New SMB owner!

[bgoetting]

I bought the MY2005 EB, 6.0 Diesel, e-PH, SMB 4x4, silver, 36K mi, nice AV upgrades, but sadly no propane. It was listed by Cars4Causes, which liquidates donated vehicles. They listed it for $65K on the SMB West website but I got it for $50K. I love the SMB 4x4 for it's tight turning. Right now I'm on a horse campout with my old rig but wishing I was home with my SMB. I still have to get the trailer electrical hookups and trailer brake controller installed.

Any ideas for what to do for heat and stove? Any stand alone heaters and stoves that stand out from the bunch and perhaps have gas cartridges that are interchangable?

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and helped me get this far.

How do I post a pic of my rig here?

Bruce

[Psomaki]

Bruce, congrats and welcome to the wonderful world of SMB owners. Our older rig is also non-propane. We do have a generator and often camp where shore power is available. For when we have shore power or don't mind running the generator briefly, we use a small, ceramic-element space heater for heat and a cheap, two-burner electric "buffet unit" for cooking. For situations where 110v just isn't to be had and we don't want to use the generator, we use this propane stove for cooking, both inside and out: http://www.rei.com/product/737001. It uses the small, green Coleman bottles of propane, but we bought a five-pound propane bottle like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Manchester-Tank-E ... 752&sr=8-1
We got it at a nearby Home Depot and we connect it to the stove with an adapter hose like the one in the Amazon listing, from our local outdoor store. You'll find several threads about all this on the Forum. As to heat, some folks advocate one of the several catalytic propane heaters available and others advocate a gas- or diesel-powered furnace. Again, search the Forum and you'll find lots of info.
Best of luck... HAVE FUN!!

[jage]

First read the sticky in "Show and Tell", then you can play in the test area and go from there.

Mr. Heater uses the green propane canisters and has an oxygen sensor. I really like the one I have, and the O2 sensor has kicked it off in the middle of the night.

I really like the little portable butane stove that comes with the SMBs, they are available elsewhere- however the canister isn't exchangible with the heater then.

The camp stove that just sits on a green bottle would be a really bad idea for many reasons, otherwise it becomes a space/feature issue. I haven't looked at propane stoves in years.. let us know what you choose.

[Greg In Austin]

No need to be sad that you don't have propane..... we don't either.

You are a leg up for heat since your rig is diesel. We went with a diesel furnace and so far are very happy.

As for cooking, there are LOTS of portable stoves, and with a portable stove you do not give up the counter space for a built-in stove. We carry a small George Forman grill and a two burner Coleman stove to cover our cooking needs. The other plus of a portable stove is you don't have to cook inside; if you want to cook away from the van you can.

Be warned ! ...you are in for a lot of fun if our short experience is any indication....

We are always planning the next trip or event....