Wood stove for a 500 sf footprint cabin (two story cabin)

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GVL

New Member
Oct 8, 2019
2
California
Hi Folks,

I am new to the forum and thanks to all who put in so much time and effort on this great topic.
We own a small cabin in California and we are trying to decide which stove size to buy. This is our first time purchasing a new stove so I am doing as much research as I can about wood stoves.
We are thinking of buying the PE T4 or T5 wood stove. The cabin is about 500 sf footprint, with two stories with a total living space of 1000 sf. and has a cathedral ceiling.
We currently have an Olympic wood stove on the second floor which came with the cabin when we purchased it. We are thinking of replacing the stove with either a PE T4 or T5 wood stove. The cabin is at 7000 ft elevation so in the winter gets really cold and snows. The walls of the cabin are not well insulated and there are several double pane windows and a glass sliding door on the second floor. Sometimes I can feel outside air enters the house through the windows. We will seal the window joints. The living room, kitchen, and a small bathroom are on the second floor. We do have two ceiling fans. I am interested in getting the T5 but I am afraid it might be too big of a stove for the cabin. Any suggestions, thank you very much.
 
The Avalon Olympic is a big 3 cu ft stove. This is more like the T6 in size. If that is doing the job well then don't go smaller than the T5.
 
My cabin is 16x25 and on a single story. I run the T5.

The hard part with stoves in cabins is you walk into a 15::F cabin end then try to heat it up quickly. It takes a big stove and an additional heat source or 2 to do it. I use a propane tank sunflower heater. I've been known to run electric heaters too. The T5 would do the job well, but you may want the larger stove. The gotcha in all of this is once the place is up to temperature a big stove still wants to run! You may be opening windows to let the heat out.
 
We have a Century CW2500 insert and frankly we're impressed with the quality. We've been using it for about 7 seasons now. Our Den is about 350 sq.ft and once and while it gets a little warm in here but nothing overpowering. Century is a very economical choice, nothing fancy though.

 
Thanks to all for the information. I am considering in buying the PE T5. I might need to sell the Olympic wood stove which is not an Avalon Olympic stove. Do you have an idea how much those type of wood stoves are selling for? The stove that I have it seems to be in fair shape. any suggestions? Thank you
 

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Thanks to all for the information. I am considering in buying the PE T5. I might need to sell the Olympic wood stove which is not an Avalon Olympic stove. Do you have an idea how much those type of wood stoves are selling for? The stove that I have it seems to be in fair shape. any suggestions? Thank you
Hard to say how much. Guessing somewhere around $250-400 right now while the market is hot.
 
Is that an 8 inch flue? Not many stoves hook up to that size of flue. Why not keep what you have?