another camper heater question

feddoc · Apr 20, 2020

Has anyone ever put a small wood stove in a camper? My 5th wheel (41', with a garage) gets a little cool. No heating ducts in the garage, which sleeps 4. The central heater works ok, but would run all night during hunting season and will drain the battery. I have solar panels to charge the battery (two panels dictated I run two batteries), but the boss wants more heat.

So, I tried a small IR propane heater, but altitude makes running it spotty at best. We camp at about 8500'.

So off to look for another option at keeping the boss warm. I've looked at marine grade diesel heaters, folding wood heaters....seems like I've looked at every option.

Which brings me to installing a small wood stove. Yea, I've got a fistful of CO detectors, gonna crack a window or two, and probably hire a guy to plumb it right.

Anyone here ever put a wood stove in a camper? I've seen pics and tutorials on line, but would rather hear from you guys.

elkassassin · Apr 21, 2020

JUDAS doc!

Like a 41'ER Ain't already Heavy enough!

Them Big Trailers Ain't Never got enough Furnace in them for 'Cold Camping'!

A Wood Stove if there was enough Room to Install one without it being Right in the Way of everything would Have it 120 Degrees at Times & Not warm enough at other times!

There's Only One Way of You & Ms doc staying Warm!

kilbuc · Apr 21, 2020

Buy her down coveralls.

and I put 3 rounds into Kate McCannon

trophyhunter · Oct 26, 2020

feddoc said:
Has anyone ever put a small wood stove in a camper? My 5th wheel (41', with a garage) gets a little cool. No heating ducts in the garage, which sleeps 4. The central heater works ok, but would run all night during hunting season and will drain the battery. I have solar panels to charge the battery (two panels dictated I run two batteries), but the boss wants more heat.

So, I tried a small IR propane heater, but altitude makes running it spotty at best. We camp at about 8500'.

So off to look for another option at keeping the boss warm. I've looked at marine grade diesel heaters, folding wood heaters....seems like I've looked at every option.

Which brings me to installing a small wood stove. Yea, I've got a fistful of CO detectors, gonna crack a window or two, and probably hire a guy to plumb it right.

Anyone here ever put a wood stove in a camper? I've seen pics and tutorials on line, but would rather hear from you guys.

Mr. Heater it has low oxygen sensor emergency shut off , works great

southslope82 · Oct 28, 2020

My dad had a camper that was a 24 ft he gutted it and built it back the way he wanted he had a small wood stove and it worked great but yes it got a little hot at times, Ive been thinking I would add a wood burner to mine in the near future, you can actually control the temp just by the type and amount of wood you burn fairly decent, I think you should go for it,, Its also nice not to have to wonder and chase propane around gathering up sticks off the ground is not that hard

DeerHunter53 · Oct 28, 2020

feddoc said:
Has anyone ever put a small wood stove in a camper? My 5th wheel (41', with a garage) gets a little cool. No heating ducts in the garage, which sleeps 4. The central heater works ok, but would run all night during hunting season and will drain the battery. I have solar panels to charge the battery (two panels dictated I run two batteries), but the boss wants more heat.

So, I tried a small IR propane heater, but altitude makes running it spotty at best. We camp at about 8500'.

So off to look for another option at keeping the boss warm. I've looked at marine grade diesel heaters, folding wood heaters....seems like I've looked at every option.

Which brings me to installing a small wood stove. Yea, I've got a fistful of CO detectors, gonna crack a window or two, and probably hire a guy to plumb it right.

Anyone here ever put a wood stove in a camper? I've seen pics and tutorials on line, but would rather hear from you guys.

Try a Lance all weather trailer the tanks are insulated so they don't freeze and the walls have two inches of insulation in them as well.
We got tired of getting cold and bit the bullet and went with a Lance. Also has a hvac system like your house with ducting

eelgrass · Oct 28, 2020

You could pull a trailer with firewood....

JakeInLasVegas · Oct 30, 2020

I would highly recommend a diesel heater. They come in 5kw and 2.5 kw versions and are quite inexpensive. For a trailer that large I would definitely recommend the 5kw version. If you are running at higher altitude then I would suggest using kerosene instead of diesel in the included 9L fuel tank. You just mount the fuel tank on the exterior of the trailer. I have an extra tall topper on my 8' truck bed and use the 2.5 kw version but pull from my main diesel fuel tank on the truck. Once I got the correctly sized fuel metering pump my heater functioned quite well at over 9500k feet elevation.

That little heater will crank out some serious heat but it only sips a minimal amount of fuel (0.1-0.125 liters/hr). They have a steep energy draw in the first fifteen minutes during startup phase while the glow plug fires up and then use very little electricity the rest of the night but you definitely need a dedicated battery. We installed a Renogy DC to DC charger that will charge the additional battery from the alternator and can also be hooked up to solar panels for prolonged usage off grid. There is nothing like waking up to warm dry boots in the morning when it is below freezing outside. I don't do Facebook but there is a Chinese Diesel heater group that can help you troubleshoot setup and install as well as point you in the direction of a reputable supplier. Most purchases are made through Amazon or Ebay. Hope this helps.