OK, this one is iffy. I started to post it in the lounge, but I haven't seen the dreaded "Tech in the Lounge" post in a while, and I don't want to be that guy....
Besides, I'm pretty sure it is going to belong here eventually.
Bear with me, gonna post a little background before getting into the interesting part that you folks need to see.
If you don't want to read the boring part, skip down to where I say here is the important part.....
The whole crew showed up Friday, and started getting ready for the annual migration to the camp. I fell to, helped get all the trailer tires checked, breakables moved, hooked the trailer hitch to the Mahindra.
Saturday morning, I grabbed each camper hitch at right angles and swung them out so the trucks could hook on.
Got to the camp without too much drama, and started setting everything up. I had a break, so I went into my room.
As usual, it was a disaster. All kinds of critters had partied in there, bed covers were eaten, large numbers of rodent droppings, plus a fine layer of mud because the river came up not long after we left and came in the room.
I was looking around trying to figure the best way to get some heat in that room.
Its a tin building, with gaps where the walls meet the roof.
I have stuffed some old bedcovers in some of the gaps, and have several cans of spray foam to fill others. I'm usually warm in bed, because I have a decent sleeping bag, but its not unusual for there to be ice in the room when I get up even with a heater going.
Which brings up a peeve I have with modern heaters. I have memories of electric heaters that would seriously heat a room.
They had elements that glowed red hot and would scorch a wall if you got them too close. Modern heaters never get that hot, and don't do a decent job of warming a really cold room.
They are all rated at 1500 watts. Since the absolute max you can get out of a wall socket is about 1800, I know the old heaters did not put out more watts, they just put out higher temps.
I miss them.........
Got back to the house, decided to see if there was any place I could buy an old style heater. Stumbled on something completely different....
OK here is the important part!
Saw some ads for something called a Diesel Air Heater.
Figured, what the heck, Diesel makes everything stronger and better, right?
Kinda figured it was something to preheat a diesel engine in cold weather.
I suppose you could use it for that, but its actually a diesel powered space heater for rooms, vans, shops, buses, campers, pretty much anything you need heated.
I had to do a lot of reading, it sounded like they were a diesel version of the old salamanders that use propane and a fan to put out lots of heat along with burned propane.
Nope, these are genuine heat exchanger type heaters that burn diesel for heat.
They are made in China, but despite that, they seem to have developed almost a cult following. YouTube is full of examples of folks using the things, and pretty much the only failures you hear about are operator or installation error.
Properly installed, they take in outside air, use it to burn the diesel, and then exhaust back outside. The combustion heats an aluminum housing with fins that a strong fan blows inside air over to transfer the heat. No inside odor, exhaust, or oxygen depletion.
And they are Cheap!
They run off 12v, and except for startup, draw very little current. There is an electric heater/igniter that draws about 11 or so amps for a few minutes. Then it turns off, and only a tiny pump and a fan draw from the battery.
I was going to run mine off a 12v power supply, but changed my mind. One thing you must never do is kill power to this thing while it is running.
To turn it off, you use the remote control or the LCD control panel to command it off.
When you do, it ramps down, kills the fuel, then runs the fan for a while to cool it off. If you killed the power, it would probably get damaged from the heat without the fan running.
So, I'm going to power mine with a small AGM battery and trickle charger/maintainer, since power often goes off at the camp due to miles and miles of trees along the power line.
Here is the one I ordered:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMQJ8LV/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
No idea if its the best or worst, it was one of the few 8KW units in stock.
Since I will be replacing a 1.5KW electric heater with an 8KW diesel fired heater, I am hopeful that over 5 times the heat will be enough to warm that cold room.
I am concerned about the noise a little. But, due to the way my room setup is, I could remote the entire unit into the next room over, which is the storage room and just put the heat vents and the control panel/thermostat in through the wall.
The tank holds about 10 Liters of fuel, and the unit seems to max out at about .5 Liters per hour of fuel use. But, since it will ramp up or down according to the thermostat, a tank might last even longer.
No pics yet, it has not arrived. But check out the various YouTube videos as to installations and operating. Many of them reference Chinese Heaters.
For those of you in cold country, and need heat in your vehicles, this might be a good way to go. The Mohave heaters are proven units, and probably do all you need them to do. But this thing is another option, and could heat a tent at night.
If your running a diesel, you can tap into the main tank.
However, one thing that everybody seems to agree on, don't get one of the big ones like mine for a small car or truck.
It will throttle down, but only so far, and does better if run on high to keep it burned clean. So for a vehicle, one of the 2Kw units might do better.
I will add to this once I get it and get it installed.
Besides, I'm pretty sure it is going to belong here eventually.
Bear with me, gonna post a little background before getting into the interesting part that you folks need to see.
If you don't want to read the boring part, skip down to where I say here is the important part.....
The whole crew showed up Friday, and started getting ready for the annual migration to the camp. I fell to, helped get all the trailer tires checked, breakables moved, hooked the trailer hitch to the Mahindra.
Saturday morning, I grabbed each camper hitch at right angles and swung them out so the trucks could hook on.
Got to the camp without too much drama, and started setting everything up. I had a break, so I went into my room.
As usual, it was a disaster. All kinds of critters had partied in there, bed covers were eaten, large numbers of rodent droppings, plus a fine layer of mud because the river came up not long after we left and came in the room.
I was looking around trying to figure the best way to get some heat in that room.
Its a tin building, with gaps where the walls meet the roof.
I have stuffed some old bedcovers in some of the gaps, and have several cans of spray foam to fill others. I'm usually warm in bed, because I have a decent sleeping bag, but its not unusual for there to be ice in the room when I get up even with a heater going.
Which brings up a peeve I have with modern heaters. I have memories of electric heaters that would seriously heat a room.
They had elements that glowed red hot and would scorch a wall if you got them too close. Modern heaters never get that hot, and don't do a decent job of warming a really cold room.
They are all rated at 1500 watts. Since the absolute max you can get out of a wall socket is about 1800, I know the old heaters did not put out more watts, they just put out higher temps.
I miss them.........
Got back to the house, decided to see if there was any place I could buy an old style heater. Stumbled on something completely different....
OK here is the important part!
Saw some ads for something called a Diesel Air Heater.
Figured, what the heck, Diesel makes everything stronger and better, right?
Kinda figured it was something to preheat a diesel engine in cold weather.
I suppose you could use it for that, but its actually a diesel powered space heater for rooms, vans, shops, buses, campers, pretty much anything you need heated.
I had to do a lot of reading, it sounded like they were a diesel version of the old salamanders that use propane and a fan to put out lots of heat along with burned propane.
Nope, these are genuine heat exchanger type heaters that burn diesel for heat.
They are made in China, but despite that, they seem to have developed almost a cult following. YouTube is full of examples of folks using the things, and pretty much the only failures you hear about are operator or installation error.
Properly installed, they take in outside air, use it to burn the diesel, and then exhaust back outside. The combustion heats an aluminum housing with fins that a strong fan blows inside air over to transfer the heat. No inside odor, exhaust, or oxygen depletion.
And they are Cheap!
They run off 12v, and except for startup, draw very little current. There is an electric heater/igniter that draws about 11 or so amps for a few minutes. Then it turns off, and only a tiny pump and a fan draw from the battery.
I was going to run mine off a 12v power supply, but changed my mind. One thing you must never do is kill power to this thing while it is running.
To turn it off, you use the remote control or the LCD control panel to command it off.
When you do, it ramps down, kills the fuel, then runs the fan for a while to cool it off. If you killed the power, it would probably get damaged from the heat without the fan running.
So, I'm going to power mine with a small AGM battery and trickle charger/maintainer, since power often goes off at the camp due to miles and miles of trees along the power line.
Here is the one I ordered:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMQJ8LV/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
No idea if its the best or worst, it was one of the few 8KW units in stock.
Since I will be replacing a 1.5KW electric heater with an 8KW diesel fired heater, I am hopeful that over 5 times the heat will be enough to warm that cold room.
I am concerned about the noise a little. But, due to the way my room setup is, I could remote the entire unit into the next room over, which is the storage room and just put the heat vents and the control panel/thermostat in through the wall.
The tank holds about 10 Liters of fuel, and the unit seems to max out at about .5 Liters per hour of fuel use. But, since it will ramp up or down according to the thermostat, a tank might last even longer.
No pics yet, it has not arrived. But check out the various YouTube videos as to installations and operating. Many of them reference Chinese Heaters.
For those of you in cold country, and need heat in your vehicles, this might be a good way to go. The Mohave heaters are proven units, and probably do all you need them to do. But this thing is another option, and could heat a tent at night.
If your running a diesel, you can tap into the main tank.
However, one thing that everybody seems to agree on, don't get one of the big ones like mine for a small car or truck.
It will throttle down, but only so far, and does better if run on high to keep it burned clean. So for a vehicle, one of the 2Kw units might do better.
I will add to this once I get it and get it installed.
