Last updated: 10 May 2023
Don’t freeze your butt off in winter when cruising in your caravan! Install a diesel heater and stay warm.
Adding a diesel heater to your caravan will make touring in winter so much more comfortable and allow you to use your caravan all year round. Setup is quite straight forward with many kits available to purchase online and install at home by yourself, or by your local auto mechanic.
With hundreds of diesel heater options available in the market, it is common to feel overwhelmed. Don’t worry; this caravan & camper diesel heater buying guide has you covered! This section will cover some of the most important aspects and features that a potential buyer must consider before making a final decision.
In our opinion after researching caravan air conditioners in Australia, the best are:
Top Caravan Diesel Heaters
We have spent some time finding 5 caravan diesel heater kits available online now! Check them out below.
- maXpeedingrods 5KW 12V Fuel Caravan Diesel Air Heater with Remote Controller LC
- Vinteky 12V 5KW Tank Caravan Air Diesel Heater
- Air Diesel Caravan Parking Heater
- Webasto Single Outlet Caravan & Camper Diesel Heater
- Truma Combi Caravan Diesel Heater
How we picked the diesel heaters
We began with checking a number of Australia’s leading caravan accessories ecommerce stores – to see which diesel heaters had the best reviews. These websites have sold 1000’s of caravan diesel heaters so there were plenty of reviews.
Next, we wanted to see what other buyers had to say about various diesel heaters. The best place to see these is over on ProductReview.com.au. Plenty of time was spent sifting through the reviews to get a good understanding of what was good, and the not-so-good.
We then checked out the different features of various diesel heaters. Factors such as size, weight and power & fuel consumption were very important in shortlisting the best products.
Anyway, let’s get straight into our best diesel heaters reviews.
How to Choose a Caravan Diesel Heater: Buyers Guide [2023]
There are always some essential factors that buyers should consider before buying a caravan diesel heater. Some essential elements are mentioned below.
Number of BTUs
Before final purchasing, get to know about the volume of your space. For this, you need to calculate the space dimension to be heated. The accurate model should make 90 to 180 BTUs for each cubic meter or 30 to 60 BTUs foe each cubic foot.
Construction Casing
Make sure to thoroughly inspect the diesel heater casing to make sure all components inside are secure from damages. Also, the high-quality casing helps in easing the diesel heater installation. For construction casing, it is important to be made from heat-resistant and long-lasting material like aluminium or nylon. Besides its well-built, make sure that case material is toxic-free and have better health reasons. The unit is liable to produce heat, so the case needs to be durable, safe and high quality.
Safety
The entire diesel heater design should be guaranteed safer to use. The ideal option for the heater is that it should not be prone to the damage risk because of overheating. In this regard, the diesel heaters you are choosing should acquire an automatic feature of shut-down. It will be an aid if the temperature reaches its specifications.
Also, the heater should serve robustly to inhalation and combustion risks since the combustion chamber has to seal with vented exhaust outside. At night in the caravan, the carbon monoxide poisoning is at minimum, luckily. This will keep you safe from harmful air.
Size
It is another important factor to consider. Your diesel heater should be smaller and compact in size to get fit in your car easily. Compact size will make the mounting process easier for you too. A small size diesel heater will be portable enough to let you take it anywhere with you. In this regard, you need to make sure that you are buying a small size diesel heater to easily get it adjusted and installed in your car for safe and warm driving.
Temperature Control
The better option is to get the diesel heater with temperature control. This will be a great help to keep the temperature under control in the vehicle according to your preference. The technology of microprocessor in your diesel heater should modulate airflow and combustion.
There are some models offering you automatic temperature control to let you get things done with ease. It is important for setting temperature as you like. Also, make sure the temperature is not much that will affect anything around.
Quiet operation
The diesel heater you have should operate with silence with an accurate installation. For sure, the noise-free operation will be a guarantee for comfort and conducive environment. There are diesel heater models that come with noise-reducing processing to let you have a comfortable and peaceful time.
If you really need to enjoy a peaceful time, then considering silence operation is the foremost factor.
Why Should You Get a Diesel Heater?
It is recommended to get a diesel heater because it is more beneficial in comparison to a regular heater. The diesel heater is safe and mostly have auto-shutdown of temperature exceeds the limit of operation. Besides this, it provides more safety to inhalation and combustion.
If you get an LPG fuel heater and there is leaking, besides explosion it can cause permanent nervous and respiratory damage or in an extreme case, death. So, diesel heaters do not have such hazards. You can easily use it while driving. This is the perfect way to get your caravan heated while being on the road to reach the destination.
Furthermore, general heaters have a single speed fan that turns on and off according to the thermostat. So, general heaters cannot consistently maintain room temperature. However, diesel heaters come with an advance level of microprocessors that enables them to control over excessive combustion and airflow. This gives a variable fan speed and ensures a comfortable and constant temperature.
Also, the diesel heater is super cheap in comparison to general LPG heater. You can install DIY diesel heater too.
Final Thoughts
Caravan heater is super important to spend your time with peace. However, you should know the way to choose the right model of the best caravan diesel heater. All the above products are highly recommended because of their beneficial features. So you need to select the one that fulfils your demands and purpose too. The diesel heater is the best way to say goodbye to cold condition and weather while you are driving. For more information on how a diesel heater works, click here.
Caravan Diesel Heater FAQs
Are diesel heaters safe in caravans?
Diesel heaters are widely used as a heating source in caravans. The combustion unit is completely sealed, and all the exhaust gases are released outside, so you can consider the Caravan Diesel heater to ensure safety.
Where do you put a diesel heater in a caravan?
Many people put a caravan diesel heater under the bed. However, the diesel heater is a bit noisy, so it can disturb your sleep. Hence, it is better to find a larger space for the heater to work efficiently. You can also put it at the other end of the caravan, but ensure that the area is close to the area where you plan to put the exhaust/intake pipes.
How do you prime a diesel caravan heater?
The caravan diesel heater must pass fuel through the line and into the heater for proper functioning. Use the control panel to allow the fuel pump to run faster for easy flow of diesel through the lines.
Once the fuel is in the heater, stop the pump operation. Now the heater should be turned on and burn off any purged fuel to operate normally.
Is it safe to sleep with a diesel heater on in a caravan?
Caravan diesel heaters produce much lower concentrations of carbon monoxide poisoning gas and are also thermostatically controlled. Hence, they are safe to run while you are sleeping in your caravan.
However, for those who spend the night in the caravan, a diesel heater is a safe option to use while operating the vehicle or vessel.
Is it easy to fit a diesel heater in a caravan?
Yes. It is easy to fit a diesel heater in a caravan. Firstly, figure out where you want to install it and assemble the unit, including baseplate, inlet/exhaust pipes, and wiring. Now make the holes at appropriate places in your caravan so that the unit can be installed easily. Once it is done, route the fuel line and hook up the wires to the battery.
Finally, check the installation and make sure there are no fuel leaks at connections. Don’t forget to cover it!
How much fuel does a diesel heater use?
It depends. Generally, the fuel consumption for a caravan diesel heater is between 0.11 and 0.51 liters of diesel per hour.
Are Chinese Diesel Heaters safe?
Short answer is yes. Like all diesel heaters whether they are Chinese, Australian or made elsewhere, they should be installed correctly as per the manufacturers specifications and also operated under the specified circumstances.
