Why Use A Diesel Heater for Winter Camping

If you’re an ice angler, you’ll know that there’s no better way to stir the pot than to ask, “Which is better, a propane heater or a diesel heater?” There will be hundreds of comments, with comments for and against, a few people popping in to say that wood is better, and more than a few jerks making their presence known.

As ice anglers, we’ve used a Buddy Heater to heat our flip-over hut for years. You can’t beat it for day trips. Bring along one or two 1lb propane tanks and you’re good to go.

But once we started ice camping, we needed a heater that would warm our larger hub-style hut, and last much longer. The options available to us were:

• Buying the Big Buddy propane heater and bringing along a 20lb propane tank,
• Buying a diesel heater and having to take along a battery, as well as extra fuel, or
• Buying a woodstove.

A woodstove isn’t a great option for us. We’re often visiting places we don’t know, when there’s a few feet of snow on the ground. Having to collect firewood would be a pain. We also didn’t want to bring firewood with us since we’re already taking so much gear out, and you shouldn’t transport firewood from different areas. Also, our dogs brush against everything in the hut. Panda would be sure to burn his tail.

We bought the Big Buddy heater and then proceeded to have major issues with keeping it going in colder temps. We tried every tip we could find, but it just isn’t reliable for us on a cold night. The condensation was also proving to be a problem. And again, Panda’s tail gets burned.

This year, we found ourselves needing heat for the teardrop trailer, as well as the ice hut. Neither of us wanted to deal with the finicky propane, and after a not-so-great trip to start the winter camping season, we decided to buy a diesel heater.

One of the big knocks against a diesel heater is that you’ll need to bring a battery with you. And if you’re going to be out for a couple of days, you’ll need a way to charge that battery, or bring a second one along. It’s more expense, and can take up more space, and adds weight.

Fortunately for us, we already have deep cycle marine batteries kicking around in the boats. We also have a Jackery and solar panels that we take for charging electronics, so that can also charge the battery. And fuel-wise, the jerry can takes up less space than the propane tank.

We ended up buying a Vevor 5kw All-in-one Diesel Heater for around $200.

I will say, it’s good to do your research ahead of time and be aware of what you’re getting into with a Chinese diesel heater. I found the Diesel Keep You Warm Facebook group to be incredibly helpful. Also, don’t waste money buying an 8kw heater. They’re just a fancied up 5kw.

THE SETUP

Setup was super easy. Everything we needed came in the kit and Darrell put it together in no time. He used a couple of 4×4 off-cuts as feet to mount the unit on. We also bought an insulated pipe elbow section for running the exhaust under the tent to the outside.

POWER

We initially hoped that the diesel heater would run off of our Jackery Explorer 1000. I’d seen mixed reviews online about getting that to work. The heater draws about 15 amps on startup and that seemed to be too much. We kept getting an error. It works great with a deep cycle marine battery, though. When running on low heat, the battery can last quite awhile. We take the Jackery along and use it to charge the battery on multi-day trips.

EASE OF USE

It’s really simple to use but the controllers on each heater can be different and I highly recommend finding a YouTube video for your specific controller to see what options it has. Once the heater was running, it was easy to change the temperature settings and turn it on and off.

The remote is really handy for adjusting temperature from wherever you happen to be sitting

THE RESULTS

Hands down the nicest heating solution we’ve ever had. Propane leaves you with condensation. Even the little electric heater we have for our trailer leaves us with condensation if you aren’t running the exhaust fan. The diesel heater gave us beautiful, dry heat. It was incredible.

The first time we used it was with our teardrop trailer and non-insulated side tent. I was worried that the tent wouldn’t keep enough heat in. It wasn’t a problem. The heater kept both the tent and the trailer plenty warm. We even needed to turn it down throughout the night.

The second time we used it was for 3 days of ice camping on a lake in Northern Ontario. Even a -27C wind chill was unnoticeable with the diesel heater running. It was the best ice camping experience we’ve ever had since we stayed warm and didn’t have a single heater issue.

I have never slept so well while winter camping. It does make some noise, but that just becomes white noise in the background and was pretty soothing while we slept.

My favourite part was that I didn’t have to worry about the dogs near the diesel heater. They couldn’t get near the exhaust pipe, and there was no flame or hot element for them to brush against. We have Australian shepherds and you’ve ever had an Aussie with a tail, you know how much they like whacking it against things.

Remember, even though the exhaust does vent outside, unlike a propane heater, you still need a carbon monoxide detector to help keep you safe.

Everyone has different needs for heat when it comes to winter camping, but for us, a diesel heater is hands down the winning choice.