Diesel parking heater

In 2023 we decided it was finally time to "rebuild" the garage/workshop (approx. 12' x 24') at the family cottage. The original garage was built in the 1930's and was in such poor shape we thought a strong breeze could bring it down. We tried getting permits to build a new one but were informed by a member of the town board we'd be better off just "remodeling" what we had.

We hired a contractor who disassembled the building to the point there were only a few rafters, and a couple dozen studs left. From that point he rebuilt the building to a weather tight structure that was a pleasure to work in. It took the better part of the summer but was well worth the cost and wait.

Last year in the fall months I decided I needed to do some work out of the weather, so I closed all the doors and plugged in a 1500 wat electric heater. It took less than an hour to take the temperature from the high 20's to 55. After working a couple hours, I thought it was time to take a break. I shut off the heat and closed all the doors when I left. When I returned a couple hours later, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was insulated well enough that the temperature was still in the low 50's.

We've been at the cottage for about a week now, and the high temps have been in the 40's with the lows in the 20's. With the doors closed it's been a pleasant place to work even without heat.
 
Looks like it's going to make 48 hours. I'll have to check every hour tomorrow morning.

The main shop is 63⁰ with the set temperature at 66⁰. The fab shop is a separate room with no door into the main shop and it is 61⁰. I don't have a fan blowing into there.

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I'm pretty stoked.
 
Batmanacw said:
I could afford $155.

I can pay $75 month for a very long time before I can make up the difference in cost. If it gets cold enough for the resistive heat to kick in you will see your savings drop pretty quickly.

I'm not planning on maintaining 66⁰. More like 50⁰ when I'm not in the shop.

I posted a very low cost option that works pretty well so far.

I'm in Ashtabula county Ohio.
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It's definitely a lower cost option than a mini-split. I watch my energy consumption with a Sense device. Even the coldest day it didn't spike at all.

Find me a cheap diesel air conditioner and I'm all in. I have zero rust issues in my shop.
 
MyLilMule said:
It's definitely a lower cost option than a mini-split. I watch my energy consumption with a Sense device. Even the coldest day it didn't spike at all.

Find me a cheap diesel air conditioner and I'm all in. I have zero rust issues in my shop.
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How much did you spend?
 
Batmanacw said:
How much did you spend?
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A lot more than $155, that's for sure! Out the door, with tax, minus rebates probably around $2200 for 18k BTU. Mind you, I have a single room shop. If I opted to run this also in the garage, I would have considered the multi-unit versions. They are considerably more.

It heats nicely. And it's quiet. I suppose if I needed to heat the space up fast, I can use my torpedo heater. But even if I factor in the cost of electricity at say half of what you're spending on diesel (all of this is just one big fat guess), the minisplit might pay for itself in 4 years. I've already had it a year. And did I mention I have an air conditioned shop for those hotter days? ;)
 
MyLilMule said:
A lot more than $155, that's for sure! Out the door, with tax, minus rebates probably around $2200 for 18k BTU. Mind you, I have a single room shop. If I opted to run this also in the garage, I would have considered the multi-unit versions. They are considerably more.

It heats nicely. And it's quiet. I suppose if I needed to heat the space up fast, I can use my torpedo heater. But even if I factor in the cost of electricity at say half of what you're spending on diesel (all of this is just one big fat guess), the minisplit might pay for itself in 4 years. I've already had it a year. And did I mention I have an air conditioned shop for those hotter days? ;)
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I have a $80 air conditioner for the summer that uses $20 the whole summer. Lol.

I'll probably be using considerably less than $75 a month in practice since I don't need it to be so warm all the time. I only need heat for 5 months. $375 a year if i did maintain 66⁰ for the entire winter each year. That is a 5 year payback on something I'd have to finance. The new wire for the mini split is around $200.

I like my option and it really isn't hurting me as bad as more debt.
 
Batmanacw said:
I have a $80 air conditioner for the summer that uses $20 the whole summer. Lol.

I'll probably be using considerably less than $75 a month in practice since I don't need it to be so warm all the time. I only need heat for 5 months. $375 a year if i did maintain 66⁰ for the entire winter each year. That is a 5 year payback on something I'd have to finance. The new wire for the mini split is around $200.

I like my option and it really isn't hurting me as bad as more debt.
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I'm not competing with you. Just offering a different perspective and option for anyone else reading this.

And I don't have any debt.
 
Batmanacw said:
I have been looking at these diesel heaters as a heat source for the shop for a while and finally found one that had a feature that caused me to pick one up. The Hcalory TB2 has an auto on/off feature so it can turn itself off if it reaches the maximum temperature.

Right now I'm running a test to see if i can get 48 hours out of 6 liters of diesel maintaining 66⁰ set temperature. The highest it will go is 72⁰ before it shuts down to standby mode and it will start up again at 60⁰.

When the heater reaches 66⁰ ambient temperature the heater slows down to a very low level and just maintains that temperature until it needs to output more heat or it hits the upper limit. The actual room temperature is actually closer to 63⁰

The clicking fuel pump is noticeable but not horrible. Not a hint of burned fuel or any smell at all after the first few hours. The CO detector is at zero.

The phone app is really nice..... Very much a nice addition.

Another really nice feature is the low exhaust temperature. I have not seen the pipe go over 220⁰. I put a 1-1/4" pipe with a flange through the wall and wrapped the exhaust in aluminum screen to keep it off the walls of the pipe. The flange has yet to get above 130⁰.

Shop heater math

I was using two electric oil radiators to keep the shop between 40⁰ and 50⁰ for approximately $75 or more. Warmth came from two infrared heaters not included in that calculation while I was present in the shop.

This heater may actually make it to 48 hours on $5 in diesel while maintaining 66⁰ (63⁰ actual). That's $76 a month for comfortable temperatures.

So far I'm really liking it.
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Did you post a link to the unit you have or did I miss it? I think I may be interested with the good results you have gotten..
 
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