Using a diesel air heater to heat a home workshop FAQ

Ah OK. I'd have thought it'd be safer to put it underneath the van but hey.

Yes, granted, but you don't *need* the inlet.

You don’t *need* a heater, but it would be foolish to waste fuel and reduce the effectiveness of the heater by always heating cold air.

Tim

I decided to buy a kit of separate parts, rather than everything assembled in a metal box, so I could position things where I wanted them (possibly an error with hindsight but ...). It arrived recently and I was surprised to see that the Chinglish manual says "not to be used for heating a garage", whereas: a boat, van, camper, etcetera are all OK. Seems odd so I'll ignore it, but install a CO monitor. I presume the restriction is driven by liability or run-time - any thoughts? Now I need to core a couple of holes for inlet and exhaust and get things mounted - but, ironically, it's a bit too cold at the moment.

The most effective workshop heater I can recall was a Salamander. I haven't seen one for years now.

in my workshop, thanks.

I literally had one of these LPG space heaters delivered yesterday but not had chance to see what it's like yet:

The LPG ones I've seen simply blow hot air that has been used for combustion, so raise humidity levels and lead to rusting of steels and expansion of wood. The diesel air heaters use a heat exchanger, so the diesel heats a metal block which has air blown through it - no humidity increase. I've used the same in camper vans (and similar in aircraft (burning AVGAS, not diesel)) and they work well.

I would imagine quite a bit cheaper to run than a propane fired one too (although I could be wrong).

Tim

Why a hole for the air intake? If the room isn't sealed & air can find its way in you only need to vent the exhaust.

That would blow warm air from inside, through the burner section, to outside.