Does anyone have experience with the Mini Franklin? I recently picked up a mini school bus that I will be doing a RV conversion are and I'm admittedly a Woodstock fanboy so of course I would like to heat the bus with a WS stove. Propane would be ideal and I think the mini would be a great addition to the build. I plan on feeding it with a 20# propane tank. Any ideas on burn time with a 20# tank on both high and low settings? The bus will be used as a weekend trip / hunting rig for my family.
I've been around one or two but never had experience with one. They look nice and do throw some heat but an old bus might be a challenge to heat if it gets very cold.
There is 366,000 Btu s in a 20# propane tank. So if the stove is 8000/hr it can run for about 45 hours. I guess you’d have to calculate the heat load needed depending on how you insulate.
Buddy heated 2 greyhound busses welded together with a wood stove. Way colder environment once you got all the steel warm easy to maintain getting it there total opposite
LOL...not heating a bus. Just saying I don’t get 45 hours out of my 20lb tanks even with my small gas grill. Maybe it’s because I don’t pay attention to it, but it seems way shy of that. I suppose a person could keep a couple of them, but a couple of 30 lb or 40 lb tanks would seem better for something like a camper. Better to have extra and not need it than to need it and not have it. Lots of glass there that isn’t double pane. Might put some heat reflective material on the glass of most windows when heat retention is really needed to help hold some heat in.
OP, I am super busy right now but if you get me some numbers and drawings I can give you a load calculation. -physical dimensions (I know the bus isn’t square so take the larger measurements) -how many windows, the sizes, and location in structure. -what type of glass for windows (single/double glass, movable…) -how many doors, what sizes, and any windows. -any insulation. Need material and r-value or thickness. - what location (nearest decent sized city that follows same weather patterns) so I can design around your climate. if you can draw out a floor plan it will be easier for me…
Thank you! My answers are in bold. I dont have a floor plan yet but it's going to be an open concept.
Not finished yet but rough estimates are: Required Tonnage: 1.01 Sensible Gain: 9,337 Latent Gain: 423 Sensible Loss:11,787 Just wanted to give you an idea before the full report is done. This is done with r19-r21 insulation levels except for floor and a relatively leaky space. You are going to have one heck of a time air sealing those windows and doors. You will burn through (at design temp) 11,787 btu/h. This is for Lakehurst, New Jersey and a dry bulb temp of 14 degrees F. If it goes lower than 14 degrees with any regularity let me know so I can adjust because you will not maintain a comfortable temperature and will burn through more propane than expected. If it only goes below that a few times a year then you should be good. Edit: Added PDF of Gain and Loss. Windows are NOT your friend when you are trying to stay comfortable, especially single pane operable ones. The difference between the btu gain/loss that i gave is b/c i changed the floor to R21 to see what it would do and forgot to change it back before I made the PDF.
This is a mostly done report. I didn't go into as great detail as I would for one of my jobs b/c of how much I am working (my peak season). Some of the insulation levels may not be what you are going to get but it gives you an idea of what to shoot for. The big thing here is making sure ALL of your windows are well sealed and if possible upgraded. For heating, Air Infiltration and Windows are your major sources of building heat loss. Big thing to remember is that this is all designed to meet "Design Temp" and stay comfortable. 72 in winter and 75 in summer. Design Temp is the High/Low temperature that the area gets to only about 5% of the year on average. The day also does not stay at design temp even if it gets to it. High of 20 with a low of 14... Anything above design temp at any given time and you will use less that 11k btuh of heat to stay at 72. If you end up in the middle of nowhere when the temp drops to 14 degrees you should be fine just a little cold. If it stays at 14 and you have a strong wind then you will be very cold and using a large amount of propane regardless of what kind of heater you put in that thing. Also, I included building rotation to give you an idea of what happens if you park in a certain direction in an open field. "Front door" on this will be your Front Window. This is for the summer when trying to cool your structure so take that into consideration when trying to use it to help with heating. You are welcome to call me if you have any questions but I ask that you wait till Sept if possible when I slow down. Otherwise just PM me and I should get back to you within a week or two.
That heater is probably just 80% efficient so even though it puts out 8000 btu, it eats 20% more gas. Gotta power that chimney.
absolutely correct. Min–Max Heat Inputs: NG: 5,606-7,680 BTU/hr LP: 6,677-8,349 BTU/hr @77% = 5,141 - 6,428.73 BTU/Hr
