Wood stove test in camper (failed)

[Mikka]

Bet you all that original poster was burning soft wood like scrap of 2x4 which flash burns with extreme heat but has no capacity to produce coal. If like said, hard wood had been used, that stove would have been full of hot coal with no room to add more wood in no time.
As well poster does not mention type of bricks if regular house bricks they are too porous to absorb heat well, it is like trying to heat soil. What is needed is fire bricks specially made for fire place, stoves etc. and available at places like HD

Pine during the time I had it glowing red, and stoked it up with maple before going to bed, after waking up in the middle of night; a combination of pine and maple.

Also fire brick doesn't absorb heat, they are meant to be installed in high heat areas to act as insulation.

Agreed, fire bricks serve as insulation... they are "refractory" some can withstand temperatures of up to 3000 degrees F! It doesn't mean that they stay cool in the fireplace or oven, it is just mean, they wont let 3000 degrees get through them. They won't absorb the 3000 degrees of heat but they will absorb a percentage of that heat and much more than a regular brick. Why do you think they are being used inside of pizza oven not meant to burn at 3000 degrees, if not to refract absorbed heat and maintain temperature in said oven... Try this simple test, put a regular construction brick and a refractory brick under your oven broiler for 15 minutes and then take them out and let us know which one lasted less time in your hand

[rowerwet]

just hook up one of these to the trailer just like many of us have A/C hooked up for the summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyC8gK4lsHg

[Kody]

Down here we have very different winters compared to the US. In the high country, winter here is absolutely miserable with strong winds and bitter cold. Our highest mountain is Mt. Kosciuszko that towers over the landscape at the dizzying height of 7310 feet! Now that's an awesome height! Mt K. is our major skiing area and floods of people come and stay for the entire snow season. Very few people camp in vans as it is so cold, especially at night when the temperature drops to its lowest. The coldest temperature recorded in Australia was a horrendous soul destroying -23 C, (-9.4 F). Very few people go out camping when the temperature drops to this insane level. I have never seen a camper with a wood stove built in it or any kind of stove for warming the van. If it gets too cold, we either stay home where it's warm or toss on some more blankets.
Once I get our TD built, we do plan on going down to the snow and will take our GSD (in photo<--) with us. We won't be able to visit Mt K. as it's a National Park and dogs are not allowed in. This rule is rigidly enforced. This is a very biased rule 'cos my GSD is a fantastic tracker dog. She can track me down everywhere I go. She has even tracked me by tracking the scent of our car on a dirt road which caused all kinds of problems. Our trip to the snow will therefore be to the not so high country but there will certainly be plenty of snow. I think my my GSD will love the snow, she will either love it or she will hate it. At least she will keep us warm in the TD.
Wet seasons are what we in the North are used to. The wet season in the far north can last for up to six months. You can be stuck between two towns with nowhere to go and no way to get there. You can be stranded for the entire six months if you're not careful. Many tourists have been stuck for three months and have needed a chopper to rescue them. At least it doesn't snow but you can develop mildew everywhere and other "nasties" on your body. Perhaps the snow would be better.

Kody

[rowerwet]

my sister lives in Lake Placid, NY, almost every winter her family makes a snow cave and they sleep in it. easily -20F to -40F doesn't matter, the snow makes great insulation and the cave stays about 40F all night. most of the snow shoers, ice climbers and nordic skiers build snow caves to spend the night up in the Adirondack high peaks. there isn't a tent that will really be comfortable in the cold and snow, you can tell who slept in the tent, they're bundled up like the michelin man, the snow cavers are wearing their base layers. I've even seen people sleeping in the park service leantoo's in the snow
http://www.adirondack.net/tour/hike/highpeaks.cfm my sister and BIL did most of these peaks in the summer and have done a couple in the winter.

[Hillmann]

It is one thing to sleep in a snow cave and deal with the cold one night a year. But I plan to spend 3 or four night a week in my camper out on the ice once it gets thick enough and I want to be comfortable It will be my shelter when fishing. Also, a snow cave at night is warmer then an uninsulated camper when it gets down to -20 (once it gets colder than that I probably won't be out there) because the snow acts as insulation.

[mikeschn]

Don't they make a pellet feeder that would keep the stove going all night?

Mike...

[Shadow Catcher]

I can think of ways to make it work using a remote wood boiler but it would tend to be heavy and on some levels complex.

I came across the current usage from the Espar D2 diesel heater that I measured with a VOM. Start up which is when the heater is first turned on draws 8.3A and this primarily is powering the glow pin. Once it is firing it draws 2.8A on boost 1.8A on high 1A on medium and .7A on low. Fuel usage is .07 GPH on boost and .03GPH on low.

[droid_ca]

Don't they make a pellet feeder that would keep the stove going all night?

Mike...

Yes they do Mike that has been an option that I have been considering myself

[droid_ca]

Mike...
http://www.clarrypelletstove.com/
http://www.cylinderstoves.com/pellet-bu ... -p-91.html
http://www.walltentshop.com/RileyPellet.html
These are just a few of what is out there heck there is even a video of a double barrel stove with an oil adapter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDWzaGV ... re=related

[Hillmann]

Droid_ca,

Those look pretty good, I will have to look into them a bit more. At least one of them doesn't require electric, it is gravity fed.

[mikeschn]

[pete42]

clever stove it's hard to think of something new something that no one else has already thought of.


pete

[KevinR]

Put CO and smoker detectors in there with you. Just to be on the safe side.

[rowerwet]

while that pellet furnace looks cool, it seems like overkill for a TD. If I ever camp in the cold I plan on an extension cord, or the four candles in boxes that mike has posted, or my lantern heater. how much heat do you need in a small box with insulation? preheat it with a 12v heater like slow does and you should be fine almost anywhere.

[Hillmann]

After looking at those gravity fed pellet stoves I started to plan how to make one for my camper but soon realized it didn't make much sense. I decided I would be better off building a new wood stove with a bigger firebox so it will burn for more than a couple hours, it will take up less room, be easier to build, and cheaper then build a pellet stove plus I don't have to worry about running out of pellets.

They are a neat idea but I just don't think they will work for me.