Stove Recommendation for small, well insulated space?

[Charles Bourque]

I want to put a wood stove in 650 sq. ft. well insulated space. Any recommendations?

I'll be putting a 15 ft. chimney (12 ft. class A, 3 ft. stove pipe) on it, and will use it hard in Jan & Feb with off and on use in Nov, Dec, Mar. (will burn K-1 during warmer weather).

I would hope for at least 4 hour reload time (gotta sleep some time...) and easy to cold start without a ton of smoke in the house.

I like the size and shape of Jotul F602CB but there must be more modern designs that outperform it.

Also, what are pros/cons of cast iron versus welded steel? Is one inherently more smoky? Can you run them equally hot?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Charles. I'll let other suggest on the stove but first tell what you are using it for. Shop? Cottage?

As for the smoke, don't worry about the stove. Worry about your wood. Dry your wood for at least a year after splitting and stacking it outdoors in the wind; longer with some wood like oak (3 years on that). If you burn dry wood you will have good results with most any stove. Burn poor wood and guess what; poor results and smoke and creosote and fire not wanting to burn good, etc, etc.

Not much for pros/cons on cast vs steel. Steel will throw heat a bit sooner but the time difference is small.

 

[Charles Bourque]

It's my house! 24'x32' garage under living space. Garage is insulated but unheated. Living space is fairly open, and I have ceiling fans to move air. Just want the best stove I can find, but you never know how good something is until you live with it a while.

 

[MaintenanceMan]

The Englander 17-VL would fit the bill.

 

[begreen]

Usually a small cat stove is recommended for small areas because it can burn steadily at a lower rate. In this size that would be the VC Intrepid 2, Dutchwest small, or a Woodstock Keystone.