Alternative Furnace Option - Diesel Parking Heater

[Timbre]

Those are good things to keep in mind. ^ ^ ^

If set up properly these heaters burn VERY clean! There is a series of videos i posted (from some guy's youtube channel) earlier in this thread, that will answer most any question one might have about them. The combustion air exhausts to the outside. Inlet air to the combustion chamber can be drawn from the outside also, but in my case, i chose to vent the combustion exhaust out the side of the trailer, and draw inlet combustion air from inside the trailer as that pulls fresh air through a vent on the opposite side of the trailer. Heated air is not mixed with combustion exhaust air, it is circulated inside the "living space". NOW, having said this, there are those who DO NOT set these heaters up properly . . . restricted inlet air, restricted exhaust air, fuel pumps not positioned correctly . . . and many other things. Follow the recommendations on the videos, and you will have no issues.

As for the carbon monoxide levels in the exhaust, the test in the video below shows about 6-7 ppm. For comparison, the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) for carbon monoxide is 50 parts per million (ppm) parts of air (55 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m(3))) as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) concentration

Check out the link to a video that talks about this. Starts at 7:19

 

[Mentzel]

Those are good things to keep in mind. ^ ^ ^

If set up properly these heaters burn VERY clean! There is a series of videos i posted (from some guy's youtube channel) earlier in this thread, that will answer most any question one might have about them. The combustion air exhausts to the outside. Inlet air to the combustion chamber can be drawn from the outside also, but in my case, i chose to vent the combustion exhaust out the side of the trailer, and draw inlet combustion air from inside the trailer as that pulls fresh air through a vent on the opposite side of the trailer. Heated air is not mixed with combustion exhaust air, it is circulated inside the "living space". NOW, having said this, there are those who DO NOT set these heaters up properly . . . restricted inlet air, restricted exhaust air, fuel pumps not positioned correctly . . . and many other things. Follow the recommendations on the videos, and you will have no issues.


As for the carbon monoxide levels in the exhaust, the test in the video below shows about 6-7 ppm. For comparison, the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) for carbon monoxide is 50 parts per million (ppm) parts of air (55 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m(3))) as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) concentration

Check out the link to a video that talks about this. Starts at 7:19

You should change your combustion air inlet to draw air from outside directly. “Direct vent it”, so fresh air in for combustion and exhaust exits the box. If it were your house, Mechanical Code requires the combustion air opening be fixed open and sized properly based on heater capacity. NO exceptions!

With your config once the oxygen is depleted in the box you could easily pass out and die from asphyxiation. Its very easy to do especially when sleeping in the trailer. Someone gets cold and shuts the combustion air vent. Nobody wakes up..

CO is not a huge concern with this unit. But it could be if the CA vent is closed and your heater exhaust fan pulls trailer negative pressure wise. Exhaust will no longer exit the box potentially backdrafting the heater releasing CO into box.

If you direct vent the CA and heater exhaust you are safe as possible. Unless heat exchanger cracks (very unlikely) you are good to go.

A Toyostove venting is a good example to look at.

 

[Timbre]

Again, great things to keep in mind.

In my case, it is not possible to close the outside vents (and there are 2 of them + the top vent) that the heater can pull air in through for combustion. The first reason i did it this way was already mentioned. The second reason, is that i plan to run this driving down the road in wet, snowy conditions, where a mist of water / salt / mag chloride is all around. If the inlet air is pulled directly from under or through the side of the trailer near where the exhaust goes out, the heater would be pulling in a salt / water / magnesium chloride mist into its combustion chamber. Then on roads where it is not wet, there is dust or other airborne particles i don't want inside the combustion chamber. Either of these things would quickly corrode and ruin the delicate parts inside the heater.

But for safety from the CO issue, I have a carbon monoxide sensor inside the trailer for "backup" as well.

 

[moab11]

Any updates from the guys running these?
I ordered one of the "portable" ones and hope to have it here soon to start playing with. Main thing for me will be drilling the ~1" hole for the exhaust in my Line-X'd floor

 

[Timbre]

I had the same fear in cutting a hole in the floor of the trailer so vented the exhaust out the side - through the wall.
This accomplished 4 things . .
1- No cutting through the floor.
2- the hot exhaust coming out the side warms hands when getting the sleds ready.
3 - In the summer, ATV riding/camping in the mountains, it doesnt shoot the exhaust out the bottom potentially starting weeds etc. on fire.
4- the exhaust pipe will not corrode from road chemicals.

I had the opportunity to use my heater a few days ago when it was -13 outside. Since it has the remote control, i was about half way to the riding area and from the cab of the truck, pushed the "on" button. About 10 minutes later i pulled off the road and checked to make sure it started ok, and it did. Was already putting out warm air. When arriving at the parking lot, the trailer was quite a bit warmer compared to the -13 temps. I would guess to fully heat a 4-place un-insulated trailer to even 50 degrees, one might need 2 of these going at below 0 temps. These are estimated at about 17k BTU. I am Happy so far with this heater!

As most already know, you MUST use a diesel fuel additive or your tank on the heater will be all gelled up.

One of the best things about these heaters is that they DO NOT add moisture to the inside of the trailer like propane powered heaters do.

 

[moab11]

thanks for the tip on the additive, I will have to get a bit to try. Usually our winter diesel here is pretty good, but I'm sure that small pump doesn't do well with bad diesel.

 

[dw8]

Mine has worked GREAT! I bought a 5kW heater off of Ebay. We used 1" foam board on the side walls, and 2" foam board on the ceiling. I mounted the heater in the front beside the 5 nose with the tank just below it. For a temporary setup, we used flexible ducting to move the hot air towards the center and back. I then installed 2 4" computer fans on a toggle switch to help move the air around. We used it all last week in West Yellowstone. I left it on its highest setting for the 5 days (shut down while unloading/loading since all the doors were open). I used 6 gallons of fuel running it like that. The sleds dried out every night with a small amount of water on the floor in the low spot. No massive puddles or anything like that. One night we needed to swap out clutching parts and being in the warm air made all the difference in the world.

I vented the exhaust out the side of the trailer using a boat through hull fitting. No muffler. Works great.

 

[moab11]

Can you provide more info on the thru hull fitting?
I just got my al-in-one heater yesterday and just ran it quick to try it out and was very impressed. I'm still on the fence about where to route the exhaust outside, don't really want to drill a hole anywhere, but know I need to at some point.

 

[dw8]

This is the fitting that I used.

Espar Eberspacher D2 D4 Webasto Air Top Marine Exhaust 24mm Hull skin fitting | eBay

Eberspacher Vehicle Heaters. Eberspacher Marine Heaters. Eberspacher or Webasto 24mm Marine Heater Exhaust Hull Fitting with Gaskets and Mounting Bolts. Eberspacher and Webasto heaters. Webasto Vehicle Heaters.

www.ebay.com

I used a 1 1/2" hole saw for my thru hole. I then cut away insulation to roughly 3" diameter. It's worked pretty slick. I'll try and take a picture tonight when I get home. It is a bit messy as we were cramming to finish before our trip. But it is safe and functional. I had my neighbor test the CO levels in the trailer when it was running. I'm happy with the setup.

Just need a better battery box, it tore off its shelf on our drive home...

 

[dw8]

I’ll move my combustion intake to draw from outside later. But here are a couple pictures.

 

[Timbre]

On those through-hull exhaust outlets . . . they can be pretty expensive!!
Here is one that is pretty reasonably priced.

www.amazon.com/Straight-Exhaust-Fitting-Eberspacher-Diameter/dp/B07T61KF8R/ref=pd_rhf_schuc_s_vtp_ses_clicks_nonshared_0_3/137-1304687-2915303?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07T633Z7Q&pd_rd_r=c2e92a84-a0c0-4843-8f24-b2b88d45c699&pd_rd_w=3fbHZ&pd_rd_wg=gMXRO&pf_rd_p=af51e21a-6deb-41cf-854d-4e8f96d7bd8e&pf_rd_r=K81GD8W2JPMN4XYRMTHT&psc=1&refRID=K81GD8W2JPMN4XYRMTHT

 

[800poodragon]

Make sure you don't lose or unhook battery power before complete shutdown. Had 2 friends that just bought these. One has not installed his yet and the other tried it out in his garage, unhooked the battery to soon and burned up parts and circuit board.. They burn pretty hot I guess

 

[Timbre]

Yes, that is the one thing that will ruin these heaters VERY quickly! This issue is covered in one of the videos (in the series) i posted earlier. If that happens you have about 30 seconds to get the top cover off of the heater to let air in so the circuit board will keep cool enough to avoid melting it. The heater has to completely cycle/cool down and shut itself off. It takes about 4 minutes.

The circuit board can be replaced with one from Amazon - link below. You will need to verify that the connector is the same one that is used on your heater.

www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZJ32357/?coliid=IBVAM3SQNE0FH&colid=2MEGDL0Q3TCHZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[revrider07]

Any one of heaters better than the others?

 

[Bubba]

Any one of heaters better than the others?

Lookup Espar heaters i order them in my peterbilt trucks from the factory.

 

[05rmksteve]

 

[dw8]

@05rmksteve that is one nice looking setup!

 

[WyoUltra]

How well does the furnace push heat through all the ducting? Would it be worth it to install an inline fan?

 

[Timbre]

Humm... after watching the series of videos, i wonder if the restrictions of the piping and all, would cause the heater to not burn properly, and have a short life?
GREAT ideas on how to use one of these to dry out everything though!

 

[05rmksteve]

Humm... after watching the series of videos, i wonder if the restrictions of the piping and all, would cause the heater to not burn properly, and have a short life?
GREAT ideas on how to use one of these to dry out everything though!

That's why I went with a larger 4" pipe than the supplied 3" for the beginning of the runs and ran 45s vs 90s on the main run then reduced to 3".