Homestead

Dickinson Marine Fireplace

Propane heater

We live in a tiny house and love our Dickinson Marine fireplace — it does an excellent job of heating our 105-square-foot space. Watching the flames makes things very cozy on a cold day.

We generally use our fireplace beginning sometime in November through about April, depending on the weather. It uses very little propane; I think it cost us about $40 for heating this past winter. We use the 12v built-in blower when it is particularly cold or when we are trying to heat things up quickly. But forced-air heat blows around dust, which makes me sneeze, and it is a little noisy, too, so I prefer to leave the fan off when it’s not necessary. Without the fan on the heater is very quiet. For our small space and compared with electric space heaters or even central forced-air systems, this little guy takes the cake.

One nice side bonus: When the heater is on, I can place my coffee cup on top next to the flue to keep my coffee warm!

-- Derek Raedeker 07/21/09

(Heater specs here. Dickinson is based in Coquitlam, BC, Canada, but they have a shipping warehouse across the border in Washington: shipping for this unit should run between $30 and $50 in the continental U.S. -- es — editors)

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