Stûv 16-58 Cube

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 1,400–2,100 sq ft
• Efficiency: 66–71% (EPA)
• Viewing Area: 17⅝" to 25½" wide glass, by size.
• Maximum Log Size: Up to 17", 21", or 25", by size.
• Fuel: Wood.
• Controls: One factory-set air setting; there is no damper to adjust.
• Fan: None

Who It's For

You want the look of a fire without a fireplace, and you want it to feel like a piece of furniture rather than an appliance. Every stove you have seen has a handle, a damper lever, and a louvered grille somewhere on it. You need a wood stove with nothing on its face but glass. If that describes your room, the Stûv 16-cube is the one to look at; choose a conventional stove and you get the same heat with a lot more hardware showing.

What Makes It Special

There is no fan anywhere in a Stûv 16. Room air enters low, warms along the firebox, and leaves through a slot at the top on its own. That is why the stove is silent, why it keeps heating when the power is out, and why there is nothing to wear out or replace.

The air feed is set once at the factory and left alone. You start the fire and close the door; the stove manages the burn, and a sweep of air across the glass keeps it clear so you see flames, not soot. Air jets at the top of the firebox burn the smoke a second time, which is how it clears the strictest North American emission standards with 1.5 to 1.8 grams of particulate an hour.

The door has no handle. A removable key opens it, so the front is a clean steel face with glass and nothing else. When the door is open a moving deflector lets smoke go up the flue instead of into the room, and a spring closes the door if you let go of it. The cube sits straight on the floor with the same straight lines on every side, so it reads as a plain steel cube with a fire in it from anywhere in the room.

Possible Downsides

• No fan, so it warms the room it stands in. Heat reaches the next room by convection only.
• The door needs its key to open. There is no handle; keep the key by the stove.
• Two finishes only, StûvGrey and Black.

If you want a wood stove that disappears into a modern room, the Stûv 16-cube is the right decision. The fire is the only thing on the wall that anyone looks at.

The cube comes in three sizes and two finishes, StûvGrey or Black, with a podium set, a floor plate, mobile log racks, and an outside-air connector as add-ons.