Wood Stove Comparisons

Every comparison uses the manufacturer’s published spec sheet and manual.

• Drolet Escape 1500 vs Escape 1800
• SBI Firebox Families: Comparing Drolet and Osburn Spec Sheets
• Small Wood Stoves for Cabins and Small Homes

How we compare stoves

Every comparison puts the manufacturers’ published figures side by side, with the source and the date we checked it. We compare:

• Firebox: dimensions, overall volume and EPA loading volume.
• Output: the overall heat output range from certification testing, and the maximum output the maker lists separately.
• Efficiency: HHV and LHV, kept on the same basis.
• Burn time: the maker’s maximum, measured under test conditions.
• Emissions: particulate and CO, as published.
• Installation: clearances, flue size, chimney height, mobile-home and alcove approval.
• Status: current or discontinued, because that affects parts and support.

Where two sources disagree, for example a spec page and a manual, we report both and point you to the certification label on the stove.

Sister models

Drolet and Osburn are both brands of SBI (Stove Builder International), and some of their models publish identical firebox figures. The SBI firebox families article explains what that does and doesn’t mean, and the same-firebox finder shows which models we’ve covered share published figures. Matching numbers don’t make stoves interchangeable: install each only by its own manual.

Picking between two close models

1. Estimate your heat need with the stove sizing calculator.
2. Check that it sits inside each stove’s tested output range, ideally not at the very top.
3. Prefer the lower minimum output if your house is small or well insulated; prefer the larger firebox if you want fewer reloads.
4. Check that the clearances fit your room.
5. Then compare price, warranty and dealer support.

The Drolet Escape 1500 vs 1800 comparison walks through this with real figures, and small wood stoves applies it to cabins and small homes.

We don’t test stoves, and we don’t accept payment to change a comparison.

Check any spec yourself

You don’t have to take our table, or a retailer’s, on trust:

1. Certification. Look the exact model up in EPA’s Certified Wood Heater Database. It shows the certified particulate rate and, where reported, efficiency. Since May 15, 2020, new stoves must meet the Step 2 limit of 2.0 g/h when tested with crib wood, or 2.5 g/h under the optional cordwood test method (EPA).
2. The manual. Download the current installation manual from the maker’s own site and check the date or revision code. Retailers sometimes host older versions.
3. The label. The certification label on the stove is the final word on clearances for that unit.

Why published numbers differ

• Heat output. Makers often list a “maximum” output with dry cordwood alongside the narrower range measured in certification testing. Enerzone’s manual explains that its EPA-label output is lower because the test load is smaller than a full firebox of cordwood. Compare tested ranges with tested ranges.
• Efficiency. HHV figures include the energy used to evaporate water; LHV figures don’t, so LHV looks several points higher. Compare HHV with HHV.
• Heating area. Square-footage claims depend on climate and insulation, and makers don’t publish how they derive them. Treat them as rough.
• Firebox volume. Overall volume and EPA loading volume are different measurements. Use the same one for both stoves.

Emissions figures need a date

Emissions limits tightened on May 15, 2020, when EPA’s Step 2 limit (2.0 g/h with crib wood, 2.5 g/h with cordwood) replaced Step 1’s 4.5 g/h (EPA fact sheet). When we quote a particulate figure, we also say which manual or listing it came from. If a comparison you find elsewhere mixes figures from manuals from different years, it may be comparing a Step 1 test with a Step 2 test.

General information. For installation, follow your stove’s listed manual, NFPA 211 and your local code official, and consider an NFI-certified installer.