coal stove. best think ever

minstrel

Hi to anyone who spends time in there van during winter.
I built myself a tiny coal stove. Built from a lengh of 4" square steel tube. Its brill!!!!!! It removes any condesation and gives a very warm snug van for about a £1. A day in coal. If was buildin a new van i would build in from day one as it is i have to remove half a seat during winter to house it. Happy buildin
 

minstrel

thanks

Am relieved got a pic up:) :) :) :) in south wales at mo. Not cold but fire makes it nice in here lol
 

mariesnowgoose

Splitty67's got a stove in his van (well, his old one, think he's doing another one up at mo so may not have stove in it).

The heat it chucks out is amazing!

I love solid fuel stoves in campers :)
 

minstrel

great heat

The only prob with it is dogs love sitting in front of it so that bit of floor has to be lept over lol. Dose dry them of well
 

Rodeo

ooh,I like this a lot! Very interesting..another little project ! Id ruled out a coal type stove as I thought too big.This sounds just right! Is that pic the actual stove? What sort of area is required round it to prevent burning/scorching and for gen safety?
 
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Rodeo

Is that a insulated flue youve got ? (said the bishop to the actress)
 

Rodeo

*******...yes I thought so too,thats why I asked if it was the actual stove.
 

Rodeo

Have you looked on the site he linked to? They give basic calcs for 4"/5" etc
 

Byronic

If I had to choose I'd prefer a woodburner or wood/coalburner perhaps making use of of possibly freely available fuel here and there. Where do you get coal these days (yep I know coal merchant!). Might only be 4 or 5" dia. but you do need a fair bit of safety air space around it, that is if it gets to a decent temperature.
Personally can't see what's wrong with the ubiquitous conventional flued gas heater, fan type or passive, takes up minimal space, fuel generally easily available supplied in clean compact bottles, and no smoke signals informing the nosey where you're wildcamping:D But I stand to be convinced otherwise, and each to their own etc.
 

Rodeo

Having built gas bottle 'pot belly' stoves and such for the patio heater,I can assure you they get VERY VERY hot! Admitedly a larger surface area on a large gas bottle,but I bet those little stoves chuck out some heat,especially when the sides/back of the area are steel,which acts as a radiator as well. my gas bottle stoves ,you couldnt get within 6 feet of ,they glowed red and white,and thats stoking them with pallet wood and old branches of trees etc,and a rear flue arrangement
 

wolvesamongus

I had a woodburner in my previous van, i was always worried about the insurance angle, now sold it took a while because of the woodburner two potential buyers asked me who i was insured with, i said that you had to keep quiet about it, they were not happy about it and in fact they phoned around, no company would touch them with a stove in so did not buy. I am suprised that a lot of you guys and girls advertise the fact that you have them installed, i never did until i wanted to sell it, no more solid fuel heating for me from now on.
 

Byronic

n brown said:
the 13-15kg bottles are too big for vans,i usually use 7.5 kg,but also made them from camping gaz bottles,fire extinguishers,6 litre compressor tanks ,air brake reservoirs etc.anything to stay warm for free.i take the point that gas is cheap,but sometimes not cheap enough ! [plus a nice fire is nice !]
Click to expand...

The OP specifies "coal burner" which is why I stated that a wood/coalburner (free wood) would be my choice, and I ask, where in practise would you regularly source coal let alone free coal?

I note also that a post mentions potential insurance problems I would myself would have mentioned this but didn't want to add fuel to the fire!

Most people answer insurance questions truthfully only because they, ie the insurancers have a disposition to find excuses to renege on payouts, so if you lie to them "knowing" that this could give them the excuse to cop out of responsibility, then you've really fooled yourself and not only that but you've paid out possibly £100s in premium for potentially no insurance cover. Merely a bit of paper to keep the cops happy.
 

Byronic

But how do you answer their all encompassing question "that you are obliged to inform them of anything that might materially affect the insurance cover" an amateur built woodburner constructed from a gas cylinder could give them the excuse they are looking for. The insurance cos. list a few obvious health problems for the punter to tick, plus pre-existing conditions then "are there any other medical conditions you should inform us of etc".

Most oven/cookers are professionally made by a companies working to the appropiate standards (hopefully), of course the insurers can then possibly require proof that the ultrasafe appliance was installed by a competently qualified person. We can go round and round on self builds and insurance implications and end up with an endless list of ambiguities.

I was once asked if I was a professional when I attempted to insure a self build, exactly what profession wasn't specified. A friend suggested that as I was a professional (not vehicles or motorhomes) I could reply in the affirmative, ha ha, I don't think that's what they meant, and I don't think the Judge would either!

,
Car insurers don't ask you if you have homemade brakes on your car but they might be a bit concerned in the event of an accident if they discovered your brake calipers were home made castings.
 
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