The diesel heater is not generally a very popular home heater, although it is quite rapidly becoming popular amongst campers and motor home owners, especially those who love to have the option of camping away from any sources of electricity.
Many people feel that diesel heaters have a lot of advantages over other mobile type heaters, such as propane heaters. Obviously diesel is much more readily available than propane gas, it’s also safer to use and transport and apparently has a higher BTU output per gallon. They also beat wood heaters hands down. Wood heaters requires wood to operate, but wood is bulky, not always readily available, and it’s difficult to store in large amounts.
While the notion of burning diesel brings with it ideas of danger and harm, diesel fuel heaters these days are totally harmless, especially if installed properly. They do not need to be installed by an expert, although they aren’t that easy to add to a motor home or camper, thus you may need some help unless you are an accomplished handyman.
They operate by drawing air into a small, totally sealed furnace from outside. This small furnace can’t be located anywhere inside as it is a completely enclosed structure. Diesel is forced into this furnace and lit to heat the air trapped in the furnace. This hot air is then sent back out into the atmosphere. Indoor air passes across the now heated furnace and is funnelled or ducted to the motor home, camper, or room that needs heating. As you can see, the dangerous fumes from the burning gas it totally sealed and does not mingle with the heated or unheated air within the area that is to be heated.
Popular brands of diesel fuel heaters include the Eberspacher diesel range, highly popular in the US and Canada, and Europe; and the Webasto range, which is more common in Europe and also available in Australia. Gradually these diesel heaters are gaining popularity, particularly when it comes to mobile homes and these two brands seem to be some of the best you can buy.
Diesel portable space heaters are commonly used in places like outdoor construction sites where they are used not only to provide warmth for construction workers, but are also used to prevent newly laid cement from freezing. Their fuel source is self-contained, and these larger units are usually supplied with wheels and handles, making them easy to operate and definitely very portable. They aren’t affected by changing temperatures either, thus can provide safe heating even when the temperature drops down to 10 degrees or lower centigrade.
Some diesel fuel heaters use an electric motor to turn the fan that pushes air firstly into the combustion chamber or furnace, and then out into the surrounding airs.
You can even buy a diesel water heater, if interested. These are structured similarly to other diesel heaters, and work on-demand. This means that they turn on when the faucet is turned on, and heat the water as it runs through, but they don’t have big storage tanks full of water that needs to be kept warm. They heat the water quickly and efficiently, and thus are also very economical to run. Of course the other pluses, such as diesel being readily available, make them a very interesting option when it comes to water heaters.