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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / What "wood" you do?
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Josh8880
Member
# Posted: 21 Jun 2014 07:08am
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I'm trying to plan out my heating options for a 10 x 14 in NY State. I own a small propane stove that I inherited when I bought my house. It is in good condition, and never even used... I think I would prefer to use a wood stove, because it is easier for me to hook up, I don't have to worry about propane leaks, and I have tons of wood on the property...etc. I just stumbled across small jotul wood stove on craigslist for $250, in good shape. It is 20" by 13" by 25"high. Suggestions? Thanks!

OwenChristensen
Member
# Posted: 21 Jun 2014 07:24am
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I don't think wood is safer, but to each his own. As far as a stove, the tighter you can close it up from incoming air, the better you can hold a fire overnight and control the heat. then beyond that it's about the quality of how it's built. I've heard Jotul is good.

Owen

Don_P
Member
# Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:14pm
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We have a jotul in that size range and heat 1500 sf with it on all but bitter days. It doesn't hold a fire through the night, we set a Monitor heater around 60 to kick on when the stove dies. I think the 250 gal tank has been thru 3 winters in that mode of use.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:16pm
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Any woodstove in a cabin that small is probably too much. I plan to put in both a small woodstove and small propane wall heater in my 300 sq ft. The propane will be for cool days in fall when the woodstove is too much, as well as for 3AM when the woodstove goes out and the wall heater will kick in via thermostat.

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:32pm - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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A used wood stove might look in good shape when its not fired up. It may have cracks that are not visable when cold. I recall this happened to one of our members with a used stove.

I like the Kimberly Stove. It's expensive but at least you would not need to get up at night to add more wood. There are a few important things one should not skimp on with a cabin IMHO those items being a foundation and a wood burning stove.

Josh8880
Member
# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 07:30am
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Good advice from all, as usual! Thanks

creeky
Member
# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 10:08am
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I have a small 80s woodstove, way too big for my studio. last winter I lined the bottom and sides with firebrick. It reduced the firebox size which seems to let me burn smaller hotter fires and i think helps the stove hold heat longer.
Maybe someone else has experience with this?
I have propane supplement. Highly recommended as no more 3 am fire stoking required. Tho 3 propane fills on 100 lb tanks ... $$$
Lowes has a pretty good small stove with fan. 500 bucks and it's new.

Nirky
Member
# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 12:52pm
Reply 


I'd look for a used vented propane heater. The unvented ones are simply too dangerous imho. Probably hard to find a woodstove which wouldn't put out too much heat for 140 sq ft.

groingo
Member
# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 08:33pm
Reply 


Living in a 10 by 20 cabin myself, I too thought wood was great especially with lots around, problem was that wood heat in such a small space is hard to control, it's either too hot or not enough plus it needs air...bottom line, not beating the tar out of myself cutting wood..... went to propane last season and have no regrets....it's waaay cleaner and very easy to control and affordable and super easy to install

tcmatt
Member
# Posted: 22 Jun 2014 10:16pm
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I heat my 12x16 with a Jotul 602. Its insulated with R-13 in ceiling and walls. I thought it would get real hot and heat me out, but I think since I used dbl-walled stove pipe that helps. It doesn't hold a fire all night, but I only have to re-fill it once during the night.

cabin_pal
Member
# Posted: 23 Jun 2014 02:18am
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I'm planning on heating a 120 sq.ft. cabin with a Hobbit, manufactured by Salamander Stoves in Britain. These are small, very well-made wood/multi-fuel stoves, occasionally found on eBay for around $800. They are specifically designed for comfortably heating small spaces, which may make them one of the few suitable wood heat sources for small cabins. (Like other small stoves, I doubt they'd heat all through the night; so I also plan on having a back-up propane heater.)

For more information, here's a link to the Salamander Stove website: <http://www.salamanderstoves.com/>

brooksm29
Member
# Posted: 23 Jun 2014 05:27am
Reply 


I think it all depends on what you are wanting from your heat source. If you just want easy, convenient heat, propane may be the best. If you are going for the nostalgia of the wood burning then a fireplace/wood stove may be best. They all have their positives and negatives that need to be assessed for your needs. I prefer the wood/coal burner for my OTG cabin. I dont want to rely on propane because I always would have the need to fill the tanks. However, a vented propane heater would surely free up valuable space in the tiny cabin. IMO its a large decision to make and needs to be taken seriously.

TheWildMan
Member
# Posted: 24 Jun 2014 10:43am
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I lived in a 10x14 low wall storage shed for 2 NY winters (amish built shed) I used a volgelzang boxwood stove from the local Watertown (NY) harbor freight store ($75). It was enough to live with, ran it in the morning to heat the cabin up to 90 degrees and then again in the evening on the cold January weather, more mild days in December and march only needed it run in the evening and the cabin was still about 55 degrees the next morning. if your trying to heat a tiny cabin like that with a stove that's always running you will be over heating it, it works better if you burn several fast fires as needed.

CabinBuilder
Admin
# Posted: 24 Jun 2014 02:37pm
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An earlier thread: Small Cabin Wood Stove Setup

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