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For those enamored with their fireplace/heater stop reading here.
As noted in my thread for removing the Titan Fireplace (Accessing FIREPLACE 36" FLAT FRONT TITAN WF-36S - Grand Design Owners Forums (gdrvowners.com)) we decided to use a small space heater and fill the void left by the fireplace with a storage cabinet. For use the decision was an easy one: same heating capability but closer to the floor and our could feet, gain more accessible storage (SWMBO is somewhat vertically challenged).
I won't go into the details on the cabinet build. It was customized to our space heater and our desires as would any other replacement cabinet. I will throw some numbers out and a couple of lessons learned.
The fireplace took up almost 3,000 ci of space, compared to the 300 ci for the space heater. When the fireplace surround was removed there was a cavity behind it that measured almost 9,000 ci. The storage cabinet didn't fill this entire space but does provide about 7,000 ci. Even deducting the space heater this is still a significant gain.
Lesson learned number 1 was to think light. I was stuck in stick and brick thinking and built the cabinet out of 3/4" pine and 1/2" ply, and it ended up weighing as much if not more than the fireplace did. Not a big deal for us since we have about a ton of extra cargo capacity and the cabinet sits over the rear axels, but I could have been more weight conscious and gone with 1/4" ply with 1/2" nail/staple strips and a 3/4", 1"x4" front.
Lesson learned number 2 was to consider the supply line. The original plan was to reuse the electrical outlet box. However, when GD screwed it to the floor under the fireplace they removed the wings/flags/toggles (whatever their called) and replaced them with two long screws. I found out that single gang electrical boxes for remodel are among the many items in scarce supply. I was lucky enough to find one locally at the third hardware store I visited. If I hadn't been able to find the box locally I was looking at about 1 1/2 hour drive to the nearest big box store, or leaving the outlet unfinished until we moved to a more populated area.
All in all this was a successful modification. I know this because SWMBO is happy with it.
As noted in my thread for removing the Titan Fireplace (Accessing FIREPLACE 36" FLAT FRONT TITAN WF-36S - Grand Design Owners Forums (gdrvowners.com)) we decided to use a small space heater and fill the void left by the fireplace with a storage cabinet. For use the decision was an easy one: same heating capability but closer to the floor and our could feet, gain more accessible storage (SWMBO is somewhat vertically challenged).
I won't go into the details on the cabinet build. It was customized to our space heater and our desires as would any other replacement cabinet. I will throw some numbers out and a couple of lessons learned.
The fireplace took up almost 3,000 ci of space, compared to the 300 ci for the space heater. When the fireplace surround was removed there was a cavity behind it that measured almost 9,000 ci. The storage cabinet didn't fill this entire space but does provide about 7,000 ci. Even deducting the space heater this is still a significant gain.
Lesson learned number 1 was to think light. I was stuck in stick and brick thinking and built the cabinet out of 3/4" pine and 1/2" ply, and it ended up weighing as much if not more than the fireplace did. Not a big deal for us since we have about a ton of extra cargo capacity and the cabinet sits over the rear axels, but I could have been more weight conscious and gone with 1/4" ply with 1/2" nail/staple strips and a 3/4", 1"x4" front.
Lesson learned number 2 was to consider the supply line. The original plan was to reuse the electrical outlet box. However, when GD screwed it to the floor under the fireplace they removed the wings/flags/toggles (whatever their called) and replaced them with two long screws. I found out that single gang electrical boxes for remodel are among the many items in scarce supply. I was lucky enough to find one locally at the third hardware store I visited. If I hadn't been able to find the box locally I was looking at about 1 1/2 hour drive to the nearest big box store, or leaving the outlet unfinished until we moved to a more populated area.
All in all this was a successful modification. I know this because SWMBO is happy with it.
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