RV Woodburner and Desert

[MrNoodly]

Deserts are, by definition, dry, arid, very low humidity, etc. Moisture and mold are not really problems there.

 

[akrvbob]

I have a friend who was a boat builder and had lived on boats on and off all his life. Decided to retire and live in a vehicle so he built a gorgeous Vardo trailer. He was very comfortable with small woodstoves in boats so he put one in his vardo trailer--gorgeous setup!!!! He had lots of scrap chunks of oak to carry with him and burn so his wood supply was covered fo probably the first winter in the desert.

After one year in the desert he remodeled the trailer and took out the woodstove--he just didn't use it enough to justify it. Instead he put in an Olympian Wave 3 Catalytic heater and has loved it ever since!

In cold country it would be wonderful beyond words!!!! In the desert, it's overkill.
Bob

 

[LoupGarou]

Small wood heaters have come along way thanks to the marine industry and the tiny house movement. The concern I have is the ability to regulate the heat output. Also I can't help but think your stealth is compromised with smoke coming out a flue. Then again, if the fire is burning hot, smoke will be reduced.

In my youth, the lumber yard I worked at always had a wood scape bin. People came in all the time to clean it out. HD, Menards and  Lowes might be a good source for burnable wood scraps while on the road.

Regarding safety, I don't know if it's possible to have a flame going when on the move. You may have to ensure the fire is totally out before hitting the road.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

I want to install an woodburner in my RV to make sure I can keep warm and dry. Moist and Mold is something to work against indoor.
Something like this:
http://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/collections/all

Do you have one and travel in the Desert?

What about sandstorm and chimney. Do I need to cover the Chimney if sandstorm so I cant use the woodburner?

Tell me if you have any experience

Maxine

Maxine -

I have never met the Cubic Mini in person, but it looks like an excellent design. I'm planning on putting a small wood burner in my school bus, and that particular stove is first on my list to check out. 

You probably won't use it much in the desert, for reasons already given, but if moisture and mold are concerns in other climates, there's no better dehumidifier than a wood stove.

There's also no more luxurious way to heat on a cold night than with the radiant heat of a wood stove. 

Marine chimney caps are designed for the high winds experienced at sea, with the intention that the fire stay burning and the chimney keep drafting no matter how bad the weather. A brief desert sandstorm shouldn't be any more challenge to such a cap than an ocean rainstorm.

Finally, there's no danger in having a fire in a properly installed (which means properly heat-shielded) wood stove while you're asleep. Just keep the chimney clean and burn dry wood!

And yes, I have experience with wood stoves. I've heated with them since 1990. I've also sold them, installed them, serviced them, inspected them and done expert witness work for insurance companies in the aftermath of structure fires caused by their improper installation/maintenance/use. Done right, they're entirely safe and one of life's simple pleasures.

 

[highdesertranger]

thank you cd for a great response. we need to see pics of your bus conversion. I have some question on heat shieling can you elaborate. highdesertranger

 

[Headache]

turn them on in the evening when we each retire to our vehicles, warm the place up, turn off when going to bed for the night. Some would turn them on in the morning and retreat to a warm bed while the van warmed up, others would just dress quickly and warmly until the sun warmed the van and the desert, which was usually no more than an hour or so. Me, I just liked to snuggle in the warm bed until it was warm enough to get up - that's part of being retired isn't it....

YEP!  lol

Again I was just curious.  If you get to be a skilled woodburner you can pretty much tell how long a chunk of wood will last and end up doing the same thing the propane people do with the exception of the woodstove exhausting outside.  I like the pressed logs because I can break them apart into the size pieces I need.  I'd burn 1 or 2 pieces in the morning and evening to knock the chill off and heat some water for some tea.  It doesn't take much to heat a van and they burn clean.

 

[highdesertranger]

don't those pressed log leave a lot of deposits in your flue. that was my experience in my wood burner in a tent. dang things plugged up my spark arrestor. highdesertranger

 

[Maxine]

Hi Cognitive dissonance
Thanks for your words and experience.
I hope you can help me  with some questions:

The "Kimberly" stove has air intake from outside. Is that a big advantage or doesn't it matter?
I am looking for an oven that is not as expensive as Kimberly but with the outside air intake, but are having a hard time with the language  

When using the "Pressed Log without wax" am I then avoiding to much Creosote or is it ok compared with hardwood? 

Thanks and a smile from Maxine

 

[jimindenver]

Maxine

Having a fresh air supply from the outside means that the stove will not pull air from the inside of the van. Without it the air needed to replace what the stove sends up the flue will come in every crack and it will be cold.

With a good tight stove you can load it up, cut the intake supply right down to almost nothing and that fire will still be going the next morning. That's the crude way of controlling how much heat they put off too. More fresh air = hotter, less = cooler.

I'd love to have a little wood stove in the trailer but I'd have to pull out the couch for the room. I have considered setting one on the stove and running the flue out the microwave vent hole.

 

[Maxine]

Jimindenver
Thanks for your knowledge. It means it is a very good idea with outside airintake! I will work on that!
You say that you need to take the couch for the stove. Would like a pic to understand, but what about changing the couch with a good chair and then have room for the stove?
Do you want to be able to cook on the stove? I would like that. Then I am free for worries if I have no gas left
 Have you seen the Youtube with JustinCredibleTV. He has a Kimberly and it is very expensive, but he has good ideas


Have fun
Maxine

 

[Headache]

he just didn't use it enough to justify it. Instead he put in an Olympian Wave 3 Catalytic heater and has loved it ever since!

In cold country it would be wonderful beyond words!!!! In the desert, it's overkill.

You bring up two very good and important considerations Bob but I also have a third:

Everyone has a reason why they do the things they do and we all have reasons for justifying why we do them.  What works for one may seem stupidity to another when it isn't anything of the kind.

I have a very justifiable fear of propane after a friend was severely burned in a propane fire.  She suffered and died in the hospital days later never being brought out of the coma they put her in.  Her children and husband never getting the chance to say goodbye.  It's not the "accident" itself that I fear, no.  It's the memory of the smell of her burning that still haunts me to this day.  While I'm not completely paranoid of it and understand it's useful purpose to others let's just say I keep a healthy distance from it when I can.  This is coming from someone that used to pump propane from filling tanks for the bbq to topping off big RVs.  It was a part of working as a pump jockey for one of the last full service stations in the area.  The accident was a very rare occurrence I do understand that, but our lives are shaped by our experiences and that's one I'd prefer to not repeat.  So, out of an abundance of caution and never knowing when I might get caught in a snowstorm there go I...

Is a wood stove overkill?  It depends on the perspective of the person who is using it.  If I mount mine to the rear door, it's warm out and I need to cook something then opening the door swinging it outside is no different than people using their camp stoves, fire pits and other such items to cook outdoors.  I just don't have to carry it or be concerned with wind blowing embers around.

And yes, I have experience with wood stoves. I've heated with them since 1990. I've also sold them, installed them, serviced them, inspected them and done expert witness work for insurance companies in the aftermath of structure fires caused by their improper installation/maintenance/use. Done right, they're entirely safe and one of life's simple pleasures.

If you wouldn't mind expanding our knowledge about installing these in very small spaces I would be incredibly joyous.  I'd love if you started a thread about this!  I definitely have the floor worked out and the side closest to the drivers side wall but my immediate concern is the ceiling above the rear window the pipe will be going out of.

don't those pressed log leave a lot of deposits in your flue.  that was my experience in my wood burner in a tent.  dang things plugged up my spark arrestor.   highdesertranger

I've never experienced that but there are 2 different kinds of pressed logs; one version has some wax mixed in to hold all that sawdust together and slow down burn time and those logs are considered the kind you can burn in any woodstove.  These are the kind I buy.

The others have a heavy amount of wax and chemicals in them not only to keep the sawdust together but also to really slow burning time.  These are the name brand ones in a yellow box or wrapper that are sold everywhere(cough...Duraflame...cough).  I don't buy those.

 

[ArtW]

so Headache, would she have been safer using wood, and if so why? Sorry if the questioon bring up bad memories, I'm just trying to get e feel for safety of the issue involved

 

[Headache]

I'm not sure why you'd ask and I'd have no idea. My using wood is about me avoiding the mistakes that caused that particular accident and my comfort level with burning wood.

I was simply explaining that everyone has reasons for why they want to do things. Just as Bob did in bringing up his friend working through and deciding that a wood stove wasn't the way to go I provided my example as to a reason why for some it might be the best and most comfortable option. Maxine will learn and decide on her own what is useful to her or not but at least with all sides being presented she has a more rounded pool of information to glean from and not become afraid of testing the waters for experimentations sake.

At the very least she can set that bad boy up outside when it's windy and still cook her dinner without the flames blowing around!

 

[Benjamin Dejo]

People die in horrible car accidents every day, but they continue to use cars as basic transportation.

Although your friends accident was a freak accident and obviously horrible, that should not turn you against a properly installed propane heating system. Millions of them are in use and cause no problems whatsoever.

Personally, I find the thought of a wood burning stove in an RV borderline ridiculous. Far more potential for a disaster than a propane heater, not to mention the free space taken up by the required safety zone around the wood stove. The exhaust from a wood burning stove produces a lot of carbon monoxide that must be properly vented. Any leaks could be fatal.

An Olympian catalytic heater produces negligible carbon monoxide, and the proper venting is easily understood and safe. When not in use the Olympian can be put away for far more usable space.

 

[akrvbob]

None of us are here to change anyone else's mind about what's right for them.

If they have thought it through, made a reasoned decision for them, then we need to drop it and offer them the courtesy of thinking they are adults and can make their own decisions without hearing our infinite wisdom on the subject.

Bob

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Hi Cognitive dissonance
Thanks for your words and experience.
I hope you can help me  with some questions:

The "Kimberly" stove has air intake from outside. Is that a big advantage or doesn't it matter?
I am looking for an oven that is not as expensive as Kimberly but with the outside air intake, but are having a hard time with the language  

When using the "Pressed Log without wax" am I then avoiding to much Creosote or is it ok compared with hardwood? 

Thanks and a smile from Maxine

Maxine -

It would help to know what kind of RV you're talking about.

As to your questions, I am not a proponent of outside air intakes. It is my opinion that new homes (and most likely new RV's as well) have become too well sealed for our health. If room air is interchanged regularly, it stays fresh. If not, then (among other things) humidity builds up and your concern about mold is magnified.

To me, the fact that a wood stove is drafting properly is evidence that there is adequate fresh air entering the structure. If it isn't drafting properly, you need to crack a window to let in fresh air, not mask the problem with an outside air intake for the stove.

The reason wood stoves remove humidity is they warm the air around them, and warm air holds far more water vapor than cold air. In an RV, it is simple to crack open a roof vent to allow the humid air to escape, and to crack a window or even install a floor vent to allow fresh outside air in. Just don't hook the fresh air source directly to the stove, or you'll end up with stale room air!

I have only seen a Kimberly on display, not burning. To me, it is quite overpriced and promoted with an almost religious fervor. There is no way the BTU output and burn time claims can be reconciled with the amount of wood the firebox holds. (Efficiency helps, but heat output and burn times will always be governed by how much fuel a stove can hold.) The Kimberly simply doesn't hold enough fuel to support their claims.

Having said that, I think a Kimberly might work well in an RV if you can stomach the price. Keep in mind that for the cost of a Kimberly you can buy a Cubic Mini, the accessory oven, chimney pipe, heat shielding and pay someone to install it. With the left over money, you can buy a set of new tires and have a complete brake job done on your rig. Then, you can treat yourself to a nice dinner for being a smart consumer and put the rest in the bank!

There are two kinds of pressed logs. The ones sold at the supermarket have wax in them and they will quickly foul a wood stove/chimney system.

The pressed logs that contain nothing but clean sawdust are essentially just gigantic wood pellets. Pellet fuel burns very cleanly in pellet stoves, so I would expect these logs to burn cleanly in a stove. Just make sure you're buying a pure sawdust log with no waxes, oils or binders in it. They should be formed with heat and pressure, nothing else.

Also, pressed logs need to be kept dry - and I mean very dry! If they get wet, they'll expand into a huge pile of loose sawdust.

 

[Gunny]

cognitive dissonance, that was a concise and perfectly clear explanation. Well done.

 

[Maxine]

Thanks Cognitive dissonance
That was something to learn from
I dont know what vehicle I am going to buy yet. I am thinking of a Class C 22-24 feet, but as soon as I land, everything will properly change. We dont have RVs in my area so I am not learning from that
I do not want to buy a Kimberly to that price, no way!
But I would like to be able to cook on my stove. Together with a solar oven, that will make me very independent.

I am drinking from all sources and trying to learn. I hope it will help me in the final decision.

A big smile from Maxidane

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Personally, I find the thought of a wood burning stove in an RV borderline ridiculous.  Far more potential for a disaster than a propane heater,

Then again, a wood leak won't blow up your rig and land you in intensive care...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

. . .
If they have thought it through, made a reasoned decision for them, then we need to drop it and offer them the courtesy of thinking they are adults and can make their own decisions without hearing our infinite wisdom on the subject.

Bob, 

The exception to your rule should be if someone is doing something dangerous or would get them in legal trouble; and we have had a few examples of that here on the forum since I have been paying attention.

For me (and this could be because engineering/scientific design reviews are usually bloody), I want to hear all objections to my plan.  I can sort out what are legitiment objections from the viewpoint disagreements from the officious fools from the mean spirited.  Takes more work but the end result is usually better.  YMMV

 -- Spiff