Diesel Air Heaters

Birdsnest

Birdsnest

Well-Known Member
I've been running a espar D4 for over 12 years in my boat. Over the years I have replaced more than 3 thermostats, fuel pumps, and now I am having to replace a blower motor (400$) for the second time. This amidst a lot of maintanance of exaust pipes and air hoses. Note, aluminum tape is awesome.

Looks like a new Espar will be $1800 bucks but I see on the market many other units for as low as $300.

Looking for recommendations for an alternative to Espar.

Thanks
 
Timely question...as I have been trying to decide on which one to go with.. I think i have landed on planar as I just dont see what Espar charges extra for. I see lots of posts of folks being happy with the ebay/amazon $200 ones but just not worth the safety risk for me....electrical fires, CO, etc...
 
200 dollar Chinese heater. They're ripoffs of an espar anyways. They might not be as reliable as the brand names, but at 1/10th the cost it doesn't matter. With a proper marine installation there isn't really a safety risk, if they fail they're generally just not going to work, not kill you. Run a CO detector if you're worried about it.

Mine has been working great so far.
 
ryanb said:
200 dollar Chinese heater. They're ripoffs of an espar anyways. They might not be as reliable as the brand names, but at 1/10th the cost it doesn't matter. With a proper marine installation there isn't really a safety risk, if they fail they're generally just not going to work, not kill you. Run a CO detector if you're worried about it.

Mine has been working great so far.
Click to expand...
x2 put one in in last year, no issues. I know @ship happens has had these in his boats as well with no issues.
 
ryanb said:
200 dollar Chinese heater. They're ripoffs of an espar anyways. They might not be as reliable as the brand names, but at 1/10th the cost it doesn't matter. With a proper marine installation there isn't really a safety risk, if they fail they're generally just not going to work, not kill you. Run a CO detector if you're worried about it.

Mine has been working great so far.
Click to expand...
Me too. $200 Chinese heater and 2 years later, it's just fine.

The gloomy internet reports are usually from people that do a sh*t job of installation, cannot read instructions or follow the abundant videos, and then they blame the heater.

If you duct the exhaust inside, yes you can die from CO. If you route the very hot exhaust tube through flammables, yes, you can have a fire. If you burn gasoline or old motor oil, you may also have a big issue. Life is harder when you are stupid. Clearly, it's a DIESEL heater. Don't be a moron and it will work very well for you.
 
Haven’t got much run time on mine yet but it seems to be alright. Expect to upgrade/replace some of the components. The supplied exhaust is short, clamps suck, wiring might not be long enough etc. and your probably already aware but when you shut the heater off allow it to run through its cool down cycle. You can source many of the spare parts on Amazon which is handy..
 
I had one heater in one of my boats that would have a temp fault. Turns out the temp sensor ontop of the casted chamber. I removed the spring, sanded the surface of the chamber, put more spring tension on it and good to go. Other then that doesn't really matter when you can buy 10 for the price of one. Nothing to these things really. Very simply little units. I have one unit with thousands of hours of runtime. I once opened it up after a couple thousand and surprisingly it was fairly clean inside.
 
Brando said:
Haven’t got much run time on mine yet but it seems to be alright. Expect to upgrade/replace some of the components. The supplied exhaust is short, clamps suck, wiring might not be long enough etc. and your probably already aware but when you shut the heater off allow it to run through its cool down cycle. You can source many of the spare parts on Amazon which is handy..
Click to expand...
Totally agree on some upgrades: fuel line, tank, clamps, exhaust, etc. I put an outer steel sleeve over the exhaust tube, an A-1 fuel line sleeve over the fuel tubing, installed a steel tank and used proper clamps. I'm think of buying another heater just for parts - cheap enough.
 
I would agree that the exhaust and clamps that come with these things have a short life. Last time I redid the exhaust I also put stove pipe sealant cement. Heat wrap is a must as well.
 
kaelc said:
Wallas has specs on their smaller heaters look to produce 25% more heat than a diesel Chinese heater and burn kerosene which may be nicer for having inside the boat, than diesel. Anyone has one of these? https://wallas.ca/product/1300/
Click to expand...
The Chinese units are 5kbtu the wallas is 4200 they’re likely quite similar. Chinese heater can run on kerosene or a mixture of the 2 fuels.
 
My Espar has been a pain in the butt. I wouldn’t spend more for one that’s for sure. I know a few guys with the planar I think they are called and some with the Chinese one . Both work fine.
 
So which knock off are you folks getting? There are so many to chose from.
 
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