Does anyone use diesel heaters in their portables?

I was scouting around the web yesterday and found these diesel cab heaters. The chinese ones are really affordable, and the reviews (not on amazon, so probably more reliable) are pretty good. This whole footprint would be much much smaller than lugging around the big buddy and 20 lb tank… and it would be forced air, and it would be set to a controlled temp… it seems awesome.

My question is: Is anyone using these things in their portables? How would you make it work in a hub even if you wanted to? I would need some way of passing the exhaust through the hub wall without melting everything.

The pictures are from the post that I found that piqued my interest. I think this COULD be a gamechanger in reducing my setup time.

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Lol never though about this, I wonder how it would be, those heaters aren’t that expensive.

Sounds like a sure fire way to get asphyxiated.

Sylvanboat wrote:

Sounds like a sure fire way to get asphyxiated.

+1, and stink!

Thing is though, it exhausts outside… so it isnt going to be like a torpedo heater or anything. People use them in their campers and truckers use them in their cabs all of the time! I am intrigued.

I can just Imagine trying to fill that little tank and spilling diesel in the sled and having everything stink in the process

Be careful with the venting. I know a couple guys that have them in their semi sleepers. The vents extend up and away. I don’t know the specifics on venting requirements. Could be very easy for fumes to circulate back into your flip over

only if it comes with a Jake brake.

Haul a full size battery?

Get rid of that thing for your own safety, looks like everybody agrees.

I just installed one in my Otter Lodge and it’s the best thing I’ve done to it. 2KW model from eBay for $110. I mounted it to the inside front slope of the sled with some fire proof insulation in between and have it wired with a voltage regulator to run off Dewalt batteries. Had to insulate the fuel pump as the clicking noise was the loudest part. Got a lot of good tips from the Chinese diesel heater groups on Facebook. So far I’ve had it running for 15 hours or so and I figure it uses a half a gallon of diesel on low and a gallon and a half on high in 24 hours. It’s a game changer when it comes to space efficiency and dry heat. There’s a reason RV’s, campers and semi trucks use these all the time, they just plain put out heat! Once I have a long term review, I’ll post that up for the group.

I’ve been thinking about these for the wheelhouse as supplement heat or backup.

MNdrifter wrote:

I’ve been thinking about these for the wheelhouse as supplement heat or backup.

I’ve been researching them and was thinking the same thing for my wheelhouse but I already have a buddy heater, sunflower heater and a electric heater for backup haha

The only thing I’ve heard people say bad about them is the annoying noise the fuel pumps make on them.

I looked at these last year – I believe my house could be adequately heated with one, it is small, and most importantly it is vented. Hopefully they catch on and I can learn if it is worth the project.

I have one in my Ice Castle.

They’re fricken awesome

I have one in my box truck to keep tools warm and then I can nap back there on real long days. They are great when they work and suck when they don’t.
Just vent it out the back in to the wind. But when a little buddy will heat that why would you go diesel. Most the guys above have probably never used nor seen one..
I would never put onto in my portable but I would in a permanent

I use one in my camper van and garage. I have the more expensive ones $1500 each. It’s a dryer heat so you don’t get condensation like the propane heaters.

Seems like a really good heat source to me if you can manage the air flow required to keep the shack air quality up. I could see a downside being having to mess with diesel and leaks/spills stinking things up.

Adam Steffes wrote:

Seems like a really good heat source to me if you can manage the air flow required to keep the shack air quality up. I could see a downside being having to mess with diesel and leaks/spills stinking things up.

The exhaust is vented directly outside.

I can’t speak for the smaller ones referenced here, but we have a big one that’s a towable diesel heater & generator and the thing is great (see picture). 850,000 BTU and it burns real clean. We heated our entire uninsulated house to 55 degrees with just some plastic over the windows on a 10 degree day. We had a lean-to shed with 100′ open side up to 60 degrees for a wedding a couple falls ago. It will be thawing out the garage for a cement pour coming up next week. A few local contractors who end up roofing in Winter borrow it and warm the sheathing for shingles.

IF they are running correctly and maintained, diesel heaters can throw a lot of heat.

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mark-bruzek wrote:

Haul a full size battery?

I know your post is old Mark but bringing back up.

If I were to ever run one in a portable, I would get a decent size lithium battery. A 50ah lithium can be had for $200 and weighs just 12-13 pounds (a full 20 pound propane tank weighs 37 pounds for reference)

I looked into putting one in my portable a little last week. The only draw back I have found so far is they eat thru batteries for the fan and fuel pump. But one would think a 50Ah lithium could handle it. I still will have to do some more research when I have time before pulling the trigger.

There is a podcast called the “Short Rod Show” and there latest episode they one guy talked about installing one on his otter flip over.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diesel-powered-otter/id1487340220?i=1000549430202

Hey B-man – I see its vented outside, but depending on your situation that can get recirculated into the shack in the right (wrong) wind condition. If it had a chimney to put it well above the shack, that’s one thing…but most of these installs have it vented down low so it could recirc back into the air you want to keep clean.

Adam Steffes wrote:

Hey B-man – I see its vented outside, but depending on your situation that can get recirculated into the shack in the right (wrong) wind condition. If it had a chimney to put it well above the shack, that’s one thing…but most of these installs have it vented down low so it could recirc back into the air you want to keep clean.

Flex hose is the answer. Just need a 4 ft piece of flex hose to make a stack.

Coletrain27 wrote:

The only thing I’ve heard people say bad about them is the annoying noise the fuel pumps make on them.

There is a guy in the UK making a truly silent fuel pump that he sells for these heaters. It’s not cheap, currently, I believe it’s about $130-150 delivered to the US from the UK.

His contact information is in this thread: https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/threads/silent-diesel-heater-pump.88110/

I follow some YouTube channels that have installed this pump in work trailer builds and it works as advertised., it is silent and eliminates the clicking noise.

Not mentioned yet in the “why do this” discussion is the fact that these heaters run for a very long time on every gallon of fuel. I was looking at installing one in my shed at the hunting property because of the efficiency and then I could keep the shed heated for our whole visit rather than using gp a ton of propane bringing it up to temp every time I want heat.

I follow some YouTube channels that have installed this pump in work trailer builds and it works as advertised., it is silent and eliminates the clicking noise.

Not mentioned yet in the “why do this” discussion is the fact that these heaters run for a very long time on every gallon of fuel. I was looking at installing one in my shed at the hunting property because of the efficiency and then I could keep the shed heated for our whole visit rather than using gp a ton of propane bringing it up to temp every time I want heat.
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Thats why I have one in my box truck. It keeps tools warm, It runs from 3 am to 11pm pretty much daily. Keeps my water tank thawed and tools toasty.
But I would rather use a little buddy in a portable over a diesel heater. Now in a ice castle or shack I would go diesel.

My buddy was telling me that there is something similar in most all military vehicles. I never heard of it before.

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The exhaust is vented directly outside.
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Do you vent yours out a hole through the floor or out a window? I was thinking going out one of my windows with a plywood plate that I could make and put it in a open window in emergencies

B-man wrote:

I have one in my Ice Castle.

They’re fricken awesome

Hey b-man, I sent you a pm. Thanks