Published on 12, July, 2020
For those who are interested in obtaining heat in a more independent manner than Main "utilities" there is the diesel cab heater as made in china and purchaseable for around £100.
Recommended fuel is road diesel at some stupid price, red diesel at a reduced but still unacceptable price or kerosene which in small amounts is obscenely priced.
I am now in a position to make quantitive and qualitative measurements as I have a second heater installed here in the garage from which I do much of my posting and other activities.
I can also measure outside air temp and indoor temps, and currently my heater is adding ten degrees to my garage where I sit and 5 degrees at the colder draughtier end.
It feeds a huge cardboard tube which both acts as a full length "radiator" and also directs warm air to where I sit for extra comfort. Currently it is running on road diesel whilst I negotiate my next purchase of kerosene.
Yesterday it used about 4 litres running continuously from 12:30 until 02:30. I tend to fire it up at high power initially until the tube gets warm then drop it back to 3/4 power for an hour or so to get some general warmth into the area, then I settle down to half power as soon as I am warm to keep the temps stable.
I eventually managed to get the other heater to swallow waste oil thinned with stale petrol only after I added 7 litres of road diesel to the 13 or so of mixed fuel I had made up already. The down side is that low power operation produces visible blue smoke...
There are two modes of operation thermostat where the heater brings the thermostat temp up then slows itself to suit, or dropper mode, where you control the speed at which the fuel is added and the heater controls it's fan speed. It seems that dropper mode allows you to explore various regimes of combustion, some of which are noticeably more efficient than others.
Future experiments will include more alternative fuelling investigations using the heater in the garden workshop, and developing a way of measuring efficiency between fuels more accurately here, until the weather improves at any rate...
I have 3 of them, using one atm, a Maxspeeding Rods version. I have it set up in my conservatory, on a platform, on a workbench. It's raised because the exhaust goes out through a small top window & ideally should be level or angled down, I used a 2m pipe.
The hot air out pipe comes into the kitchen via a top window. I've found no exhaust leak from burner using CO meter, so happy to be in conservatory while it's running.
I've tested the exhaust gas on different settings with a carbon monoxide meter, power level 4 of 5 seems to produce the best burn & least CO inc better fuel useage.
It takes about an hour for the warm air to penetrate through the kitchen to the lounge & upstairs, but it does raise the temp in the house, I've had it going from 10 to 16 celcius, that's toasty for me as I tend to wear a shedload of track suits, jumpers & a bobble hat in the winter - I live on my own lol.
I don't know how to plan the setup for next winter, not that keen on boring holes through the wall (yet) if the unit is outside & have have concerns (safety) for a unit inside my lounge & still need a hole (smaller) for the exhaust & maybe air intake.
A CO meter is essential when using a parking heater in any closed space.
I've seen a ratio mix 60/40 diesel/kero gets good results, waste oil creates deposits but it seems that these burners are fairly easy to clean out & service.
Glad to see folks experimenting with them & there's loads on Youtube.
Nice to see new members with a practical bent. Welcome.
It is, helps me dive into whatever is on the menu at the time, though cold in the winter (I have a diesel heater now) & very hot in the summer ... don't think I'll be fitting air conditioning ... mind you, that'll keep me occupied for a while !
Any space will do when you've got the right mind for it.....your CWL space sounds more than adequate for constructive fun and experimentation.
Thank you, I should have ended up as a 'mad scientist' but got kicked out of 6th form all I have is a conservatory/workshop/lab to play in