OTR heat if you remove the bus system ?

[someguy]

I know this is Neanderthal but going to throw it out there anyway... Wood fired heat is feasible & actually is synonymous with boon-docking. We thought it was far fetched (in the RV world) until spending time boon-docking in outlying areas in the great white north.

I'm totally for an indoor wood stove/fireplace.   I detest the fake electric ones.  One could use a propane fireplace as well, but their efficiency is pretty low. ~40%.

Would be nothing better than to have an indoor fire in winter or on a cool, rainy summer night.   This deserves more thought.

With some ingenuity and copper stilling techniques heat from a wood stove can be utilized in numerous ways. Many GWN RV's had wood stove chimneys on them. On our Camp Malemute in Tok Alaska wifey & I have been toying around with the idea of trying a winter there in the bus. Why not? Full hook ups including 50 amp RV plug in - that would cover the electric heat. 4 portable 30 lb. LP tanks on board with two stand-up 100 lb. LP tanks back-up for redundant on board propane furnaces. 200 gal. fuel oil tank and vintage 50,000 btu Sears oil burning furnace. So that covers 3 of the 4 heat sources. Then there's the true reliable back up - a vintage Jotul 602 wood stove. What could possibly go wrong to leave you completely out in the cold?

LOL. Seems you have it covered.

Oh forgot to mention the neighbor has a small guest house as an emergency get away & fuel stations / fuel delivery is within a mile or 2 away... Crazy but thinkin' 'bout it... Just thinking out loud, carry on

[DoubleEagle]

I would suggest making a skirting barrier all around the bottom of the bus with a vapor barrier and something like bales of hay, assuming that you might have prolonged periods of deep sub zero temperatures. The interior walls of the bus should have a good vapor barrier and ample insulation. Any metal protruding from the outside to the inside will develop perma-frost. The wood stove will need to be a proportional size for your space, otherwise it might get to be too hot. The Jotul 602 is a good stove, but it might be too big for your square footage. Hopefully, you would have access to hardwood firewood because the softwoods won't last long. Don't forget to get some Cabin Fever medicine, since you possibly will be buried in snow.

[Jim Blackwood]

Biggest problem with a wood stove is bringing in the wood and taking out the ashes. Both of which are dirty. It may be fine for an occasional decorative fireplace and we all love the thought of it, but for practicality in terms of a permanent heat source it went out with the horse and buggy. Try it for awhile and see. Your wife will not thank you for it. Also a bit bulky and inconvenient for an emergency heat source in a bus.

Jim

[DoubleEagle]

Biggest problem with a wood stove is bringing in the wood and taking out the ashes. Both of which are dirty. It may be fine for an occasional decorative fireplace and we all love the thought of it, but for practicality in terms of a permanent heat source it went out with the horse and buggy. Try it for awhile and see. Your wife will not thank you for it. Also a bit bulky and inconvenient for an emergency heat source in a bus.

Jim

There are many thousands of people using firewood as a main source of heat who would disagree. Nothing beats the aroma and charm of a wood stove. When you come in from outside when it is bitterly cold there is nothing that thaws you out better than standing by the stove. So what you have to chop wood and take out ashes, it's good exercise. A properly sized stove would work in a bus, given safe spacing and wall protection. I have happily burned hundreds of cords of wood, and the only chimney fire was caused by my wife putting too big a piece of wood in, preventing the door from being closed all the way. That was 35 years ago, and she still thanks me for not bringing it up. 

[someguy]

Case in point with the fridge - a Dometic Elite 2+2 13.5 cubic foot fridge is $3,000 new and pretty hard to find used.    A similar residential fridge can be purchased for $1000 or so.   That leaves $2,000 to invest in solar and batteries.  Can one build a solar and battery system that generates 1.5KW of power to run the fridge *most days* ?   

Pretty close, yes.   Solar panels cost about $1 per watt.   Tesla 5.2 KWHr Model S battery packs presently sell for $1100.  The cost of these components is falling quite rapidly.   Assuming one gets an average of 2 hours of full sunshine most days, 750 watts of solar will generate enough power for the fridge.   Assuming the fridge uses 1.5 KWHr per day, a Model S battery would store enough energy to power it for 3 days with no sunshine.

[Jim Blackwood]

You're talking about a $150K coach and you're going to complain about a $3K fridge? I'll guarantee you that a 20lb propane bottle will last a whole lot longer than 3 days. And you won't have to worry about the sun.

But it seems you may be a techie. Yeah I tried that path for awhile. Got tired of the failures and expense and unfufilled claims of BET (bleeding edge technology and usually a bad bet) and now I lean more toward the tried and proven. Cheaper, easier, more usable, less frustrating and more reliable. Not all the bells and whistles but I find I can do without them. That's alright though, somebody has to make the sacrifice. Might as well be you. Hopefully it won't leave too many scars.

Jim

[Lin]

Companies like Dickinson Marine have some stoves/heaters that are commonly used on boats that may work for you.

http://dickinsonmarine.com/

[buswarrior]

Money well spent, if you choose a Dickinson product.

Dry lovely silent heat.

With a small tank up in a cupboard, gravity fed, no power needed.

Have one on a 37 foot boat, 2 winters now, successfully winter live aboard in Lake Ontario in Toronto.

Ask if they have any quality control units coming available, for some modest savings.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior