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Little wood stoves for small cabin

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A little off topic but I built a small 10x12 cabin this year and will be wanting some wood heat in it this winter. I'm thinking one of those little stoves you guys and gals use for winter camping might be nice. Weight obviously isn't a big concern but would like something that won't burn the place down, that will give me a cooking surface, and that will be easy to move out of the way during the warmer seasons.

Think Minneapolis for climate. Will be insulated.

Thoughts and recommendations?

Alan
 
If you're able to put the stove in place and leave it there, I wouldn't worry about a more portable unit like the hot tent, winter campers use. While they would certainly work, the firebox in them are fairly small. You'd need to feed the fire quite a bit and they don't tend to hold a fire overnight. I'd probably look for an older, cast iron stove that's rectangular in shape so you can feed a good sized log into it and have a flat surface for pots and pans. That's all for now. Best of luck in finding something that will work. Take care and until next time...be well. snapper
 
If you're able to put the stove in place and leave it there, I wouldn't worry about a more portable unit like the hot tent, winter campers use. While they would certainly work, the firebox in them are fairly small. You'd need to feed the fire quite a bit and they don't tend to hold a fire overnight. I'd probably look for an older, cast iron stove that's rectangular in shape so you can feed a good sized log into it and have a flat surface for pots and pans. That's all for now. Best of luck in finding something that will work. Take care and until next time...be well. snapper

I'm not ruling out a heavier stove but with it only being 10x12, and mostly used during the warmer months, I'd like something that could easily be moved into and out of a corner (or completely out of the cabin). I'm afraid that a larger stove might generate too much heat for the small area. Holding a fire overnight isn't a big deal. I think I can deal with that on the relatively few occasions I spend the night in it.

Alan
 
Look for an old "parlour stove" some are very small but they are not really "portable". If you move the stove what are you going to do with the flue?

I have a small(ish) cabin as well, the part used in the winter is 14' x 14' and I have a "full size" cook stove, yes it takes up space. Before the cook stove (actually between the original cook stove circa 1920 and the newer one) I used a parlour stove (cast iron), it was about 10" x 18" (similar to below). A lot of these parlour stoves are round rather than rectangular and have a very small footprint. Personally I would not use a "camping stove" inside a cabin because of safety concerns, outside they are fine where CO2 and sparks are not much of an issue.


parlour_stove.jpg
 
CF53C335-DF41-4E23-BD95-720B6749F42F.jpeg This heats my 12x20 uninsulated shop well. I wouldn’t use a lightweight stove either. You would be feeding it constantly.

Bob
 
Yes a Jotul F 602 V2 would be a nice stove if you don't mind the price (not that it's outrageous). Good chance that a cheap vintage (similar but not quite as good) might be available in Iowa for nearly no money at all.
 
I'm going to have to mull this one over a bit. I have a Jotul 602 on the main floor of my house (850sq. ft.) and it heats the whole thing when the weather is above 20*f. It's a great little stove but seems like it would cook me out of a 120sq. ft. single room cabin. Really not looking to spend $1k plus to heat this place either.

My previous house (900sq. ft.) had a slightly larger stove (Englander 17-VL) that heated the whole house all winter. That house was super insulated though.

I did some reading and research this morning and found some stoves made for tiny houses or cabins. Some look cheap and are cheap. Some look nice and are expensive. They're very small stoves and most only take wood that's under 8" long. Not really an issue as the cabin is where I have my sawmill and do all my wood splitting and drying. There's no shortage of wood to burn there and it would be easy enough to process a bunch of short pieces. But most don't have very good chimney of flue systems to go with them (small pipe). I'm sure I could come up with something though.

I've read of others in similar sized houses/cabins and it sounds like wood is pretty impractical in this situation. Maybe I'll just have to get a little vented propane heater. Wood sure would be nice for the aesthetics though. It would be nice not to give up the space to a wood stove.

A little more about the "cabin": The idea started out as a fort/clubhouse for some kids I hang out with. A small project they could help with and give us a place out of the rain/cold where we can hangout. It grew a little in size/complexity and turned into a nice 10x12 cabin with 6' covered deck. It will mostly be used for an hour or two here and there too cook/eat lunch, hide from the rain, relax in the shade on the porch, plus a few over-nighters.

Alan
 
A marine boat stove like THIS should be small and inexpensive enough. They burn wood, charcoal or coal.

Dickinson Marine Stove.jpg



Even less expensive with no fuel prep or mess: Run an electrical cord from your house and use an oil space heater for $66 from Walmart. I live in my large master bedroom, bigger than your cabin, most of the winter using just one of these.

Oil filled heater.jpeg
 
Alan, if you are mostly going to use it for short periods of time and for cooking on I think a sheet metal tent stove will work better. I use both a cast iron and a sheet metal stove in baker tents and for cooking the sheet metal is much hotter. I have to get a real blazer going in the iron stove to cook on it, even boiling water takes forever. The safety issue that I see with the sheet metal is that it is so much hotter than iron that it is more likely to burn you if you touch it and the chance of a fire is higher if something combustible comes close to it.

Also, the type of stovepipe you want to use may affect your decision.
 
Check out ‘cubic cub mini wood stove’ might be too small. Made for RV’s and campers. Jim

I'd seen that one and some others similarly sized. They would probably be a good fit for my usage.

I was also shocked to find out someone just 45 minutes from me is making and selling stoves. Haven't really found much out about them from the little looking I've done. https://www.northwoodsfab.com/product-page/base-camp-wood-stove-free-us-shipping

I just need to decide how much money and time I want to sink into this. Fire might be the least practical way to heat this place but it would also be the most enjoyable.

Thanks for the electric alternatives, Glenn, but there is no power at this property otherwise a little electric heater would be ideal. We'll have a small solar panel and battery for some lights is all. I'd seen those marine stoves too. The lack of cooking surface is kind of a deal killer as that's 1/2 the reason I'd like to have a wood stove in there.

Alan
 
I'd seen those marine stoves too. The lack of cooking surface is kind of a deal killer as that's 1/2 the reason I'd like to have a wood stove in there.

True, they're just heaters. But I'm not understanding why your heating device has to also be the cooking device. What's wrong with just a normal propane, white gas or alcohol camp stove -- lightweight and portable -- for very occasional cooking? I've used them inside my van for decades.
 
True, they're just heaters. But I'm not understanding why your heating device has to also be the cooking device. What's wrong with just a normal propane, white gas or alcohol camp stove -- lightweight and portable -- for very occasional cooking? I've used them inside my van for decades.

Yes, that would be the most practical thing to do and it might be the route I go with. My reason for wanting a wood stove I can cook on is simply that I think it would be enjoyable during the winter to sit in my cabin in front of the wood stove with a boiling kettle on it.

Alan
 
My reason for wanting a wood stove I can cook on is simply that I think it would be enjoyable during the winter to sit in my cabin in front of the wood stove with a boiling kettle on it.

Alan

It absolutely is! Although I have a two burner propane stove and a bbq they are both outside and especially in Spring or Fall (and obviously in the winter) it's nice to sit inside (and cook) with a small fire in the stove.

This stove might be interesting and it's in Elkton SD, maybe not too far away and you might be able to scoop it for cheap.

https://www.bigiron.com/Lots/VogelzangBX-42EWoodStove
 
My reason for wanting a wood stove I can cook on is simply that I think it would be enjoyable during the winter to sit in my cabin in front of the wood stove with a boiling kettle on it.

That's reasonable, and probably more productive than what I sit in front of most of the time during the winter. Hopefully, you will have a 60" LCD screen on the wall so you can watch the Iowa Hawkeye's supernatural sophomore Caitlin Clark mop the maple. And I look forward to a kettle thread, as many are historically and aesthetically inharmonious with a wood stove.
 
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