Wood stoves are one of the most affordable and attractive ways to heat a tiny home, off-grid dwelling, or traditional home.
They also provide a special kind of ambiance that only a crackling wood fire can give to a winter’s day.
What I hear a lot from people looking for wood stoves for their homes is how they important it is for them to pick out the most affordable and efficient models, but that they struggle to know which is the right option.
I dug into EPA regulations, personal experiences, and checked out some of the most popular and highly rated wood stoves available on the market to find the most efficient wood stoves out there for different size and style homes with the hopes of making your decision process as simple and easy as possible.
Reading this post will help you understand:
- What to look for in a wood stove, how stove efficiency affects performance, and ways to compare different stoves of the same heat output/size
- How to size a wood stove for your home, cabin, or tiny home
- In depth reviews on the most efficient wood stoves for different square footages
- Four key factors to consider when making your purchasing decision
If you’re looking for a quick comparison of the high points, check out my easy-to-skim guide below:
- Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces up to 200 Square Feet: Cub Cubic Mini Wood Stove
- Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces up to 500 Square Feet: The Dwarf 5kw Wood Stove
- Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces up to 1,000 Square Feet: Osborne 1100 Wood Stove
- Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces up to 1,500 Square Feet: Timberwolf 2200 Economizer Wood Stove
- Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces above 2,000 Square Feet: Drolet HT3000 Wood Stove
How I Picked the Efficient Wood Stoves on My List
The focus of my search here was for the most efficient and effective wood stoves on the market. Efficiency and emissions levels were my primary metric, but I also considered heat output, physical footprint, price, and incidentals like installation difficulty and ongoing maintenance.
My goal was to find the most efficient wood stove possible for a range of homes starting at 200 square foot tiny homes and going up to 2,000+ square foot off-grid cabins and traditional homes.
With that in mind, I started from a widely accepted climate zone map and based my recommendations for square footage on a home in a Zone 3 Climate. That requires about 40-45 BTUs (more on BTUs below) per square foot for comfortable heating.
Not sure about your home’s heating requirements? Use this easy calculator to get a good estimate on how many BTUs you’ll need.
Once I had a good baseline for the heat output needed I dug into the actual efficiency based on EPA tested and verified numbers. One important caveat is that the current standards changed very recently. As it stands, there aren’t a huge variety of stoves out there capable of meeting the stringent new standards.
This list is a little different than usual. The stoves aren’t ranked on best down, it shows the efficient stove I recommend for a specific square footage range.
All the models below either meet the current 2020 EPA New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) or are exempt as recreational wood stoves for smaller spaces.
#1 Most Efficient Wood Stove for up to 200 Square Feet: Cub Cubic Mini Wood Stove
- One of the smallest and lightest wood stoves available
- Narrow flue and very tight clearance requirements make it easy to use in tight spaces
- The best wood stove for heating sub-200 square foot spaces
- Built-in secondary combustion system improves efficiency and reduces emissions
The Cub Cubic Mini Wood Stove is about as small as a wood stove can get without being a camping stove. It measures just under 12” on each dimension and weighs a featherweight 25 lbs.
What sets it apart from more portable tent-stoves is its ability to be permanently, and safely, mounted. It can be attached to the wall or floor in a straightforward installation process and requires just a 3” diameter flue.
With a production of 6,000 to 14,000 BTU, the Cub Cubic Mini produces the perfect amount of heat for homes or rooms up to 200 square feet. With smaller fires, it’s great for warmer climates and when fully stoked it can keep you warm and toasty on a cold night.
There are a few things to keep in mind though. As a ‘recreational’ wood stove the Cubic Mini isn’t EPA certified. Because of that, we don’t have emissions data or efficiency stats but can say that it burns very cleanly and reduces fuel uses into very fine ash.
As a natural consequence of its tiny size, it loses some efficiency compared to larger stoves with more comprehensive combustion systems and catalytic units. It also requires very small pieces of wood to work. Think under 6″ long.
You’re definitely going to have to either cut your own wood to size or reshape purchased firewood to fit.
There are plenty of other useful features to help make up for this. Cubic offers a variety of flue kits and mounting systems for floor or wall mount positions. They make it easy to put your stove wherever you like in your cabin.
I thought long and hard about including the Cub Cubic Mini wood stove in my list of most efficient stoves. When it comes right down to it, though, there just aren’t very many high-quality wood stoves designed for truly tiny spaces like the Cub is. It’s by far the best stove on the market for spaces in the sub-200 square foot range.
Specifications:
- Size: 12″ H x 11″ W x 10.5″ D
- Weight: 25 lbs
- Flue Diameter: 3” or 5”
- BTUs: 6,000 to 14,000
- Accepted Wood Size: 5.75” long
- Efficiency: Not Tested
- EPA 2020 Certified: No
- Best For: Tiny homes, hunting/fishing cabins, small rooms, and other compact spaces
Pros
- One of the smallest and lightest wood stoves available
- Narrow flue and very tight clearance requirements make it easy to use in tight spaces
- The best wood stove for heating sub-200 square foot spaces
- Built-in secondary combustion system improves efficiency and reduces emissions
Cons
- Very small size requires you to carefully prep and shape firewood
#2 Most Efficient Wood Stove for Spaces up to 500 Square Feet: The Dwarf 5kW Wood Stov
- Range of available accessories really lets you make the Dwarf your own
- Design makes it easy to install and maintain
- Combustion system designed to keep the glass front clean and clear of soot
- Comes with a spring handle to protect your handles from the hot metal of the stove body
- Secondary combustion system helps improve overall efficiency and reduce emissions
The Dwarf 5kw Wood Stove is a highly adaptable heating unit perfectly sized to heat spaces up to 500 square feet. The Dwarf line also includes two other versions, the 3kw and 4kw, that provide slightly lower levels of heat output.
They’re all designed to be the perfect stoves for tiny spaces. The 5kw version produces up to 17,000 BTUs in a compact and easy to maintain package. It does this using a three-stage combustion system.
There’s the burn itself, using pieces of wood up to 12” long, that feeds into the secondary combustion system. This is made up of an airflow valve that lets you make manual adjustments to the intensity, heat output, and rate of combustion. It finishes off with a tertiary combustion system that helps keep the ceramic glass front viewport nice and clean, while also enhancing overall efficiency.
Where the Dwarf really stands out from its competition is in how customizable it is. It offers multiple leg heights, integral wood storage boxes, and a nifty oven that allows you to cook up some delicious baked goods using only your wood stove.
There are a few things to keep in mind. Like our other ‘tiny’ stove the Dwarf 5kw is rated as a recreational stove and isn’t EPA 2020 certified. For that same reason, I can’t give you hard and fast efficiency or emissions numbers.
Despite that, it’s still one of my most highly recommended wood stoves. It’s compact, made of high-quality materials, and offers one of the best and most versatile ways to heat spaces up to 500 square feet.
Specifications:
- Size: 22” H x 14” W x 11” D
- Weight: 150 lbs
- Flue Diameter: 5”
- BTUs: 5kW/ 17,000 BTU
- Accepted Wood Size: up to 12”
- Efficiency: Unknown
- EPA 2020 Certified: No
- Best For: Tiny homes, small cabins, medium to large rooms, or those looking for supplemental heating in a larger home
Pros
- Range of available accessories really lets you make the Dwarf your own
- Design makes it easy to install and maintain
- Combustion system designed to keep the glass front clean and clear of soot
- Comes with a spring handle to protect your handles from the hot metal of the stove body
- Secondary combustion system helps improve overall efficiency and reduce emissions
Cons
- Heavyweight construction makes it a lot heftier than competitors
- Added accessories increase the overall size and required space of the stove
#3 Most Efficient Wood Stove for up to 1,000 Square Feet: Osburn 1100 Wood Stove
- Significant heat output for its footprint and total size
- Fully EPA 2020 compliant for low total emissions
- 75% efficiency
- Massive amount of accessories and add-ons to choose from
- Air hood helps direct additional heat directly out to you and your family
The Osburn 1100 Wood Stove is an EPA 2020 certified wood heater capable of producing up to 35,000 BTUs when burning cordwood. It’s a freestanding model that can be mounted to either a pedestal or on attractive legs.
At 35,000 BTU of heat output, it straddles the line between the small-scale tiny house and cabin stoves and the larger whole home stoves on my list. It’s sized just right for homes or rooms up to 1,000 feet.
Despite that, it’s actually still quite compact. It measures only a few inches larger than the next smallest stove on my list yet is EPA 2020 certified. It does weigh substantially more though and requires a significantly taller minimum chimney length out the top.
It’s made from highly durable coated stainless steel with a ceramic glass window. The design incorporates a secondary combustion system that also helps direct airflow to keep the glass clear. It makes it both more efficient, up to 75%, and reduces upkeep.
One thing I really loved about the Osburn 1100 was the top-mounted air hood. It helps redirect heat directly in front of the stove to improve heating for you and your family.
Buying from Osburn has some other perks. They’re one of the biggest stove makers in the world and offer a vast array of accessories, add-ons, and improvements. You can get everything from an ash vacuum to customized flue, chimney, and mounting equipment for your stove.
When fully loaded it has a five-hour burn time. That’s pretty good for a stove of its size and heat output and enough to get you through most of the night.
The style, overall quality, and well-targeted heat output of the Osburn 1100 wood stove make it an excellent choice for folks with a home or room of 1,000 square feet.
Specifications:
- Size: 11.5″ H x 18.8″ W x12 ⅝” D
- Weight: 252 lbs
- Flue Diameter: 6”
- BTUs: 35,000 EPA Tested
- Accepted Wood Size: 17” long
- Efficiency: 75%
- EPA 2020 Certified: Yes
- Best For: Medium to large cabins, large rooms, mountain cabins, larger homes in warmer climates
Pros
- Significant heat output for its footprint and total size
- Fully EPA 2020 compliant for low total emissions
- 75% efficiency
- Massive amount of accessories and add-ons to choose from
- Air hood helps direct additional heat directly out to you and your family
Cons
- Quite heavy for its size and heat output
#4 Most Efficient Wood Stove for up to 1,500 Square Feet: Timberwolf 2200 Economizer Wood Stove
- Larger firebox can accept 18″ pieces of wood, much easier to find than smaller ones
- Ash pan upgrade makes it a lot easier to clean out your stove between fires
- Fully certified to EPA 2020 standards
- Capable of burning for up to eight hours continuously with a full firebox
- Very affordable for a stove this size and with this heat output
The Timberwolf 2200 Economizer is an EPA-certified mid-size stove designed for use in larger rooms and homes. It’s capable of producing 65,000 BTUs and offers a mix of add-ons, accessories, and customization features that make it one of the easiest stoves to use.
It’s made from high-strength steel with a traditional cast iron door that has a broad open viewing window. It allows you to really enjoy the sights and sounds of your fire and makes it a lot easier to feed in larger pieces of cordwood than some other stoves. It’s quite a bit larger than the previous stoves on my list, but that’s to be expected of a stove with this much heat output.
It offers up to an 86% efficiency rating, one of the best on my list, and is certified to meet the most up-to-date EPA 2020 standards.
There’s a slight break-in period for the Economizer, with the first half dozen or so fires helping to fully season the stove. Don’t be surprised if you see condensation on various parts or even if the stove seems to be burning fitfully at first. After it’s been seasoned it works beautifully.
When you add in extra features such as an optional pull-out ash pan you end up with a powerful, highly efficient, and easy to maintain stove great for heating medium-sized homes and cabins up to 1,500 square feet.
Specifications:
- Size: 31 3/8” H x 26” W x 24 ⅝” D
- Weight: 180 lbs
- Flue Diameter: 6”
- BTUs: 64,000
- Accepted Wood Size: up to 18”
- Efficiency: 86%
- EPA 2020 Certified: Yes
- Best For: Large rooms, bigger cabins, cold climates, and those who like a lot of heat or a big crackling fire
Pros
- Larger firebox can accept 18″ pieces of wood, much easier to find than smaller ones
- Ash pan upgrade makes it a lot easier to clean out your stove between fires
- Fully certified to EPA 2020 standards
- Capable of burning for up to eight hours continuously with a full firebox
- Very affordable for a stove this size and with this heat output
Cons
- The base unit is very basic, without the bells and whistles often found on stoves this size
- It’s big, it’s heavy, and it needs a substantial safety clearance on all sides, taking up a lot of space in your home
#5 Most Efficient Wood Stove for 2,000+ Square Feet: Drolet HT3000 Wood Stove
- Large 22” firebox allows you to burn full-size pieces of cordwood
- 110,000 BTU output lets you warm larger spaces in colder climates, excellent for mountain cabins or other cold-weather homes
- Pedestal design with removable ash drawer makes routine maintenance much easier
- Large capacity firebox gives you a ten-hour burn time when full
- Low emissions rate of 1.32 g/h allows it to meet stringent EPA Phase II 2020 emissions standards
The Drolet HT3000 is a large and powerful wood stove designed for very large rooms or full-size homes. It’s capable of producing up to 110,000 BTUs of heat output, plenty for areas up to 2,700 square feet under average conditions.
It incorporates the latest in wood stove technology, including a pedestal mount with an ash drawer, to maximize efficiency and minimize emissions. It’s EPA 2020 certified to produce just 1.32 g/h of emissions at a 77% efficiency rate, truly impressive given its significant heat output.
The HT3000 is made from heavy-duty 5/16” steel with a ceramic glass front. It can handle everyday use without issue and is a lot easier to clean than many cheaper stoves. Given its very affordable pricing, it’s an excellent option for large rooms or those looking to heat a whole house.
Its large firebox allows you to use full-size pieces of cordwood up to 22” long.
The power of the HT3000 isn’t without tradeoffs. For one thing, it’s quite heavy, weighing in at 520 lbs fully assembled. It also requires a larger 6” diameter flue and a significant safety zone for the sides and back.
All that said, the HT3000 is one of the best and most affordable options out there for those looking to heat larger spaces while still reducing their emissions and maximizing the efficiency of their stove.
Specifications:
- Size: 31.3” x 28.1” x 36.4”
- Weight: 520 lbs
- Flue Diameter: 6”
- BTUs: 110,000 BTU
- Accepted Wood Size: 22”
- Efficiency: 77%
- EPA 2020 Certified: Yes
- Best For: Full-size homes, large off-grid cabins, ski lodges, large open rooms
Pros
- Large 22” firebox allows you to burn full-size pieces of cordwood
- 110,000 BTU output lets you warm larger spaces in colder climates, excellent for mountain cabins or other cold-weather homes
- Pedestal design with removable ash drawer makes routine maintenance much easier
- Large capacity firebox gives you a ten-hour burn time when full
- Low emissions rate of 1.32 g/h allows it to meet stringent EPA Phase II 2020 emissions standards
Cons
- Too much stove for most off-grid homes
- Very heavy, requires special delivery arrangements, and can be difficult to install
Benefits of Efficient Wood Stoves
There are tons of wood stoves out there, with only some of them meeting the criteria I set as an efficient one. Efficiency in stoves determines both how well it uses fuel provided and how effectively it reduces emissions.
Simply put, less efficient stoves produce more soot and ash as unburned particles. They’re dirtier and not nearly as warm for the same footprint.
Choosing the most efficient wood stoves for your square footage allows you to both use less fuel and help the environment by releasing less emissions.
Efficient Wood Stove Buying Guide
Picking out the best and most efficient wood stove for your needs comes down to a few factors. Heat output and sizing are critical, but the overall efficiency, EPA certification status, and general factors like installation difficulty and physical space also should be considered.
Heat Output
The vast majority of stoves list their heat Output in British Thermal Units (BTUs). They start at around 4-5,000 BTUs for small stoves capable of heating single rooms/tiny homes and go up to above 100,000 BTUs for full home heaters.
Sizing a stove comes down to the physical space you have available and how much heat you need. For someone living in a Zone 3 climate near sea level a good rule of thumb is 40-45 BTUs per square foot.
If your home measures 400 square feet you’ll need between 16,000 and 18,000 BTUs to efficiently heat it.
That’s just a starting point or course. Many people choose to up the heat output of their stove so they have a little wiggle room for a colder than usual winter or just a desire for warmer temps.
I generally recommend you size your stove with 10-15% more BTUs than you think you’ll need. It’s easy to build a smaller fire inside, but once you hit your maximum heat output you don’t have other options.
Wood Stove Size, Weight, and Installation
In modern American homes, size is at a premium. This is especially true if you have a tiny house, off-grid cabin, or similar alternative living situation.
The dimensions of a wood stove, its weight, and the installation requirements are all important considerations because of this. Start with the required footprint of a stove.
This is both the physical body of the stove and the minimum buffer space between the back and sides of the stove and your home’s walls. All stoves require at least some buffer, though insulation and specialized design can greatly reduce it.
Weight can be a major factor for those in tiny homes but really comes down to the difficulty of installation for most. The biggest things to keep in mind for installation are the chimney options and required flue size.
Some stoves allow both top- or back-mounted chimneys while others only offer a single option. If you’re looking to route the chimney for your stove through a wall it significantly reduces your available options.
Flue size is the last thing to keep in mind. It refers to the diameter of the flue that leads into the chimney for your stove. Smaller stoves are generally between three and five inches, with larger stoves requiring larger flues.
Efficiency
As you might expect for an article about finding the most efficient stoves, efficiency was the primary point used for ranking. The vast majority of stoves on the market today offer at least 70% efficiency.
The very best hit above 80% with advanced design features such as secondary/tertiary combustion and catalytic combustors. These take the hot gases released from burning wood, with all their emissions, and put them through a second or even third round of combustion.
They improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
I looked for the most efficient stoves possible that met the sizing and heat output criteria for their category.
EPA Certification
All new wood stoves available for home use in the U.S.A. must meet the updated 2020 EPA NSPS standards. It states that any stove for residential use must produce no more than 2.5 grams of emissions per hour when burning cord wood.
That’s a significant decrease from the previous standard allowing up to 4.5 grams per hour.
One thing to keep in mind is that most tiny house and small off-grid stoves aren’t required to meet EPA standards. They’re marketed as “recreational” stoves and don’t need the EPA seal of approval.
The downside is that they produce more emissions pretty much across the board.
Final Thoughts
Modern wood stoves are more affordable, more powerful, and vastly more efficient than those of the past. Those that incorporate advanced catalytic and combustion systems can reduce emissions to vanishingly low levels and capture more of the available heat in your source of fuel.
I arranged this article to be as easy to follow as possible with specific stoves for specific square footages. Find the square footage you’re looking to heat and you’ll have the best and most efficient wood stove I recommend ready to go.
