Wood stoves: Safe, efficient heat for a small home · Alt Ordo Systems Guide
A wood stove is a closed steel or cast-iron firebox that burns wood slowly and cleanly, warms the room by radiation and moving air, and sends its smoke up a chimney built for the job. Off the grid it is the cheapest way to heat: a solar system big enough to run electric heaters would be "wildly expensive and impractical" (The Acorn Off-Grid Home (2023), §25). The stove is the easy part. Safety lives in three places: the clearances around it, the chimney above it, and the dryness of the wood you feed it.
This guide helps you size, choose, install and run a certified wood stove that heats a small off-grid home safely, feed it dry wood, and know which jobs belong to the inspector and the chimney sweep.
What's inside. 20 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Install it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.
Three builds, costed line by line (typical US prices, October 2026):
- Bare-bones: $1,580–$2,220
- Standard: $2,720–$3,580
- Comfortable: $6,180–$7,720
Sourced and fact-checked. Facts and figures are cited to the 27 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.
Pairs with other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Off-grid solar. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.
Instant PDF download. After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.