What Size Gas Stove

[Todd]

I have a 600 sq ft log cabin in NW Wis. it has high ceilings and a 200sq ft loft. I was looking at the Jotul Allagash and Sebago. The Allagash is $700 cheaper but not sure if 20,000 BTU would be enough? Wife likes it 70-72 and this would be full time primary heat.

 

[DAKSY]

Look at it this way, if you install the smaller stove & it doesn’t give you enough heat, you’ll hafta find another way to get warmer... Electric heater. Sweater. Blankets.
On the other hand, if the larger stove is too much, you have turn down capability…
And you could always remove clothes…

 

[Todd]

Yeah, I don’t even know if the Sebago will be enough. I have a ventless 20000 btu wall heater going today just as a test and it took all morning to get up to 70 from 65 and it ran constantly. It’s pretty cold out in the lower teens with a strong wind. It can get much colder than this so maybe I need to look at going even bigger?

 

[Todd]

The cabin has been holding at 70 all day with below zero wind chills but the ventless heater has not turned off. I guess with propane it’s rated at 18,000 BTU. I’m just going to let it run all night so I can get an idea of propane usage and also see what temp it can hold at below zero temps.

 

[Todd]

-22 this morning! Ventless heater kept the cabin at 67 non stop burning. I went through 3 gal of propane in last 24 hours running 18,000 BTU’s constantly. Felt cold to me probably due to the lack of radiant heat I was missing from the wood stove.

I figure the Allagash would be very similar to the ventless in propane usage running about 20,000 BTU at 75% efficiency but would give some radiant heat and maybe cycle on and off a bit?

The Sebago at 75% efficiency should give me roughly 24,000 BTU on high and should be a better fit?

Propane usage may be a little more with the Jotul’s since they’re less efficient than the ventless heater but should be close? If I used the 3 gal per day figure guestiment I’d go through 400 gal (500 gl tank) of propane in 133 days or 4.4 months but that’s running pretty much full bore. I could probably stretch it out much further and have tank filled every 9-12 months? Also have to figure cooking and hot water.

Propane is currently $2.20 per gal around here currently so $600-700 per fill if I call when tank is at 25-30%. I don’t think that’s too bad even if I had to fill up twice per year.

Sure isn’t much info or reviews out there for gas stoves. I searched all over the place. It would be nice to find some real world experiences with people using gas stoves as primary heating for a smallish home.