Anybody using a Dickinson (or other) type propane or solid fuel heater?I am thinking of putting one in, but would like to here some real world numbers of how they work.

Interesting - Have never considered one of these. The FIREBOX is pretty small but from the spec sheet I see it will last three hours or so...DICKISNSON SOLID FUEL SPEC

I have the propane version in my 31' sailboat. Keeps it nice and warm when sailing in the high 30s to low 40s F (2-8 C). I have it mounted on a stainless steel plate that keeps the back of the heater about 5cm from the fiberglass. The fan is fairly quiet. Once the boat warms up we shut off the fan and run the heater on low to use less battery power for the rest of the night. Double walled chimney works well, although the cap is large, at about 15cm, with three inverted bowls on top. These keep the inlet and outlet air separated.The heater came with the boat. If I were to do it from scratch I'd get the diesel/kerosene burning version verses propane.Curious what you plan to do with it.

I have a force10 Cozy Cabin HeaterInstalled in my aluminum boat. My boat is smaller than my camper, but is totally in-insulated, and even in the low 30's it will warm the cabin up to warm enough that I have to take my jacket off. Even with the stack, the propane version emits a fair amount of moisture, so if I were to consider a heater made for a boat to use in a camper, I would consider either the diesel, or better yet the solid fuel, as it is better for use boondocking to save propane for the stove.Garry in AK

This Guy has something like that in his Class C.

I would like to put it in my Bigfoot 9.5c. The low power consumption is the goal. We have the factory forced air heater now. I am good for 2 days on my batteries but don't want to have to depend on them. I do have a gravity heater I could put in, but there is some issues with the exhaust, and the seams of the exterior. Will the Dickinson heater warm a TC space in the winter? We use our TC for skiing. Over night temps often hit -30'c. I know the gravity heater will keep the interior 20+'c. But a wood stove or even the Dickinson gas heater would take up less space and be pretty cool to have running.

Dickinson Marine heater | Good Sam Community

pjay9
Explorer
Dec 17, 2014
Your pics really show how it is set up. Good for you and I do hope it works well for you. Pls show us a wide pic so we can see the relationship of the layout. Now for improvements...isn't that always the case. :>) There has to be a way to have a pot of coffee sitting on top!!!! HEHE!
uriedog
Explorer
Dec 16, 2014
Weight is about 20lbs. I will put a rail on the table side. Nothing needed in the front lots of room there

So far it is working pretty good. I think I will go to a bigger roof thimble. The temp on the chimney gets a little higher then I like.

I have only had 2 fires in since I put it in. Hopefully I'll get a good fire going tonight after work. Trying to burn it as much as possible to work out any bugs. It's was only -10c last night, so it's hard to get a good idea of how well it will heat the space.

In the second pic I had it burning charcoal. We are trying lots of different brands to see what works best. So far Kingsford seems to burn really long, but leaves a pile of ash (not buying that again). One of the other brands we tried left behind almost nothing. I burned it all day long on Saturday and only had about 1/2" of ash in the bottom.
pjay9
Explorer
Dec 15, 2014
How much does it wiegh? What are you doing for front people protection...rail grate...guard? Looks like it belongs in a cabin. I just wonder about the safety of you not the TC.
MORSNOW
Navigator III
Dec 14, 2014
Nice stove euridog! Can't wait to see it installed, wood makes great heat!
uriedog
Explorer
Dec 14, 2014
I am using a roof thimble for 4" pipe, and 3" non insulated stove pipe. Sheet steel with a one inch air gap on the walls behind and beside the stove.

I have a sheet behind it now, the same distance from the stove as it will be in the camper. Temp in front of the sheet is 130'F, temp behind the sheet is 68'f. So that should work fine.

It is set up now almost exactly as it will be in the camper, so only some minor changes might be needed once in the camper. I am glad I was able to test it all out before install, it would suck having a hole in the roof and finding out I need to change my set up.

So it's been running out in the garage for 9 hours now. It seems to be holding the garage at 20'c (68F) and it is -1'c (30'F) outside.
garryk6
Explorer
Dec 14, 2014
That's some sweet fabrication! What are you using for an insulated stack? And what are you using for any type of heat shield? Can't wait it see it installed and in action!
Garry in AK
uriedog
Explorer
Dec 14, 2014
All done! Hooked it up to the chimney in my garage for a test fire. Works really really well. It is heating up my 450 sq ft poorly insulated garage with no problem, the camper is less then 100 sq ft well insulated, I think it'll work well.

I'll paint and install it in the camper this week.

Picks Picks
uriedog
Explorer
Dec 13, 2014

Now off to the garage to finish and test it out. Should be done in a couple hours!
uriedog
Explorer
Dec 13, 2014
No problem. Here they are
MORSNOW
Navigator III
Dec 13, 2014
uriedog, You must be a registered user on the other forum to see your pictures, we cannot see them there.

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