bigger diameter piece of triple wall and running the main stovepipe through that where it goes through the roof. This isn't how its supposed to be done but it works well, not too much heat transfer to the ceiling at all.


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## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

I just bought my Selkirk/Supervent Stainless chimney system (#2100 series) for my Jotul woodstove. selkirkcorp SuperVent 2100 (JM) series

Cathedral Roof Kit $153
6/12-12/12 Flashing kit with collar $55
Chimney Section (6"x36") $81 ea
Universal 5/8 Roof Brace kit $54

This is in Canadian Dollars 
NB The products are more expensive in Canada than USA.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

MichaelK! said:


> An important issue that hasn't been mentioned yet is the cost of the chimney, which most likely will excede the cost of your stove. Good triple-wall chimney pipe is expensive and even more expensive if it's a commercial installation that gets inspected. I've install my two stoves myself and even with my own labor, the materials cost of the chimney was double the cost of my stoves.


excellence point my stove was a floor model 999.00 dollars it started near 2k 

my chimney cost around 2500.00 and install was 500.00 

but my home owners insurance did not go up because I had a rated stove with a professional install on the main floor of my home

I did the hearth myself it is 3 layers of concrete board with slate on top the seams in the concrete board don't line up total thickness more than 1.25 inches this is what they told me I needed to have them install the stove on it and it is 5 foot by 6 it didn'ty need to be nearly that large but it is about 2 feet from the corner so I figured why not take the tiel all the way to the corner , also I wanted the room to keep my ash can on it and tools


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## Earthworm77 (Jan 18, 2016)

Update: I went with a little woodstove called the Grizzly from Cubic Mini Wood Stoves in Canada. looks to be perfect for my small cabin.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

I looked up your stove, it's very nice! I'm not sure what the purpose of that little bar across the top is, but guessing it serves some function? I think it's going to do well in your small space.

This is the right model, correct?http://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/collections/grizzly-cb-1210


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

ShannonR said:


> ...I'm not sure what the purpose of that little bar across the top is, but guessing it serves some function? ...


So anything you place on top will not slide off. It's designed for boats.
WWW


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

$428 for a stove that weighs in at 34 pounds and about the size of a milk crate? 

Did you consider making one out of an ammo can?


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

wy_white_wolf said:


> So anything you place on top will not slide off. It's designed for boats.
> WWW


That makes sense, thank you!


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Cabin Fever said:


> Did you consider making one out of an ammo can?


Was the lid gasket kinda stinky as it melted ?


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## Earthworm77 (Jan 18, 2016)

Cabin Fever said:


> $428 for a stove that weighs in at 34 pounds and about the size of a milk crate?
> 
> Did you consider making one out of an ammo can?



That is extremely impressive....I mean super duper impressive and sadly, no I did not consider that. I want to know more about it. Do you have any details?


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## Earthworm77 (Jan 18, 2016)

wy_white_wolf said:


> So anything you place on top will not slide off. It's designed for boats.
> WWW



That is correct. The back story I read was that the owner of the company used to live on his boat in the Great lakes during the winter. He need a stove and built one to keep his boat cabin warm during, what I could only imagine were some brutal nights.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Earthworm77 said:


> That is extremely impressive....I mean super duper impressive and sadly, no I did not consider that. I want to know more about it. Do you have any details?


 Details

http://jonsbushcraft.com/ammo-can-stove.htm

WWW


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

We have a Tiny Tot wood stove on our boat. We've been thinking about replacing it with one of these. Pretty and tiny.

http://www.marinestove.com


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Earthworm77 said:


> That is extremely impressive....I mean super duper impressive and sadly, no I did not consider that. I want to know more about it. Do you have any details?



YouTube. Many examples and improvements.


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