Looking to heat a single floor 570sqft non-insulated cabin. Three season mostly. Some time will be spent there in winter. Considering either the Regency F1150 (55,000 BTU) w/ 1.3cuft firebox OR the Kuma Aspen LE (63,000 BTU) w/1.8cuft fire box. Both are newer models so I’m having trouble find user reviews online. Love to get all of your opinions on what size I should be looking for. My budget is around $2,000... the Kuma is rated at 81% efficient with hybrid car system where as the Regency is non cat at 75%. Thanks. Steve
Wood Stove Size? Regency or Kuma?
- Thread starter enggass
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In a cold cabin you will need extra heat. No sense in getting fancy. In Regency I would look at the next size up. Also check out the Drolet Escape 1800 and True North TN20.
I'll let the model experts answer your specific question, but I have a similar situation where I would like to replace a metal fireplace in a room in my house with something that is efficient, and not a constant pain to operate, for supplemental heat in the winter. Because it's a room that gets a lot of solar gain on a sunny day, is rather isolated as far as air circulation, and is backed up with a central furnace all winter, I think the biggest problem would be too much heat rather than too little, with a big day/night variation, so I think it's probably similar to your situation. I haven't come to a solution yet, but maybe some of my struggles might be relevant.
Maybe it's just me, but for 3 season use without insulation, I would consider if you're the type of person who would be happy to make a fire many evenings, or are willing to get creative like burying coals in the morning, or want something that would be capable of being turned WAY DOWN during the day, like a good cat stove. It's kinda, hassle and firecraft, vs. turn the knob.
Again, it's probably me, but I would want a very small stove that could be tamed in 570sq/ft as opposed to a large one. I think it's harder running a large stove easy, most of the time, than it is to run a small stove hard when it's really cold.
Last thought - I wouldn't worry about efficiency differences much. Consider how much wood you plan to burn in 3 seasons. What is a 5-10% of that? Or even 25%? Unless I planned on going through a lot of wood, or thought a good cat stove was a must have because of a desire to load it and just turn the knob up and down, I'd find a small stove I liked and run with it. If it was cheap on Craigslist, so much the better!
Maybe it's just me, but for 3 season use without insulation, I would consider if you're the type of person who would be happy to make a fire many evenings, or are willing to get creative like burying coals in the morning, or want something that would be capable of being turned WAY DOWN during the day, like a good cat stove. It's kinda, hassle and firecraft, vs. turn the knob.
Again, it's probably me, but I would want a very small stove that could be tamed in 570sq/ft as opposed to a large one. I think it's harder running a large stove easy, most of the time, than it is to run a small stove hard when it's really cold.
Last thought - I wouldn't worry about efficiency differences much. Consider how much wood you plan to burn in 3 seasons. What is a 5-10% of that? Or even 25%? Unless I planned on going through a lot of wood, or thought a good cat stove was a must have because of a desire to load it and just turn the knob up and down, I'd find a small stove I liked and run with it. If it was cheap on Craigslist, so much the better!
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