Can you place a lit kerosene lantern in a wood stove that has a chimney? In a relatively small room such as a truck camper, would you be exposed to carbon dioxide or would it go out the chimney as if burning wood?
Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to use fuels in things not meant for them. I don’t know of a lamp would produce enough heat to push CO /CO2 out the chimney- but it’s very likely the lantern is not going to be adequate for all night heat.
It’s also a bad idea to leave lanterns running unattended- though depending on the stove this may be mitigated, it’s not particularly safe.
IMO? If it’s a matter of staying warm, you’ll be better off with plenty of warm blankets or sleeping bags - remember to layer them on top and bottom.
– and a hot water bottle.
It helps keep your feet warm for a little while, but honestly? The water bottle is most useful for something to drink when you wake up- keeping it from being totally frozen.
I’m sure a purpose made item has been invented by now, but I’ve had good results filling a large steel canteen with boiling water then putting it inside two or three thick wool socks and having it still steamy when I open it in the morning.
nalgene bottles also work with boiling water.
They make little pillows filled with seeds or cherry pits. You can microwave 'em to get them hot. Love those things. Would recommend the seed filled ones over the cherry pit ones. The cherry pits feel coarse.
Hot snaps. Brilliant.
Why not put wood in the wood stove though?
Because it doesn’t provide all-night heat, only about 4 hours
Neither will a lamp though?
It will provide like 0 hours of heat.
Use wood or eco-logs, close the chimney flue key a little once it’s lit so it burns slower and longer.It’s a small stove so 4 hours at best, fully dampened with hardest wood possible
I think you overestimate how much is required to heat the back of a truck, even a few candles makes a noticeable difference
It never hurts to pack a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector when you’re experimenting with something like this.
90% of the heat will go up the chimney. There’s got to be a better way. My buddy installed a propane heater in his VW Vanagon. He’s a pretty handy guy though
that’s going to depend on how open the flue is. You can probably adjust most wood stoves so it works properly, you’d just want a monoxide detector
I did a little websearching and found some tent heaters that could probably do fine in a truck camper as well. They’re mostly propane-powered but there’s a kerosene one on the list with a run time of 8 to 12 hours that’s beefy enough to do a whole cabin. Some of the ones listed include oxygen sensors to automatically shut off if they detect poor ventilation, probably a good idea if you’re leaving it run overnight.
I suspect that the best approach if you’re trying to “improvise” and are worried about poor ventilation would be to not bother keeping the whole space heated overnight and just invest in a really good sleeping bag or some really good blankets. You won’t care if the rest of the camper is cold while you’re unconscious, only keeping yourself warm matters and with enough insulation your own body heat will suffice for that. I keep a rolled up set of wool blankets in my car just in case I end up skidding off the road in a snowstorm and need to spend a while waiting for help to come, for example. Wool blankets can be quite surprisingly good at keeping you toasty in a cold environment and can be used when you’re just sitting around during a frosty day, too.
Problem with butane heaters is they produce moisture, I found it counter productive especially in the winter. I had actual icicles from my ceiling once. Those are nice for quickly warming up in the morning though.
Hell, a lantern isn’t going to heat a tent worth a damn, so expecting it to keep the surface of a metal stove warm enough to heat a bigger area is failboat.
I mean, it’s a few degrees, maybe, but once it’s inside the stove, that goes away
Edit: replied to wrong comment
I wouldn’t; the odds of it tipping or otherwise having issues while you’re sleeping aren’t high, but the risks they present are.
Dumb question here : if it’s inside of a wood burning stove does it really matter?
In my wood stove, at least, it would drip though into the ash catch, which is a much thinner metal than the cast iron stove body and not really meant to have something actively burning in it. Kerosene also likely burns hotter than wood.
So you’d have a too hot fire burning in all the wrong places in the stove, it might be ok and it might burn a hole through something and start a fire.
“Yo mom yo shits on fire”.
Good point.
some wood stoves have gratings or vents that burning oil could get through. exceedingly unlikely for sure, but measure the irritation vs the benefit - a fucking oil candle isn’t going to put off enough heat to heat up the damned wood stove, much less the room the wood stove is in.
the potential risk is low, and with burning oil, risk is high, but the benefits are terrible so it’s just not worth it.
do truck campers have wood stoves?
But yes it should in most cases vent fine as long as doesn’t tip and the flue is open enough. Wood stoves sometimes have air intakes near the bottom that aren’t designed for flaming liquid.
Not by default but after I put one in my camper I couldn’t imagine going without it. Here on the west coast it’s so wet and the wood stove works so well by removing moisture out of the camper.
Cubic mini is probably the best wood stove for a camper if anyone wants a recommendation.
A lot of youtube tutorials cut a hole in the camper roof but I just used flex pipe meant for car exhaust and I just put my chimney through a screen window that I cut a hole in. Then the camper can still be resold without explaining the hole in the roof.
You should be using a carbon monoxide detector regardless, but with wood stove you probably want to run two carbon monoxide detectors. I’ve never had an issue but I do worry about this
If you’re heating a small area, I recommend a 2kw or 5kw diesel heater. Runs off 12v and diesel or kerosene. Thermostat controlled. Also, a second, isolated battery and like others have said, a carbon monoxide detector.
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