US Stove US1100E-BL wood stove review

68,000 BTU and a 1.3 cubic foot firebox, plus the chimney bill and the inspection nobody mentions.

Specifications

Specifications above come from US Stove's published product information. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

• It works when nothing else does. No grid, no fuel delivery, no engine, no battery, and no carbon monoxide risk when it is correctly installed and vented.
• 68,000 BTU from a 1.3 cubic foot firebox is a serious output for the size, and secondary combustion means more of the wood's energy becomes heat rather than smoke.
• Firebrick lining and a cast iron door are the parts that decide how long a stove lasts, and both are here rather than being upgrades.
• Legs and a pedestal base are both in the box, so the stove fits the hearth you have rather than the hearth the manufacturer imagined.
• Air-washed ceramic glass keeps the view of the fire clear, which sounds cosmetic until you are trying to judge a burn without opening the door.

Where it falls short

• The blower needs electricity, which is exactly what you will not have. The stove still radiates heat without it, but the 100 CFM figure that distributes that heat around the room disappears in the outage you bought the stove for. Plan a small power station or a battery for the blower if even heat distribution matters to you.
• The chimney is not included and it is not cheap. A code-compliant 6-inch insulated chimney system, the connector, the hearth pad and the clearances frequently cost as much as the stove or more, and none of that appears on the product page.
• This is not a DIY installation. Clearances to combustibles, hearth protection, chimney height above the roofline and the flue connection are all code matters, and in most jurisdictions a wood stove installation needs a permit and an inspection, and your home insurer will want to see it. Get a certified installer.
• It arrives curbside. US Stove states plainly that the freight carrier delivers to the kerb or driveway with no indoor placement, and this is a very heavy cast iron object. Arrange help and an appliance dolly before the truck arrives.
• 68,000 BTU in a small, well-insulated room is too much stove. Oversizing forces you to run it choked down, which burns dirty, coats the chimney with creosote and creates a chimney fire risk. Size the stove to the space rather than buying the biggest one you can afford.
• The mobile home approval requires a separately sold fresh air intake kit, model 4FAK, which the listing notes and buyers routinely miss.

What owners report

Owner reports on this class of US Stove unit are consistent: it puts out serious heat for the money, the secondary burn works once you learn to run it, and the firebrick and cast iron feel like a stove rather than a heater. People heating a cabin or a single large room describe it as more than sufficient, which is another way of saying most buyers are running it below its rating.

The recurring complaints are about everything except the stove. Freight delivery and getting a very heavy item from the driveway into the house is the most common frustration. The second is chimney cost, which repeatedly turns out to be a larger number than people budgeted. The third is the learning curve: owners new to wood consistently report smoky starts, glass sooting and disappointing burn times until they sort out dry, seasoned wood and air control. Dry wood is the single variable that separates a satisfying stove from a frustrating one.

Our sleeping bag versus blankets comparison covers the cheaper end of staying warm without power, if a stove is a bigger commitment than you want.

Who it suits

• Rural homes and cabins with access to firewood and space to season it.
• Anyone whose winter outages are long enough that heat, not lighting, is the real emergency.
• Households that want a heat source with no dependence on fuel deliveries or the grid.
• Owners with an existing chimney that a certified installer can bring up to code.

Who should skip it

• Anyone without somewhere to build a code-compliant chimney, including most apartments and many townhouses.
• Households with no room to store and season two or three cords of wood.
• People who want heat without physical work, since a wood stove is loading, ash removal and chimney sweeping every season.
• Small, tightly insulated spaces where 68,000 BTU would force chronic low-and-slow burning and creosote build-up.

Alternatives worth considering

Common questions

Can I install a wood stove myself?

You should not. Clearance to combustibles, hearth protection, chimney sizing and the height of the flue above the roofline are all code requirements, and getting them wrong causes house fires and carbon monoxide poisoning rather than merely poor performance. Most jurisdictions require a permit and an inspection, and many home insurers will ask for proof of a certified installation. Use a certified installer and follow your local building department, every time.

Will the wood stove heat my house without power?

The stove itself does not need electricity, which is the whole point. The 100 CFM blower does, so without power you get radiant and convective heat from the stove body rather than forced distribution. In practice that heats the room the stove is in very well and adjacent rooms poorly. If you want the blower running through an outage, a modest power station will run a 100 CFM fan for a long time. Work out how long with the lighting and small-load runtime calculator.

How much firewood will I need for a winter?

It depends on your climate, your insulation and how hard you run the stove, but for most households the answer is measured in cords rather than in armfuls, and it must be seasoned. Green wood is the single most common reason a stove disappoints its owner. Work out your actual requirement with the firewood cord calculator, and compare species with the firewood BTU calculator, because a cord of oak and a cord of pine are not the same purchase.

Is a 1,200 square foot stove right for my room?

Probably only if your space is genuinely near that size and not especially well insulated. Oversizing a wood stove is a real problem: you end up damping it down to avoid cooking yourself, which burns cool and dirty and builds creosote in the chimney, which is how chimney fires start. Size it properly with the wood stove size calculator before you buy, and buy smaller rather than larger if you are between sizes.

Is a wood stove safer than a propane heater indoors?

A correctly installed and vented wood stove sends its combustion products up a chimney, which is what makes it acceptable indoors. A propane heater sold for indoor use must be run exactly as the manufacturer instructs, with the ventilation and clearances they specify. What is never acceptable is bringing anything designed for outdoor use inside: no camp stove, no charcoal, no patio heater, no generator. Working carbon monoxide alarms belong on every level of the house regardless of which heat source you choose. Our propane versus butane stove comparison covers the cooking side of the same rule.

Keep reading

• Wood stove size calculator
• Firewood cord calculator
• Heating fuel calculator
• Sleeping bag vs blankets
• Winter power outage survival guide

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.