a real wood burning fireplace is possible

That Kimberly looks neat and I know some are using them in RV's. OTOH $3500 buys a lot of propane. It also needs dry hard wood to get a long burn and all I ever see is a little pine and a lot of aspen.

I also agree with others about the wood too. I spent my youth cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking firewood for the family house. A lot more work than collecting a few sticks for the daily camp fire.

I am always astounded by the lengths folks go to camp so cheaply.

Why so cheap?

Folks spend 20K+ for a RV then want want to camp for "free" all winter and to attempt to heat it in the winter with a bunch of forest floor sticks. Just pretty darn silly. If it is HEAT you need then perhaps you need to budget in propane and be safe INSTEAD of being so cheap.

I plain don't like camping in the winter, campers typically have R3-R5 insulation in the walls and ceiling and R2 in the floor. It is a ice box. So I just plain don't camp in the winter.

If you want ambiance, they DO make small electric "fireplaces" which would be a much better idea.

If you are going to "play" in the winter then be prepared to PAY for it...

We have a fireplace that was fitted on our sailing yacht. It has a ss outer shell with a bronze firebox and glass front opening door. When I was mounting it I was getting ready to cut a 5" hole in the overhead of our after cabin. A fellow sailor from Maine came by and said, "If you put that fireplace in that small cabin you'll be able to bake bread on the bunk." I put it in the main cabin with a duct aft and it heated the entire 41' ketch nicely.

I have not mounted it in our TC because I think the stove pipe would be a burn hazard if some one grabbed it. It would not be practical to wrap it with insulation to prevent burns. And the size of the TC is similar to aft cabin. It's just not safe or practical although it would be cozy and romantic. I have not been able to find a satisfactory spot for a wood/coal burning appliance in our Lance 1121.

Well I wouldn't, but then again I wouldn't pull a 40' 18K 5er with a 250/2500 TV, but many out there do it and think nothing about it. So I'm sure there are some who have and are doing it, just please don't camp next to us.

Camp, Forrest, Camp! wrote:
We use a 14 x 14 cabin every winter that is heated by a wood stove about the size of a microwave. The cabin is 80 years old, hasn't burned down yet, and as far as I know, no one has died. If we can safely have a wood stove in a small wooden structure for 80 years, why can't it work in an RV?

Is your cabin on wheels?

A cabin is a permanent structure.

A wood stove used in a cabin will have some sort properly installed of stack/chimney with some sort of minimum height over top the roof giving you at least 8ft to 12ft of stack/chimney. This allows a good draft which IS important if you would like to wake up in the morning.

Good chance that your cabin also has more insulation than a RV and has limited underside exposure to winter winds.

Your 14x14 cabin is at least 4ft WIDER than a typical RV which would be 8ft.

Small woodburners tend to have a big appetite for wood due to the extremely small fire box. Makes it difficult to regulate the heat and makes for real short burn times. Also requires little "splinters" for wood which aggravates the short burn times even further.

My home wood furnace takes logs up to 28" in length and 14" in diameter. Heating 1200 square ft it typically gives me 8hrs burn time per load.

Its your life, your property, your money, do what you will with it...

Pretty common around here, though more so with stationary trailers etc.

If you've got room for clearances it can work so long as you provide an outdoor air supply for combustion purposes directly to the stove .

A wood fire will suck the air out of a closed-up trailer/RV lickety-split without it!

We use a 14 x 14 cabin every winter that is heated by a wood stove about the size of a microwave. The cabin is 80 years old, hasn't burned down yet, and as far as I know, no one has died. If we can safely have a wood stove in a small wooden structure for 80 years, why can't it work in an RV?

Gdetrailer wrote:
We have a mobile "pizza bus" which is a small school bus that was re purposed into a mobile pizza unit.

They have a wood burning pizza oven inside.

I followed it one winter day, they had all the windows down and smoke billowing out ALL the windows.

As funny as that looked, it is no joke when it comes to your safety.

I USE a purpose built wood furnace in my home through out the winter, wood heat applied in a SAFE manner is great, BUT, it is nothing to flippantly play with. Wood fires can easily exceed 1000 degrees in a short time, you have creosote fires which can easily melt single wall pipes. You have dust, ash, embers to deal with.

My wood furnace REQUIRES 24" clearance on the front, back, sides and top from any combustibles (and that is with a air jacket with forced air fan). It also requires a non combustible surface to sit on.

The you have another major danger to consider... Wood fired appliances require a good draft to work, this means you will need a CHIMNEY which is taller than a few feet. The chimney MUST be kept warm at all times while there is any embers or you will not wake up...

In such a small area like a RV I would think that is is highly impracticable to install, use, maintain a wood fired appliance SAFELY.

I realize that there is a few woodfired appliances marketed for RV/marine use, I for one would not consider such a application...

By the way, wood even if it "free" to get is not free. YOU must put considerable amount of work and money into it. I have at least two chainsaws ($800 at a min), chains and sprockets were out so those cost $30 for each saw every few years. Burned two gallons of fuel this year ($9 fuel and oil), a gallon of bar oil ($9) and a new log splitter this year ($1200, I am tired of wood mauls and noodling).

My wood furnace 25yrs cost me $1000, 35ft of triple wall pipe was $400, now days that same furnace is $1800 and triple wall pipe is $1000..

I spent two months felling, cutting, splitting 4.5 cords of wood.

I also used a tractor with front loader to move and haul wood up steep hills out of the woods to my storage area (that was an expensive purchase 5 yrs ago but well worth the savings on my back).

Then there is storage, nothing worse than having soggy, damp, soaked frozen, snowed on firewood. So, I bought a temporary "shelter" a few years ago for $200, it is now at the point I will need to replace and most likely build a 12x20 shelter ($5K or better)..

Burning "green" fresh cut firewood is a complete no-no, all your heat goes up the chimney, it is hard to start, hard to keep burning until it dries out, it smokes and smolders. So you need at a minimum of 6 months of decent warm weather to dry the wood..

While I do like my lower gas bills, it is not free...

You forgot a few of the costs, too.
*Recalling from memory off a poster that was hung at the local Jonsred dealer*
Heating with fuel----------
Typical annual fuel costs-3 tanks of #2 fuel oil delivered = $3000, air filters = $10, prorated furnace cleaning = $20
Total = $3030

Heating with wood-----------
Trees = Free (got them from my brother-in-law's cousin's husband)
Chainsaw = $600
Truck to haul wood - $40,000
Gas, oil, files, tools to run chainsaw and truck = $2000
Wood splitter = $1500
Hospital bill for cut foot = $8300
Truck repair from falling tree = $1000 deductible
Wood furnace = $3500 w/installation
Fire Dept. call = $350
Repair of House due to chimney fire = $12,800 (not covered by insurance)
Divorce from wife = $18,000 legal fees
Loss of house = $250,000
Total = $338,050
:B

ANY fueled heat source inside a small enclosed space is a recipe for death. SOME from CO poisoning and some from asphyxiation. There's PLENTY of beauty outside to satisfy me without risking my family to bring it inside.

They make wood pellet stoves that vent through sidewalls (no chimney) and are "zero" clearence. If you had some spare room I quess it could work but --- the cost of the extra engine fuel used hauling a load of wood pellets around plus the weight of the stove would likely exceed the cost of LP used in your furnace.

If you were in one spot all winter and had no alternate engery source then maybe but that might be the only time it would make sense.