What's the hottest freestanding stove.

I would go bigger and get the big englander 30. If you want high output in a hurry then get a steel plate stove with a big firebox and window. The highest high temps will be available from plate steel. High surface temps plus lots of surface mean more output to heat your cabin.

actually, if you want something that just absolutely throws out the heat, then I'd go with a high-efficiency fireplace, specifically a Fireplace Xtrordinaire 44 Elite- that thing will throw out a ton of heat. If you stay with a stove, just find the largest one your dealer has- anything Avalon Olympic size or larger should do the trick

We have a 24 x 43 spruce cabin with R12 insulation. When we arrive on a Friday night and its -25c outside and 3.5c inside (small ceramic times heaters) inside keep it at 3.5c at its coldest. Now after firing up our Super27 it takes about 2.5-3 hours to hit 20c, takes about an hour before its around 12-14c (60degrees), just to give an idea.

If just for random weekend usage, and you want hot and fast action, and it's legal in your locale, I would consider a Fisher, Timberline, Kodiak, Glacier Bay, etc.

No, they're not EPA approved, and require full 36" clearances, but they will HEAT... maybe more than you might like in a smallish space as you described. They would likely be less costly than something newer, sometimes you can find them at real good pricing on Craiglist, local paper, garage sales.

I have a non-EPA type in my camp, as does almost everyone I know with a camp/cabin, and they work great in that application. Wouldn't want one in my house for a full time heater, though.

Just my thoughts.

Well if you want something you can just plain fire the crap out of, get loads of heat, and not worry about things going wrong with it then it would be the Elm. Cast iron front and back, 1/4" thick steel body to radiat lots of heat.

The Regency F2400 plate steel stove, will heat like an SOB.

Prices are nice for a tank like built stove, and the clearances are awesome, so will save some space for the large amount of heat.

If i was looking for some serious heat, this would be the stove.

Great company to deal with with a lifetime warranty as well.

I had the non-EPA version of this in the basement. It started throwing heat right away as soon as it was lit. The only thing I didn't like, is it burnt dirty.
The new EPA version should burn clean, and throw tonnes of heat!
http://www.newmacfurnaces.com/showroom/EPA-STATUS.html

+1 on Brother Bart's suggestion for a barrel stove. If you can find the short size legs, you could even butt the rear end of it right into the chimney, and have a horizontal rather than vertical inset to block the heat loss. That way, the heat from the barrel could warm up the rock fireplace, and you'd get soft, steady radiant heat from that as well. They make kits for 35 gallon barrels as well as the 55 gallon drums. With that capacity, you could load it up and come back at the end of a day hunting or fishing and have warm coals and soup simmering on a trivet all day long. If you're in Elm country, those are mighty pretty stoves, too, but I think I'd be a little concerned about a treasure like that walking away.

A blaze king ultra will give you the longest smoothest burns. We just installed one this winter and I am so thrilled with it. It has not gone out since we started it 4 weeks ago and I have not had to clean the ashes yet, I tried but the bed of coal was so nice I just kept it going...

I have a 30NC at my cabin. I treat it like I stole it. I burn it at 800+ stovetop temp for hours on end. Keeps my 20x20 log cabin toasty. Really nice when you get there and it's -30 inside the cabin. I can get it to T-shirt weather in 4-5 hours (30-40 degrees). Careful though, it will roast you out if you're not careful.

If money is a concern then put together a barrel stove.

Up here in Central NY, if someone starts askin questions like that, I just shut them up and sell em an Enerzone 3.4 It's ferocious.

I have a cabin in the Midwest and also used to go to on the weekends and it was crazy cold inside, so I know where the OP is coming from. But one thing to consider is can you control the fire overnight, so you don't have to sleep with the windows open. I overshot my stove size three fold, now wish I would of went smaller. In the shoulder seasons it's just way to big. We used to start the stove, unload the truck, and go out for dinner and let the house warm up. It's a real odd thing to see your breath inside the house.

You want a big macho high btu stove for when you arrive but then you only need a tiny stove to maintain the warm inside temps. You need two stoves. Maybe you could do the job with a big cat stove so that you could run it super hot at first and then choke it way way down for a long maintenance burn.

The first post though makes it sound like you are willing to suffer with too much heat in exchange for high output.

kgrant said:

I have a 30NC at my cabin. I treat it like I stole it. I burn it at 800+ stovetop temp for hours on end. Keeps my 20x20 log cabin toasty. Really nice when you get there and it's -30 inside the cabin. I can get it to T-shirt weather in 4-5 hours (30-40 degrees). Careful though, it will roast you out if you're not careful.

If money is a concern then put together a barrel stove.

Click to expand...

Right on! my cabin in western maine is 576 sq. ft with full loft and sits on post with no insulation on floor except carpet tile and about R9 in the walls. the 30 nc takes it to comfy in the coldest weather in 2 hours or less. the coldest it has been when i got there is 15F. AND i get an all night burn compared to the OLD MILL smoke dragon i had for 4 yrs. use less wood too. i also burn it hard. but it's a tank!!

i have just about the same size cabin...when its 10f inside, it takes about an hour and a half before you get to t-shirt temp. i have a non-listed steel stove-its real similar to a fisher. load it up with small splits in a e-w/n-s configuration on start up...about 4 levels of that stacking. half hour later, put in larger...usually 2, sometimes 3. i also incorporate the use of a ceiling fan (when it gets warm enough for the elec motor) at bed time, 2 fair sized splits, damper the intake down, and re-fire about 5-6 hours later.

A stove with long burn times so you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to load it up! Just about any stove can do the job these days, it's just up to you. There are so many stoves out there. Just don't go small with shorter burn times.