Diesel Heaters for Tents

[bearbait]

Any experience with heating tents (in my case a tipi) with diesel heaters?

Good stuff? Bad stuff? Battery power consumption for the fan / blower?

Lots of info available via Mr. Google, Mr. Bing etc. but personal experience is always good.

Ta.

 

[Nice65]

No tent experience, but a ton of van experience.

Fan uses next to no power, but the glow plugs for initial startup draw a LOT of power. A few failed startups and that can drop the battery voltage and thus ohm draw so you won’t get a flame going.

If the wind turns, you’ll quickly become aware of the stink of diesel exhaust. Ok in the van, we can shut it out, open a window on the other side, or open a roof vent, but not ideal in a tent if it’s the middle of the night.

Even with a 2kw, you’re going to get very hot in a tent, so you’ll be using the thermostat. This can cause the burn to fail and force a restart, using a lot of power again. That’s the main thing really, having a battery charged over 12v.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I haven't any experience with this sort of thing (it doesn't get cold enough for me to worry about that here in Kent!).

But you might want to check out some recent youtube videos posted by Mike McQuilton and his Workshop Wilderness Adventures channel (He is also the man behind MCQ Bushcraft). He uses a diesel heater to heat his rooftop tent and has offered a lot of detail about how he built and set up the system and why he uses it. He faces some interesting challenges camping up in the north of Sweden.

 

[bearbait]

I'm weighing up either trying to get extension stove pipe parts for my Four Dog stove to fit the tipi or a diesel heater. (I've been in touch with Don Kevilus - Four Dog Stoves - as he does a Tentipi set of stove pipes but he's no longer shipping to Europe.) So some great info there, guys. Many thanks for your feedback...