[ADDvanced]

PSA: This is a BRAND NEW CHANNEL. If you've seen my other Astro videos, all future van content will be on this new channel! My old channel will start to focus specifically on high performance boating! Cheers!

Alright guys, I've been promising this video for... over 6 months, but I just finished it. There are a lot of chinese diesel heater install videos on the internet, but this one is Astro specific, using all the tips/tricks I read about on this forum, and on youtube. When done, the heater is completely invisible and contained within the factory conversion van walls, along with a 40Ah lithium battery bank, Renogy DC/DC charger, USB charging ports, with the fuel tank for the heater itself hidden in the rear door.

Really stoked on how this turned out, it's been incredible and efficient, and this video will walk you through the entire process with tips/tricks along the way. Hope this helps, please ask any questions and I'll try to help.

 

[tungtide]

Great presentation good video. I have not done this yet, however when I do mine will be propane. ( I just gotta be different ) this will help a lot of banners.

 

[ADDvanced]

Propane is good too, but struggles at higher altitude, and is more expensive to run. 1 gallon of propane results in about 75kw of heat, 1 gallon of diesel is almost double that at around 130kw of heat. It's also a lot easier to find diesel at pretty much any gas station.

 

[irrelevantivinf]

Great video! I’ve been wondering if I need one. Haven’t committed yet.

 

[ADDvanced]

I don't think they're super necessary for sleeping in the cold as blankets work well esp if you insulate your van, but in the morning when the van is like... 35-45 degrees, turning it on and having it be 65 while you wake up and get dressed is awesome.

 

[Rod's Trucks]

The only significant drawback I see to diesel vs. propane, is if ANY diesel gets on the outside of the container, or on your hands, you smell it for a long time.
The last two times I filled my little tank, I was sure I had not spilled any, and still it smelled for a couple of hours. And if a cold tank warms up, any the air inside fuel tank will try to expand, possibly pushing some fumes out and you get to smell it again.
I just got home from a weekend amateur radio operating event in the mountains. Two of us set up a 8 x 10 tubing framed shelter ( think of a 2 motorcycle garage). There was room for two small folding tables for operating the radios, and later two cots for sleeping. It was 25 degrees outside when we got up in the morning. The little heater kept us comfortable, by just having the hot air tube sneak under the shelter side wall.

I like my VEVOR heater!
Rod J