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Drolet Spark vs Tiny Wood Stove Dwark 5kw?

 
Posts: 18
Location: Palmer, Alaska
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Hello! I'm looking for a wood stove to heat a new tiny house/workshop. It's 200sq ft (avg 10' high ceilings) with R22 all around in increasingly-milder Southcentral Alaska. I don't need to maintain residential heat all the time; just enough to keep water-based materials from freezing and to warm up the space when I want to work.  My wish list would include: low price (less than US$1,000, preferably much less), efficient, some thermal mass, burns 16" firewood (the same as our Tulikivi takes in the main house), available in U.S, and isn't too oversized for the space. Options I have found include the Tiny Wood Stove Dwarf 5kw and the Drolet Spark. Does anyone have direct experience with either of these stoves? Are there other stoves I should be considering?

Thank you for your input!

 
pioneer
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Just saw this recently from Permies:  

 
pollinator
Posts: 920
Location: Central Ontario
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I had the drolet that was rated from 250 to 1100 sq ft. this was 15 years ago so the model names have changed. Efficiency and design looks the same though. Its an entry level but always worked great for me. You would want some mass around it though as with the small box it won't hold a fire overnight unless you are burning perfect hardwood. Probably not the case in Alaska. It always worked better with really dry wood for overnight as it did not have the extra box space and coal base to boil off the water like a big stove can.
The Dwarf looks interesting but it is not certified so if you have insurance forget it. It even has a disclaimer that it is not for residential installation... EPA certification is expensive. Probably works great.
David
 
Rocket Scientist
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Location: Upstate NY, zone 5
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Another option for a 200 square foot space would be the cyclone heater as built at Wheaton Labs. It heats a slightly smaller but barely insulated cabin in Montana, takes no more footprint than the smallest woodstove once you count clearances to combustibles, and would not be dangerous to brush against at any time. It also can be built for no more cost than a pile of bricks and a few stovepipe parts.

As a batch box rocket, it only burns for a short time, stores the heat, and releases it all night with no active fire or spark danger. It requires very dry wood, but any species will be fine, as the high-temperature complete combustion leaves no creosote at all.
 
Steve Turner
Posts: 18
Location: Palmer, Alaska
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Thank you all for your advice. I like the idea of building a small RMH, but with my long backlog of projects, it probably wouldn't get built until 2022! Yeah, bigger firebox plus EPA cert may tip scales to the Drolet.
 
David Baillie
pollinator
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Location: Central Ontario
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let us know the pageant winner. I'm interested in how it would perform in such a small space...
 
All the other guys liked the pretty girls, but I always like you, tiny ad
Heat your home with the twigs that naturally fall of the trees in your yard
http://woodheat.net
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