Diesel Heater for Back-up heat during long grid failures?

[Xringer]

I wonder if I should stick a tiny volt meter on top of that battery, or buy one of those fancy Battery Monitor Meters from Amazon?
Maybe instead of looking at voltage and guessing, read the actual Ah used?
Like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013PKYILS/
Or this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FN3VXH4/
Anyone used one of these before?

I've inserted a 70A breaker in the + side, so the battery can be cut completely off from the load of the meter and the heater's controller standby current draw.

[Elcam84]

I have looked them quite a bit for use other than in an Rv. If it really puts out that kind of heat I would like to use it for a heat source for my shop. Fuel wise it would be far cheaper than propane. 8KW of heat would maintain temp on most winter days but would take a while to do the initial warm up.

If it worked as well as they claim and I were to get one I would probably run it off JetA as I can get waste fuel from airport maintenance facilities. They have to pay to dispose of it and are more than happy if someone will take some of it off their hands.

[Xringer]

They do put out a lot of heat. I've seen a few people using these cheap diesel heaters for their shops, on YouTube.
I think one guy had a two car garage, that was not insulated! Must have been down south! He got the garage very warm!
Anyways, you might be able to find more information about the real BTUs on one of the facebook groups or even on YouTube.
If your shop isn't too large and has some insulation, you might be in luck!

I was expecting to get more heat into my HS Tarm boiler on my 1st test.
But the normal 1 deg loss per-hour wasn't slowed down much.
The big wood-coal fire-box was dirty with residue hanging on it's walls.
So, I cleaned most of that up and got a ash out of the clean-out pan area.

I want to run another boiler-heating test when the hotwater temp is abt 100F.
And run the heater at full speed, to see what level of heat can be scavenged from the exhaust pipe output.

I know the reasons for the 1 deg-loss-per-hour, and there isn't much that can be done about them. (One reason is excessive handwashing)!

[Elcam84]

Well it's insulated however it's a metal building so all the insulation where the frame is has been compressed when the skin is screwed on so the frame causes allot of heat loss and in the summer they are 40' long 130* radiators. It's far harder to cool the shop than it is to heat it.
When I use a propane heater that is a 30-40-50Kbtu I usually get it warmed up on the 50K real fast then let the 30 run a bit and turn it off then just turn it on as needed. Course the temps vary so much here that BTU needed is all over the place.
We are going to be around 90* on saturday... Temps are all over the place here. Maybe we can go down to the Caribbean for Christmas where it's cooler than here in the US...

Oh and FYI the cheapest Kerosene here is $8 a gallon which is $1 over what it usually is. Far cheaper to buy jet fuel at the airport for those running kerosene. Propane has remained pretty much unchanged despite the media trying to raise the price.

[skyking]

Do your fuel calculations by the pound. The BTUh per pound is very close across the range of all fuels, it is just another way to arrange the carbon molecules after all.
That is the primary reason diesel yields better MPG, it is 16% heavier per gallon just to start with.
Propane is really light at 4.24 pounds per gallon.

[Xringer]

The cost of Diesel fuel at Texas gas stations $2.86 to 3.45 a gallon. So that's what to use in your Diesel heater! http://www.bostongasprices.com/GasPriceSearch.aspx

Sounds like a big building. If it's got a real high ceiling, heating with a Chinese heater might be slow. My basement shop is small (22x15?) with a low ceiling of uninsulated main level flooring. The basement floor is a cool slab at ground water temps (I try to stand on insulation foam floor mats). The air warms up pretty fast. Even when the tops of Concrete Walls are around 35F. The windows are leaky too! It would be a lot of trouble to insulate this shop. Not gonna happen.

[BillG]

There are two basic sizes available - 2kW and 5kW. The capacity claims are inconsistent, and often incorrect. Those that are advertised as 8kW are really 5kW heaters. Some that are claimed to be 2kW are really 5kW heaters. The actual 2kW heaters are physically smaller than the 5kW heaters. Look at the dimensions to know which one it really is.

They work fairly well. Your battery is used for two purposes - initial lighting, which uses a LOT of current, and ongoing running of the fan and pulsing fuel pump, which does not take much current.

Many friends are using them to heat fish houses, and they work very well for the purpose. They are not thermostatically controlled. You adjust the pulse rate of the fuel pump. They have a minimum heat output to stay running, maybe 20%.

It is nice that one can easily keep a quantity of fuel in a small can. However, now with most diesel containing a bio component, it does not store well - it grows a black algae in the fuel.

There are some models available that are all assembled in a case, ready to go. Heater, fuel tank, fuel pump, etc. Others come in pieces for you to assemble.

All in all, this is a pretty compact and inexpensive way to have a small amount of backup heat.

[Xringer]

Mine is the "8KW" type, which was about the same price as other sizes in the same all-in-one box configuration.
There is a Facebook group "Diesel Keep You Warm..." that has some manual pdfs.

I'm pretty sure the controller on my heater allows it to be thermostatically controlled. (in C, no F).
I 'think' there is a heat sensor (thermistor) in the panel.
Mine is set up to use the fuel pump rate, because it allows me to control fuel use.

I've been thinking of buying another one of these for the kids.
They have a real nice house, but no fireplace! Zero heat backup.
(I don't think they have any sleeping bags)!
A diesel heater might keep their house from freezing up and it's a lot cheaper than a Power-Wall.

[Robl]

External heat sources like monobloc ashp, or pipes that might freeze up, could be protected from frost damage with an anti freeze valve. Its just a valve at the lowest point in the plumbing, that opens a bit when the temperature falls below 3C or so, to prevent freeze damage. Once it’s opened, slightly warmer water is present, and it will close again for a while. Link to one below.

https://www.seconrenewables.com/heat...lve-7537-p.asp

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by Robl

External heat sources like monobloc ashp, or pipes that might freeze up, could be protected from frost damage with an anti freeze valve. Its just a valve at the lowest point in the plumbing, that opens a bit when the temperature falls below 3C or so, to prevent freeze damage. Once it’s opened, slightly warmer water is present, and it will close again for a while. Link to one below.

https://www.seconrenewables.com/heat...lve-7537-p.asp

Those valves would work in many systems and don't require any operator input.
I like the idea, but if they are installed at the 'lowest point', that means in the basement, near the uninsulated slab.
Where the winter slab temperature is 40 to 50 degrees F. Thanks to the Geothermal effect of the ground water table etc.
So, the valves would never get cold enough to open. The water pipes to the bathroom, kitchen and the forced hot water loop (upstairs) in the bedrooms would freeze up and split open.
The only pipes I'm worried about freezing are the pipes that are at least 5 feet above the basement floor.

I once used a small ASHP hot-water heater in the basement. It made a LOT of very cold air, while making our hot water. I was afraid it would make the basement very cold during the winter.
But, it was never able to lower the room temperature enough to notice.
Geothermal heat from the floor is very stable.
In the summer that ASHP kept the basement air less humid. I was sorry to see that system go..