Tiny wood stove

A tiny house in the woods calls for a tiny stove. But oh … which one?

The first decision one faces is between wood and natural gas (or propane, I suppose). Wood, of course, much more romantic. Gas, far more practical.

At first I was leaning toward this Hampton gas stove. It has low clearances, so we could fit it tight up against the wall (important when you’re working with ~375 square feet). And most importantly, it can be run off a thermostat as a secondary or perhaps even primary heat source. Currently we have only electric baseboard heat, so a back up heat source would a nice security blanket. On the other hand, we don’t have a gas line to the house currently. The neighborhood has gas service, but we’d have to have a line extended to the house. Not only would that be a pain, but it would also generate monthly gas bills twelve months a year.

Wood, on the other hand. Way more fun, but really impractical. Based on everything I’ve read, anything but the tiniest wood stove will quickly overheat such a small space. And with a small fire box, the flames will last for only a few hours at most. Definitely not a realistic alternative heating source. And finding tiny logs to burn in a tiny stove in a tiny house … likely not the easist thing, either.

I was all set to go with gas, until … I visited our neighbors Mary and Jim. They had a wood fire going when I stopped by and … the smell of the fire. So great, so perfect. Sorry, gas.

So now, which wood stove? If you want a small wood stove with a window, you don’t have a lot of options. In the end we decided to go with the Morso 1440 Squirrel. Morso also makes the seemingly more popular 1410 radiant wood stove.The 1440 is a convection model, which allows for tighter clearances, again preserving precious floor space. Most important of all …. IT HAS A SQUIRREL ON IT. Look at that squirrel! Just adorable

Many thanks to Matt at All Seasons Fireplace in Benton Harbor for the great installation job. I’m still a bit nervous because I hear dripping noises in the stove pipe, with all this rain we’ve been having. But Matt assures me that the noise is likely from rain hitting the stove pipe cap and echoing down the pipe. I’ll certainly keep an eye out for any water inside.

Here’s the stove!!!