2KW diesel heater installed. Review, performance, sound, cost.

I'm a year and a bit into fitting my cdh, I tend to run it on full heat in the morning before I go to work, defrost the van to avoid scraping windows and it's worked well, I turn it down to 2 or 3 while I drive to work then off after 10 mins or so.
Had no trouble with it whatsoever so far.
 
Dazzola said:
I'm a year and a bit into fitting my cdh, I tend to run it on full heat in the morning before I go to work, defrost the van to avoid scraping windows and it's worked well, I turn it down to 2 or 3 while I drive to work then off after 10 mins or so.
Had no trouble with it whatsoever so far.
Click to expand...
The one in my van works fine still after a year. But it is not in constant use and has a high heat cycle to get van up to temp.
The one in my caravan is run for days if not weeks constantly on the lowest setting, and I have only recently started doing the high burn. That was my mistake I am sure.
 
Gromett said:
I installed a 2KW diesel heater 2 days ago. Here is my initial review.

I was heading towards the peak winter usage of gas at 1 bottle per week and these are currently costing £42.99 per swap.
In addition my gas heater just doesn't cut it in the winter even on full blast. So a Diesel heater has been long on the cards.

Now I have my industrial unit I could strip stuff down and had places to store all the crap while I did the work and it wasn't so much of a hassle to do.

Soo. The install. I wanted to install it under the bench seat opposite the one I use as a bed. But due to the water heater being in an awkward position this was not possible with the chassis rails.
Moving it is possible but is a future project and I didn't want to do it just now. So. I installed it under my bed as that is the easiest place to get to. Right at the head of the bed.
It wasn't until I started testing it I suddenly thought about having that fan/tick right next to my head whilst trying to sleep and got a bit concerned.

This fear turned out to be unfounded as once the cushions were back on it is actually quieter than the blower in my Truma gas/electric heater.

Noise levels are therefore not an issue at all with the 2Kw heaters at low. And at low it is heating my caravan beautifully. I have had to turn it off once due to it getting too hot in here once, the sun was out and heating the van up.
Then twice I have opened a roof vent with the fan on for 2 minutes each time to knock down the heat a bit at night. Turning it off cools the van too much and then it has to ramp up to get the temp back up again. So letting a little bit of the hot air out works out better.
It is not something you have to do often with the 2KW heater.

2KW vs 5KW heater. I chose the 2KW heater because I would rather have one that could go very low and use the least diesel rather than work most efficiently in the winter. I think this was the correct decision. The 5KW in my van cab pumps out a LOT more heat on the lowest setting and would have been too much for my caravan.

Usage: The diesel tank gauge hasn't moved off full in the 2 days I have been using it. So I just timed the ticks. It is running at 1 tick a second at night and during the day it drops lower than this. But I just did the maths based on 1 tick per second.
1 tick = a 0.02ml dose. So 0.02ml x 60 x 60 is 72ml an hour and 1.728L a day. I am buying my red diesel at 99p per litre. So the cost is £1.71 a day or £11.97 per week. Even if I have to go the more expensive supplier round here it is £1.15 per litre it would be £1.99 per day or £14 per week. When I can get onto the kerosene it will be £0.79 per litre or £1.36 per day or £9.55 per week. I was considering getting a Kerosene bunded tank but the cost of it and the savings means it is probably not worth the effort. The payback time would be too long.
Anyway I think that is off the beaten track

My calculations are that if you can get red diesel then the cost of running a 2KW diesel heater is a quarter of the price to a third of the price of gas bottles and probably half the cost of LPG.


Summary. Not as noisy as expected, much cheaper to run than expected. Dead easy to install and a good level of heat even on the lowest setting. For a caravan it is better because refillable LPG are not always practical. For a motorhome if you use the main diesel tank I think it still works out cheaper than LPG in a refillable but perhaps not as clear cut depending on the price of Diesel. However, if you are fulltiming during the winter. Having the diesel heater running from your main tank gives you a much long run time before needing to seek a refill. With a dual 13KG gaslow in the peak of winter you would be seeking a refill every 14-18 days. A 90 Litre tank in a fiat ducato would last 53 Days. So there is that advantage to consider also. In 2009 and 2010 winters I got snowed in and had a hellish job getting cyclinders delivered. I couldn't get out to get my Gaslow bottles topped up. It hasn't happened since, but...

Anyway, I will post follow ups if I have any further informatio.
Click to expand...
Gromett, that is a great review, really helpful. Do you know anything about diesel dual space and water heaters? We’re kitting out a little van. I’m just the little woman - want heat and hot water but don’t know if best separate.
 
Gromett said:
I installed a 2KW diesel heater 2 days ago. Here is my initial review.

I was heading towards the peak winter usage of gas at 1 bottle per week and these are currently costing £42.99 per swap.
In addition my gas heater just doesn't cut it in the winter even on full blast. So a Diesel heater has been long on the cards.

Now I have my industrial unit I could strip stuff down and had places to store all the crap while I did the work and it wasn't so much of a hassle to do.

Soo. The install. I wanted to install it under the bench seat opposite the one I use as a bed. But due to the water heater being in an awkward position this was not possible with the chassis rails.
Moving it is possible but is a future project and I didn't want to do it just now. So. I installed it under my bed as that is the easiest place to get to. Right at the head of the bed.
It wasn't until I started testing it I suddenly thought about having that fan/tick right next to my head whilst trying to sleep and got a bit concerned.

This fear turned out to be unfounded as once the cushions were back on it is actually quieter than the blower in my Truma gas/electric heater.

Noise levels are therefore not an issue at all with the 2Kw heaters at low. And at low it is heating my caravan beautifully. I have had to turn it off once due to it getting too hot in here once, the sun was out and heating the van up.
Then twice I have opened a roof vent with the fan on for 2 minutes each time to knock down the heat a bit at night. Turning it off cools the van too much and then it has to ramp up to get the temp back up again. So letting a little bit of the hot air out works out better.
It is not something you have to do often with the 2KW heater.

2KW vs 5KW heater. I chose the 2KW heater because I would rather have one that could go very low and use the least diesel rather than work most efficiently in the winter. I think this was the correct decision. The 5KW in my van cab pumps out a LOT more heat on the lowest setting and would have been too much for my caravan.

Usage: The diesel tank gauge hasn't moved off full in the 2 days I have been using it. So I just timed the ticks. It is running at 1 tick a second at night and during the day it drops lower than this. But I just did the maths based on 1 tick per second.
1 tick = a 0.02ml dose. So 0.02ml x 60 x 60 is 72ml an hour and 1.728L a day. I am buying my red diesel at 99p per litre. So the cost is £1.71 a day or £11.97 per week. Even if I have to go the more expensive supplier round here it is £1.15 per litre it would be £1.99 per day or £14 per week. When I can get onto the kerosene it will be £0.79 per litre or £1.36 per day or £9.55 per week. I was considering getting a Kerosene bunded tank but the cost of it and the savings means it is probably not worth the effort. The payback time would be too long.
Anyway I think that is off the beaten track

My calculations are that if you can get red diesel then the cost of running a 2KW diesel heater is a quarter of the price to a third of the price of gas bottles and probably half the cost of LPG.


Summary. Not as noisy as expected, much cheaper to run than expected. Dead easy to install and a good level of heat even on the lowest setting. For a caravan it is better because refillable LPG are not always practical. For a motorhome if you use the main diesel tank I think it still works out cheaper than LPG in a refillable but perhaps not as clear cut depending on the price of Diesel. However, if you are fulltiming during the winter. Having the diesel heater running from your main tank gives you a much long run time before needing to seek a refill. With a dual 13KG gaslow in the peak of winter you would be seeking a refill every 14-18 days. A 90 Litre tank in a fiat ducato would last 53 Days. So there is that advantage to consider also. In 2009 and 2010 winters I got snowed in and had a hellish job getting cyclinders delivered. I couldn't get out to get my Gaslow bottles topped up. It hasn't happened since, but...

Anyway, I will post follow ups if I have any further information.
Click to expand...
hi interesting article, have you a pic of the heater ? or model, thank you
 
CJK said:
Gromett, that is a great review, really helpful. Do you know anything about diesel dual space and water heaters? We’re kitting out a little van. I’m just the little woman - want heat and hot water but don’t know if best separate.
Click to expand...
There is one that does water as well. The downside is you need to run the hot air to get hot water I think?
There are standalone hot water diesel heaters but I haven't looked into them to be honest.


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Last edited:
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Two Owl Ones said:
hi interesting article, have you a pic of the heater ? or model, thank you
Click to expand...
If you look at post #16 and #17 on this thread I have given links to all the products used :) (y)
 
As you can see I have bought more than 1 of the 2KW. I also have 2 of the 4KW units as well.

1703410940201.png
 
CJK said:
Gromett, that is a great review, really helpful. Do you know anything about diesel dual space and water heaters? We’re kitting out a little van. I’m just the little woman - want heat and hot water but don’t know if best separate.
Click to expand...
Truma do a diesel version of their Combi boiler which has the same footprint and weight as their gas Combi boiler. Now also has the same balanced flue as the gas version. Probably not the cheapest option. I did a bit of digging on this option before opting for the diesel version on my new van. There are a number of reviews about installation, mostly from Australia where they seem popular because gas is difficult to find in the remote places.
 
Gromett said:
I installed a 2KW diesel heater 2 days ago. Here is my initial review.

I was heading towards the peak winter usage of gas at 1 bottle per week and these are currently costing £42.99 per swap.
In addition my gas heater just doesn't cut it in the winter even on full blast. So a Diesel heater has been long on the cards.

Now I have my industrial unit I could strip stuff down and had places to store all the crap while I did the work and it wasn't so much of a hassle to do.

Soo. The install. I wanted to install it under the bench seat opposite the one I use as a bed. But due to the water heater being in an awkward position this was not possible with the chassis rails.
Moving it is possible but is a future project and I didn't want to do it just now. So. I installed it under my bed as that is the easiest place to get to. Right at the head of the bed.
It wasn't until I started testing it I suddenly thought about having that fan/tick right next to my head whilst trying to sleep and got a bit concerned.

This fear turned out to be unfounded as once the cushions were back on it is actually quieter than the blower in my Truma gas/electric heater.

Noise levels are therefore not an issue at all with the 2Kw heaters at low. And at low it is heating my caravan beautifully. I have had to turn it off once due to it getting too hot in here once, the sun was out and heating the van up.
Then twice I have opened a roof vent with the fan on for 2 minutes each time to knock down the heat a bit at night. Turning it off cools the van too much and then it has to ramp up to get the temp back up again. So letting a little bit of the hot air out works out better.
It is not something you have to do often with the 2KW heater.

2KW vs 5KW heater. I chose the 2KW heater because I would rather have one that could go very low and use the least diesel rather than work most efficiently in the winter. I think this was the correct decision. The 5KW in my van cab pumps out a LOT more heat on the lowest setting and would have been too much for my caravan.

Usage: The diesel tank gauge hasn't moved off full in the 2 days I have been using it. So I just timed the ticks. It is running at 1 tick a second at night and during the day it drops lower than this. But I just did the maths based on 1 tick per second.
1 tick = a 0.02ml dose. So 0.02ml x 60 x 60 is 72ml an hour and 1.728L a day. I am buying my red diesel at 99p per litre. So the cost is £1.71 a day or £11.97 per week. Even if I have to go the more expensive supplier round here it is £1.15 per litre it would be £1.99 per day or £14 per week. When I can get onto the kerosene it will be £0.79 per litre or £1.36 per day or £9.55 per week. I was considering getting a Kerosene bunded tank but the cost of it and the savings means it is probably not worth the effort. The payback time would be too long.
Anyway I think that is off the beaten track

My calculations are that if you can get red diesel then the cost of running a 2KW diesel heater is a quarter of the price to a third of the price of gas bottles and probably half the cost of LPG.


Summary. Not as noisy as expected, much cheaper to run than expected. Dead easy to install and a good level of heat even on the lowest setting. For a caravan it is better because refillable LPG are not always practical. For a motorhome if you use the main diesel tank I think it still works out cheaper than LPG in a refillable but perhaps not as clear cut depending on the price of Diesel. However, if you are fulltiming during the winter. Having the diesel heater running from your main tank gives you a much long run time before needing to seek a refill. With a dual 13KG gaslow in the peak of winter you would be seeking a refill every 14-18 days. A 90 Litre tank in a fiat ducato would last 53 Days. So there is that advantage to consider also. In 2009 and 2010 winters I got snowed in and had a hellish job getting cyclinders delivered. I couldn't get out to get my Gaslow bottles topped up. It hasn't happened since, but...

Anyway, I will post follow ups if I have any further information.
Click to expand...
you might be interested in what my friend Josh has looked at in relation to diesel heaters.

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Gromett said:
I installed a 2KW diesel heater 2 days ago. Here is my initial review.

I was heading towards the peak winter usage of gas at 1 bottle per week and these are currently costing £42.99 per swap.
In addition my gas heater just doesn't cut it in the winter even on full blast. So a Diesel heater has been long on the cards.

Now I have my industrial unit I could strip stuff down and had places to store all the crap while I did the work and it wasn't so much of a hassle to do.

Soo. The install. I wanted to install it under the bench seat opposite the one I use as a bed. But due to the water heater being in an awkward position this was not possible with the chassis rails.
Moving it is possible but is a future project and I didn't want to do it just now. So. I installed it under my bed as that is the easiest place to get to. Right at the head of the bed.
It wasn't until I started testing it I suddenly thought about having that fan/tick right next to my head whilst trying to sleep and got a bit concerned.

This fear turned out to be unfounded as once the cushions were back on it is actually quieter than the blower in my Truma gas/electric heater.

Noise levels are therefore not an issue at all with the 2Kw heaters at low. And at low it is heating my caravan beautifully. I have had to turn it off once due to it getting too hot in here once, the sun was out and heating the van up.
Then twice I have opened a roof vent with the fan on for 2 minutes each time to knock down the heat a bit at night. Turning it off cools the van too much and then it has to ramp up to get the temp back up again. So letting a little bit of the hot air out works out better.
It is not something you have to do often with the 2KW heater.

2KW vs 5KW heater. I chose the 2KW heater because I would rather have one that could go very low and use the least diesel rather than work most efficiently in the winter. I think this was the correct decision. The 5KW in my van cab pumps out a LOT more heat on the lowest setting and would have been too much for my caravan.

Usage: The diesel tank gauge hasn't moved off full in the 2 days I have been using it. So I just timed the ticks. It is running at 1 tick a second at night and during the day it drops lower than this. But I just did the maths based on 1 tick per second.
1 tick = a 0.02ml dose. So 0.02ml x 60 x 60 is 72ml an hour and 1.728L a day. I am buying my red diesel at 99p per litre. So the cost is £1.71 a day or £11.97 per week. Even if I have to go the more expensive supplier round here it is £1.15 per litre it would be £1.99 per day or £14 per week. When I can get onto the kerosene it will be £0.79 per litre or £1.36 per day or £9.55 per week. I was considering getting a Kerosene bunded tank but the cost of it and the savings means it is probably not worth the effort. The payback time would be too long.
Anyway I think that is off the beaten track

My calculations are that if you can get red diesel then the cost of running a 2KW diesel heater is a quarter of the price to a third of the price of gas bottles and probably half the cost of LPG.


Summary. Not as noisy as expected, much cheaper to run than expected. Dead easy to install and a good level of heat even on the lowest setting. For a caravan it is better because refillable LPG are not always practical. For a motorhome if you use the main diesel tank I think it still works out cheaper than LPG in a refillable but perhaps not as clear cut depending on the price of Diesel. However, if you are fulltiming during the winter. Having the diesel heater running from your main tank gives you a much long run time before needing to seek a refill. With a dual 13KG gaslow in the peak of winter you would be seeking a refill every 14-18 days. A 90 Litre tank in a fiat ducato would last 53 Days. So there is that advantage to consider also. In 2009 and 2010 winters I got snowed in and had a hellish job getting cyclinders delivered. I couldn't get out to get my Gaslow bottles topped up. It hasn't happened since, but...

Anyway, I will post follow ups if I have any further information.
Click to expand...
I would really like to have a Chinese deisel heater in my van but I just don't have the confidence or ability to fit one . 😫
 
gwyntaxi said:
I would really like to have a Chinese deisel heater in my van but I just don't have the confidence or ability to fit one . 😫
Click to expand...
Sorry I can't help with that one. Not sure if Wissel is taking on installs again yet?
 
We have a 5Kw chinese deisel heater . It heats the van up quickly so we have to turn it down to the lowest setting. Starts off at setting 3 , it can be turned up to about 6 I think but we let it tick over at the lowest. (y)
 
Jimbohorlicks said:
We have a 5Kw chinese deisel heater . It heats the van up quickly so we have to turn it down to the lowest setting. Starts off at setting 3 , it can be turned up to about 6 I think but we let it tick over at the lowest. (y)
Click to expand...
My problem was I was running it on it's lowest setting for days/weeks continuously. It wasn't having to do the high temperature initial bit to get the van up to temp.
I will need to open a window and crank it up every day or couple of days for 20 minutes to clean the burn chamber. I really should have done this from the start :(
 
Gromett said:
My problem was I was running it on it's lowest setting for days/weeks continuously. It wasn't having to do the high temperature initial bit to get the van up to temp.
I will need to open a window and crank it up every day or couple of days for 20 minutes to clean the burn chamber. I really should have done this from the start :(
Click to expand...
My concern was the internal temperature of the burner casing that the air flows over to provide the hot air heating . I don't like to see it over 163C , but that's my choice. ( its just a figure i'm happy with).
I dont know how high a temp the internal casing / heat exchanger gets at it max setting. But very happy with mine (which is plumbed into my main fuel tank.) (y)

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Jimbohorlicks said:
My concern was the internal temperature of the burner casing that the air flows over to provide the hot air heating . I don't like to see it over 163C , but that's my choice. ( its just a figure i'm happy with).
I dont know how high a temp the internal casing / heat exchanger gets at it max setting. But very happy with mine (which is plumbed into my main fuel tank.) (y)
Click to expand...
Mine was hovering around 145-150. I don't think the casing gets much hotter as the fan speeds up to keep it cool. Inside the burn chamber itself though it will get a lot hotter.
 
Interesting to read. Mine gets to 202c within minutes in my Defender and I need to run it longer really. I’m pleased I only got the 2kw one.
 
Landy Andy said:
Interesting to read. Mine gets to 202c within minutes in my Defender and I need to run it longer really. I’m pleased I only got the 2kw one.
Click to expand...
202°C on the casing thermometer?
 
Soo... I finally got off my arse and stripped the bed down to get to the Diesel heater.
The GREAT news is.. It took me less than a minute to get the cover off, the electronic housing released and the glow plug out.

The bad news is the hole where the glow plug goes is pretty much solid carbon. Really crunchy and nasty. so I will probably have to strip it down and give it a full service.

Rather than going through the process of stripping everything down today then doing the work tomorrow to reassemble, I am just going to wait for the new one to arrive and swap them out.
I can then service the existing one at my leisure.

BIG lesson learned. You do need to run them on full power for half an hour when you first install one to burn off the coatings from manufacturing etc. AND then you need to give a regular full burn especially if you are running it continuously on the lowest setting.

When I do strip it down I will take some pictures.

I will point out. That my use case is unusual and most people are unlikely to hit this problem. I still have full confidence in these heaters.
 
Got an email about half an hour ago telling my new diesel heater won't be with me between this wed/fri and will be in the new year.
They have shipped it and Hermes say they have it. So no idea why.

Anyway, My gas probably won't last that long. So I used the filter mesh that Wissel kindly lent me. Checked the flame hole was clear and new mesh installed.
Still does exactly the same thing. I now suspect the burn chamber is almost completely chocka. So a bench service is in order.

I know the glow plug is fine because the temperature rises up to 45°C after 3 cycles and it is pulling 7 amps.

It will be interesting to see the state of the burn chamber when I open it. But that will be a new years jobs. Hopefully the gas lasts me until then.
If not I will be putting one of my 4KW units in but that would require drilling new holes :(
 
Gromett said:
My problem was I was running it on it's lowest setting for days/weeks continuously. It wasn't having to do the high temperature initial bit to get the van up to temp.
I will need to open a window and crank it up every day or couple of days for 20 minutes to clean the burn chamber. I really should have done this from the start :(
Click to expand...
ISTR reading somewhere that running on kerosene keeps them much cleaner?
 
tonyidle said:
ISTR reading somewhere that running on kerosene keeps them much cleaner?
Click to expand...
I am sure it does. I just can't get a supply round here. Been through that on another thread.
 
tonyidle said:
ISTR reading somewhere that running on kerosene keeps them much cleaner?
Click to expand...
I used to run our Eberspacher's on Kerosene prior to each winter "season" normally one 5ltr bottle, and usualy gave them a full power blast for a few minutes before turning them off. Seemed to work.
 
Unless you can buy 500 odd litres Kerosene is far more expensive than small quantities of red diesel purchased locally.

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Gromett said:
Unless you can buy 500 odd litres Kerosene is far more expensive than small quantities of red diesel purchased locally.
Click to expand...
Yes - we'd get most of the fuel from the boats tank - around 700litres of red on 60/40Vat then, but 5lt once per year was OK for keeping the heater clean.
 
Rye oils does mail order in small to large quantities, they even have a eBay shop. I used to get 2 drums of 25L and periodically run it on kerosene.
Sometimes you can get a 1000L at a very good price, but, I don’t have the space or the need for such quantities.
Another option is, to have a mate with heating oil tank, and group buy when he gets his delivery. Then you draw yours from his tank as in when you need it.
 
Gromett I've got a spare heater, brand new and unused in my shed if you're stuck and need it urgently ? I'm in Essex, you can have it if you want and if you need to get it sorted asap rather than wait? just replace it when time allows?
 
MisterB said:
Gromett I've got a spare heater, brand new and unused in my shed if you're stuck and need it urgently ? I'm in Essex, you can have it if you want and if you need to get it sorted asap rather than wait? just replace it when time allows?
Click to expand...
Thank you for your very kind offer. I have a 4KW spare if I have to go down that route. But again thanks for the very kind offer.
 
Raul said:
Rye oils does mail order in small to large quantities, they even have a eBay shop. I used to get 2 drums of 25L and periodically run it on kerosene.
Sometimes you can get a 1000L at a very good price, but, I don’t have the space or the need for such quantities.
Another option is, to have a mate with heating oil tank, and group buy when he gets his delivery. Then you draw yours from his tank as in when you need it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion but they are no cheaper than anyone else selling the small volumes. Anything under 500L and you pay a MASSIVE penalty.
Kerosene is usually around 70-80p in the UK. But they are not legally allowed to sell it in volumes less than 500L unless it is in pre-measured containers.
When in a container they charge £1.90 - £2.00 making it more expensive than LPG and even Flogas propane bottles.


I don't know anyone with a tank to do the bulk order and I don't really like being reliant on others.

I can't wait for my local garage to recover from the flood. They were selling red at 99p a litre before the prices fell.

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