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A Creative FireSpace™ · 30 September 2026
Stûv 30 Compact Wood Stove — A Stove That Turns to Face You
Most stoves have a front. The Stûv 30 Compact has a choice of them. A slim black drum turns on its base, through a full circle in steps of fifteen degrees, so the fire can face the sofa in the evening, the kitchen in the morning, or the open room when there are people over.
The turning is the idea, and the three doors are how it works. Bring the glass to the front and you have a closed, clean fire with a wide view of the flames. Bring the solid door forward and the stove becomes a heater that goes on warming the room through the night. Open the loading door and logs go in with ease, and the same door takes a grill for the occasional barbecue.
A stove that turns needs a way to keep its smoke where it belongs, and Stûv gave it one. A mobile deflector opens when the stove is set to open fire or while it rotates, so the smoke goes up the flue rather than back into the room; when the glass or the solid door faces forward it closes again, and the gases are burned a second time.
The double-walled siding at the back lets heat out into the room and insulates at the same time, which Stûv says allows the stove to stand only eight inches from combustible material. We confirm the clearances against your own wall and floor before anything is ordered. Combustion air can come from outside, through a connector built into the base, so the fire does not draw on the warm air of a sealed house.
It comes in three versions: the 30 Compact, the 30 Compact ONE in black, and the 30 Compact H, which carries a core of refractory brick that stores heat while the stove burns and gives it back for many hours after the fire is out. A fire screen with wooden handles, a stainless grill with its tray, a floor plate cut for the rotation and a mobile log rack complete it.
The grill is a pleasure, and it is a small one. The 30 Compact is a small stove, and it is honest about it.
The numbers, plainly. Stûv publishes the 30 Compact at 1.82 grams an hour of fine particulate, 73.9 percent EPA efficiency, an EPA heat output of 17,049 BTU/h and a nominal output of 33,000, enough for roughly 900 square feet. That is a studio, a cabin, a corner of an open plan: a stove for one room, done well.
It is certified, and it is worth being exact about how. Stûv lists the 30 Compact as UL, ULC and EPA certified. Metro Vancouver’s Bylaw 1303 asks for certification to CSA B415.1 or the EPA’s 2015 standard, and inside the Urban Containment Boundary an eligible appliance must be registered; since 15 September 2025 an unregistered appliance there may not be operated at all.
It is lit in our showroom, and it is a stove best understood in motion: come and turn it. At Maxwell Fireplace we plan the flue and the hearth, prepare the permit, install the stove with our own crew, and WETT-certify the wood-burning appliances we install.
A note on our local rules: Stûv lists the 30 Compact as UL, ULC and EPA certified, and we confirm the exact model against Bylaw 1303 before anything is ordered. Registration is the homeowner’s to hold, along with the best-burning-practices declaration renewed every three years, and individual municipalities can add requirements of their own. We handle the measuring, permitting and installation, and we will tell you honestly what is possible for your home.
A stove that turns to face the room.
Questions people tend to ask
Is the Stûv 30 Compact legal to install in Metro Vancouver?
Stûv lists it as UL, ULC and EPA certified, which is what Bylaw 1303 looks for alongside CSA B415.1, and publishes 1.82 grams an hour of fine particulate. We confirm the exact version against the bylaw before we quote it, and inside the Urban Containment Boundary it has to be registered.
Do I have to register it, and who holds the registration?
Inside the Urban Containment Boundary, yes: since 15 September 2025 an unregistered eligible appliance may not be operated at all. The registration is the homeowner’s to hold, along with a best-burning-practices declaration renewed every three years. We prepare that alongside the permit.
How does a stove turn, and what do the three doors do?
The drum rotates on its base up to a full circle, in fifteen-degree steps, and the door that faces forward decides how it behaves. The glass door gives a closed fire and a clear view. The solid door makes it a heater that radiates warmth through the night. The loading door is for logs, and for the occasional grill. A smoke deflector opens and closes as the doors turn, so the smoke goes up the flue.
Can you really cook on it?
Occasionally, yes. With the loading door open, a stainless grill lays over the fire and the juices fall into a tray. Stûv sells it as an accessory, and calls it the occasional barbecue, which is the right way to think of it: a pleasure, not a kitchen.
What is the heat accumulator on the 30 Compact H?
A core of refractory brick inside the stove. It stores some of the heat while the fire burns and gives it back after the fire has gone out, so the stove goes on warming the room for many hours.
How much room does it heat?
Stûv rates the 30 Compact for roughly 900 square feet, with an EPA heat output of 17,049 BTU/h. It is a stove for one room, such as a studio, a cabin or a corner of an open plan, rather than for a whole large house.
How close can it stand to a wall?
Stûv says the double-walled siding allows it to stand only eight inches from combustible material. Walls and floors differ, so we draw the clearances against your actual room and confirm them before anything is ordered.
How much does a Stûv 30 Compact cost?
It depends less on the stove than on everything around it: the version, the chimney and how it has to run through the house, the floor plate and hearth, and the installation. Two homes with the same stove can arrive at quite different figures, so we do not publish a price list. Visit the showroom, where the 30 Compact is lit, and we will go through the options and the pricing with you there.