ShadowOfHarbringer
01.05.2021 9:09:05
Keep reading to find out how diesel heaters function and why venting them is important.
See full version: Do Diesel Heaters Need to Be Vented
Keep reading to find out how diesel heaters function and why venting them is important.
Of course, this depends not only on the type of diesel heater you have but also on the duration of time it is left in and how properly you have maintained it. That being said, diesel heaters are very economical. On average, they take in about 0.11 o 0.50 liters of diesel per hour. [links]
Diesel heaters need to be vented. When the combustion of diesel occurs, some gases are formed. These gases are detrimental to your health and that of those inside the caravan or automobile. For this reason, there needs to be a means through which the gases are removed from the diesel heater.
However, you should never use vegetable oil. Not only will the diesel heater not run, but you will also spend a lot of time cleaning the machine.
There are many questions that people who plan to stay in a caravan ask, and one of them is; do diesel heaters need to be vented? In short:
During the combustion of diesel, there will be a production of low amounts of carbon monoxide. Over a prolonged period of time, the gas concentration in the caravan or automobile will increase if there is no suitable outlet for the gas. more
The air in the cabin that is heated is then drawn into the heat exchanger by the internal blower.
A diesel heater draws in air from an external intake pipe. The air is then passed into the combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber, the diesel is mixed with the air taken in through the external intake pipe and is ignited to heat a larger surface area known as the heat exchanger.
and the ever popular, unconciousness and death. [links]
Everytime the weather got really cold, I would feel crappy for about 3 or 4 days, I just figured it was the weather kicking my butt while recovering from a nasty bug/flu. Then I put 2 and 2 together and I only ran the heater when it got cold, and I only felt like crap (run down/tired/fatigue/no appetite) after running the heater. Stopped using the heater and just dealt with the cold and felt fine. more
editing: 440 is right. CU once did a study on the cylindrical heaters, the wick type. They found that you needed at least 1 square inch of intake, open window or the like, for each 1000 BTU output of the heater. Open window negated the gain from the heater. If not, the heater burned the O2 from the air in the room, incomplete combustion DID cause CO to be produced, and other hazardous contaminants.
From the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000801. 4/d000884.html "Provide adequate ventilation. Adequate ventilation is necessary for safe operation of the kerosene heater. Burning kerosene consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases. Ventilation must be provided to replace oxygen as well as to remove gases in order to prevent asphyxiation or respiratory problems." more
Since the weather turned, I've been using one of those jet engine style kerosene heaters to take the cold edge off in the shop. Yesterday I installed a carbon monoxide detector just to make sure I wasn't killing myself with CO. My new detector has a digital readout that shows the CO level in parts per million (ppm).
I'm no expert, but I thought that CO was only generated due to incomplete combustion. I am think that a properly installed system which has a good air intake will not generate CO. I assume that even at the exhaust, there should be very low CO levels.
I've had three weekends of frustration with C0 alarms, having self-installed a complete Webasto Evo 4 system - the C0 alarms have been going off constantly overnight with ridiculous levels of C0.
I've always assumed that the detector is required incase the air intake becomes blocked, it some other defect occurs.