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Old 03-09-2016, 02:34 PM   #1
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Wood Stove Advice?

Hi All,

I'm currently looking into a wood stove to put in my bus in the somewhat distant future.

I figure before making rash decisions on my own it could be within my best interest to consult the skoolie community.

I found this stove locally, and the owner said he could have it delivered near me for $100.
Free standing wood stove

My other option I was considering would be a mini stove such as this tiny cubicministove.
Cubic Mini Wood Stoves - CB-1008 "CUB" Cubic Mini Wood Stove

In my mind:
Craigslist stove:
Pros: More space to enjoy a fire, less log prep needed, probably sturdier, more economical.

Cons: Really heavy(200lb-ish), takes up more space, probably less efficient.

Ministove:
Pros: very compact, lightweight, more efficient, small logs will be easier to store.

cons: Demands log prep, more expensive

Anyway I am sure there is a lot I am not thinking about, so I was hoping for the skoolie communities input.

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Old 03-10-2016, 01:26 PM   #2
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There's also these.

Technical Specs - GrayStove.com

Where are you located??
I picked up these 2 stoves in the midwest for a great price.
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Old 03-10-2016, 02:05 PM   #3
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Most of these smaller wood stoves can hold an actual heating fire for only about two hours burning wood. You can get them to hold a fire for up to 5 hours but you're not getting much heat from it. Some of these smaller stoves have a water jacket built into the firebox which can be very handy. As you mentioned, cutting small wood for a small stove is a real pain.

I went through this same thought process. These small antique stoves are kind of cute, but they have loose plates on top that make noise. You can get by with a cute antique stove, and I've used similar stoves for a number of years. Most of these small antique stoves are actually designed to burn coal, giving them a nice long burn time. It's simply hard to build a wood fire vertically in a small stove, and next to impossible if your wood isn't nice and dry.

I chose an airtight medium size, actual designed for wood, stove. I can actually shut it down and the fire will die out. It can hold a fire for an easy 10 hours or more. Another thing that made me decide on this stove was a pedestal that could easily be bolted to the floor. I don't want a wood stove hitting me in the back of the head during a crash.

A real wood stove is multiple times more efficient than an antique stove. It all comes down to personal preference and your actual climatic conditions. I find a real wood stove much easier to cook or heat water with than the antique stoves.
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Old 03-10-2016, 03:36 PM   #4
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Not to highjack the thread, but I've oftened wondered if it's possible/safe/not really stupid to try to burn your woodstove while in motion. Does anyone do that?
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Old 03-10-2016, 03:46 PM   #5
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Good question about using the stove in motion. I have a friend who has a stove that burns dried corn. Per him, it is cheaper than wood and it runs 6-7 hours on a load of corn. It is designed like a pellet stove with a feeder, but the dried corn (again, per him) is cheaper per btu than other options. Some of the stoves you have pictured here or on CL are probably not air tight.
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Old 03-10-2016, 04:49 PM   #6
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Not to highjack the thread, but I've oftened wondered if it's possible/safe/not really stupid to try to burn your woodstove while in motion. Does anyone do that?
Bad idea, at speed the motion of air over the chimney will create a vacuum inside the stove and cause it to #1 overheat like a mofo, like the stove turns cherry red hot... and #2 it will most likely turn the inside of your bus into a huge ashtray... you can.... but I wouldn't recommend it...
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Old 03-10-2016, 06:27 PM   #7
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Not to highjack the thread, but I've oftened wondered if it's possible/safe/not really stupid to try to burn your woodstove while in motion. Does anyone do that?
Also law enforcement proably wouldn't be to keen on seeing hot embers blowing out of the chimney,Especially here in Ca.
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:00 PM   #8
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All these things are true if the circumstances are right.

If you're using your wood stove while you're traveling you must be pretty darn cold, because the bus heaters are usually fairly adequate while you're traveling. If you're in a blizzard I don't think anyone is going to gripe about your wood stove.

Concerning creating a vacuum through your stove pipe while traveling, it completely depends on how you set it up so as usual common sense goes a long way. If it had an unlimited supply of wood and oxygen it could surely overheat, but why would there be an unlimited amount of fuel in the stove while you're going down the highway or any other time, vacuum or no vacuum.

The hippies used wood stoves in the bus while traveling back in the 60s, and they found that charcoal briquettes were actually a more discrete way of staying warm while in town.
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Old 03-11-2016, 08:05 PM   #9
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Thank you everyone! Stu & Filo: I'm just south of Seattle, those are cute stoves how much makes them a good price?

Robin97396: Thank you for your wisdom, I will try to delegate some space for a real wood stove. Though I may learn about the tiny stoves the hard way if I can't make the necessary space.

dan-fox: Thank you for hijacking my thread and breathing some life into it, thanks to you I got to learn that I shouldn't drive with a flame in the bus (probably). (Thank you to Slaughridge for that).

Much learned, I guess for now I will sit tight on the wood stove until I can make space outside the bus to store it/inside the bus to keep it. It's not like I need heat until September anyway.
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Old 03-11-2016, 09:10 PM   #10
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The one on the right I paid $80.00 the one on the left $100.00,picked them up at a auction in Ill. I have family there so went back in Nov for Thanksgiving, rented a trailer which cost me $400.00 BUT I also picked up another stove for $80.00 while back there brought it to Ca sold it for $800.00, didn't make back everything I spent but we were going anyway.
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Old 03-12-2016, 10:27 AM   #11
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That is the best use of antique stoves I've heard. Take then to California and sell then for ten times the purchase price. Incidentally it's illegal to use the old stoves because they are not emission compliant, particularily in California. I realize the $800 stove has found a nice home and will probably have a plant growing out of it.

Honestly I use propane for heating over 90% of the time. The old hippies used charcoal briquettes for heat when in town (no smoke) and when on the highway.
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Old 03-12-2016, 12:14 PM   #12
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If you're worried about long burns in a wood stove, say, overnight, they do burn coal as well....... I myself am planning on a diesel powered cab heater like the truckers have now. It will tap into my current fuel tank and run independently of the motor. (it's easier to carry an extra 5 gallons of diesel if needed, and, I don't have to store wood or what not and lose more needed space!

-Doc
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Old 03-12-2016, 01:24 PM   #13
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Yeah, what Docsgsxr said. I'd like to have a small garage in the back of my bus and I don't want to fill it with firewood. There's dirt and bugs that come in on firewood all the time. These days you have to be pretty far out in the wild before people stop caring if you're cutting wood to burn for heat or cooking. I love wood heat, but it very often hasn't been practical to harvest firewood while on trips.

Docsgsxr, does it get pretty cold down in AZ during the winters?
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Old 03-12-2016, 04:10 PM   #14
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There are nights in December & January that we get down to the upper 20's. Up in the mountains only an hour away, they get into sub zero temps.

I won't be using my skooklie for living there though. I travel for work, so Id rather stay in it than a hotel any day. The coldest place I've worked so far is around the Chicago area, some nights it gets down to -30 if you are unlucky....

So thats why a woodstove is great for my garage, but not my bus.
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:01 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Robin97396 View Post
That is the best use of antique stoves I've heard. Take then to California and sell then for ten times the purchase price. Incidentally it's illegal to use the old stoves because they are not emission compliant, particularily in California. I realize the $800 stove has found a nice home and will probably have a plant growing out of it.

Honestly I use propane for heating over 90% of the time. The old hippies used charcoal briquettes for heat when in town (no smoke) and when on the highway.
The couple who bought it are preppers,they showed us pictures of the house they built from 2 shipping containers he welded together & the inside actually looked really nice & the stove is going right in the middle,Their off grid on some land growing & canning their food supply, he even showed me how he designed the entry to the front door so if someone is shooting at him he has to zig zag to get to the door. They drove 180 miles one way to pick it up.
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:22 PM   #16
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Sounds like they are ready for the Zombie apocalypse.
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:29 PM   #17
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Sounds like they are ready for the Zombie apocalypse.
Do Zombie's shoot at you????
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:35 PM   #18
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That is the best use of antique stoves I've heard. Take then to California and sell then for ten times the purchase price. Incidentally it's illegal to use the old stoves because they are not emission compliant, particularily in California. I realize the $800 stove has found a nice home and will probably have a plant growing out of it.
Also I don't think it's illegal to use them I believe if your in the business of selling stoves & fireplace inserts they now have to meet emission standards then they throw in the no burn days your not allowed to use them unless it's your primary heat source BUT your not allowed to make it your primary if your residence was originally built with something different
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:36 PM   #19
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Do Zombie's shoot at you????
The next generation ones just might!
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:50 PM   #20
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Ok, so no plant then. That's still amazing, and it just goes to show that you have to go a long way for the perfect stove, even if you live in a CONEX container. I'm actually considering containers for replacing my house.
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