Any cheaper alternative to Cubic Mini

[MambaJack]

At the point of needing to put heat in a bus for the winter. I like the idea of the a wood stove since it doesn't fill the cabin with moisture, but am having a hard time finding something on the cheap.

The cubic mini with heat shield has low clearance tolerances which I will need. the space i have to put it is about 2' wide. Anybody use some different wood stove in their conversion that handles the tight tolerances well?

also interested in experience with the mini and if those who have installed found it worth the cost?

Thanks,
dave

[brokedown]

I looked at wood stoves a lot including the cubic mini. I don't really want to be managing Yet Another Fuel though so I'm planning on a diesel heater instead.

[MambaJack]

I don't mind dealing with the wood at all, and love the idea of a fireplace type atmosphere, just looking for an more economical option.

[Bluesky]

I had a "trash burner" in my old bus for awhile. I liked that it had somewhat insulated sides. Here's one: https://reno.craigslist.org/atq/d/an...674602355.html

[crowcreekcabin]

I have a cubic mini in my short bus here in Alaska.. I love it. Only heating 14 feet of insulated living space, so my experience might be different than others... Not only do I get lots of good comments about how "cute" it is.. but it really throws the heat and is super easy to control. It is very small, even after measuring out the space, I was surprised at how small it is in person... I got about 2 hours of burn using white spruce.. (not a hardwood), so with some good hard wood I bet you could get 3 hours on just a handful of wood... That being said... It would need to be loaded up and tinkered with several times to get clear through a cold night. So if you like sitting and watching the fire through the glass door and you feel that messing with the fire is "added ambiance" this is perfect. The cool factor is high... BUT, If you need something to get through the whole night, you will have to get a bigger stove... period..

[crowcreekcabin]

I looked at numerous other small stoves and considered making one, but am happy with the cubic.. works great, heat shields are very effective, they mailed it to me!.. even in Alaska.. Fit and finish is excellent and it feels safe in how tight the firebox is. You can put the fire out if you close all the air vents, something that I can't say about some cheaper cast iron stove I have had in the past..

[Meddle]

I have a cubic mini grizzly. Have not installed it yet but have burned it many times. It really cranks out the heat! The workmanship and materials were also of great quality. My only complaint is the flu. It should be made to accept a 3" stove pipe in the i.d. of the flu. I made an adapter so all is well.

[MambaJack]

Thanks, I just need to pull the trigger i guess. I love the idea of it. Is it a nono to have propane appliances in a bus if you also have a wood stove?

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by MambaJack

Is it a nono to have propane appliances in a bus if you also have a wood stove?

I sure hope not! We've got the Cubic Grizzly stove, it's right next to our propane range....but we've installed a propane leak detector as well as a few shut-off valves for the oven, the water heater, and one for the whole system. If you're worried about things going BOOM, I'd suggest putting some valves in where you can shut off the gas.

The Cubic is a nice stove, and we're still learning the ins and outs of it. We've got a much larger wood stove in our home, so we know our way around them. The Cubic takes much smaller chunks of wood, and heats the bus nicely, but we only get maybe 90 minutes of burn time before we need to load it up again. Still playing around with the damper and getting to learn it better....perhaps we'll be able to slow the burn and get more time between loads. We'll find out in the next month or so when we take an extended trip.

[crowcreekcabin]

X2 on the stovepipe adapter...