Diesel cooking stove

[kzemach]

I'm still a fan of the small portable butane stove. If you need 2 burners, get two. What we found is that we NEVER use the counter top to cook on, even thought we could. We always use the top of the door cabinet and find that much more convenient. If we had gotten a stove hard mounted in the counter, we would have never had that flexibility. And even if we had a built in stove, we'd have wanted the butane one anyway to take outside.

One thing I think the badgers looked at was an attachment to allow their diesel stove to dual as a van heater. If you could do THAT, then you could scratch the airtronic, and the relative cost would be far less. That's the only way I'd do it: if I got the stove and van heater in one.

[Skywagon]

What happens, is that when you close the lid of the Wallas stove while it is turned on, a tiny squirrel cage blower comes on and directs air across the cooktop under the lid and out the front. On our old boat, the cabin of which was about 5 times the size of the inside of the SMB, it took about 3 minutes to warm it sufficiently to make opening windows and doors necessary. They are really a neat piece of kit; albeit at a really high price. What we liked about the diesel heat was that it seemed to be much drier; (Propane seems to release a lot more moisture into an enclosed space). That might be totally subjective
Bill

[daveb]

Originally Posted by kzemach

I'm still a fan of the small portable butane stove.

I think its very handy and I like the fact that there is little to no heat on the bottom of the stove (I do use it on the counter top). That's a good idea in mounting it. I hate having to get it out and put it away so that would solve one problem. But, at least mine, seems to eat those canisters plus the heat control is difficult to adjust to a very low setting. I would just like to get away from hauling extra fuel. Of course spending 500 bucks or more to keep from having to pack 5 or 6 butane canisters becomes more of a luxury cost.
Dave

[vwteleman]

Originally Posted by Skywagon

What we liked about the diesel heat was that it seemed to be much drier; (Propane seems to release a lot more moisture into an enclosed space).

Combustion = heat + h2o + co/co2

I think for most built-in heaters (catalytic heaters would be different), the flame should be enclosed and moisture becomes a non-issue. The combustion gases are exhausted to the exterior.

Where you have moisture problems is with open-flame stove tops. I've heard (but haven't confirmed) that propane is the worst offender in this regard, but I would guess butane would also release a noticeable amount of moisture into the cabin. Of course, the diesel stove tops are enclosed and have no moisture problems.

Brent

[bassman]

Well it's been a few years since I first posted this question about Diesel stoves and I'm still using the propane twp burner that SMB installed. After many trips, some 40,000 miles + it still works great and I think we have filled the tank about three times. It is super efficient. As far as hot water, I went with the hot plate which works fine. You just have to heat up the engine.
I have been trying to decide weather to buy a one ton 4x4 truck and get an XP1 camper made in Grass Valley Ca but the layout of my Sprinter plus the great diesel mileage makes me lean toward converting the Sprinter to 4X4. Just my opinion.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by bassman

Well it's been a few years since I first posted this question about Diesel stoves and I'm still using the propane twp burner that SMB installed. After many trips, some 40,000 miles + it still works great and I think we have filled the tank about three times. It is super efficient. As far as hot water, I went with the hot plate which works fine. You just have to heat up the engine.
I have been trying to decide weather to buy a one ton 4x4 truck and get an XP1 camper made in Grass Valley Ca but the layout of my Sprinter plus the great diesel mileage makes me lean toward converting the Sprinter to 4X4. Just my opinion.

Diesel stoves are very expensive. Same as the water heaters and cab heaters. I did install a propane cook top rather than a diesel version and am happy with it. I guess it really comes down to how often you use it. The propane stove is rarely used but I do enjoy having it on board for those special times and hated the butane burner I had... my opinion. But my diesel cab heater is something I'd never trade for a propane model. The water heater is another story. I use it to heat the engine. A gas engine wouldn't need to be pre heated in cold weather so a flat plate might be fine in some circumstances to pull off a shower if that is all it's needed for.

Good luck on finding your vehicle.