For Christmas 2025 Sandy gave me a Vevor 8kw Diesel Heater! This unit can be used indoors or outdoors provided you properly route the exhaust outside. To operate the unit you can use buttons on the electronic controller, the included wireless remote or through your Smartphone via Bluetooth connectivity.
Just after Christmas I took the unit apart for inspection based on some videos I watched and found everything secure and in good order.
The only modifications I made were splitting and installing some oversize plastic tubing to protect the fuel line where it passes through the metal frame in two spots.
Fuel Pump, if you ever have to replace this remember it has to be mounted on a 45º angle.
The Bluetooth app is fantastic, it displays temperature of the machine, room temperature, and battery voltage. It also lets you adjust temperature and start/stop the unit. With this fantastic new piece of kit I'm really looking forward to some ice fishing adventures in my Woods Arctic-4 ice fishing shelter later this year!
Additional Accessories:
I did a little more reading online about setting up the heater and ordered some parts/pieces from Amazon. It can be placed outdoors and route the heater hose inside, or the unit can be kept inside and simply route the burner exhaust outside the shelter. I chose the latter as it keep the unit warm, out of the weather and prevents fuel from gelling. Also, this way the unit is reheating already warm air, not trying to constantly heat freezing cold outdoor air an issue made worse as temperatures drop.
The first piece I added was this pre-formed 90º bend which will help prevent the stiff exhaust pipe from getting kinked. The burner intake pipe (black) is more flexible so it doesn't seem to be an issue.
Next I bought a couple of these through wall exhaust ports. They are double walled, made from stainless steel and included the backing plate, rubber gasket & hardware. One will get mounted in the greenhouse, the other in a zippered opening tent adaptor, more on that below.
I picked up an extra length of exhaust piping, this one is longer than the one that was included with the unit.
Finally I picked up a package of burner filter screens which are a good maintenance item to have on hand for these heaters.
I found this perfectly sized tote in the basement in which to transport the diesel heater and all the piping/accessories that go along with it. This will keep the unit protected during transport and will become a stand on which to lay the heater inside the shelter.
February: with an ice fishing trip planned for this coming weekend I picked up the final piece of the setup, a deep cycle battery. These units need a 12v power source to run the electronic controller, fan, and during start up - a glow plug. A deep cycle battery is designed to be drawn down and recharged over and over, while a standard automotive battery is not leading to premature failure. Other options include the fancy and expensive LiFePO4 batteries, or a 110vac to 12vdc power supply rated at a minimum of 12 amps if your application has house power nearby.
Unit all set up in the ice fishing shelter with a plastic Tent Adaptor on a cold winter's day.
The orange piece is the zippered opening tent adaptor in which I mounted one of my stainless steel through wall exhaust adaptors. The double wall construction of the stainless piece does not transfer heat to whatever it's attached to. I ran the heater for 8 hours, including maximum power for the final 20 minutes of the trip and the plastic never got warm meaning that the shelter was well protected from the heat.
A couple zip ties kept the zippers pulled tightly together which really made the zippered opening adaptor much more secure.
I used the short length of exhaust piping to direct exhaust fumes away from the shelter in a direction for them to be carried away by the breeze, something to keep in mind while setting up the shelter.
The battery was kept up off the ice by laying a board across the bottom legs of my Princess Auto folding table. The green cord is for my interior LED lights.
After a full eight hour day of run time I am very pleased with the heater. I believe the heat setting scales run from 1-lowest to 9-hottest. I started out on 6 to get everything warmed up and dry then ran the whole day on 2 or 3. Outside temps were -2º Canadian and it was not windy. In that time I burned less than 3L of diesel fuel, which included running the unit on max temp for 20 minutes at the end of the day as recommended by other users to clean the burn chamber. The unit is quiet, the fuel pump in mine is much quieter than most I've seen videoed online, it must have the optional quiet pump. The heat produced is dry like a woodstove without any of the mess or smoke, plus the heat is steady and consistent all day long.
March 6, 2026: Outdoor temperatures on my last outing sat around -2ºC with very light winds, today it was very windy and -10ºC. Last time I maintained temperature inside the shelter on setting 2-3 which is two/three green bars, today I ran it on setting 5, (with the highest setting being #9). After another 9 hour run I still burned right around 3L of diesel fuel which is quite remarkable.
Cheers, Mike
Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith |
