Englander 30NC or 13NC

Hi

I've got a small cabin that the primary heat will be a wood stove. The first floor has an open kitchen, living room, dining room with a bedroom, bath and small office. Total square feet of 864. It's am open ceiling over the kitchen, living room, dining room. Upstairs there's an open loft area and bath, for a total square feet of 342. There is duct work and fan at the top of the loft ceiling to pull hot air down into the hallway by the bedroom and office. The house is in the Sierras, so the wood will be pine, fir, etc - not hardwood. Often winter nights get into the low teens, sometimes lower, and the day may only get into the upper 20's.

I'm thinking the Englander 30NC would be a better match since I wouldn't get as much heat ouput from the pine softwood. Also, my experience with wood stoves, is it takes less tending to run a bigger stove at 1/2 their capacity than running a smaller stove at a higher capacity.

Does anyone think the 30NC will just put out too much heat? Appreicate any comments.

Bruce

The cabin is in a small community call the Ponderosa which is in the Sequia National Monument, south of Sequia National Park, east of Porterville, Ca. Elevation is 7,100. In February there was over 6 feet of snow on the ground.

Thanks for info so far. Still undecided. Some more about the cabin - it will be well insulated with double pane windows, R-19 walls and R-38 ceiling. Not much thermal mass. There is a backup 30K BTU wall heater in the main living area and a small 10K BTU wall heater in the bedroom. but propane is already very expensive. The cabin is for year round use.

Some spec information
13 NC - firebox 1.8, log size 18, 60,000 BTU, heats up to 1,800, door size 9 1/4 by 16 1/2
30 NC - firebox 3.5, log size 20, 75,000 BTU, heats up to 2,200, door size 11 1/4 by 15 1/8

What's the experience with running a 30-NC at low throttle? My experience is that if you throttle back too much all you get is smoke, but that's with a 20 year old pre EPA Jotul.

Appreciate everyones input. I think the 13-NC is the best fit. The primary area that will be heated is only around 500 square feet. The loft will be heated and probably too much even with the recirculating air system. The bedroom can be colder and in the office - when in use, a small electric radiator type heater can be used when a boost is needed. Just broke ground on the cabin last Wednesday, so if all goes well, hoping to be using the 13-NC by Thanksgiving.

Bruce