Chineses diesel heaters on honeywell thermostat

[s2mikon]

I measured the fuel consumption with a glass beaker .35 liter per hour at full output. That is about 12000 btu or 3.5 kw. As per offical Chinese policy you take the specs multiply by 2 and then round up. It was sold as 8kw. Not even half. 2 heaters is more than enough but for the price why not. I did not use the junk fuel tanks. I bought 2 aluminium 5 gal fuel cells. One for each heater.

[s2mikon]

I also got the heaters with 4 42mm outlets extra flex pipe and ducting to the head. Wife likes the warm throne. Having 2 heaters warms it up much quicker. This beats propane heaters by miles. I also have 2 mini split heat pumps one at each end. These chinaspaechers work better.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

I measured the fuel consumption with a glass beaker .35 liter per hour at full output.

2.2 gallons per day, 67 per month, $3 a gallon means $200/mo for heat. I'm planning on getting the 2kw variant and I'm hoping it'll run at a gallon a day.

[cadillackid]

dont these vary down their output like the coolant heaters do? if they do then it seems get bigger ones than you need at leats by a size or so. .. most heaters run better and more efficiently at less than 100% output.. my forced air gas furnace at home modulates between 30% and 100%.. according to the designers and the engineering documentation for that unit, it should be sized that the average run-capacity should be below 80% for maximum efficiency.. the same is said for electric mini splits too...



on a fuel-burning furnace, in general the heat exhancger becomes somewhat oversized and the lesser flame inside results in lower inducer motor speeds.. what the end-product is that you get more time for the air flowing to pull heat off the exhanger...



since i dont own a chinese diesel-air heater I dont know how they operate. mnaybe they are just on / off? if thats the case then you would want smaller as opposed to larger.. efficiency of long run cyctles is also preferred over short.. esp with diesel where some fuel is lost in the ignition process..

[s2mikon]

Remember, most Chinese products sold on the internet are advertised in a misleading way. May be due to language or deceit. You never know. 2kw 5kw or 8 kw heaters are more than likely the same. Just like different brands are the same. Good engineering practice means you over size some to enhance overall performance. My test of .35 liters per hour was at full load. In practice it runs at less than half. You need some overhead to warm it up quickly and let it cut back.

[s2mikon]

These things burn very clean. When I put mine in I fired it up and set my 4 gas personal monitor on the floor by it all day and it never tripped. I also have 2 CO monitors in the coach. I have a wood stove in there and I like to wake up.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

These things burn very clean. When I put mine in I fired it up and set my 4 gas personal monitor on the floor by it all day and it never tripped. I also have 2 CO monitors in the coach. I have a wood stove in there and I like to wake up.

are these not exhaust vented?

[s2mikon]

Yes. They use outside air for combustion and vent outside. Always test though. CO is very UN-forgiving. It will also accumulate in the blood. So if you inhale small amounts you may not notice it at first then another small dose happens and boom it hits you. I never take CO lightly.

[cadillackid]

true that! neve rcan be too safe when it comes to CO!! you are 100% right..

[Nathan9209]

I am so excited about your thermostat is there a video on it yet I have 2004 astrovan I don't have a schoolie But a lot of the Modifications and so on are great information Thanks for your time sir

[Nathan9209]

I was just wondering did you ever make the video on how to cook up a real thermostat like your Honeywell???

[Mountain Yawp]

Nathan9209,
I never saw a video.
I was initially excited about the actual thermostat idea, but in the end decided it was not worth the added effort and expense. If it is cold outside, then I am fine with it running at low output once the desired temp is reached. However, I have one heater in a 38' bus, so it doesn't get too hot. In a small astro van, it could.
By the way, I think the awd Astro vans are great and wish they still made them.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Mountain Yawp

Nathan9209,
I never saw a video.
I was initially excited about the actual thermostat idea, but in the end decided it was not worth the added effort and expense. If it is cold outside, then I am fine with it running at low output once the desired temp is reached. However, I have one heater in a 38' bus, so it doesn't get too hot. In a small astro van, it could.
By the way, I think the awd Astro vans are great and wish they still made them.

the astro was my favorite mini van of all time, esp the AWD pre 94s.. there were the most truck-like whereas the rest were like cars.. that 4.3 in them was a beast.. was sad to see those go.. we had a couple as backup vans when I worked in HVAC.. other than being a tad small for HVAC service vehicles(back in the day I think I carried 6 different types of freon) they were much nicer to drive than our econolines.. the company oriignally bought them because the residential service guys were always getting the econolines stuck in the snow in unplowed neighborhoods so they boiught a couple of the AWD astros.. problem solved!

[RolesvilleMarina]

So you wired them up so that the Honeywell turns them on, and when the bus gets warm enough they go into full shutdown each time until the temp dips enough to start the whole cycle again?

that sounds like it would be hard on the heater. How many times does it go off and on then in a typical cold day?

We have had ours for two years, and they have been used extensively back home in the UK for years before they suddenly showed up over here.

It was my understanding from their experience and posts that because when it reaches the desired temp it kicks down to idle and just maintains it, and that is where the efficiency is from. If you are going from a cold start each time seems you would use more fuel? As well as more wear and tear on just about everything no?

When mine reaches temp it just hums on low... when it is on full blast it is a bit louder, and i don't think I want to hear it kicking up full blast every 10-15 min

to each his own of course. I am interested to see how this works out in the long term on the actual equipment.

Wi-fi off and on does sound good idea for sure though

[RolesvilleMarina]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the astro was my favorite mini van of all time, esp the AWD pre 94s.. there were the most truck-like whereas the rest were like cars.. that 4.3 in them was a beast.. was sad to see those go.. we had a couple as backup vans when I worked in HVAC.. other than being a tad small for HVAC service vehicles(back in the day I think I carried 6 different types of freon) they were much nicer to drive than our econolines.. the company oriignally bought them because the residential service guys were always getting the econolines stuck in the snow in unplowed neighborhoods so they boiught a couple of the AWD astros.. problem solved!

Ugh I had a customer with 8 of those that i had to work on

you are 100% right but I still despised working on those vans lol

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by RolesvilleMarina

Ugh I had a customer with 8 of those that i had to work on

you are 100% right but I still despised working on those vans lol

I hate working on ALL vans!!!! ive been involved in adding A/C to both an old model club wagon and an older model chevy.. both of which were built when you didnt even get dash vents when you got without A/C..



I decided never again would I buy a van without A/C ever...


I recently found a really nice econoline 250 from 85 with no rust and a 460 engine.. beautiful vasn till I looked in the window and saw the lack of dash vents... run-run-run I said to myself even though I really wanted to buy it..

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by RolesvilleMarina

So you wired them up so that the Honeywell turns them on, and when the bus gets warm enough they go into full shutdown each time until the temp dips enough to start the whole cycle again?

that sounds like it would be hard on the heater. How many times does it go off and on then in a typical cold day?

We have had ours for two years, and they have been used extensively back home in the UK for years before they suddenly showed up over here.

It was my understanding from their experience and posts that because when it reaches the desired temp it kicks down to idle and just maintains it, and that is where the efficiency is from. If you are going from a cold start each time seems you would use more fuel? As well as more wear and tear on just about everything no?

When mine reaches temp it just hums on low... when it is on full blast it is a bit louder, and i don't think I want to hear it kicking up full blast every 10-15 min

to each his own of course. I am interested to see how this works out in the long term on the actual equipment.

Wi-fi off and on does sound good idea for sure though

whats interesting is my real webasto heater modulates up and down (its a coolant heater) and will run at a low setting unless i crank the blowers up then it will ramp itself up.. it will eventually shut down at something like 170 degrees coolant temp and then starts back up at low speed at like 150 i think..



my VVKB model (also a coolant heater) runs full blast till it reaches 80c coolant temp then shuts down (pump stays on), then restarts at 60c coolant temp.. when I asked VVKB engineers about why off / on instead of modulating, they stated that issues arose with carboning up of some of their other heaters whiuch do modulate, so this one was designed to cycle in and out from full power to zero.



I dont know what the efficiency losses are by doing it that way.. I lknow in the natural gas furnace world, the manufacturers prefer installation of 2 stage or modulating gas furnaces as long cycles create the most efficiency.. then again carboning up isnt an issue with natural gas like it is with diesel.. ie fuel-oil boilers / furnaces are generally on / off units as opposed to modulating...


I dont know as much about the direct air heaters since I dont have one, but just like a diesel engine maybe the hotter heat exchanger temperature is preferred..

[jofred99]

I tried to get a timer from timers.shop, but they were not aware of the program that you had flashed. Do you have the code?