Anyone else struggle to keep a small cabin warm without going through logs too fast?

Been wrestling with this one since I first got my cabin sorted a couple of winters back. The log situation was genuinely depressing — I'd stockpile what felt like a mountain of seasoned oak and birch, then watch it disappear by February like it was nothing.

What changed things for me was treating it less like a heating problem and more like a fabric problem. Once I properly addressed the gaps around my door frames and sorted some decent sheep's wool insulation under the floor, my little Morso squirrel stove suddenly felt like it had doubled in output overnight. Same logs, noticeably warmer.

I also run a small Victron setup with a couple of panels on the roof, which means I can run a basic oil-filled radiator through the shoulder seasons — October and late March mainly — without touching the stove at all. That alone probably saves me half a cubic metre of logs annually.

A few things that genuinely helped:

• Thermal mass — a few old house bricks stacked near the stove hold heat for hours after the fire dies down
• Burning hot and short rather than slow-smouldering all day (better for the flue too)
• A decent moisture metre — wet wood is basically just expensive steam

Wondering if anyone's experimented with rocket mass heaters for a smaller cabin footprint? I've been tempted but nervous about the build commitment and whether it suits a weekend-use setup rather than a permanent dwelling.

Would be good to know what other people are burning too — I've had mixed results with mixed hardwoods from local sawmills.

@Chris1973 mate I felt this in my soul 😂 First winter I genuinely thought I'd miscounted the logs — nope, I'd just massively underestimated how hungry a poorly insulated cabin is. Turned out my "mountain" was more of a modest hillock.

Game changer for me was adding a thermal store fed by

@Chris1973 the shepherd's hut taught me this lesson the hard way — insulation first, heat source second. I spent a full winter blaming my little Hobbit stove before realising I was essentially heating the surrounding field through poorly fitted tongue-and-groove walls.

What changed everything was 100mm of rigid Kingspan between the studs, foil-backed, properly taped at every joint. Suddenly the same armful of logs that used to last an evening was seeing me through to midnight.

Also worth thinking about thermal mass versus radiant heat — a small soapstone or cast iron stove holds warmth long after the fire dies down. The rate you burn often matters more than the volume you stockpile.

What's your cabin construction like? Solid wall, stud frame? That'd help narrow down where the heat's actually escaping.

@Chris1973 garden office here rather than a cabin, but same nightmare. Had a log burner running constantly last January and still couldn't get the temperature stable — turns out I had about 40mm of mineral wool doing absolutely nothing useful.

Proper question though: what's your floor insulation situation? Everyone obsesses over walls and roof but I've found cold floors absolutely murder heat retention. Sorted mine with 100mm PIR board under the decking and it made a noticeable difference before I'd even touched the walls.

Also curious whether you're running any supplemental heating at night? I've got a small Victron setup now with a ceramic panel heater on a timer — keeps temperatures from bottoming out overnight without touching the log burner. Means the wood I do burn actually has a fighting chance of warming a space that isn't already Arctic.

@Chris1973 thermal mass is your friend here — sounds counterintuitive but a small soapstone or cast iron stove holds heat far longer than a basic steel box once it's properly fired up. I switched to a Morso squirrel a couple of years back and the difference in how long the warmth lingers after the fire dies down was remarkable. Also worth looking at your door — in my experience that's where most cabins quietly bleed heat without the owner realising. A decent draught excluder and proper threshold seal made a noticeable difference before I'd even touched the insulation. @PartnerBuild is absolutely right about insulation being the priority mind you — I just reckon door sealing is the quickest win you can do in an afternoon for next to nothing.