Heater fuel consumption

[fredrussell]

Did they fill the tank or put in two US gallons?

 

[Alan S]

In the video he says he's got two gallons of fuel in the tank

 

[europe172]

I have installed a Planer air 2 D heater which works well BUT the paperwork says it uses 0.1 - 0.24 L ph...in my mind that is a litre every four hours but I have used about 30 liters in 16 hours and most of that was on a low setting. Am I missing something

I am sure that if you buy red diesel you consume 40% of the total purchased ?

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I wouldn't trust the gauge for this sort of accuracy. Especially if the tank isn't a constant cross-section. If it tapers towards the bottom (perhaps to fit the shape of the hull) then the bottom end of the gauge will travel much faster than the top unless a specially-calibrated sender was fitted, and they often aren't.

Pete

The correct basis, IMHO, on which to calculate fuel consumption, is to start off with a brim-full tank, run the heater/car/boat until the tank has run down an appreciable amount, say more than 50%, recording the number of hours/miles run, then measure the amount required to refill it to the brim.

 

[Rappey]

Did they fill the tank or put in two US gallons?

Can't you see the video as the link screen shows how full it is. Chinese tanks are 10l so it can't be any more than that.

 

[Rappey]

Something fishy about that heater or the test.

It's chinese so any statistics can be taken with a pinch of salt .
Does your workings out not point to the 5kw putting out 3 kw ?

 

[Alan S]

Can't you see the video as the link screen shows how full it is. Chinese tanks are 10l so it can't be any more than that.

See posts 20 and 22. It's 7.57 litres

 

[Alan S]

It's chinese so any statistics can be taken with a pinch of salt .
Does your workings out not point to the 5kw putting out 3 kw ?

Yes, that's more likely than 170% efficiency! ; )

 

[Rappey]

. It's 7.57

That is an assumption that he put in 2 us gallons rather than brim the tank before starting his test.
Some have 25l tanks that they call a 5 gallon.

 

[Alan S]

That is an assumption that he put in 2 us gallons rather than brim the tank before starting his test.
Some have 25l tanks that they call a 5 gallon.

See post 20 "in the video he says he's got 2 gallons in the tank"

 

[lynallbel]

Iirc pretty much all of them are 1/2 ltr ish per hour on full chat.

 

[pvb]

Iirc pretty much all of them are 1/2 ltr ish per hour on full chat.

Regardless of heat output rating?

 

[lynallbel]

Regardless of heat output rating?

No its just a rough rule I have used on all the heaters I have fitted, mainly diesel fired block heaters for cars, all 5kw units, well 1 x 4kw but that was to low powered.
If the op googles the spec for his model heater they will quote fuel consumption.

 

[Rappey]

0.4 l per hr does not sound that much , unless your on your boat using heating, maybe doing a partial refit , 8 hrs per day, 7 days per week for one month.. then your into 20 gallons !!

 

[prv]

If it's being burnt perhaps the heat is going out the exhaust due to a clogged heat exchanger.

They don't really have a heat exchanger as such. The fuel burns inside the metal body of the actual heater, to which the only connections are the intake and exhaust tubes (and fuel line) on the bottom. On the original vehicle-installation design, these would be sticking down through the floorpan of the van or truck, so that the nasty burny dieselly stuff makes the briefest possible excursion up into the cabin and straight back out again, all inside a sealed metal block.

The outer plastic case fits around this metal block, with a 1/2" gap all round and a hole in each end. Cabin air gets blown through the gap, around and over the hot metal burner block, and back out the other end. The block has fins so it performs the role of a heat exchanger, but there isn't really anything to get blocked, and if it did I'm not sure it'd change the exhaust temperature significantly. There's a temperature sensor clamped against the metal body, and the controller would shut the heater down anyway if it got too hot due to blockage in the cabin air flow.

Pete

 

[plumbob]

Well that's what I thought, seems to run fine no leaks, not that hot , no smoke, its brand new, I'm only going off the fuel gauge full tank 100 lts started with just under half a tank nearly empty at the end , not very scientific will do again from full and top up again after just using the heater and not motoring any where. It was all a bit of a quest. Dont know where the gauge is full.

Did you swap an Ebers for the Planar? Easy? Electric ok? Thanks