Best stove for a small cabin?

[international5288]

Hi all-

I'm going to be building a small cabin in our woods, 12x16' with an upstairs sleeping bunk area. Probably fully insulated. I need a small stove to heat and perhaps cook with a little bit. Ideally I would like a view of the fire as well, but it isn't a requirement. And the cheaper the better, too. Of course the first thing that springs to mind are the Vozelgang boxwood stoves, or maybe a Frontiersman, but they seem to have a pretty bad rep. I've seen Jotul mentioned but those I think are out of my price range. Englander has the 12FP, and yes I know I would probably have to open the windows. What are other choices? My web and forum searches have not been very fruitful. TIA!

 

[dougand3]

12x16 is a very limiting size. With the Vogelzang boxwood - you need 3 ft clearance on all sides. So the "stove space" would be 7x9' - kinda eats up the cabin, don't it? In that size space, only stove I'd think reasonable would be one of the yacht or boat stoves. But they are pricey.

 

[Fsappo]

I guess we should know what the upper price range is your looking to spend and then we can make some used stove suggestions

 

[international5288]

I will have to do some shielding to reduce clearances, no doubt. $$-wise if I could keep it $500-ish or below that would be great. Yes, that limits choices for sure.

 

[G-rott]

My father built a 12x16 log cabin and he heats it with the volezang boxwood stove. It's my favorite place to spent the night when my wife and I go visit. It heats the cabin well and quickly. If we visit in the middle of the winter I do have to stoke the stove during the night, but I think you will with any small stove. It's not a high tech heater and it does eat wood for the small space it heats but that's just the nature of the beast. The style fits and the price was right, I think with the class A chimney kit he had less than $500 in it and that includes a do it yourself hearth and wall shields.

There are some other steel box stoves or older "craigslist" stoves if your not in a hurry. A little Morso Squirrel would cook you right out.

It sounds like a fun project,

Garett

(edit spelling)

 

[djblech]

I bought a Century (I think) from Menards for around $400. My cabin is the same size and that stove heats it well. I would stick with a small epa stove in case you insure the cabin someday. I did and had to fight with my ins. co for the coverage. The stove will not burn all night but only needs to be stoked once. My wife and I were just out there last weekend and stayed nice and toasty. I think the other big box stores have compareable stoves.
Doug

 

[international5288]

Don't know why I hadn't seen the Century stoves before, here is what I found with a quick search:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_6970_122+766841_0_0_P-Price

That Century 40k btu or the Drolet 35k (appear to be same mfg) would work really well, and have tight wall clearances. Thanks for the replies so far!

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

i thought century was now dutch west/ VC

decent stoves, but have welded in baffles, dont over fire!!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I have a small Century in the old house. It's a good stove. I don't think they sell the model anymore though. I like the design a better than the Englander, but that's a personal choice I suppose.

Don't discount the local Ace Hardware. They sell the Century for a lower price than NT and probably have free shipping to store. Drolet looked to be a bit higher.

Matt

 

[thinkxingu]

International, don't bother with the Englander 12--it is not an EPA stove (last time I checked). You'd be much better off with the 13. In fact, I'm surprised more people haven't signed on with that recommendation yet. You should be able to pick one up on clearance for $500 or so, and you'd get the tax credit. It's a super budget stove--and you could always turn it down.

S

 

[international5288]

I looked around my local Lowes and Menards this afternoon. Lowes had the Englander 13 (under some other name that I can't remember) for $599. I couldn't find any coupons to apply? Seemed like a decent stove. Menards didn't have much, just a handful of various Vozelgang models. The only one that looked worth a hoot was called a Shiloh which I think was $500. The Frontiersman looked like a total POS and the Boxwood, well it was a Boxwood. I'm going to check my local stove shop tomorrow and see what they have, if that fails I think its either the Englander 13 or the Century from Northern Tool. ??

 

[thinkxingu]

international, sign up for the new mover program or visit your local post office for a moving package--two ways to find a 10% off coupon. Or, you can check out some online sites that have ship-to-store options such as ACE or Do It Best, etc. Lowe's will usually match that. Finally, do you have an HD near you? They were clearancing the stoves recently.

In any case, you can't go wrong with the NC-13 for the money.

S

 

[theora55]

I expect to see some good wood stoves coming up on craigslist as people buy new ones to get the tax credit. Post your requirements in the Items wanted section, and watch the items offered sections. I got my stove on CL, an EPA-cert small stove, at a great price.

 

[international5288]

NC-13 FTW! I just picked one up at Lowe's a few hours ago. $599- 10%. I picked up the Lowe's coupon at the PO earlier today. Thanks everyone for the input. I didn't get a chance to really look it over completely yet but it seems like a nice little stove, well made- in the USA!! I think I'm gonna have to test fire it in the driveway tomorrow, LOL.

 

[K2Orion]

just go to ebay and you can always buy 10% coupons. Some will email almost instantly after you pay with paypal.