Installing a log burner in a mobile home

[Tree Man Tom]

I will be moving into a mobile home/static caravan within the next couple months, and im wanting to install a log burner. Anybody done it? Best way of going about it etc..?

 

Thanks in advance

[Rob D]

I got one of these for my mobile home... Windy Smithy

 

 

She's stoked up as we speak!

[Goaty]

Yes Ive done it, used existing hole where gas fire went through ceiling, protect the walls and floor in immediate vicinity with fire resistant materials and I put a shield on lower part of flue to reflect heat back and protect wall, lived warmer than everyone we know probably. Used steel tube from stockholders instead of expensive flues. 1 piece no joints, only problem is as the air outside the caravan cools flue it cokes up the flue and needs clearing every 6 weeks or so. Therefore insulate the exterior part of the flue.

My stove is an 8kw sunstove I got from ebay about 5 years ago. £129 I think, Hoping to upgrade to a stove with boiler and glass sealed door for this winter. 3 years ago I remember it being frosty outside at midnight and I was sat in my underwear with door open sweating profusely the fire went well for some reason and the metal glowed cherry red. These stoves are a bit messy and really best for an outbuilding, but you can run em on just sawdust and shavings from the wood processing. I burn just the rubbish wood I get that wouldn't be saleable. Also highly recommend you have a hole in caravan flooor or wall nearby for air supply, otherwise it will suck cold draught pass you to feed the fire with oxygen. There is a webpage somewhere which tells you how to work out hole size per kw of the burner.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Goaty
smiley

[Stuart Witt]

I got one of these for my mobile home... Windy Smithy

 

 

She's stoked up as we speak!

 

I also purchased a wood burner from them! I got the Louis ranger.

It's currently in my lwb sprinter which I converted in to a camper.

 

Well worth it in my opinion.

[steve@black]

Got a 10kw with a back boiler running six rads and heating the hot water in a static and people ask if i am cold .My advice would be fire board and fireboard once these things go up thats it. As for the flue keep your eyes open once I had decided to put one in I found 3m of selkirk twin lined flue in a week behind customers sheds ect. Put one in you will never regret it.

[Paul Smith]

Where did you run the twin flue from, presumably just before the roof. An 8" pipe would look silly from the stove and you would loose a lot of radiant heat from the stove pipe.

 

That is a good find because that stuff is expensive!

[Justme]

Use single skinned to about 150mm from the celling then change to double skinned. Make the hole bigger by at least the recommended clearance for the type of twin wall you are using (ours is 65mm). Line the hole & celling with fire proof board possibly also down the wall behind the flue if the wall is closer than about 200mm (put the wall & celling board on 25mm spacers so the air can rise behind the board to cool the wall). Use a suitable roof penetration kits to seal it off. Support the flue as much as possible not just relying on the stove & roof fixings. You will need at least 2.5 to 3m of flue from the stove top. Use a good rain cap. Make sure you can either sweep the flue from inside the stove or fit a trap or access point in the single skin bit.

[rowan lee]

A friend moved into a mobile recently, and installed a log burner. Its only a temp move while he builds a house on the same site. He wants to sell the mobile home on after he has finished the build, so rather then ripping a hole out through the roof of the mobile, he decided to remove one of the two door entrances, and replace it with a modified stud screen and house the chimney pipe out through that instead. Now when he sells on, he only has to remove this housing and replace the old door again.

[steve@black]

deer man, single from the top of the burner to about a foot from the ceiling, may have been lucky finds one of the sections even had a cowl on the top and the joiner clips arent cheap either,had to buy them.

[brewx1]

Looking at heating options for a camper van myself at the mo, woodburner I think would be the preferred option. Seen these on ebay which might be of interest, WOODBURNER, YURT, CAMPER, BOAT, GARAGE, HUT | eBay

The Windy Smithy burners do look good.

 

having the air intake for a woodburner from outside the vehicle would seem like a good idea for a burner installed in a smallish space. I've seen domestic woodburners with that facility, but nothing really suitable for a camper so it may be a diy job.

 

I'd like to hear opinions on eberspacher or propex systems too if anyone's got any experience of those and I can jump on the thread a little:blushing: