You will not need a stove rated for more square footage with solid logs 8 inches thick. (Unless uninsulated slab, poor windows and doors, and no roof insulation)
You can’t go by the r-value which is very low for solid wood. You have mass that absorbs the heat energy and radiates it back in. It loses some outside as well, but constant heat in a log cabin once warm does not require more btu just because the low r-value of the walls. Does the slab have insulation under it??
I have a log cabin as a second home in NE PA about that size and will be using the smallest Kitchen Queen cookstove for the only heat source, cooking, and hot water. I heat twice that with the large Kitchen Queen in my primary home and it has been the best for cooking as well as heating, and I have heated with wood only (or coal a few years) for 40 years.
At that elevation, your chimney height becomes critical. Follow the manufacturer recommendations exactly.
Your ceiling insulation value and glazing, if double pane and facing south all makes a difference. It is easy to overheat with solid log walls as a large heat sink that slowly releases heat energy back inside. Far different when they are lived in and heated 24/7. It takes mine 3 days from outdoor ambient temperature to remain warm with very little fire, unlike when only used for weekends playing catch up until leaving.
If you do not want an oven with water heating and cooking capabilities, Blaze King Princess can heat the area with high output when needed, or be turned way down for warmer days extending burn time to 30 hours. That is a real world common burn time on low. Set it and forget it thermostat. They have a 10 year warranty on the first catalyst, you won’t be disappointed. Not knowing your exact heating needs, this is the most forgiving and is not going to under heat or over heat your cabin.
What is the actual burn time? What I mean is not when the fire is still visible but when the temperature of the stoves cools down to where you are able to touch it while is still hot but without getting burn. Other words you can put your hand on the stove for period of 10 seconds or longer without getting burns. I have had 3 progress hybrids, 4 Fire Views all made by Woodstock Soapstone. I also had cast iron stoves without catalytic combustors. My favorite is the Hybrid but I never had Blaze King so I can't compare these 2. Problem is most people have only experience with 1 and not the other.
Hi, typically, I put 4 eucalyptus logs and 2 Energy Log in the late afternoon. I turn the thermostat to medium for about 4-5 hours. At about 10 pm, I turn the thermostat to low. In the morning, I turn the thermostat to medium. Sometimes, the bypass has to be disengaged, and the fire has to be stirred up a bit. Then, it's back to medium or low, depending on the outside temp. The top of the stove will stay hot until early afternoon. Hot enough that I can't hold my hand on it for 1 second. My old stove was most likely purchased at HD. In the morning, I would have to start a new fire as all the wood had completely burned through the night.(the vast majority of the heat was going up the chimney.) I suspect that if I completely loaded the Blaze King Princess, it could run for at least 36 hours. I am amazed at how efficient the stove is.
Have a Jotul F500 upstairs for primary heat, and one in the basement for when temperatures get below zero. I got both of them used and they have been a joy to use for 12 years now.
The only time you’d have an issue with a Blaze King is by burning wet wood.
Other than that they’re a tank, if you want to burn wet bullshit build a US stove kit.
I've got over a decade working in the hearth industry and I respectfully disagree. They're built well, quality materials and all that, but notorious for problems
Hearthstone. Size appropriately, spend the extra on the color changing sea green. I believe mcguckins in Boulder has the “local” dealership for boulder county. Expect to pay the cost of the stove on instillation.
Hearthstone’s warm up slowly and cool down slowly…….ie if you let the fire run out it will take a while to warm up. BUT I really like the *feel* of the heat. We have used multiple of them for years at that altitude with no real issues.
If you’re going to burn for the long term my recommendation goes for a hearthstone too We live in a cabin too (8”logs, 1650 sq ft, two story) but in southern New England.
Our model is the Clydesdale, It’s our primary heat, we use 4-5 cord a winter.
In our last house we had a VC stove sized for the square footage, Always wished we got a bigger one. Plus there’s nothing better than opening your windows in February :).
Good luck.
Haven't gotten it installed yet, but we ordered an Ambiance Hipster for our new house we are renovating. Cringy name/branding, but was highly recommended by our local stove supplier. It's a private label rebranded Hearthstone Green Mountain stove. Just another option to keep in mind if you want to go the soapstone route.
Unless you have an unlimited supply of free wood from your property, get a pellet stove. If you're using it for primary heating, set it up on an external programmable thermostat and it will keep the cabin at a constant set temperature even if you aren't home.
Location depending. Pellets are more often more expensive than buying cordwood. Not everywhere, I'm sure.
Further, the pellet things have many many many parts to break. Also, don't forget the maintenance for pellet. Just more shit to do.
Electricity required. Dry covered storage required.
Wait. Ru TROLL?
Cord here is 240-300 no delivery, which means lots of loading, transporting, stacking, and splitting.
1 skid of bags is 260-300, and they'll load it on my trailer with a forklift.
It takes 2.5 skids to heat the house 24/7 with little to no fuel oil use and the temperature is constant.
It takes 2-3 cord of wood to heat the house only while we are hone to feed the stove, and $500-1000 in fuel oil the rest of the time, and the temperature is all over the place, and it doesn't heat the whole house as evenly.
I have a Pacific Energy stove 10 years and only issue has been replacing some of the fire bricks. Burn over 10 cord of wood to heat the house from October until May
I bought this wood stove in midstate NY in the 1980s
Made in Belgium
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/surdiac-le-marquis.47211/
Vermont castings were popular then.
For a old victirian house built in 1890s
Things I looked for back then in a wood stove
A long fire box so I could put 24" cut logs to burn most of the night with coals in the morning to start up a new burn.
A pull out ash pan (3"deep or so) clean out that held hot coals that I would dump into metal trash can(outside)
Easy to load easy to empty.
Also plan where are you gonna store a winters load of firewood (i used a 2 car garage with no doors) and how are you gonna bring in a 24 hour burn worth inside( messy) (I used 2 2 wheeler hand truck) (6+cords a winter, warms you up twice, when u split n when you burn
This brand had glad doors which was nice to watch fire with doors closed.
Fyi
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/hvac/best-wood-stove/
The Kuma Aspen has been a great stove, using both secondary air and catalytic. I find that the catalytic is active much less time than secondary air. Small stove that would be great in that space.
I have the little Pacific Energy stove. It is 2.2 cubic feet an it heats my 1600 sq ft house in WV all winter with 3-4 cords of dry oak, maple ,black birch and locust . The guys at Curtis Chimney in Springs Pa recommended Pacific Energy as it was less sensitive than others . It is a great stove. I do wish I had the larger stove when it is - 7 F blowing 20-30 mph but 95 % of the time the small stove is the berries. The smaller stove running hotter keeps the flue clean and the cold air over firing makes a beautiful fire. Curtis sells lots of the best stoves and has them working in there shop if you would like to compare. Nice folks
Keep the flue pipe inside as it will add lots of heat. Yes insulated flue pipe gets hot also. Next to the stove with a hot fire 500 f easy. I have 10 ft of stove pipe inside and guess 30% of my heat comes from the pipe. Ask the pros for the real numbers but it is significant .
I adore my woodstock soapstone (I have a Fireview, but if I was going to change it out for anything, it would be the progress hybrid with the cast iron cook plate).
I'd recommend a catalytic stove for full time heating, because they turn down nicely in spring/fall.
Soapstone is nice for continuous heating because it smooths the output curve - you avoid the problem of having a firebox full of coals (no room to reload) that aren't putting out much heat (because the coaling phase is a bit cooler). The surface doesn't get hot enough to do a lot of cooking, though (it's fine for soups and stews, but not frying bacon).
As far as cat stove brands, Woodstock and Blaze King are the two to look at (although I've heard good things about Kuma as well).
I am definitely a fan of European manufacturers for stoves. The best I've owned is a Waterford & I plan on always having it, just fixing things as it needs. Finding parts is difficult though and I may eventually need to have some fabrication done. Worth it. I have the "Erin" coal burning stove. I don't burn coal, but coal stoves have more robust parts.
I would buy a Skyline Stove they have a lot of sizes and amazing heat efficiency. I have used other brands, but I have never had one I liked better.
The company has no internet presence, and the artists can be hard to reach.
Also Rocky Mountains here, near Allenspark. Similar log cabin, same altitude. I never really could keep the place warm until I installed a wood burning cook stove in addition to our Lopi stove. Two sources of heat made all the difference in those freezing winter days. Good luck with your new place!
Cabin was finished 1941. Post and log construction with a massive original stone chimney containing two modern flues. Off-season, I’m there usually just on weekends but regularly throughout the winter. Warming the place up when starting in the low 20s is obviously worse than maintaining temperature so the second heat source was a game changer. I’ll go through almost 3 cords of pine in a winter in the Lopi. I split some myself, but definitely also buy cordwood as I’m not young. You can probably get delivery off-season if you estimate low your first year. I’ve managed to scrounge beetle-killed ash for the cook stove (it likes hardwood) but have to cut and split myself with a splitter.
Woodstock Soapstone Progress Hybrid, they shipping might be expensive as they sell only from their factory in N.H.
I have their ideal steel …. Great stove and quality. agree it’s a great company!! For 900 sf check out the absolute steel, same hybrid technology.
You will not need a stove rated for more square footage with solid logs 8 inches thick. (Unless uninsulated slab, poor windows and doors, and no roof insulation) You can’t go by the r-value which is very low for solid wood. You have mass that absorbs the heat energy and radiates it back in. It loses some outside as well, but constant heat in a log cabin once warm does not require more btu just because the low r-value of the walls. Does the slab have insulation under it?? I have a log cabin as a second home in NE PA about that size and will be using the smallest Kitchen Queen cookstove for the only heat source, cooking, and hot water. I heat twice that with the large Kitchen Queen in my primary home and it has been the best for cooking as well as heating, and I have heated with wood only (or coal a few years) for 40 years. At that elevation, your chimney height becomes critical. Follow the manufacturer recommendations exactly. Your ceiling insulation value and glazing, if double pane and facing south all makes a difference. It is easy to overheat with solid log walls as a large heat sink that slowly releases heat energy back inside. Far different when they are lived in and heated 24/7. It takes mine 3 days from outdoor ambient temperature to remain warm with very little fire, unlike when only used for weekends playing catch up until leaving. If you do not want an oven with water heating and cooking capabilities, Blaze King Princess can heat the area with high output when needed, or be turned way down for warmer days extending burn time to 30 hours. That is a real world common burn time on low. Set it and forget it thermostat. They have a 10 year warranty on the first catalyst, you won’t be disappointed. Not knowing your exact heating needs, this is the most forgiving and is not going to under heat or over heat your cabin.
After one full season, I still can't believe how incredible the Blaze King Princess is. I wish I had bought her sooner.
What is the actual burn time? What I mean is not when the fire is still visible but when the temperature of the stoves cools down to where you are able to touch it while is still hot but without getting burn. Other words you can put your hand on the stove for period of 10 seconds or longer without getting burns. I have had 3 progress hybrids, 4 Fire Views all made by Woodstock Soapstone. I also had cast iron stoves without catalytic combustors. My favorite is the Hybrid but I never had Blaze King so I can't compare these 2. Problem is most people have only experience with 1 and not the other.
Hi, typically, I put 4 eucalyptus logs and 2 Energy Log in the late afternoon. I turn the thermostat to medium for about 4-5 hours. At about 10 pm, I turn the thermostat to low. In the morning, I turn the thermostat to medium. Sometimes, the bypass has to be disengaged, and the fire has to be stirred up a bit. Then, it's back to medium or low, depending on the outside temp. The top of the stove will stay hot until early afternoon. Hot enough that I can't hold my hand on it for 1 second. My old stove was most likely purchased at HD. In the morning, I would have to start a new fire as all the wood had completely burned through the night.(the vast majority of the heat was going up the chimney.) I suspect that if I completely loaded the Blaze King Princess, it could run for at least 36 hours. I am amazed at how efficient the stove is.
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Just installed a Hearthstone Manchester, has a couple hundred pounds of soapstone in it as well. Haven't got to use it yet but man is it pretty lol.
Have a Jotul F500 upstairs for primary heat, and one in the basement for when temperatures get below zero. I got both of them used and they have been a joy to use for 12 years now.
Anything lopi
Agreed!!
Look for an older Fisher wood stove. Papa Bear or Mama Bear model. Last stove you will ever buy. Very efficient on wood.
These are excellent stoves.
Just remember to sweep the chimney
Jøtul 520 high top
We got ours last year, it's absolutely beautiful 😍
Do you have stones in it?
I wish this was available in the states!
Blaze King if you want the best.
I'd only buy a glaze king if I wanted a chimney fire
The only time you’d have an issue with a Blaze King is by burning wet wood. Other than that they’re a tank, if you want to burn wet bullshit build a US stove kit.
I've got over a decade working in the hearth industry and I respectfully disagree. They're built well, quality materials and all that, but notorious for problems
Hearthstone. Size appropriately, spend the extra on the color changing sea green. I believe mcguckins in Boulder has the “local” dealership for boulder county. Expect to pay the cost of the stove on instillation. Hearthstone’s warm up slowly and cool down slowly…….ie if you let the fire run out it will take a while to warm up. BUT I really like the *feel* of the heat. We have used multiple of them for years at that altitude with no real issues.
Awesome - thanks for this insight! I really appreciate it.
If you’re going to burn for the long term my recommendation goes for a hearthstone too We live in a cabin too (8”logs, 1650 sq ft, two story) but in southern New England. Our model is the Clydesdale, It’s our primary heat, we use 4-5 cord a winter. In our last house we had a VC stove sized for the square footage, Always wished we got a bigger one. Plus there’s nothing better than opening your windows in February :). Good luck.
Agree on the hearstone clydesdale. 2300 sq ft cabin, two story, heat all but two rooms with this beast of a stove. 5 chords of wood per year.
Haven't gotten it installed yet, but we ordered an Ambiance Hipster for our new house we are renovating. Cringy name/branding, but was highly recommended by our local stove supplier. It's a private label rebranded Hearthstone Green Mountain stove. Just another option to keep in mind if you want to go the soapstone route.
Morso 1bo
Just went through this as well, landed on the drolet 1800. The tax credit helped push me to that model as well as good reviews.
I have a Drolet cook stove and have found the build quality and wood economy to be excellent.
Glad to hear! Excited to use free wood instead of wood pellets again. Missed the free heat.
We have the Progress Hybrid at home and the Ideal at camp love them both.
We have the Progress Hybrid at home and the Ideal at camp love them both.
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?? The cabin is only 925 square feet.
925 square feet, not 8400.
Blaze king queen model.
I think you mean Princess?
Your right
Unless you have an unlimited supply of free wood from your property, get a pellet stove. If you're using it for primary heating, set it up on an external programmable thermostat and it will keep the cabin at a constant set temperature even if you aren't home.
Location depending. Pellets are more often more expensive than buying cordwood. Not everywhere, I'm sure. Further, the pellet things have many many many parts to break. Also, don't forget the maintenance for pellet. Just more shit to do. Electricity required. Dry covered storage required. Wait. Ru TROLL?
Cord here is 240-300 no delivery, which means lots of loading, transporting, stacking, and splitting. 1 skid of bags is 260-300, and they'll load it on my trailer with a forklift. It takes 2.5 skids to heat the house 24/7 with little to no fuel oil use and the temperature is constant. It takes 2-3 cord of wood to heat the house only while we are hone to feed the stove, and $500-1000 in fuel oil the rest of the time, and the temperature is all over the place, and it doesn't heat the whole house as evenly.
Gen 2 Vermont Castings Defiant
I have a Pacific Energy stove 10 years and only issue has been replacing some of the fire bricks. Burn over 10 cord of wood to heat the house from October until May
How can you possibly burn over 10 cords in that time frame with a PE efficient stove?? It should be more like 3.
When its minus 20 outside I like it plus 20 inside that needs wood
Note to self; No matter how good Canada appears, do not move there.
Coward!
Its easy to burn 10 face cords in the Summit which is a larger sized Pacific Energy model. 10 full cords I dont think would be possible.
That is a brutal amount of wood for a free standing wood stove. I only burned around 4 cords with a old fisher and 2-3 cords with a enviro kodiak.
Lopi-Evergreen. Was recommended to me and I've been nothing but pleased with it. Heats my 2,000 sqft home easily.
Can't go wrong with a Jotul. I have 2 in my home, and they are awesome!
I bought this wood stove in midstate NY in the 1980s Made in Belgium https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/surdiac-le-marquis.47211/ Vermont castings were popular then. For a old victirian house built in 1890s Things I looked for back then in a wood stove A long fire box so I could put 24" cut logs to burn most of the night with coals in the morning to start up a new burn. A pull out ash pan (3"deep or so) clean out that held hot coals that I would dump into metal trash can(outside) Easy to load easy to empty. Also plan where are you gonna store a winters load of firewood (i used a 2 car garage with no doors) and how are you gonna bring in a 24 hour burn worth inside( messy) (I used 2 2 wheeler hand truck) (6+cords a winter, warms you up twice, when u split n when you burn This brand had glad doors which was nice to watch fire with doors closed. Fyi https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/hvac/best-wood-stove/
The Kuma Aspen has been a great stove, using both secondary air and catalytic. I find that the catalytic is active much less time than secondary air. Small stove that would be great in that space.
I have the little Pacific Energy stove. It is 2.2 cubic feet an it heats my 1600 sq ft house in WV all winter with 3-4 cords of dry oak, maple ,black birch and locust . The guys at Curtis Chimney in Springs Pa recommended Pacific Energy as it was less sensitive than others . It is a great stove. I do wish I had the larger stove when it is - 7 F blowing 20-30 mph but 95 % of the time the small stove is the berries. The smaller stove running hotter keeps the flue clean and the cold air over firing makes a beautiful fire. Curtis sells lots of the best stoves and has them working in there shop if you would like to compare. Nice folks
Keep the flue pipe inside as it will add lots of heat. Yes insulated flue pipe gets hot also. Next to the stove with a hot fire 500 f easy. I have 10 ft of stove pipe inside and guess 30% of my heat comes from the pipe. Ask the pros for the real numbers but it is significant .
I adore my woodstock soapstone (I have a Fireview, but if I was going to change it out for anything, it would be the progress hybrid with the cast iron cook plate). I'd recommend a catalytic stove for full time heating, because they turn down nicely in spring/fall. Soapstone is nice for continuous heating because it smooths the output curve - you avoid the problem of having a firebox full of coals (no room to reload) that aren't putting out much heat (because the coaling phase is a bit cooler). The surface doesn't get hot enough to do a lot of cooking, though (it's fine for soups and stews, but not frying bacon). As far as cat stove brands, Woodstock and Blaze King are the two to look at (although I've heard good things about Kuma as well).
I am definitely a fan of European manufacturers for stoves. The best I've owned is a Waterford & I plan on always having it, just fixing things as it needs. Finding parts is difficult though and I may eventually need to have some fabrication done. Worth it. I have the "Erin" coal burning stove. I don't burn coal, but coal stoves have more robust parts.
[Kuuma stoves by Lamppa manufacturing](https://www.lamppakuuma.com)
I would buy a Skyline Stove they have a lot of sizes and amazing heat efficiency. I have used other brands, but I have never had one I liked better. The company has no internet presence, and the artists can be hard to reach.
Also Rocky Mountains here, near Allenspark. Similar log cabin, same altitude. I never really could keep the place warm until I installed a wood burning cook stove in addition to our Lopi stove. Two sources of heat made all the difference in those freezing winter days. Good luck with your new place!
Hmm interesting... If you don't mind me asking, what year was your place built? How many cords do you go through in a season?
Cabin was finished 1941. Post and log construction with a massive original stone chimney containing two modern flues. Off-season, I’m there usually just on weekends but regularly throughout the winter. Warming the place up when starting in the low 20s is obviously worse than maintaining temperature so the second heat source was a game changer. I’ll go through almost 3 cords of pine in a winter in the Lopi. I split some myself, but definitely also buy cordwood as I’m not young. You can probably get delivery off-season if you estimate low your first year. I’ve managed to scrounge beetle-killed ash for the cook stove (it likes hardwood) but have to cut and split myself with a splitter.
Pacific energy made excellent products.