If you’ve been looking at wood stoves for your tiny house, you may have noticed they’re pretty darn expensive. What’s worse? They’re not even well-rated. You would expect a stove that costs over $1,000 to have nothing but great reviews, but that’s not the case. We’ve looked at dozens of high-end, EPA-certified wood stoves that have lousy reviews.
Before you break the bank on an expensive yet mediocre wood stove, you should know there are at least two out there for less than $200 that are perfect for any tiny house or off-grid living situation. There’s also a cheap DIY option for those of you who like working with metal.
Wood Stoves You Can Buy for Your Tiny House or Cabin for $200 or Less
Alpine Camp Chef Heavy Duty Cylinder Tent Cabin Stove with Damper and Side Racks – Average Price: $199 to $219
While the Alpine Camp Chef is sometimes sold for more than $200, shop around a bit and you’ll easily find it for $199 or less. This stove has some really nice features, like a flat top for cooking, side racks, adjustable legs, a 10 ft chimney, and an optional hot water tank that attaches to the side – water tank costs extra. For only $200 that’s a pretty hard bargain to beat. It’s not just about cost savings, though; the Alpine Camp Chef has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon, and many customers praise it.
This stove is easily big enough to heat any tiny house, and could probably even heat some mid-sized cabins. The racks on the sides can also be used for drying clothes, which is a nice perk since most tiny houses don’t have drying machines in them due to their large size and high energy consumption.
Click here to check the price on Amazon.
HQ Issue Wood Stove – Average Price: $89 to $129
If you’re on a super-tight budget and you’re more concerned with cost than features, enter our runner up: The HQ Issue Outdoor Wood Stove – also being sold as the “Guide Gear Wood Stove.”
First things first, don’t let the name fool you. With some modifications to the smoke stack, this wood stove can definitely be used indoors, because many people have done it. Secondly, don’t overpay for this stove! These stoves sellout quickly and the price fluctuates wildly from one seller to the next. When these stoves are in limited supply, some sellers will jack up the price to ridiculous amounts, like $500. On the other hand, some customers have reported purchasing this stove for as low as $70, so make sure you shop around.
As for the stove itself, the HQ Issue Outdoor Wood Stove is rugged and durable. The body is made from heavy gauge steel and the door is solid cast iron. It has a flat top for cooking, adjustable air vents, and a 6.5 ft heavy duty chimney with smoke vent. Although it’s much smaller than the Alpine Camp Chef, it can still give off enough heat to keep your tiny house toasty.
If you can manage to find this stove for around $100, it’s a great deal.
Click here to check the price on Amazon
The DIY Alternative
Barrel Stove
If you prefer to do things yourself, you can easily make a wood stove out of a steel barrel and a barrel wood stove kit for less than $200. However, if you don’t already have a steel drum lying around, don’t expect to save much money since a new one can run you $50 to $150 plus the cost of the parts for the chimney and the legs. All in all, you’ll probably still end up spending around $200 – and your time – but you’ll have cool looking DIY stove.
A Word of Caution
In order for any of these wood stoves to be used indoors, you need to modify the chimney and ventilate through the wall or roof to the outside of the house. If this is something you don’t feel confident doing yourself, you should hire a professional to do it for you. Smoke inhalation is not only bad for your lungs, it can also be lethal. Many people who die in fires actually die from the smoke, not the flames. Please make sure you take the proper measures necessary to install these wood stoves correctly when using them indoors.