Tiny House Blog

by Case Turner

A while back I wrote to you about the Stovetec stove. I purchased one of the two door models and thought you might like to include a brief write up on its performance. Granted, this is an outdoor stove, but it works great for cooking and would be a fantastic alternative for those who don’t want to put a traditional kitchen into their small abode. This camp season it will be our number one cooker. In preparation for camping season we have been using it weekly in the backyard burning up every little stick we can scrounge up.

First, and foremost I would like to mention that I have no connection with this company. Admittedly. I do have a fetish for outdoor cooking equipment. I peruse garage sale, surplus stores, thrift shops looking for outdoor stoves and cooking gear. I have been lusting over the Stovetec stoves for a while. At our annual sportsman show this spring, Stovetec had a booth and I couldn’t resist. I purchased the two door model and headed straight home. I hurriedly unpacked my new toy and immediately scrounged up every limb, stick, and a pile of pine needles I could get my hands on. I grabbed the tea kettle from the camper and 10 or so sticks later I had boiling water. I spent the next several hours in the backyard burning sticks and boiling water. At the end of the session I dampened everything down and simmered water for a good half hour!

The wood that I have been primarily burning is lodge pole pine. I split these from our wood pile. The sticks end up being about 1 in x 1 in x 18 inches . Lodge pole burns good and hot, but a bit fast. If one was to use hardwood you would have a better fire for simmering. The sides and the bottom of the stove do get warm, so be careful. After a hour or two of burning they are not, however, excessively hot to the touch. As you can see in the pictures I have my stove set on OSB. I wouldn’t advise this setup, just because embers and such could jump out create a fire hazard. Aside from that I would have no problem setting this on a stump or picnic table and using it. I have since replaced the OSB with Metal. This stove is not a good candidate as a heat source. Obviously the open chimney wouldn’t work in a confined space. It also holds its heat and doesn’t like to give any of it away. Continue Reading »

I am excited to introduce to you Roger Lehet and his new Made in America Kimberly Stove. I have been communicating with Roger since back in July when he contacted me about his soon to be manufactured stove. Though initially designed for boats, he felt it would work great in small and tiny homes. Roger’s design really intrigued me and I was impressed with the extreme efficiency of this unit. Roger has asked me to become a distributor of this stove, and future variations, to the Tiny House community. I am excited to take part.

This multi-fueled wood burning cook stove was originally designed for cooking and heating in small spaces. Spaces such as boats, cabins, yurts, RV’s, and ice shanties. This extremely efficient cook stove boasts performance levels much greater then EPA certified wood stoves available for residential use. It’s compact design, measuring 30 in. tall and 10 in. diameter allows it to be installed and used efficiently as well as cleanly on an averaged sized boat (30 ft). This unit can also be used to heat up to 1500 sq ft of living space.

It’s flexibility in fuels allows the owner/operator to regulate it’s heat production for different operating modes. In cold weather a 5lb extruded pressed log performs the best. It gives you an 8-10hr burn time with the cook top temperature exceeding 1150 degrees Fahrenheit. For Spring into Summer weather use, 1lb of standard charcoal a day will run the stove at a lower temperature range with an even cook top temperature. Pellets and gases/oils are also optional fuel choices.

This stove is completely portable including its venting system, weighing about 65lbs. This unit would be easily deployed during disaster relief efforts. Where this stove differs from rocket stoves would be our patent pending secondary combustion system. In this area the stove gasses from the primary fire are funneled through our all fuel combustor pack. During this process temperatures up to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit completely incinerate soot and smoke before either hit the chimney. Due to these efficiencies our stove burns far less fuel then any rocket or primary burn stove. Although our stove as well as the rocket stove produces clean burns, our stove stands apart when it comes to consumption of that fuel.

Brill Metal Works is an amazing state-of-the-art computer-controlled metal fabricating company http://www.brillmetalworks.com/  and their artisans do a fabulous job of building this stainless-steel Kimberly Stove.

Some things to consider about the Kimbely Stove:

• Latest Technology
• Durable
• Eco friendly
• Convenient
• Low installation cost (around $250)
• Easy installation
• Made In America
• Time saving
• Return of investment (heat for years to come)
• Attractive
• Warranty (the best)
• All stainless steel (cool to the touch)
• Multi fuel (wood, coal, etc.)
• Safe
• Pride of ownership
• Green construction
• Nice ambiance with windowed door
• Dry heat
• No smoke (stop smoking after 15 minutes)
• Cooking on stove top
• Baking (oven coming soon)
• Power production (coming soon)
• Hot water (coming soon)
• Security
• Perfect for off grid locations
• Sustainable
• Tested and retested
• no planed obsolescence

Here is a link to the Unforgettable Fire llc http://www.unforgettablefirellc.com/website with all the detailed information or call Roger at 206-850-2322. The attached photo is of Roger and his wife Bridget celebrating the arrival the K6 Stove. Mention Coupon Code THB25 and receive $25 off of shipping charges when you purchase the Kimberly Stove.

Download a Kimberly Stove brochure here: Kimb_Brochure2

One of the perks that comes with writing a blog is that occasionally I am approached to write a review about a product that a company feels would work in the tiny/small house world.

Recently, I received a big package in the mail with a NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner in it. It had been recommended to me for use in a small house. To be honest, I was surprised at the size of the box as it seemed huge. I opened it and found that it was double boxed for protection and was a little smaller than I first thought.

The NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner is a 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner with a built in heat pump. It produces serious air-conditioning for an area up to 525 square feet. Perfect for a small house. This particular unit also heats but I have not tested its ability in that area yet.

The unit has adjustable air louvers, allowing you to direct the air where you want it. It also has a remote control so you do not need to get up to make changes but can do it from where you are sitting. It also has a built-in ionizer that removes airborne pollutants, thus allowing you to breathe cleaner, healthier air.

It is built of high quality industrial design so should last well under normal use.

Here is my experience with the unit. It was well packaged and had all the components it said it should. It is not a small unit so it takes a little hefting to get it out of the box. It does have wheels so will roll around fairly easily once out of the box. Continue Reading »

Here is a new invention that may help Tiny Home owners achieve independence from propane or electricity for cooking their meals, The Natura Lite stove by Lodge-tech, it uses 100% vegetable oil.

It operates similar to a water cooler by keeping the fluid level the same, the yellow flame of the stove burns at a much slower rate and lower temperature than the blue flame of propane or other gases, so the saving are as much as 30-50% or more, even if it seems a gallon gas or pound of propane is less expensive.

It does not boil large amounts of water very quickly, but it is wonderful for cast iron skillets or small dutch ovens and fantastic for steaming any meal piping hot in 30-45 min.

It is very safe to operate and will usually will self extinguish if knocked over, the oil bottle has strong magnets at the base to keep it firmly in place, and storing the oil is vastly safer than propane or other fuels.

The stove is available at www.lodge-tech.net.  Lodge-tech also makes yurts, domes, greenhouses and a low cost earth toilet.

Case Turner an avid outdoors person, small camp boater, and Design associate for a Architecture firm is always looking for smaller more efficient products and ideas for everyday life! Case contacted me about these alternative cook stoves and I thought they might be useful in a small space.

StoveTec was created in the fall of 2008 as a not-just-for-profit entity to act as the technology transfer recipient for the Aprovecho Research Center. ARC has worked for 30 years to design and build improved cook stoves and has completed over 100 projects in 60 countries. ARC designed StoveTec stoves with cooks to assure that cooks all over the world would love the stove.

StoveTec Stoves use 40-50% less fuel and reduce emissions by 50-75% compared to cooking with an open fire or unimproved cook stove.

Each stove prevents 60%, or 1.5 tons, of green house gas emissions every year it is used.

You can purchase a Stovetec stove or donate stoves to a country in need by going here. More information on how they are used for humanitarian needs visit the Aprovecho website.

Matt came across this on youtube the other day. A type of rocket stove I think. It would be very cheap to make and operate.

A sawdust burning stove which burns smokeless, unattended for over 8 hours per charge. Perfect for a woodworking shop or other small space.

I did a little more research and found a great article on Mother Earth News on building sawdust stoves. Here is the link to the article.

Alice found this one. These are designed and made by Kisangani Smith Group in Tanzania. They have a sustainable forestry and teach youth blacksmithing skills.