Here's the empty gap originally occupied by a Glen Air furnace. The furnace wasn't present when we bought Bessie. Lost in transition, I guess. We're going to put the heater into the top portion of the empty space, since the heater is a little less than half the height of the gap. If we move to the North Pole then there'll be space to add another heater. I'd prefer to move south.
Of note in the above photo are the propane lines at the bottom (one for heater, and one for a fridge that may never be installed) and the weird metal thing at the top of the gap. Hard to tell from this photo but it's a very large vent that tunnels through the roof. This is good because catalytic heaters don't use fire to operate but they consume oxygen. It's important to have good air flow so you don't, y'know, die. There's a hole in the floor for the exact purpose of venting from floor to ceiling that I covered when we laid the floating floor. I will cut the appropriate hole in the floor to allow air flow again.
Here is a shot of the "chimney" from within the fridge cavern.
The catalytic heater Santa delivered is an Olympian Wave 6 (6000 BTU output - that's "British Thermal Units"). The Wave 6 didn't arrive with stands or a recess kit - you have to purchase separately. The recess kit arrived with this handy hard-paper template for cutting the recess hole.
So I cut the hole with my trusty razor blade/ box cutter/ exacto knife dealie thing.
I am amazing. Complete mastery of "cutting" skill, as seen in the above photo. I then employed my supreme mastery of "taping" skill for the photo below.
As you can see, I need to cut the right-hand side of the "cut" and "taped" paper template. I marked the area using "drawing with sharpie" skill (below).
I then decided to notch the sharpie line with my trusty razor blade in case the saw I planned to use jumped the track for some reason. I just thought it would help. To my surprise, the razor blade penetrated right through the old laminate wood like it was fortified cardboard.
So I used "roll with it" skill to continue opening the recess hole with my trusty razor blade, and saved the electricity from the power tools I was planning to use for overkill.
Never underestimate the power of a sharp blade. This applies to carpentry and negotiation.
The above photo shows the recess opening, ready for business. I would like to point out that the delaminated wood existed prior to my razor blade (see above photos) but clearly the new hole highlights the missing laminate wood. Oh well. Maybe I'll make a door that covers that.
Time to see if "cutting", "taping", and "drawing" skills were applied correctly. Does the recess mounting bracket fit the recess hole?
Yay! Party time!
Next we need to affix the recess mounting bracket to the catalytic heater. This task is also known as SNAFU #1. The task calls for holes to be drilled into the metal case of the catalytic heater in the appropriate locations to fit the screw holes of the recess mounting bracket. The instructions request the wrong size brill bit (thanks A-holes, the hole is too small) for the screws that were supplied (too large and too tapered).
In addition, the recess mounting bracket is floppy and difficult to hold in place, so the screw holes kept moving. One hole needed to be drilled three time to get the right spot, and then everything was good. Need to work on "drilling" skill. Or maybe use metal drill bits. Either would probably work better than what I did.
But it worked. Will it install properly?
Yay! Party time!
Okay, I skipped a step, namely SNAFU #2.
You can't tell from the above photo, but the propane enters the backside of the catalytic heater in an awkward place. You need to make space for it on the backside, unless you are installing the recess kit into a wall that is very thin. See?
Silly construction isn't it? I broke out the jigsaw and made multiple notch-cuts that I simply removed with a hammer and chisel. I'll probably have to clear a little more spacing for the connecting pipe, but best to cut less away than more. The propane will connect to the heater from the pipe emerging from the floor.
And heat will surely be on it's way! Here are some final shots of the Wave 6 from the exterior. Pretty good looking heater, I think. The navy-gray of the heater sort of melts into the background with the shiny grate and shiny recess bracket, doesn't it?
In an exciting new development, the propane system is scheduled to get an overhaul, which means there will be functional gas to the trailer in about a week. Stay tuned for upcoming photos of the propane tank installation!
