newbie questions / cook stove / small log cabin

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YooperMike

New Member
Feb 1, 2022
26
up north
Hello. I have spent a whole lot of hours the past week reading threads related to my concerns but still have many questions. Hopefully you can be of help. What follows is very lengthy and detailed, but that information should provide context so you can better assess my situation.

I've read that the prevailing opinions are: a) you can't heat a small cabin with a woodstove (except maybe a tiny cat stove or if you open all your windows), and b) you can't heat a regular cabin with a cook stove (that one guy in PA with the KC 480 disagrees, and I like that he does just fine using that stove for his heat). I am not sure about these opinions given what I plan to do.

I am building a very small 200sq ft LOG cabin this summer (I refuse to use the term "tiny house"). I plan in the future to add on, perhaps a small bedroom and likely a "three season" porch that I might actually want to heat after insulating roof and floor and sealing its' windows well then opening all the windows of the main cabin and blowing air out (I use 2 heat-powered fans on top of my current stove to move air around; the cabin will perhaps have a ceiling fan). So max sq footage may be 400 something when I am all done. I live in hardiness zone 4A. It can get to -30F here. For 3 months straight there are only a handful of days above freezing. I lived here the last two winters (had to travel for work last summer) in a canvas wall tent with a basic but heavy duty camping stove made of steel and single wall stovepipe & chimney out the tent jack. I know I am not burning efficiently but that's the only way to achieve a long burn, which I need given living in a tent--load it full, let it get hot then close the damper and air intake to keep it about 300. With no secondary burn on this stove and closing the air flow, a lot of smoke is created. I slap the stove pipe with a dishrag and creosote flakes fall down, and if we get a warm day I remove the pipe and clean with a brush. It's worked so far, there is buildup in there but never to the point where I worry about a chimney fire. So there's the some context.

The cabin will have highly insulated floors (minimum R21), the roof will be minimum R30 but possibly R40, and the walls may only be R11 or R12...but...they will be solid logs, hemlock about 10" where they abut one another, which have a lot of thermal mass, in addition to an exposed beam under the roofing system. So unlike heating a traditional insulated stick frame I will have a lot of heat absorbed by the timbers that will radiate for a while after. So I figure with all that mass and good insulation, a true "overnight" burn may not even be necessary. Plus, I usually get up once to go the bathroom anyway so loading a big split or two onto coals isn't an issue. In the current setup I keep it about 60F or so when going to bed. If it's real cold I usually get up if it falls below 50 and stoke. That's not an issue. I don't, however, want to wake up in 40F, that's a bit too cold. For those who suggest I find an alternate heat source: I live on 40 acres of northern hardwood forest, mostly sugar maple with some hemlock stands and some beech and oak mixed in with the maple. So the only cost of wood fuel is sweat. I don't have propane, I don't have running water, I don't have anything but a small solar setup. Other heating sources are not an option.

So one question is: given the thermal mass, small square footage, and my tolerance for it dropping to 50F overnight, does it not seem reasonable to heat with wood? Also, might it be helpful to have a stove with more cast iron components than just steel, or perhaps also soapstone to help retain heat? I've seen a lot of videos of off-grid homesteaders heating small log cabins with regular space-heating wood stoves of varying quality and they seem to do okay.

Another question is: with walls absorbing heat, and cast iron and soapstone absorbing heat, why would a cookstove not be a realistic heating method? If one heated well during the morning, then when cooking dinner, the walls would continue to get heat, and then before bed throwing in a large split would also continue to provide heat to those walls. I understand a small 1.5cf firebox isn't going to allow a lot of wood, but I can't safely burn a lot of wood because it would get too hot. But the thermal mass should help offset that, eh? Also, I love cooking and don't want to sacrifice a large cooktop. Yes, I could get the smallest possible cat stove for longer burn and use a dutch oven with rack or trivet for any baking, but a real small space-heating stove just won't have the space for more than 2 small pans on top and that's just not going to cut it for me. Another option could be to get cast iron stove top and oven components and have a mason build me a small stove to add even more thermal mass.

Lastly, the cabin is of course small, with a single sloping roof with one wall 7' and the other wall 10' and 12' horizontal between them (3/12 pitch). So the high point of the roof will be about 11' plus a few inches. With that wall space and a 3' tall stove, where would be the best spot to put the stove and what kind of ratio of class A chimney outside relative to stove pipe inside would work best, and how high? 3' above the highest point means the total length from stove to that point 3' above the top of the roof would be 11' which I've read is insufficient. And could I get by going through the wall (so as to have more chimney and less inside pipe) or is it going to be a whole lot better to go through the roof? Double wall or single inside? Am inclined to double wall just to get it closer to the wall for space considerations. But on that note, can one reduce stove to wall from 18" to 6" by putting up a 1" spaced fireblocking substance against the wall? Any input here would be helpful.

On a related note to all this, hunters/trappers/frontiersmen heated small log cabins with just a fireplace for many years, and then woodstoves after that, and did just fine. It's a hard life, sure, but nothing I'm averse to. People built log cabins for centuries in very cold areas on nothing more than rocks on top of the ground as a foundation and the structures lasted (I'll be doing it "right" though, with sunken piers). Just wanted to raise the point that people have made things work throughout time even though they may not have been "optimal."

I'm sure I have some other questions but this should be a good start and I look forward to and welcome all input. Thanks.
 
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I haven't heard that you shouldn't use a woodstove in a small cabin, I don't see why it wouldn't work. You probably don't want something with a 4 cu ft firebox or anything, but a small cat stove, especially with a soapstone surround, seems like it wouldn't be an issue, particularly if you're ok with larger temperature swings. A cookstove with a smaller firebox also seems like a very reasonable option, if you can find one that meets modern EPA standards - while it doesn't have a large range, the Vermont Bun Baker has always looked like a really cool stove to me.
 
A 200 sq ft space can get overheated quickly with a wood stove. It is not an ideal source for continual heating in a small area. There are a number of threads on heating small cabins and tiny homes. The options are limited, but sometimes a marine heater like a Cubic, Mariner Sardine, or a Dickerson Marine heater can work out. Search on Tiny home for some more ideas.

That said, it also depends on how the space will be used. If the cabin will get cold then it takes a lot of heat to get the mass of the building and its contents back up to a comfortable temp. In that case, a bit larger stove will work out. Look at small stoves by Morso and Jotul for some options.
 
I haven't heard that you shouldn't use a woodstove in a small cabin, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

The reasoning as I understand is that you will either get heated out with a large stove that has capacity for long burn time, or have to reload every hour or two with an appropriately sized stove.
A 200 sq ft space can get overheated quickly with a wood stove. It is not an ideal source for continual heating in a small area. There are a number of threads on heating small cabins and tiny homes. The options are limited, but sometimes a marine heater like a Cubic, Mariner Sardine, or a Dickerson Marine heater can work out. Search on Tiny home for some more ideas.

That said, it also depends on how the space will be used. If the cabin will get cold then it takes a lot of heat to get the mass of the building and its contents back up to a comfortable temp. In that case, a bit larger stove will work out. Look at small stoves by Morso and Jotul for some options.
Those stoves dont offer the kind of range space I want for cooking. With a cookstove, or any stove for that matter, given good insulation and thermal mass, could I not just burn a small load and be ok, good heat without overheating and the mass keeps it 50 or so after the fire dies down? My perspective is skewed having lived in a tent for two winters.
 
That said, it also depends on how the space will be used. If the cabin will get cold then it takes a lot of heat to get the mass of the building and its contents back up to a comfortable temp. In that case, a bit larger stove will work out. Look at small stoves by Morso and Jotul for some options.
I live here year round and only ocassionally leave for 8 hours so can feed stove usually. If I do leave for a night I don't care how long it takes to heat up, I can put on a sweater, or two, for a day. Mostly wondering how long the logs retain heat/mitigate temp swings/etc. If I could power this thing with a regular cook stove.

I guess the issue is... can I regularly put small loads in a stove throughout the day to heat the walls and other items, then go to bed with minimal amount loaded and keep it above 50. If so, a wood cookstove seems like it would work no? Not putting so much wood in that it creates a sauna, so huge firebox isnt an issue. Mostly wondering about heat retention of logs , iron, soapstone, etc.

So here's a scenrio... its 0F out when I wake up. I get a good fire going to heat coffee and not so cold. Get interior temp good, put a large split in just to keep above 40 and coals when i get back, go skiing or working timber in 10F, back in 6 hrs, add fuel and temp back up to comfortable in due time. Cook dinner, eat popcorn, stove fed all the while and heating walls. Add split and go to bed. Wake up and add a split and kindling to jump start and go back to bed. Wake up and get it going good to make coffee... repeat. Wouldn't this work in a really really small cabin with log walls foe thermal mass and good insulation and mahbe additional thermal mass on the stove?
 
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It takes heat to warm up most stove to cooking temp. Even more heat if it has an oven. In a castiron wood cook stove this could mean hours of burning. And then the mass of the stove will continue to radiate heat. And most cookstoves take up a space and need clearances honored, taking up more space. How many sq ft will the stove have?

What type of cooking is being proposed? Single pan, two pan, oven? Will the building have power? Has propane been considered for cooking?
 
It takes heat to warm up most stove to cooking temp. Even more heat if it has an oven. In a castiron wood cook stove this could mean hours of burning. And then the mass of the stove will continue to radiate heat. And most cookstoves take up a space and need clearances honored, taking up more space. How many sq ft will the stove have?

What type of cooking is being proposed? Single pan, two pan, oven? Will the building have power? Has propane been considered for cooking?

What about the hob? If you remove the ring and put a pan over fire it will heat quickly. And some cook stoves have a bypass where you can cook but heat goes directly up the flue.

If you see my original post I asked about clearance. With backing on the wall can you put stove 6" out or no?

For cooking I need variety. High heat, steady lpw heat, usually multiple pans simultaneously sometimes as many as three, with variable temps. Hence insistance on cookstove for that space and variability. Not much power, just minimal solar operation as stated in original post. No propane, dont want to spend the money to have someone set it up, and then spend money when I have a heat source that doesn't cost.
 
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With backing on the wall can you put stove 6" out or no?
That depends on the stove's design and clearance requirements. How large an area in sq ft is planned for this stove?

What type of cooking is being proposed? Single pan, two pan, oven? Will the building have power? Has propane been considered for cooking?
 
I live off grid in a small log cabin probably not too far from you. My logs are 10” Lodgepole pine, 20x30 with a 200sq ft loft. Dont depend on the logs being a big heat sink when warmed up. They are somewhat near the stove but when the temps are consistently below zero outside I need to keep my stove hot to keep the cabin in my comfort range. With warmer outside temps it’s not that bad, it just seems I hit a brick wall when temps dip below zero. There are also lots of air leaks I chase with my caulk gun from time to time, especially in the corners.

With such a small cabin you will be starved for space and I think a cook stove will take up way to much of it. I went with a corner install to save space. You may not have the large cooking surface you want but a small stove like the Jotul 602, Morse 2B or the Woodstock Survival would work fine. I started out with a 602 rear vented and it gave me enough cooking area for 2 pots or pans and it was my only source for cooking my first winter. Dutch oven and cast iron pan cooking was the norm.

If it gets too hot in the cabin open a window to help regulate the heat. I do it from time to time and it’s nice to have some fresh air in a stuffy small cabin. Also a little propane space heater is nice at times if you need to leave for a night or two just to keep the cabin at a comfortable temp and keep things from freezing.
 
I live off grid in a small log cabin probably not too far from you. My logs are 10” Lodgepole pine, 20x30 with a 200sq ft loft. Dont depend on the logs being a big heat sink when warmed up. They are somewhat near the stove but when the temps are consistently below zero outside I need to keep my stove hot to keep the cabin in my comfort range. With warmer outside temps it’s not that bad, it just seems I hit a brick wall when temps dip below zero. There are also lots of air leaks I chase with my caulk gun from time to time, especially in the corners.

With such a small cabin you will be starved for space and I think a cook stove will take up way to much of it. I went with a corner install to save space. You may not have the large cooking surface you want but a small stove like the Jotul 602, Morse 2B or the Woodstock Survival would work fine. I started out with a 602 rear vented and it gave me enough cooking area for 2 pots or pans and it was my only source for cooking my first winter. Dutch oven and cast iron pan cooking was the norm.

If it gets too hot in the cabin open a window to help regulate the heat. I do it from time to time and it’s nice to have some fresh air in a stuffy small cabin. Also a little propane space heater is nice at times if you need to leave for a night or two just to keep the cabin at a comfortable temp and keep things from freezing.
Thanks, Todd. 2 pots seems not large enough for some of the cooking I like to do. And I haven't made pizza or pasties in years now, except for pizza on the weber grill, so having an oven would be nice. So I either need to limit what meals I can make to mostly one pot or two pans, or limit my space and get a larger cook surface. If your logs near the stove are warm, and my place is significantly smaller, the heat will reach a greater percent of mine than yours. Noy sure how effective they will be at retaining and radiating, but... keep in mind I have spent nearly 2 winters now in an uninsulated canvas tent. Anything will be a major step up. For space, I imagine I will build a whole lot of shelves into the walls.
 
Thanks, Todd. 2 pots seems not large enough for some of the cooking I like to do. And I haven't made pizza or pasties in years now, except for pizza on the weber grill, so having an oven would be nice. So I either need to limit what meals I can make to mostly one pot or two pans, or limit my space and get a larger cook surface. If your logs near the stove are warm, and my place is significantly smaller, the heat will reach a greater percent of mine than yours. Noy sure how effective they will be at retaining and radiating, but... keep in mind I have spent nearly 2 winters now in an uninsulated canvas tent. Anything will be a major step up. For space, I imagine I will build a whole lot of shelves into the walls.
I’ve seen some nice outdoor kitchen builds on YouTube with pizza ovens and such but that wouldn’t heat your cabin. Just another idea to consider.
 
YooperMike you should make that build a bit larger. Double it at least. There are plenty of wood stoves with smaller fireboxes, less than 2 cu ft, that will overheat the 20 X 20 footprint of the larger cabin.

As someone above has already stated, with a 200 sq ft size cabin that you have proposed, the footprint for a wood stove (much less a cook stove) will take up close to 10% of that space once you observe recommended clearances.

I had a 550 sq ft cabin with a wood stove firebox size of 1.8 cu ft that did a great job! With the hardwoods and loading it accordingly (not to the gills) there would be no problems with coals remaining 8 hours later.

Not telling you what to do, but you'll get shack happy way too quick in only 200 sq ft "cabin".
 
YooperMike you should make that build a bit larger. Double it at least. There are plenty of wood stoves with smaller fireboxes, less than 2 cu ft, that will overheat the 20 X 20 footprint of the larger cabin.

As someone above has already stated, with a 200 sq ft size cabin that you have proposed, the footprint for a wood stove (much less a cook stove) will take up close to 10% of that space once you observe recommended clearances.

I had a 550 sq ft cabin with a wood stove firebox size of 1.8 cu ft that did a great job! With the hardwoods and loading it accordingly (not to the gills) there would be no problems with coals remaining 8 hours later.

Not telling you what to do, but you'll get shack happy way too quick in only 200 sq ft "cabin".
Hello fellow yooper. Thanks for the advice but there are a couple issues, maybe you have some input. One, building codes. 200sq ft doesnt require a permit. A larger "hunting cabin" needs permit but doesnt need to follow residential code unless one is living there "permanently." Following residential code here requires 750sq ft and utilities so thats out of the question. Not sure how they would know if it was my permanent dwelling, or if they would care, but I would not like to get involved with bureaucratic nonsense. There's also the old adage that it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, so... The other issue is time and money. Am building myself, so it will be time consuming and I am just starting to fell trees and three-siding them and all that for the walls, so not sure I can get enough done quickly for a larger build, hence the idea of adding on at some point--just want somewhere to live before next winter. And buying all the other components adds up and I would prefer not to go too deep into savings right now. Anyway so thats the story. If you have any input on building inspectors I am all ears.

As for footprint. If you have a large appliance with lots of iron and soapstone it's going to hold a lot of heat, no? In which case I wouldn't mind it being so large, if it really will hold heat so I can sleep for 8 hourd and still have it about 50 inside. I spend most of my time outside anyway. My current tent that I live in is similarly sized, and I dont have the kind of shelving I plan for the cabin. The stove in the tent is 18" from one wall and 24" from the other and measures 26" x 16", so it takes up a bit of space too. Russian cabins typically have a masonry stove that takes up 25% of the interior space. Granted they were much larger than 200sq ft though. But really all i need inside is bed, small table with a bench and a chair, and countertops and cooking/heating appliance. Possibly composting toilet instead of outhouse during winter. Also I have decided it might make sense to have the floor r30 and roof r49. That should do a lot to retain heat. But anyway its just a matter of what I can get away with for now given time and money constraints, and what to do about permitting and such.
 
YooperMike you should make that build a bit larger. Double it at least. There are plenty of wood stoves with smaller fireboxes, less than 2 cu ft, that will overheat the 20 X 20 footprint of the larger cabin.

As someone above has already stated, with a 200 sq ft size cabin that you have proposed, the footprint for a wood stove (much less a cook stove) will take up close to 10% of that space once you observe recommended clearances.

I had a 550 sq ft cabin with a wood stove firebox size of 1.8 cu ft that did a great job! With the hardwoods and loading it accordingly (not to the gills) there would be no problems with coals remaining 8 hours later.

Not telling you what to do, but you'll get shack happy way too quick in only 200 sq ft "cabin".
Here's an option. Forgo putting the stove in the cabin. Instead, build a lean-to shed or an independent shed for a summer kitchen. This used to be fairly common with small houses, especially in the south. You can get a used cast iron wood stove and from spring through fall make and bake all you want.

OK, that said, when I was a young lad I lived in a cottage that was about 320 sq ft, plus a sleeping loft attic for about 500 sq ft heated area. This was in the Connecticut Berkshires where winters got cold. The place was only moderately insulated. It had a full-sized, turn-of-the-century, Buffalo Foundry cast iron cookstove that took up about 25% of the small kitchen. It also had a 24" electric stove which I used for quick cooking and coffee. And it had a propane cabinet heater.

I only used the wood cookstove in the late fall and winter. The place got too hot when burning in it unless it was under 40º. But in the winter it was divine. It took a while, but once I got the hang of it, I loved cooking on that stove. When outdoor temps approached 0º or lower I had the stove and propane heater blasting. I can appreciate your hopes, but be realistic. Moving an 800# wood stove in place is not a trivial affair. So plan well. There are some smaller wood cookstoves that were designed for tight spaces like cabooses that may work. And there are some smaller modern cookstoves that could also work as long as the expectations are practical and the installation is safe.

What is the budget here? Spacebus has a good writeup on his modern Tim Sistem cookstove in a small home. Have you read that thread?
 
DItto on a Jotul 602 or small smilar Morso, If you do not have plumbing, sure you can heat a cabin with a wood stove. The big caution is that log cabins might be tight when built but they inevitably dry out and shrink and the air infiltration can become significant. The log cabin industry pushed them as energy efficient due to the mass effect of the logs but put a blower door on a typical cabin and the air changes will be atrocious. I grew up visiting a couple of old timers in log cabins they had built and they went through a lot of wood due to air leaks. A small stove still radiates heat so even though the air in the cabin is cold the stove still feels warm. Where you get into trouble is trying to get an all night burn. If you dont mind throwing a log into small stove in the middle of the night, you should have coals ready to rake forward in the morning and you will be warm in few minutes. Most folks like sleeping cold and as long as you dont have pipes to freeze who cares if the place get cold overnight.
 
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Here's an option. Forgo putting the stove in the cabin. Instead, build a lean-to shed or an independent shed for a summer kitchen. This used to be fairly common with small houses, especially in the south. You can get a used cast iron wood stove and from spring through fall make and bake all you want.

OK, that said, when I was a young lad I lived in a cottage that was about 320 sq ft, plus a sleeping loft attic for about 500 sq ft heated area. This was in the Connecticut Berkshires where winters got cold. The place was only moderately insulated. It had a full-sized, turn-of-the-century, Buffalo Foundry cast iron cookstove that took up about 25% of the small kitchen. It also had a 24" electric stove which I used for quick cooking and coffee. And it had a propane cabinet heater.

I only used the wood cookstove in the late fall and winter. The place got too hot when burning in it unless it was under 40º. But in the winter it was divine. It took a while, but once I got the hang of it, I loved cooking on that stove. When outdoor temps approached 0º or lower I had the stove and propane heater blasting. I can appreciate your hopes, but be realistic. Moving an 800# wood stove in place is not a trivial affair. So plan well. There are some smaller wood cookstoves that were designed for tight spaces like cabooses that may work. And there are some smaller modern cookstoves that could also work as long as the expectations are practical and the installation is safe.

What is the budget here? Spacebus has a good writeup on his modern Tim Sistem cookstove in a small home. Have you read that thread?
I don't think I read that thread, thank you. The Tim Sistem has real small clearance requirements so that would save space. I just stopped thinking about that one because it is mostly steel which won't retain heat like iron and soapstone. Budget as of a year or two ago when I started thinking about this was supposed to be 3k but prices have drastically increased the past year, so maybe 4k, or 4.5 if something is really perfect. Most of the smaller cookstoves are 400 something lbs, 600 if soapstone panels, but not 800. Still no small task, but I could find a friend to help me move it in. A cook stove where you can switch to go directly up the flue like the KC 380 or 480 would make cooking in shoulder seasons ok because it wouldn't generate that much heat. Cheap used old iron wood cookstove for lean-to summer cooking sounds ok but that's far down the list--currently I use a charcoal grill and a coleman camp stove that do ok, and summer is for vegetables and pan fried fish anyway. The issue is in winter, and parts of fall and spring, I want to be able to heat the small space as well as have a cooking surface with high heat, medium heat, and low simmer (for slow cooking) and an oven. My idea behind iron and soapstone is that I could load the stove part way and the mass would keep things warm inside for an extra couple hours. I dont know if this is realistic or not, never having used such an appliance. Any idea how far those materials will go for retaining and radiating heat? The Russian masonry stoves of old used to be fired just once or maybe twice a day, but they were 2 tons of masonry.
 
You will be well ahead building as big as you can now. Also, with log construction, it is more difficult to add on structurally than stick framing. So planning ahead now and going bigger will be in your favor. 200 and even 400 sq ft gets small.
 
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DItto on a Jotul 602 or small smilar Morso, If you do not have plumbing, sure you can heat a cabin with wood stove. The big caution is that log cabins might be tight when built but they inevitably dry out and shrink and the air infiltration can become significant. The log cabin industry pushed them as energy efficient due to the mass effect of the logs but put a blower door on a typical cabin and the air changes will be atrocious. I grew up visiting a couple of old timers in log cabins they had built and they went through a lot of wood due to air leaks. A small stove still radiatesheat so even though the air in the cabin is cold the stove still feels warm. Where you get int trouble is trying to get an all night burn. If you dont mind throwing a log into small stove in the middle of the night, you should have coals ready to rake forward in the morning and you will be warm in few minutes. Most folks like sleeping cold and as long as you dont have pipes to freeze who cares if the place get cold overnight.
Well there's cold, and then there's cold. I dont really care for it to be below freezing when I wake up, I know that. I have done that a lot living in the tent. I do prefer it low 50s to maybe 62 when sleeping and 68 when awake and doing stuff inside. What's the advantage of jotul 602 or morso squirrel vs a cook stove? Seems like if I can deal with cookstove taking up all that space it will a) offer more cooking options and b) provide more mass to absorb and radiate heat. All have small fireboxes.
 
Look at this post. Hierony built a small masonry heater for his yurt. It still might be too much for 200 sq ft, though. But the nice thing is you heat the mass up with a fire and that usually lasts the whole day and overnight. He got a kit and plans, and assembled it. I think he used a fireplace clean-out door for the main door. Hierony and I are in Idaho. Are you in this area? This masonry heater is to small for an oven, but you could bake in the firebox with a tray.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stovepipe-chimney-for-a-masonry-heater-in-a-yurt.158022/
 
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YooperMike, the way "they" would know if it was your permanent address or if you were living there is by whatever mailing address you list and more importantly, if you choose to homestead your property and lower your tax bill by about 1/3.

Sounds like you have a plan that you're sticking to. Good luck with the build!
 
You will be well ahead building as big as you can now. Also, with log construction, it is more difficult to add on structurally than stick framing. So planning ahead now and going bigger will be in your favor. 200 and even 400 sq ft gets small.
I am building stockaded style, vertical logs. Much easier to add a room. I've lived in a 200sq ft tent the last two years with the exception of summer in a 90 sq ft camper van.
YooperMike, the way "they" would know if it was your permanent address or if you were living there is by whatever mailing address you list and more importantly, if you choose to homestead your property and lower your tax bill by about 1/3.

Sounds like you have a plan that you're sticking to. Good luck with the build!
Yeah I claimed this as homestead to lower the taxes. Mail goes to PO Box, no mail available to me here. There is an old rundown mobile home on the property though too, so that theoretically could be my "home," though I planned to cut it up for scrap at some point and the rest to the dump since it really is worthless as a dwelling. Thanks for the encouragment. I think a lot and do lots of reading to see if and how my vision will work. Already answered several of my questions from original post just by reading up a bit more. Stove will go in corner of highest part of the monosloped hut (can you call 200sq ft a cabin?) and likely use double wall inside so long as the stove can also be moved closer to the wall; or if I route through wall instead of roof. Obviously best to go through roof but I worry about possible leaks, being new to carpentry. And I think given the way I have lived for years, I have a fairly high tolerance for discomfort and inconvenience, so the cooking ability of a cook stove, which is quite important to me, outweighs the fact that I will have less space and less ability for a slow burn and no true "overnight burn." Current stove is 26"x16" on top, with a warming tray attached to the side, and I can't imagine having less than that for cooking--I concentrate the heat with smaller logs at the rear and use the front for low heat needs and the rear for high heat. I don't even know if a pressure canner would work on a jotul 602.
 
Most cookstoves that I know of have the option to divert directly up the flue. That is how one heats them up. Even the old Buffalo cookstove had that option. It's only after the stove has warmed up that one closes the bypass. This then circulates the flue gases around the oven box. If you want castiron and compact. Then the Esse Ironheart is a sweet stove.
 
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Most cookstoves that I know of have the option to divert directly up the flue. That is how one heats them up. Even the old Buffalo cookstove had that option. It's only after the stove has warmed up that one closes the bypass. This then circulates the flue gases around the oven box.
Do you have a recommendation for cook stove for my needs? I read SpaceBus' thread. That stove has some things I don't need (water coil) and lacks some things I might find beneficial (iron and soapstone). The short clearance is nice though. Was looking at sopka magnum but reviews said it was cheaply made and Woody said the kitchen queen is much better. The new kc 550 removes some of the better features of the older model and apprently the secondary burn element isnt up to snuff either. La nordica has a couple stoves that can be bought for cheaper, about 3k, from a retailer other than obadiahs. Would probably prefer something made in usa if possible, but might not find what I am looking for.
 
The watercoil is an option on the Tim Sistem. I just mentioned the Esse IronHeart. That is compact and cast iron.