Heater - solid fuel w/chimney pipe

[RV Doctor]

Justin Credible uses the Cubic Cub. He lives in Vancouver in his Class B full time. He goes to Whistler and other mountains on weekends and stays in the van. He swears by the Cubic Woodstove! He has some pretty riske videos on YouTube as well. If you are easily offended by language, nudity or other things, please don’t watch. YouTube @ JustinCredible.TV.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Maybe, provided you've an ample and easily sourced supply of fuel. Otherwise it's easier to just go refill the propane tank - and a heckuva lot cleaner.

Yes, supply and more than that, storage, are a few of the things that I was thinking of that would make it more practical for a permanent or semi-permanent install. And in fact, if you are setting up far from a propane source, or expecting major disruption in the infrastructure, then the wood stove make a little more sense.

Edit: But I do agree that it could be a risky idea, and propane is better for most of us.

[Glenn Baglo]

I spent a night in a log cabin near Pink Mountain, BC. It was 26F below outside.
After building a sufficient fire, I'd packed the stove with green wood to hopefully last the night. At about 3am, the airtight stove was jumping up and down and the fire inside was raging. I was being slow-cooked.
Climbed out of my sleeping bag and opened the front door to cool the place down. Retreated to my sleeping bag and promptly fell asleep.
Woke up about 5am and it was still 26F below outside, and now 26F below inside.

[Raspy]

Cristin,

Of course the right answer to your latest post is "go for it". I'm eager to hear how it works out and in your cold and simple camping situation, it should be a very good way to minimize and stay warm. Done carefully, there is no danger of burning your camper just because it's made of fiberglass. Remember, I've done it in a fiberglass boat and there was no fire danger because I set it up with that in mind. And I heated that way for years.

Visualizing you, out in the cold, and needing heat with minimal resources, I'd say your plan is workable. So try it out and let us know how it goes.

You may scoff at the idea of wood being messy and a lot of work, it is, but that may be a minor issue when camping out in the snow in cold temps. Sometimes being warm is worth almost any price and may make the difference between leaving or staying, having fun or being miserable If you find wood is more trouble than you expected, you can try coal. I did and it works too, with a different character than wood.

Please post more when you get the stove installed and working.

[Borrego Dave]

This has been an interesting thread and my first thought was why. But after Cristin explained how, where and when she uses her trailer, she's at a whole different locations for camping than pretty much everyone else. The fire box may just be the best choice for her style. Hopefully she'll let us know how it works out for her if she goes that route .

[k0wtz]

I burned wood for heat for over 10 years. my furnace used 5ft logs did I say 5 footers no matter what size stove burn lots of wood no matter what anyone says.

then you have the expense and work and you have to have some equipment or pay someone to do it for you this isn't cheap either. where are you going to store this wood as you travel?

did I say also cleanup and mess in where ever the stove is? my advice if you are going on extended trips get extra 20lb propane tanks look for a store that fills tanks at a reasonable price.

here we have truck stops we pull up don't have to unhook the tank and they fill it also they fill it full. a 20lb tank for our 13f scamper lasts a long time we just finished a 3 week trip to az temps as low as 18d some nights of course we weren't heating 24 hours a day. the tank was left over from last years trips!

if you are going to go on extended trips I would take 2 to 3 tanks and see how that works out. we heat with a wave 3 this will open up a new line of discussion I am sure but that is what works for us.

I hope you use the advice listed here I think most agree it is not a good idea of wood heat in a fiberglass trailer but who knows if they use them on fiberglass boats fine but I bet they aren't out cruising the high seas!

be careful out there

bob

[Jon in AZ]

Agree with Dave and John. Propane does not do well in extreme cold. As the OP seems confident of a supply of fuel wood, I see this as worth trying.

Regulating the stove will be tricky and comes with a learning curve. Each new type of wood or other fuel means starting over. I ran myself out of the house more than once when I first started using wood for space heating.

Follow installation directions carefully, provide some ventilation, insulate the windows, and for safety's sake install smoke and CO detectors. Clean the flue and inspect all the connections often.

Stay warm. I am...

[David Tilston]

I can see no real problem with the wood stove. Especially if you can get cheep wood. Heck, I have a camp fire almost every Friday, (down to -20°C). Is it still a camp fire if it is in my yard?

I would like to address some of the issues you have expressed in relation to propane heat.
Ginormous batteries: The furnaces in all of my now five Trillium trailers are gravity furnaces. No fan, no batteries required. Though there are those that have used one of these fans, (see picture).

They are powered by the heat from the stove and would work with a wood stove too.

Freezing propane lines, (or regulator). This is a legit concern. Generally, good quality propane will not have much water in it, but it does happen. The big problem with propane is that at -40°C, (or °F) propane can be carried in a bucket. It is hard to get it to vaporize. I have a heated, insulated blanket for my propane tank, but that is where batteries, or shore power are required. In this regard, a wood stove would be the preferred choice.

It sounds like you are going to at least try it. Please let us know how it works.

[Raspy]

Another possibly minor point is that using propane in the normal, forced air trailer heater uses a fair amount of power. Imagine Cristin, out in the snow, with no sun to run solar and limited battery power. Maybe staying for a week or more. That little wood stove could be her best friend and really make the difference on staying or leaving, having fun or not. She seems to travel with minimal stuff, so making room for it won't be too much of a sacrifice.

I like the concentric flue with combustion air coming in around the exhaust. This is safer, it allows consistent draft without leaving a window open and the wind can come from any direction without affecting the fire. It can't use up the room air or fill the trailer with smoke. It works good with short chimneys and it cools the flue while sending waste heat back into the fire. The only thing it won't do is dry the interior, so wet clothes, cooking and breathing will increase the humidity. But since it puts out so much heat for the size of the room, a window can be cracked open a bit.

We all know how charming a wood fire can be, and if it is really needed, a real life saver.

Think how boring life would be if nobody ever tried anything out of the ordinary. At some point we all have to make our own decisions and stop listening to the naysayers. In theory, this heating method seems perfectly suited to Cristin's needs. I hope we get a future report with pictures.

[Raspy]

Dave,

Those thermo-electric fans are fun. I have a couple of heat driven ones that use a stirling engine to drive the fan, but the thermo-electric one, like the model shown, works better.

[David Tilston]

I always wonder how much power they make. would it be possible to retrofit a gravity furnace with several of the power generators and charge your battery? Not cheep, but would work on cloudy days.

[Raspy]

Dave,

Seems like it won't work. The Peltier has to be cold on one side and hot on the other to make power. The fan actively cools one side, so it might be hard to arrange it to be cool and hot, without the fan. Maybe mounted underneath against a hot surface?

My wood stove is round on top, so I simply mounted the fan with a piece of bailing wire against the chimney. It runs whenever the chimney is over about 200 degrees.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Think how boring life would be if nobody ever tried anything out of the ordinary.

But they have. Cavemen used wood fires for thousands of years. Then they discovered propane.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

But they have. Cavemen used wood fires for thousands of years. Then they discovered propane.

Seems like I learn something everyday! I did not know cavemen discovered propane! Whodathunkit?

[Alex Adams]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Seems like I learn something everyday! I did not know cavemen discovered propane! Whodathunkit?

They discovered it at night. It was a very explosive development!

[Glenn Baglo]

Idiot that I can be, I followed a road at Whistler Mountain, looking for new cross-country trails. I pulled over to allow a snowmobile to pass and my wheels dropped off the two solid tracks, leaving me high-centred and spinning my wheels.
We spent the afternoon searching, in four feet of snow, for anything to place under the wheels.
Good luck trying to find small pieces of kiln-dried wood in the back country.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Idiot that I can be, I followed a road at Whistler Mountain, looking for new cross-country trails. I pulled over to allow a snowmobile to pass and my wheels dropped off the two solid tracks, leaving me high-centred and spinning my wheels.
We spent the afternoon searching, in four feet of snow, for anything to place under the wheels.
Good luck trying to find small pieces of kiln-dried wood in the back country.

Here's what Cristin said:

My scrap lumber is free and wood is always attainable where I go. These are little 4" peices of clean lumber, not chopped logs w/bark n dirt.

[Glenn Baglo]

But others, reading this thread, may not be camping in the same spot as Cristin.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Raspy

I like the concentric flue with combustion air coming in around the exhaust. This is safer, it allows consistent draft without leaving a window open and the wind can come from any direction without affecting the fire. It can't use up the room air or fill the trailer with smoke. It works good with short chimneys and it cools the flue while sending waste heat back into the fire. The only thing it won't do is dry the interior, so wet clothes, cooking and breathing will increase the humidity. But since it puts out so much heat for the size of the room, a window can be cracked open a bit.

You may like it but it's contrary to current practice. If you replace a stove installed in the '80s or 90's the first thing you find is your 8" flue is too big. Home stoves today typically come with a 6" flue. In an existing chimney, a liner is installed to reduce the diameter and that liner is typically insulated. The reason is to increase the temperature and create enough draft to cause secondary combustion ( EPA). The last thing you wish to do is cool the flue. I suspect these small stoves use a very small ( 3" pipe) for the same reason. Further I'm guessing the double pipe air intake is to satisfy state regulation. At least one state, Washington, requires outside air on all wood stove installations. Having to make two holes in the hull would be bad for sales. State vs federal rules in conflict. I may be wrong here but the state rules are a mandate, the EPA is still a "suggestion", the carrot being a tax credit.

[Raz]

Another thing to think about. To control the spread of insects more and more campgrounds prohibit you bringing in outside campfire wood. And the stuff the sell will most likely not be dry.