Rv Fireplaces, what's the appeal?

My wife and I don't see the appeal of either a wood burning campfire or a fireplace inside the RV. But at least inside the RV you aren't slowly killing your neighbors who have health problems due to wood burning campfires.

 

I don't mind a camp fire every now and again. I'm with Tallboy though. I don't want it close to my, or my neighbors unit. A fireplace inside....well I think that may be just fine in a Park Model trailer but it would get no use from me.

Darrell

 

I'm kind of in the middle on this. I've seen those built in fake fireplaces in RVs and must admit it might be nice to hunker down with one on a cold rainy/stormy night, but the other half of me says it's just another "thing" that can go bump in the night. Saw one a couple of years ago in a big high end 45' DP and it was actually a real propane unit. It actually had real flames burning in it. Looked really nice but at the time I thought it might be illegal, although the owners said it wasn't. I guess if we were to buy another new RV and the dealer told us he'd throw a propane burning fireplace in to sweeten the deal, I might just go for it but for right now it's not a need or a want for us. However if he told us he throw in a nice built in wine cooler, I'd probably jump on that offer real quick like............

Cheers, BankShot...........(aka Terry)

 

An inside propane fireplace has the same issues as a gas one in a house with regard to venting. In an RV an unvented fireplace is probably easier to install but that means that combustion products, including water vapor, go into the air inside the RV. I understand that unvented fireplaces are legal but I've never wanted one in my home (or RV).

Rather than an inside fireplace I suggest downloading a Roku fireplace app (if you have a Roku). On our 40" TV the display is impressive and you can hear the snap and crackle of the fire. It provides, of course, absolutely no warmth, which means it's suitable for snowbirds in FL, TX or AZ!

 

We absolutely love our electric fireplace. It saves on propane and heats our whole camper even with outdoor temps as low as 25 degrees. It looks nice too. We do enjoy campfires as well but now would never own a camper without a fireplace.

 

That looks really nice and cozy. I didn't realize they put out so much heat.

 

In seven years, we have yet to turn on our gas furnace. The electric fireplace heats up the fiver just fine and we don't have to use up our propane. No smell from dusty vents. Instant heat. We hardly ever turn on the fire effect, though. It's pretty fake looking.

 

Using electricity to power a resistive heater is the least cost effective way to use it to provide heat. Not that an electric fireplace is any less cost effective than a space heater but it is far more costly to operate than a heat pump.

 

The resistance heater will keep you a lot warmer at a lot colder temps than a heat pump will. And if your current campsite includes electric in the price, the effective operating cost is zero.

 

But if you're one of the many snow birds parked at sitse in FL, AZ or TX you're likely to be paying for electricity and in those locations heat pumps will run just fine.

 

Agreed... Having both would certainly be an advantage to cover both situations then.

 

We use our rarely but when we do it is convenient. Makes far less noise than the heat pumps and does put out quite a bit of heat. Ours has a hi and low setting - probably like most. Have left it on all night only a few times. Times when I was pretty sure the low would be below 40 but not cold enough to require burning 5 dollars (or more) of propane. Use the heat pumps most of the time. Have a space heater but rarely drag it out of the basement only because we have the fireplace.

 

We are full timers and use our electric fireplace often. It is used in lieu of the furnace because the furnace burns up our propane whereas the fireplace uses electric that is included with site rent. It does not replace the furnace however, because it does not pack the heating potential (BTUs) that the furnace does.

I think that that whiners who don't like campfires ought to find something better to do than go camping, seeing as burning campfires has always and (EPA willing) always will be a part of camping. It's whiners like this who will likely Sierra club it up and attempt legislation to outlaw burning of wood, because if they personally take exception to something, then certainly the state should be used to impose their will on everyone else. Sorry in advance for any hard feelings that statement caused, but seriously c'mon guys. Find a new pastime rather than camping if you can't stand campfires. Just sayin.

 

Not to be confrontational, but many RVers don't think of themselves as "camping" much of the time. Not that I'm a strident "anti-campfire" person, but we don't have one unless we have grandchildren with us. Lots of people burn wet wood they find on the ground which makes for smoky fires which are generally annoying.

If you want to have a campfire, please use dry wood and have enough sense and courtesy to extinguish it when you go indoors. You'd be surprised how many people simply leave their fires burning when they go inside for the night.

 

We don't have one yet but the next rig (hopefully later this year when the house sells and we go full time) will have one.
On our current trip we have had nights were we could not have a campfire or has been too cold or windy to have one. Sitting around one inside would be sooooooo nice. Now I also lived in the mountains (foot hills ) in Colorado for years and we used one of our multiple fireplaces almost every night, especially in fall and winter, both for atmosphere but also for heat.

momdoc

 

I too wondered about the attraction of having a fake fireplace in an RV, until the coach we bought last year had one. We love it! Yes it does look kinda fake, but we love the fact we can turn it on and take the chill off the coach without the noise of the A/C unit or using up our propane. We actually use it a lot! Not so much here in FL, although we do get chilly nights here too! On our 4 month trip in the Spring/Summer last year we used it a lot! Even June and July it was still very cool in Montana and the NW. We had purchased a small electric heater for our other coach, and now have no need for that. Again, "different strokes for different folks"!

 

We have one in our new 5er and I thought it would be a nice decoration but was surprised at how much we used it. It takes the chill out of the air and saves propane.

 

We don't have a fireplace but if we need to take the chill off I can put on the Roku's "fireplace channel" and turn on one of the small heaters we own. Same effect IMO!