A fake fireplace in your RV? Our readers tell all.

Jana C. on wikimedia commons

Last week, in our RV Daily Tips newsletter, we published a story by Jim Twamley regarding "fake fireplaces" in RVs. Our resident sage opined in his story that, "These are really nice for atmosphere and they actually give off heat." He also noted that they, "Take up space that could be used for storage, and most folks don't use them much." We included a request for comments from readers, thinking we might get a letter or two.

 How wrong could we ever have been.

Within minutes of the newsletter "hitting the streets," e-mail accounts associated with rvtravel.com started popping with commentaries from RVers who have 'faux fireplaces,' and many of the comments were as hot as the heat that comes out of them. We don't have enough space to print all of your comments, but we'd like to share a sampling that we think represents a fair perspective of our readers.
First, a hat tip to the critics. Tom Gutzke writes about his fifth-wheel that came with a fireplace. "It didn't put out very much heat [it was electric] and was, we feel, useless for heat while drawing a lot of electricity.  It did 'dress up' the interior of the RV and added a feeling of warmth. Unfortunately that "feeling of warmth" didn't actually warm us."

 Another reader, Ralph K. Bowen, said there's something he'd rather see in a trailer than a showy fireplace. "I would much rather see the manufacturers put the money into upgraded "G" rated tires instead of the marginal "E" tires most use now. The least they could do is put the "G" tires on their luxury fifth wheels." A couple of others wrote in with similar thinking – suggesting a far more efficient way to get heat would be a good catalytic propane heater.

But while the critics did write, the thunder came from the other side of the street. Typical of the majority of comments were these from Harlan Schafer. "I would absolutely never consider buying another RV WITHOUT a fireplace. We've had two rigs with one. On cool days and cool mornings we use ours daily in our 36ft. 5th wheel and most of the time it is our sole source of heat. It is electric and we are already paying for electricity in most campgrounds so why not? It puts out a considerable amount of heat and has a thermostat if you don't want so much."

Even those who tended to be a bit faux-shy at first rang in with a change of heart. Here's Tom Hudson's view: "When we bought our latest RV, it came with a fireplace. I really thought it was a gimmick. Thought we would rarely use it. Boy was I wrong! We like to camp during the fringe seasons. Keeps fifth wheel toasty in all but coldest weather. As long as we have hookup, it's the best way to go." 

And what about taking up too much space? Says Wendy Wolter, "Our RV did not come with a fireplace, however it did have a pretty useless very skinny cabinet under the TV, this seems to be the place that the dealers install the ‘fake’ fireplaces.  This being said, we decided to install one ourselves, since when you get one from the factory they are quite pricey. We installed ours for under $200 and absolutely love it!! It does put out some heat, it is electric and we figure when we are plugged in at a park that we’re already covered on the electric part . . . That skinny cabinet, was the perfect spot for ours and we really didn’t use it for much storage anyway."

 Other readers had their own "plusses" to add to having a fireplace. Mike Weber chimes in with this thought: "It's not a substitute for an out-door campire, but it's not nearly as affected by a downpour either!" And Jeannine Demers who professes to be, "deadly scared of gas" finds a fireplace to be a safe heater for her use. Finally, Charles Howard describes his RV fireplace, "A nice 'brag' to our non-Rving friends who think we live in a tent."

 As if we needed any more weight on this argument, along comes S. Douglass, who put the question to an RV forum. "Would you want a dishwasher again? A fireplace? Or would you rather have the storage space." As you might guess, the results were rather lopsided. Fireplace: Yes, 39; No 7.  Diswasher: Yes 31, No, 12.

 And just to keep all of this above-board, yes, we too, have had a fireplace in one of our rigs. After all this chatter, we'll answer the same way that some cagey political candidates answer the question, "Did you vote for President Obama?" No comment!