Small wood stove in 1995 40 ft Safari Serengeti

[Livingfreeinbc]

I recently installed a nice little wood stove in my Safari. It's a Drolet Spark 2. I was able to install it and put the chimney through the window opening and then used proper residential type double walled chimney on the outside. I was able to do the entire installation without drilling a single hole in the siding outside or inside the coach. The only holes drilled are tiny self-tapping screws that secure the sheet metal on both sides of the window frame where the chimney passes from the inside to outside. I used the mobile home regulations and it is to residential code. I will easily be able to remove the stove and chimney in about an hour when it warms up every year and it will leave no signs of ever have being there.
This has got to be the best modification that I have made to the coach. It keeps things toasty warm and there is next to no humidity on any of my windows. I also disconnected the propane furnace heat register in the kitchen floor and blow heat down into the basement to keep it from freezing as well. The floors stay nice and warm as well. I was spending about $1,000 a month on propane to run the furnace but with the wood stove it's just a matter of going up the mountain and getting firewood for myself. Total cost for the wood stove, stove pipe, chimney and chimney installation kit was about $2,000. It paid for itself in 2 months and will heat my coach for free for many years to come. The only downfall is that it's a little bit messy but that's okay I have a vacuum cleaner LOL. Has anybody else done this or are thinking about doing this? I'm amazed that almost nobody that I've spoken to has. I'm interested in your comments and or questions. Have a great day.

[brstough2004@gmail.com]

I would love to see pictures of this setup!

[TDJohn]

Yes, please post pictures of your setup, especially the chimney. If the photos don't load, you likely need to shrink the file of the photos, and then they will go through.

[Livingfreeinbc]

[Livingfreeinbc]

[Livingfreeinbc]

[TDJohn]

Nice setup! Looks like your pup really appreciates that cozy radiant heat.
Do you go through a lot of wood on the frigid nights?

It's hard to tell from the angle of the picture, but is the diamond aluminum sheet larger on the inside or the same size as visualized on the outside framed in the window. BTW, there is another fellow on this forum, also from Canada, who installed a direct vent propane heater, also did a nice job.
Here is the link to his setup:

https://safarifriends.org/viewtopic.php ... ent+heater

BTW, both of our coaches share the identical colors, right down to the shade of blue.

[Safari Kenagy]

That is super cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Livingfreeinbc]

Hi John, the aluminum Checker plate on the interior is exactly the same size as the outside perimeter of the window frame and is screwed to it with a bit of canopy tape as a gasket so the cold air doesn't come in it's also insulated between the two sheets from the inside to the outside using pink fiberglass insulation. The only holes in the entire setup are the ones that hold the aluminum Checker plate to the window frame and they're tiny self-tapping screws. We had -31° C last week and the wood stove was definitely struggling to keep up until I covered a few windows with blankets and had to load the stove every few hours because it was on high the whole time other than that it works excellent and doesn't go through much wood at all. I installed it right around the end of October and have used about two cord of wood to this point. . Considering that propane was costing me about $1,000 a month this was an excellent alternative and it will cost next to nothing to heat my home for years to come. At -31° C it also kept my basement around 10 degrees Celsius so that is another huge problem that I will never have to worry about as well. This coming summer I am going to come up with some sort of an idea use the heat in the basement to keep my batteries warm as well because the cold really affects them obviously.

[TDJohn]

Thank you for the feedback. When it gets that cold, that is when you can see and feel the lack of insulation. That stove looks like it has some decent btu output capability, and yet from what you were describing, it was just keeping up. This kind of feedback helps put this reality in perspective.

Something to be aware of, or at least to check on your coach...check the back side of your black tank, looking under the coach from the rear axle forward. On my coach, the back side of the black tank is fully exposed to the elements. So, if it is really cold, and especially if the wind is blowing hard toward the back of the coach, you can end up freezing your black tank and cracking it. I don't know if yours was built the same way, but it would be worth to double check it. Here are some photos to help you, and others visualize what to look for...

view of exposed balk tank