How I keep my trailer warm in subzero temperatures with Chinese diesel heaters.

[Smokin]

A Diesel heater running wide open draws 4.5 amps at 13 volts. Running 2 of them is like 9 amps. Onboard furnace is what 3 amps.
Running them on low voltage will make them run Rich.
4% gasoline add to the Diesel or 10-15% Kero to stop gel.
Pull your Anchor and sail south till the butter melts. Problem over.

 

[Bobert]

Ahh. Myopia I had.

The ductwork in mine is interior, running under the cabinets on the floor and keeping the plumbing warm. Warmish. There’s 3-1/2 whole inches of insulation in my floors.
My prior camper was this same brand and series but a 4’ shorter model and NO insulation in the floors. Still ducted the same.
The current one is significantly warmer from the knees down. And any heat lost from the ductwork is still contributed as heat.

In that case as long as the lp furnace is not leaking to much cold air the ductwork should work fine.

 

[Bobert]

A Diesel heater running wide open draws 4.5 amps at 13 volts. Running 2 of them is like 9 amps. Onboard furnace is what 3 amps.
Running them on low voltage will make them run Rich.
4% gasoline add to the Diesel or 10-15% Kero to stop gel.
Pull your Anchor and sail south till the butter melts. Problem over.

I think the last suggestion is the best but I can’t do that just yet. I believe the 38000 btu furnace pulls about 3.5 amps when turned on. The diesel heaters give me the advantage of heating my tanks and at -31 that adds an additional 11 amps for the electric tank heaters. I have 5200 watt hours of lithium for my solar inverter setup and 2 100ah lead acid batteries for the 12 volt side so I can handle the amp draw either way. I get 10 gallons of kerosene and about 4 hours of runtime per gallon at full blast and with lp I figured about 3 hours per gallon and just under 9.5 gallons so fewer trips for fuel especially when I finish installation of the two 15 gallon tanks I have purchased and most of the time never have to run for fuel at all. At this point it’s all an experiment and so far it is working. Fun stuff

 

[12VoltInstalls]

with lp I figured about 3 hours per gallon

That’s way high consumption imho

 

[Bobert]

That’s way high consumption imho

Yes I know it’s a lot but it matches pretty well with the heat requirements of my space in subzero temperatures according to the btu calculator. There is nothing magic about heat. According to the calculator I used I need between 36000 and 46000 btu to heat my space that seems to be matching my real world experience. If I calculate the gallons of fuel I have been using against the max btu required by my space I am actually beneath that lowest number. If I use “poorly insulated” as one of the options in the calculator my heat requirement jumps to over 70,000 btu. I am very pleased that I am able to maintain a nearly 100 degree temperature difference between the outside and the inside of the trailer. One factor that I can’t estimate with out trying it is the effect having 6 people a large dog and 2 cats will have on my fuel usage. I expect real life will ease the overnight fuel consumption a bit. Body heat+lower inside temperatures overnight (60 degrees is more our style overnight) and a lot more stuff to increase my thermal mass. During the day I expect the constant traffic in ad out of the trailer will probably have the opposite affect. Right now I am just trying to see if it is possible to camp in a rig this large. Without loosing our water or mobility. So far so good.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

There is nothing magic about heat. According to the calculator I used I need between 36000 and 46000 btu to heat my space that seems to be matching my real world experience.

For a camper a bit over half your size I’m using around 10-12 gallons of propane per week. The expense to upgrade weatherization would probably pay off.

 

[Bugwubber]

The problem with using the existing ductwork is if it is not insulated well you will loose much of your heat though the ducting. If you leave the lp furnace in place you will also loose heat through the exhaust and air intake vents.
Know one seems to know why sellers refer to them as 8k heaters as experiments have shown that it is physically impossible for a input of 8k of fuel to be fed into them in stock configuration much less an output of 8k.

Actually that is part of the point, it helps heat my storage and water bays. And you are right, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about airflow both when the lp furnace is running and when the diesel heater is running. Normal ductwork is easy to solve for. RV furnace, not so much

 

[Bobert]

For a camper a bit over half your size I’m using around 10-12 gallons of propane per week. The expense to upgrade weatherization would probably pay off.

I do have a few things I could improve as far as weatherization goes like covers for the roof vents better weather stripping for the doors and slides but any major impact would require skirting and I want to keep the rig mobile. Do keep in mind the high fuel useage I mentioned is at peak heating. Like a week or so ago when we had -31 - 28 and -26 overnight and highs below zero of just above. During those days I was using around 4 gallons of kerosene in 24 hours. Now that the temperature is at freezing more or less I have dropped fuel consumption to about 1/2 gallon in the same time frame. That is because at freezing a single heater is all that is needed and it runs at idle most of the time. I do expect fuel useage to drop a bit when we are actually camping because
1. We will have a lower temperature at night
2. We will reduce the temperature when we are gone.
3. I will have finished insulation of the floor where the egr coolers are connected and the tanks go.
I4. I will have the 3 storage access doors sealed and insulated.
As a general rule money spent on Weatherization saves a lot of money in the long run. Right now my purpose is to insure I have enough btu output to keep things warm and thawed in the worse case scenario..

 

[12VoltInstalls]

As a general rule money spent on Weatherization saves a lot of money in the long run

Yes!

BTW I’m not skirted…

Reflectix is a product I despise for its marketing and claims. But it is a very effective means of insulation for roof vent inserts and window covers. HUGE difference.

Caulking the floor-to-wall intersection stopped my waterlines from freezing believe it or not, but before it got heavy below zero I bought some pex and rerouted it overhead instead of on the flor behind the tub…

1/2” foiled -faced foam on the closet walls, tightly fitting- warmed up the bathroom 15*.
Getting rid of the propane fridge was a big change, too.

Reflectix in the range hood (cut proud to be tight) was also big, as was 1-1/2” of foam on the ceilings. I put 3/16 ply over that and glued light tan carpet to it in the front 1/3. Nice sound improvement with a doft ceiling.
All my windows have 3.2mm plexiglass “storm panels” on the inside.

Come summer I’m sheathing the inside walls with 1-1/2” foam. If time at work isn’t eighty hours this year I may TiG a new door perimeter and put 2” of foam inside. That’s a weak link.

 

[Bobert]

Yes!

BTW I’m not skirted…

Reflectix is a product I despise for its marketing and claims. But it is a very effective means of insulation for roof vent inserts and window covers. HUGE difference.

Caulking the floor-to-wall intersection stopped my waterlines from freezing believe it or not, but before it got heavy below zero I bought some pex and rerouted it overhead instead of on the flor behind the tub…

1/2” foiled -faced foam on the closet walls, tightly fitting- warmed up the bathroom 15*.
Getting rid of the propane fridge was a big change, too.

Reflectix in the range hood (cut proud to be tight) was also big, as was 1-1/2” of foam on the ceilings. I put 3/16 ply over that and glued light tan carpet to it in the front 1/3. Nice sound improvement with a doft ceiling.
All my windows have 3.2mm plexiglass “storm panels” on the inside.

Come summer I’m sheathing the inside walls with 1-1/2” foam. If time at work isn’t eighty hours this year I may TiG a new door perimeter and put 2” of foam inside. That’s a weak link.

Do you have any slides? Air infiltration from my slides is my greatest heat loss.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Do you have any slides? Air infiltration from my slides is my greatest heat loss.

No. This is an old Dutch Craft. Factory insulation optioned. 1978. Slides then were what 8th graders got in science class.

This thing was well built and durable and I haven’t seen anything newer quite like it. My prior 1974? Dutch Craft was not well insulated but still well built.
For a single guy trying to bank money the current unit with my mods is just right- big 48” shower and good kitchen and other than winter I have plenty of solar. I can live like ‘normal’ and have need for nothing day-to-day that costs any money. When I buy property I won’t need to build right away.

 

[Bobert]

No. This is an old Dutch Craft. Factory insulation optioned. 1978. Slides then were what 8th graders got in science class.

This thing was well built and durable and I haven’t seen anything newer quite like it. My prior 1974? Dutch Craft was not well insulated but still well built.
For a single guy trying to bank money the current unit with my mods is just right- big 48” shower and good kitchen and other than winter I have plenty of solar. I can live like ‘normal’ and have need for nothing day-to-day that costs any money. When I buy property I won’t need to build right away.

We eventually want to “restore” an old Layton that I have had for probably. 20 years. I patched it up and lived in it over the summer I rebuilt my house. When I got it originally a tree had fallen on the bedroom and it had been setting with the roof open for months I never did get a chance to fix it properly just repaired the roof threw out the moldy stuff and moved in. I think it was built in the early 80s. I really like the louvered windows from that era so much better airflow in the summer.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

louvered windows

jalousie windows

 

[robstrom]

Winter rated diesel simply means higher kerosene: diesel ratio.
Kero IS harder on pump due to low lubricity.
I put one in my build, as a backup.
I'm ordering another now, cheaper than parts heh.
Main source is the mini woodstove.
No power required, other than my labour

 

[12VoltInstalls]

put one in my build, as a backup.

I have considered this. But I want to build a version of the tiny sailboat woodstoves, actually.

I do have plans to add one to my 19’ starcraft holiday boat, however. For that small 50 square foot space it will be awesome- if I ever finish the build.