mini-wood-stove for rvs and boats

[Bruce H]

https://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/coll...ini-wood-stove

[Jon in AZ]

I’ve seen several installations in small molded trailers, even two 13’ers I’m aware of. It is one way to get heat without power for extended off-grid camping. Those that have them like them, and they seem well designed and burn cleanly (with the right wood).

Certain clearances are required, so it won’t work in all layouts. It requires a good-sized hole in the shell. Some regions ban or restrict wood-burning appliances. Wood must be cut really small and burn time is fairly short. Transportation of unprocessed fuel wood out of the region where it was harvested is prohibited, so you either have to source locally or burn scraps of kiln dried lumber or pressed logs cut into chunks. Wood stoves are messy and require daily cleaning in and around the stove. The stove itself is just the beginning of the cost. Expect to pay hundreds more for the stovepipe, fittings, and heat shields.

As for me, I spend all winter splitting, stacking, prepping, feeding, and cleaning multiple wood stoves. I love a good wood fire, but when I’m on vacation in my Scamp, I’m on vacation.

[FRED SMAILES]

Im with you Jon. Have heated with wood many years.

[Casita Greg]

I also heat with wood, but not in my little trailer.

[Raspy]

I heat my house with wood too, but heating a house is a far cry from heating a small trailer or boat with wood.

Wood stoves in boats or small trailers are not practical, in my view, because they are extremely messy, and require a lot of attention. They require you to carry another fuel source, have proper clearances, a heat shield and a fire proof roof vent/chimney with weather cap. If you don't want to go outside every hour or so to process the wood, or cut up Presto-Logs, you'll have a box of wood inside too. How much room are you willing to provide for all of this? Eventually, the constant mess and cleaning of the stove becomes tiresome. Been there, done that. Extremely small fire boxes are fussy and require way too much attention. They only work while you are there to tend them.

If you want a flickering fire and want to drive out moisture, you can use a diesel heater that looks the same as a wood stove, but will run steady for as long as you feed it fuel. It also requires no power with a gravity feed system. I tried wood, then coal, and ended up with diesel in my boat. I would sometimes run it for a couple of months without shutting it off. The boat stayed warm and dry, and the flickering flame was nice. But even that required the clearances, heat shields and the roof vent. In a trailer, as opposed to a boat, propane heat is practical.