diesel heaters. How cheap is too cheap

denmonkey · Senior Member

diesel heaters. How cheap is too cheap

rgren2 · Guru

Not commenting on the price, we always turn ours off before going to sleep.

jebs · Veteran Member

We ever leave ours going while asleep.......turn it on when I get up and it warms up very quickly

mezza56 · Senior Member

That is certainly tempting , what have you got to lose its only $270 . We paid around $2800 fitted for our dometic ( eberspacher)

PeterInSa · Guru

We have a 2Kw unit in our 21'6" Caravan. I think the 2Kw unit is sufficient unless you have a big Bus/Motorhome.

Ours is similar/different brand tyo:

www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Planar-2KW-Diesel-Air-Heater-Digital-Thermostat-Caravan-Motorhome-RV-Bus-/331984754460

Peter

Dickodownunder · Guru

I bought the same unit as Peter above and fitted it to my previous van.

As Peter said you wont need a 5 kw unit unles you have a very large motor home.
From memory my unit had 7 stages of heat settings with 7 being the hottest and we never had our unit above 3 with 2 setting being hot unless it was a freezing night.

I found Pinnacle Wholesalers to be very good with follow up service and the kit I bought came with a tank included.
If I bought again I would get a plastic tank or make one myself out of a small plastic fuel gerry can.

Yuglamron · Guru

This is not Political.

Trump had a go at the Chinese for basically copying stuff. Copyright infringements. The Chinese don't have the same copyright rules.

A company like Eberspacher. The Rolls Royce of Diesel heaters for trucks had their design copied by the Chinese and sold at less than a third of the cost. You can even buy them now that can be turned on and off with your smartphone.

Somewhat like the Honda Motor found in some generators. They come out of the same factory. Sold much cheaper.

The same with these diesel heaters same design.

Get something made in China and it will appear cheaper under some other brand name.

Plenty of units sold here in Australia and I personally don't recall any reports of fires laid at the door of diesel heaters.

Some of these heaters are imported here with big mark ups compared to the price online.

Mike Harding · Guru

I'd buy one - the one from the Australian reseller, it appears to be a more comprehensive fitting kit and looks like it has a silencer which the direct from China one does not.

From a safety perspective:
*Buy a carbon monoxide alarm* (e-bay is your friend). All caravans should have one.
Ensure you know what you're doing or seek advice before/when fitting.
The first few times you use the unit use your hand to feel all over its casing for excessive temperatures in places where they should not be.

Quality:
It's out of China - who knows?
Spares will be an issue - ask the seller, for what that's worth.
Rubber mount the pump.
At $270 it's not a major loss if it fails at some point.

PeterInSa · Guru

Re (All caravans should have one)

Suggest that also applies to LPG Alarms
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Combustible-Gas-Leak-LPG-Detector-Natural-Gas-Propane-Alarm-For-12V-RV-Van-Boat/152610948226

meetoo · Guru

It appears prices on diesel heaters have dropped over the last couple of years.

I paid a lot more from Pinnacle 2 years ago than what they are currently advertising.

- As long as it doensn't reflect quality.

Cheers, John.

Mike Harding · Guru

>As long as it doensn't reflect quality.

I suspect it simply reflects that cheap Chinese copies have forced the major players to drop their huge margins.

A diesel heater is not a complex or expensive product to design or manufacture, the basic principle has been around in other applications for many decades. Consider the variety of powered garden tools available and their prices, if a factory can make those they can easily make a diesel heater. I reckon A$250 to A$500 is about the right retail price for these items with A$500 buying a top class unit. A$1k or A$2k is just insulting... but then look what Dometic charge for a replacement heating element for their fridges.

Dickodownunder · Guru

As my post above I fitted the unit from Pinnacle and it worked fine.
The two things I did not like were the metal fuel tank ( when ordering the kit I thought it was good but they are actually poor quality in my opinion.)
The second thing I would change if I did another one would be that I would buy the mounting plate that bolts on the floor from the supplier in Tasmania as it has a metal guard that would protect the wood floor from any heat should it transfer from the exhaust.
Having said that I had no trouble with the Pinnacle unit but after I cut the hole I cut some aluminium angle and acrewed it to the edges of the hole to help to prevent the wood getting too hot.

Edit;

This is the mounting plate

http://www.dieselheat.com.au/ttwp/wp-content/uploads/mounting-plate-heavy-duty-.jpg

-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Monday 5th of February 2018 04:51:48 PM

Izabarack · Guru

AUD$280 version on its way to me. Friend has one and it works great. The unit gets quite warm to the touch but can be held without burning the skin. AUD$15 the difference between 5KW and 3KW version. In and out to the combustion chamber is clearly all outside the campervan and the heated air is recycled once thing gets going.

Iza

Dickodownunder · Guru

Added the link to the mounting plate in my post above.

Desert Dweller · Guru

Soft ****s, put a beanie, jacket & gloves on & light a fire.

Extra doona's, lambs wool underlay & winter PJ's, love ém.

denmonkey · Senior Member

wow, some great responses. thanks very much
Overall the impression seems to be positive.
Still a few nice warm months before I'll invest in the unit.

Iza, I'd be very interested in a report once it arrives etc.

cheers Brett

Craig1 · Guru

Do they smell once installed?, we could smell the diesel 50 metres away at a show in Wodonga 3 years ago from a demo unit. thanks I hope, Craig