I found an article over on the Tiny House Blog about tiny heaters, exactly the kind that I need for my hut! I think one of the cute, tiny wood stoves would be perfect for my tiny hut…
Laptop and a Rifle
From Silicon Valley to Serenity Valley
Laptop and a Rifle 
Ryo,
Nice place, good job. You definitely have a small dwelling. I would definitely recommend an outside porch at least 6X8 to give you more covered (but open) space.
I read about your heater needs. For such a tiny space the candle heeters mentioned in the tinyhouse blog rock.
They do mention how to build them, here’s what I have done.
I have made 3 versions so far. The smallest uses votive candles for “power” and uses a metal tart burner stand (by Seville) I found at Michael’s Craft Store. That is topped by a 4″ pot, with 2 smaller inside, and the inner metal core is a 3″ bolt with washers and nuts to hold everything in place. It puts out a surprising amount of heat, any soot is caught underneath, (there usually isn’t any) and it catches every erg of heat and radiates it out. And it looks nice.
V2 uses an Orchid pot, usually a square or octagonal shape (orchid pots have the cutouts on the side) This version can use a 6″ pot for the outer one, it sits on top of the orchid pot. This version also uses a 4″ bolt inside it to catch and radiate the heat. You can use a larger candle here, b ut it can’t be too tall, as it needs room to breathe. You can also wire this one for electricity. I took apart a ceiling socket and glued the base to a small ceramic base. I have one running in my bathroom for a few weeks now with no problems, it just adds a nice glow and a gentle heat. Of course, power is required for this option.
V3 uses the largest orchid pot I could find, and an 8″ pot for the outer top pot. This also uses a 4″ bolt inside. What is different is I used a parrafin oil lamp inside it. I found the perfect oil lamp at Walmart, in the candle section. They also have lamp oil, but I would recommend buying as pure a lamp oil as you can find, as it smells LOTS better. With a very low flame it can really put out the heat, and a nice gentle glow as well. Having more thermal mass helps a lot. This might be a good option for you, since your place is so small.
You’d want to be careful of any fume buildup as well, in such a small place. In my much larger place (800 SF) it’s fine. I leave it running overnight, depending on the cat and the smoke detector to let me know of any problems. So far, none, except the darn thing can turn itself up when I first light it, leading to soot buildup underneath. At a low flame (1/2″ or less) I get no soot buildup and a very clean flame, even with the Walmart oil. I do not leave it running when I am not home, like I do the electric V2 or the candle V1.
A small stove would be great for you,, but it might be too much quickly, you might want to keep some bricks handy to heat on it to radiate heat after it is out.
Well, good luck in Serenity Valley. Man, I love it! I may have to get my own Serenity Valley one day. Gotta have someplace to go to escape the alliance forces…
Take care,
Lauren Neher
Thanks Lauren! Your candle/lamp heater idea sounds intriguing. I have an oil lamp right now, but capturing its heat makes a lot of sense. Though, ultimately I should invest in better insulation first, or I’ll just be wasting any heat I generate 😛
Keep visiting the tiny house blog! You do need more insulation, I would concentrate on the ceiling, thick curtains will help at night. I understand that you need cheep, light weight matirials, but you might want to research vapor barriers. Walls need to let moist air and other gases out and oxygen in. You may be setting up a situation in which resparation and cooking will create moist air that will get trapped in the walls and condence. Also in such a small space, the fumes from your lamps may be a health hazard. Use pure bee’s wax and the candle heaters made with the flower pots should be a good heat source, even the smallest wood stove will cook you out of that hut! a CO2 detectore would be a good idea too. Real Goods makes a perferated foil insulation, sold by the role, might help with the vapore issue and still be light.
Tar paper over that might work.
That’s a good point about moisture. I’m planning on opening up some vents once I figure out my heating and insulation problem. Otherwise I’d just be letting in a lot of cold air 😛 Someone else pointed out candle heaters too, so I’ll definitely be checking that out. As for fumes, yeah, I noticed things were getting a little sooty from my oil lamp. I did get a CO (not CO2) alarm, so that I can safely use gas stoves and such.
Ryo,
Better insulation does help. But the heat will help, it will just work better with better insulation. You are already using oil lamps, so if you put one or two to work for you it will make a difference in your interior temp…i suspect.
For the smallest Candle heater, I was using some 3″ candles, but it was too much. The heat was enough to melt the candle (you gotta use a candle holder cup) and the taller candle would burn to the side and soot up. The smaller votive candle will burn for hours (most of the night) much more cleanly and still put out a lot of heat. And I can get a 24 pack of those votive candles for about 5 bucks.
Using the taller candle also caused the glass cup to crack on my larger V2 heater. So, back to the votive candles.
As far as your windows go, go to Lowes and buy a shrink and seal window kit. Basically, it’s just a thin film of plastic that you put over the window, stick it on with double stick tape (provided). Then you use a heat gun otr a hair dryer to shrink fit it. I have done the single pane windows in my old house and it works GREAT. I also have 2 doors that are half glass (my front and back), single pane again, of course. For them I put the film on the inside and outside and it really cuts down the heat transference through the glass. They are also sheltered under porches so that helps because it’s SUPPOSED to be used inside, not out.
Take care (and be warm)
Lauren
Look up pocket rockets and rocket mass heater on Wikipedia
Thanks for the tips!
I wonder if something like the Kifaru stoves would work in your situation. They are designed to be used in tents. I’ve not tried them but I have friends that swear by them.
http://www.kifaru.net/stovspex.htm
Those stoves look nice. Might be good for my hut. I checked out your blog too; I look forward to reading more about Yonderosa 🙂
You might also consider one of the small wood burning stoves for boats like the Dickinson Newport.
http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/solid.html
there are also brass candle holders that are nice but much more expensive than iron candle holders -;`