New to woodstoves question/four dogs

[candysnowflake]

Hello!
I am about to start a renovation project of a 13 by 16 cabin that is uninsulated (but will be) and has a loft. Roughly about 500-600 sq. ft.
Does anyone know about Four dog stoves? I know they are built for yurts, but I am wondering if that would be sufficient. They are cheap and lightweight.
Or any other knowledge about small cabin stoves that will burn all night.
This is for Southern Vermont where it gets pretty darn cold in the winter.
Also any tips about installing stove pipes would be grand as well.
~Tess

 

[begreen]

Hi Tess, welcome. My friend wanted to put a stove in his yurt. We looked at these, but couldn't find a lot of history on them. He ended up choosing a Morso 2110.

FWIW, your dilemma of wanting an all night burn in a small stove is not really perfectly solvable from my experience. But a catalytic stove could burn longer at a low heat setting. Woodstock makes the Keystone and Palladian which are worth considering. You can visit their factory in VT and talk with them about their stoves and your needs. Might be a good fit.

Another small stove to consider might be the PE Vista. Regarding the flue questions, ask away. That is sometimes an easier problem to tackle.

 

[meathead]

I don't know a thing about the four dog stoves other than a little research I have done on yurts...can't help you there.

As far as an overnight burn out of a small stove, you are in a tough spot - just simple math - you can only fit so much wood in a small firebox, and you can only make that wood burn so slow. With a small cabin like that, however, you have a few options if the place is buttoned up tight. You may find that you don't need a true overnight burn to stay plenty warm in that small space if it is (really) well insulated. A small but well built heavy cast or stone stove will throw off heat for quite a while after the flame dies out, and in a 13 x 16 cabin even a 150 degree block of iron will go a long way towards keeping you comfortable. Keep enough wood on hand to get the fire going again without having to head outside and let cold air in in the morning and you're good to go.

If the stove isn't enough, is there any place to add some masonry mass that will radiate heat after the stove isn't really holding it anymore? Can be a masonry fireplace or as simple as a few "decorative" rocks around the stove, or maybe a big chunk of rock with a piece of bluestone on top used as an end table near the stove...that type of thing? A few hundred pounds of rock goes a long way if you are buttoned up tight and in a small space.


Or...skip the insulation, buy a big stove, load 'er up, open some windows and go to bed.

 

[RiverLogger]

I have a Four Dog stove that I use elk hunting in my wall tent. There is no way the stove I have will heat a 600sf cabin. My wall tent is a 12'x16' canvas tent and the stove heats this great. I think you would have problems trying to heat your cabin though.

RL

 

[meathead]

...Yeah the square footage part I'm not really following though. 13 x 16 = 208 - loft doesn't really add square footage assuming it is just tucked under the peak in a 1 story cabin. Are you putting an addition on to get to the 600sqft?

 

[lexybird]

maybe get a medium sized epa stove like a NC13 ,its better to have more stove than less and you could always pack some firebrick in it to make the box smaller if desired

 

[Fsappo]

From what I know from wood burning, I would say any epa certified stove with at least a 1.8 cubic foot firebox should give you a good overnight burn (6 hours or so) It may be a little oversized but like other folks mentioned, you can just crack a window open at night.