Does anyone have an electric fireplace insert on their Skoolie?

[rose717]

So one of the things I thought of is that I’d love to get one of those electric fireplace inserts and build a sort of small mantel around it in my living space towards the front of the bus. I’m still in the dreaming/saving/planning phase, but I’m wondering if anyone has done this? Or is it even a good idea? I plan to have a pretty major solar system for when I’m off grid, with a generator for backup, so theoretically, I think I should have enough power for one, but I could be totally wrong. I’m still learning and figuring everything out so please be gentle!

I’ve attached a pic of what I’m talking about for reference. The pic is not of a specific fireplace insert I’m considering, I have not yet researched which one I would actually want to go with.

Thanks!

 

[AlphaHare]

Good idea or not is subjective - if you like it then it's an interesting idea.

From a power perspective, that's going to pull 1.5x the power of an air conditioning unit (nominally 900-1000W). 1500 watts is a lot of power for a battery system, and you'll almost always need to run the generator or be plugged in to shore power to use it very long. Personally, the sound of a generator would kill any ambience from the fireplace for me - nothing cozy about a generator.

Electric heat in a skoolie isn't a good idea IMO. There are better ways to heat a bus.

Maybe you can get the same ambience with a fireplace on TV and diesel heater....

 

[skoontz]

My parents have an electric fireplace in their RV, but pretty much only stay at RV sites with 50 amp service. They cannot use it without being on shore power or generator.

 

[nikitis]

Power restraints are really the sole reason people don't go that route. Any heating element done via electricity is going to automatically be your most power hungry items. This includes burner tops, ovens, heaters, etc.

Diesel heaters are the choice of heating in Skoolies because diesel is more power per square inch, and generates more heat. Also diesel is a little easier to procure as you just tie it into your main diesel tank.

As far as safety goes, as long as there is some upper ventilation provided for heat to escape to they should be safe to use. It's just power hungry.

Wood fire is nice but those are heavy adding excess weight, and also fire hazards if not mounted correctly or ventilated properly. Becomes a missile hazard if not truly mounted well and you wreck. Those are why insurance companies dislike them.

I'm not even saying not to do wood fire, but if you do decided to do wood fire, you need to REALLY ensure that thing cannot be ripped out of it's place with force. The stove should be mounted to the hat channels in some secure way, and not just placed on a stone hearth alone. I plan on working up some official safety standards for wood fire stoves once I get around to that part myself, and will document what should be done after having done it myself. I plan to do some testing with putting some artificial force on my stove to equate to getting in a wreck and if it budges then it's not safe to do. More research still yet needs to be done and safety tests and standards need to be made for wood fire stoves to make it insurance friendly.