Correct !! I would also have the radiator tilted / angled towards the end that the exhaust is exiting to promote draining the condensate. He's going to run into soot build up issues soon.
I came here also to make that suggestion. As it stands....it will trap the condensate. Burned hydrocarbons and water for carbonic acid. Very very corrosive. Going back over 30 yrs to my oil burner days as a heating/boiler tech.. BUT......WHAT A GREAT IDEA. I was considering using a 3 or 4 foot hydronic base board fin tube or an actual cast iron radiator. But you can find those electric all the time at yard sales. Garage sales. Goodwill. Or even free at the local dump!
Neat idea! I did something kinda similar but with a large barrel in my garage. My suggestion: raise the heater above the radiator so the exhaust is going into the top of the radiator. You’ll get more heat out of it that way. Also tilt the radiator at a slight angle towards the exit pipe so condensate can drip out. Where ever the exhaust is exiting should be the lowest point in the system. Lastly on mine I increased the exiting pipe diameter because I’ve read from multiple sources that increasing the exhaust length and thus back pressure is bad for these units.
Just a suggestion - paint a spot on your SS exhaust pipes with high temp flat black to make your IR thermometer far more accurate. The emissivity of shiny SS is low. Enjoy your heater!
Or get a decent thermal camera that has an option to configure it for shiny surfaces. Works a charm too. And.... pretty colors. LOL All joking aside, I put off buying one for years as I couldn't justify it. Finally, I bought a Flir that was on sale. It turns out that there's a lot of use for it.
The IR thermometer does NOT read at the red dot. The reading is taken by averaging all the temperatures in an ever widening cone around the laser dot. The cone of average readings gets huge as you move farther away. You need to be right on top for an accurate reading. So many people use these things wrong. Also, the person who posted about the emistivity is correct.
Great idea. One suggestion for future videos: Either cut the music volume by 50% or lose it altogether. The latter would be my choice. Lots of content creators add music and it really isn't needed and add little to nothing to the video.
@@BryanTorok ROFLMAO!!! Been there, done that. Thinking that I'm clicking on the reply I meant to but accidentally clicking on wrong one. LOL You are 100% right on the music thing. I don't know why so many creators think that music is necessary at all, on vids like these. There's this one channel where the guy repairs laptops. He has some really good equipment, nice pro electronic microscope and all. Yet, he has this really low bass, droning beat that just repeats itself. It actually detracts from the content. several of us have mentioned it, but as always happens, creators are a stubborn lot and don't listen to viewers.
FYI: Those Chinese Diesel Heaters efficiency has been measured at about 60% so the actual output is not 20K but about 12K BTUs. Capturing the exhaust heat is worth maybe another 20%. They are not efficient, but they are cheap and easy to setup and use. On another note, never have the exhaust positioned above the heater. As others have stated you will get condensate build up which will then restrict the exhaust and that will cause soot buildup in the burn chamber eventually to the point where the heater will refuse to run. Did you ever consider a hot water baseboard unit? The exhaust would be kept straight so there would be minimal backpressure and if set up at an angle any condensate would run out the end.
I have one of those compact Diesel heater units, great little heater, but I too have thought about the heat wasted out the window. This is a very good adaptation! I've learned that off road Diesel fuel with the red dye is less expensive than regular Diesel or kerosene, but they're pretty much all the same heat wise, kerosene is the same thing without paraffin to lubricate the pump and injectors of a Diesel engine.
Nice idea, you have given me some new thoughts on my own set-up. Remember the exhaust condenses so you will need some sort of drain in the heater body, I would suggest a radiator bleed valve as it is easily installed and used.
Cool idea! Deboss garage just did basically the exact same thing using the veevor diesel heater. As other commenters have mentioned, it would probably be better to mount the exhaust into the top of the heater, and put the diesel heater above for condensation and soot buildup purposes.
You should run the exhaust into the top. That way you have a chance of the moisture in the exhaust to actually be pushed out the bottom of the radiator with the exhaust.
yes, a secondary exhaust heat exchanger usually doubles the efficiency and cuts the heat bill by half. so, adding another radiator to the gas furnace in any house will massively cut the heating bill. pays for itself over time. also, getting regular diesel off the gas station will cut the fuel cost further by another half, using the old canister from kerosene. your home depot kerosene is expensive. and again, on the radiator, using the lower point as an exit instead of the top will further cut the energy consumption by another 10%, "trapping the heat", heat prefers top layers over bottom. and all the extra paint works as an insulator.
I've wondered about that. We have a Viessmann hydronic furnace. As it is, it's very efficient and inexpensive to run and maintain. Fortunately, it doesn't have one of those expensive over done controller computers. It's just a small, hand-sized one. The exhaust pipe is on top and the pipe goes up about 12" then angles off to the wall where it meets the chimney. I've thought of adding some kind of heat exchanger, but have no idea where to even start. Then, I wonder if that could create a problem, since the exhaust going out to the chimney would be cooler. So would it rise up to the outside. But if it would work, I think even letting it heat the basement, would irradiate up into the house as well. If not, then adding some minor duct work would be easy.
a great Idea I am sure we will see this idea popping up in amazon shortly. only issue is the exhaust moves so quickly would be nice if you could capture more of the heat.
This is an excellent build. I have thought of using one of these diesel heaters for quite some time now. This is an elegant solution to getting the maximum efficiency from them. I will build one soon for my shop and ditch the old wood stove. Thanks Al Hartley
Before watching I will point out that if you use an engine to work a heat pump, you effectively get more than 100% efficiency. You can also run a generator and extract the "waste heat" is you have a use for the electrical power.
Running the exhaust through some kind of heat sink like your old radiator is the way to go. I'm thinking of doing something similar using a long exhaust pipe coil in a fish tank with sandy soil.
You could add a couple of large diameter PC fans to the bottom of the radiator section and really accelerate the dispersion of heat into the shop, they would be able to run off of the same 12VDC supply that powers the heater.
A Russian blog found by experiment and calculation that these 5Kw heaters on max deliver 3.5Kw at the blower outlet and were able to extract a further 1.25 Kw adding a radiator to the exhaust
Dude I’ve done all this and I can tell you now THE most optimal way to to do this is using a heat exchanger, wet radiator, and a water pump. I got an old EGR heat exchanger, plumbed this into the Rad, and pipped the exhaust through it. It throws out a LOT of heat… If you really wanted to scavenge all the heat of the exhaust you could tag your air rad on the end. Trust a water Radiator is the way to go.
@@bogoff99 it’s in bits at the min S rebuilding cabin. It’s easy though, just pipe the exhaust through a second hand egr heat exchanger, then pipe the water through the exchanger with a little 12v hot water pump and run the pipes into. Radiator. Done nothing more to it than that really.
Saubere Arbeit 👍 Du wirst jedoch Probleme mit dem Kondenswasser bekommen. Führe das Abgas oben in den Radiator und leite Es unten mit Gefälle nach aussen. Alles Gute.
Voice of experience: Replace the automotive accessory plug with an XT-30 or Anderson PowerPole connection. Much more capable of handling the amps that are pulled while the glow plug is heating up, plus the connection type is much more secure. Those old-school cigarette-lighter style adapters, as well as the SAE connectors, just aren't the best solution for what you're doing, and on an AWSOME BUILD like this, you want only the best! When you shut it down, make sure you let it go through the "process", or you'll build up carbon in the unit. You can buy oil heaters at Goodwill or similar places for
Great info, thanks! I did remove hte cigarette-lighter adapter, because both the Ecoflow and car jumper were limited to 10A out on that outlet, which wasn't sufficient to power the heater. I found that the Ecoflow has a 12V/30A Anderson output. I hard-wired the heater to that for now, but my plan is to get an adapter and wire it to plug in cleanly.
I'm no expert but surely this is less efficient? It's like the recirculation button on car aircon - the aircon (or heater in this instance) it doesn't need to work as hard as it's heating already warmer air?
@lee_brooks No, the air being heated isn't the same air used for combustion. Theses heaters are designed with 2 air inlets, one for the room air that gets heated and a completely different air inlet for combustion. This is just like your car, the air used for combustion has a different inlets for the air being heated. If you use inside air for combustion it will suck in the outside air and make the room drafty.
This was great! I have a friend who did something similar running the exhaust through metal piping before exiting his house .. don't know why more people don't work on that idea and take advantage of the exhaust heat! Good job!!!
You should have the air intake for combustion on the outside. Doing that will prevent the heater from pulling heated air from inside that will be replaced by cold air pulled through gaps in doors, windows, etc.
Just a thought... If there is heat coming out the exhaust pipe... and you can find a oil heater in like a garage sale (super cheap) maybe add a second heat exchanger
Thats relly great idea. I was wandering what would happen if take the top of the radiator off. Flip it on its back, so exhaust ports are now at the bottom. And have a u shaped vent blowing back through inside and outside of the radiator at about a foot or two distance. I wander if that would help with condensation but also reduce the temperature of exhaust coming out the window. I think even if it doesnt make heater more efficient it could potentially just move more warm air around the room. Thats what i was thinking to built before i watched this video, now im not so sure seeing how efficient this setup is.
My idea was to coil a long piece of exhaust tubing inside of a duct tube and run the air outlet from the heater through that. Your idea is a lot easier though!
Usually when I see builds like these I tend to hate them and think people are stupid. But you actually did a really good job cuz I most people that just let me play the gun at don't show you temperatures or tell you the temperatures. But you were literally putting your hand on that exhaust pipe had not flaking it. I got to say amazing and a brilliant idea.
The thermometer you are using has a shotgun effect. the laser is just a pointer. you need to get very close to get a good number, shiny surfaces will cause some false readings so some high temp black paint would help
@@dronedrops8173 that was my original idea, but then I realized 1) there no good way to get the heat into the radiator while keeping the oil in it, and 2) the oil only retains heat, which I don’t care about. I want to capture and disperse it while I’m in my shop, not retain it to heat my shop after I leave.
Cool idea. I'd have just run the pipe straight through the radiator and kept it filled with oil. Let the exhaust pipe heat the oil without making an issue of condensate gathering in the radiator.
@thewebbsace it shouldn't need a fan. The heat should rise off of it just like it was intended to originally. But if you really want a fan you could just mount the vevor heater in such a way that the blower on the front blows across the top of the radiator.
Instead of sooting up your heater with exhast obstructions just buy a second heater. I can run 2 on lower settings-use same amount of diesel as 1 heater on high and my shop stays 10F warmer than 1 on high setting
When I have time I would like to use the exhaust as a "pre-heat" for the air intake that way the starting temp is elevated resulting in more heat and less fuel used.
I always wanted to put a long steel duct pipe along tge bottom if my shop wall with the 80BTU torpedo blasting into it & the far end exiting outside...
Fill the radiator with sand and be even more efficient.. I did that with an old wood stove and filled the chimney pipe and ran the exhaust through stove & out the pipe.... Works a treat and holds heat for hrs after turning the diesel.heater off ✌
I've been looking at sand batteries (generally powered by excess solar and an 'immersion heater' type device (and they're great) but in this instance surely you need the airflow though? Not critical - just trying to understand : )
Efficiency and heat distribution would be improved if the output vent faced the radiator fins. Radiator style heaters work best with a fan to distribute the heat around the room. I'm sure it does a fantastic job as is, just giving my two cents... Everything can always be better ;)
@@jakepatrie8332 yeah, I thought about that. My original plan was to use a steam radiator like I’ve seen others do, and point the fan toward it to increase efficiency. But this type of radiator is designed with convection channels that cause air flow without a fan. That’s why I decided to use it and keep them separate.
nice, if you would use the exhaust heat to warm up some of that oil that used to be in the radiator wouldn't last longer? Or have it warming up a five gum bucket worth of oil similar kind of idea?
do a followup video after about 100 hours of running. i tried to do a heat exchanger with 1 inch iron pipe and after about 100 hours the heater would not heat well and had a soot buildup inside the combustion chamber. i think if i would have gone to a 2 inch it may have been fine though. the fan on the inside of the burner is not strong enough to force the exhaust any distance more than about 10 feet. if i would have done the 2inch iron pipe i think it would have worked though.. also going to need a drain. got about 8 ounces of water off the first heat exchanger after 20 hours or so
My only one critique is water in the exhaust can rust our your lowest point. Using a small tilt & a separator with a catch pan could eliminate it though!
The exhaust pipe temps using a temp gun will be off... read too low.... on the bare stainless steel. If you put some black paint or tape on the pipe, it will give a much more accurate temp. I think my readings were off by about 20-30% maybe more... like 100* on the bare metal pipe was actually 130* with black tape. Something close to that
Great idea for long term off grid solutions! However, during a snowstorm/ power outage last winter I heated my 750 sqft home with an electric radiator and a few strategically placed box fans connected to a battery bank and an inverter. I was able to keep it about 65-70 degrees for 3 days when it was around 0 outside. My experience with electric radiators is that they work great with well insulated spaces. We now have a propane heater for backup. Next will be a wood stove.
That reminds me. I need to run the 2 generators and let them run almost dry and buy new gasoline. As long as natural gas keeps flowing the hydronic furnace doesn't take much electricity to operate. Just the circulating pump at about 300 watts or so. Gas should keep flowing, because it did keep flowing back when that major North East grid thing happened that affected the USA North East as well as Canada. That was in the summer, but the gas still flowed so we had hot water and the gas stove still worked. I now longer have the battery bank anymore as the 6 deep cycle batteries finally died. Those puppies lasted over 14 years!!! I really should get 2, 3 or 4 of those Lithium 12V, 250aH batteries and rebuild my backup system.
To upgrade your idea use a used car EGR connected to the exhaust connect the water pipes to a central heating radiator use a small 12 volt pump to circulate the water that will be the most efficient way to get extra heat out of a diesel heater I use two of these systems to heat my home so I'm sure they will be ok for a workshop you can actually couple up more than one EGR together you can find lots of videos on RUclips on this subject
would it create instant heat, if you just replaced the electronic heating elements of the oil rad, with a metal rod, attached or coupled to the exhaust, run into the oil reservoir to heat the oil? the hot metal rod would then heat the oil?
Try running the exhaust into one of those oil heaters and out of it and into another oil heater see if it captures more heat. I'm also wondering about condensation buildup of water inside these units.
Better imo just use long exhaust (angled downward for drainage) covered with a bunch of stainless steel scotchbrite (scourer) pads (cost is cheap) add fan to blow across it if desired. No back pressure, moisture carried away and is fast-easy to do. Pads are a tight fit over the 1" exhaust and can stretch out or bunch up as needed to cover length.
condensation goes down, to the hottest point of the device and they will be turned into steam. If the heater runs hot enough, the moisture will exit the system. If not.. I guess it will fill up and start making bubbly noises
@@EIS77-harmlessgoy if condensate collects in the radiator, I'll add a drip line. If that doesn't handle it, I'll modify the stand to raise the heater up a few inches so it doesn't backflow up the exhaust. I'm not stressing it.
Cool, clean build. I have watched a few of these type of conversions. The thing that made the radiator heaters hold heat for as long as they did is the oil or water inside them. I've often wondered if the re e is a way to heat the oil inside them with the exhaust. Until that gets figured out by someone smarter than me.... I would say this is the best route.
Can't go by the kWh or BTU. 1liter of diesel can produce 10.6 kWh under ideal conditions the math never adds up but they do put out a reasonable amount of heat
Liked that build, let us know it soots up quickly. And I'm not going to gripe about the music, no, no way no how I'm not going to gripe about it,, I'm just not going to.
@@Mr.Engineer. I’ve only been using it for 2 days so far, so I haven’t had the chance to check. If it’s a significant problem, my plan is to add a condensate drain line at the bottom of the radiator and see if that solves it.
@@offgrid101 Been thinking about doing something similar for my basement, but then I would use my chimney for the exhaust and having the exhaust travel 7-8 meters straight up leaving a lot of moisture all over the bricks. What will then happen when I use my fireplace and will it lead to forming of more soot and a higher risk of chimney fire? Maybe I must have a pipe all the way up the chimney and have the exhaust exit the pipe at the top of my chimney. Hard to find any data on this online, so your results would be highly appreciated if you share them :) Also, did you think about cross flowing the radiator for "better efficiency" or does it heat evenly enough as it is?
@ definitely, will share my experience and any updates or changes I make! FYI, I checked it tonight after running 8 hours yesterday and 8 hours today - no noticeable moisture buildup.
It'll be better your way as the condensation will exit rather than building up in the radiator. I'd tilt the radiator towards the exhaust side also as to promote draining.
@brettd.3222 that's what I was thinking. I know it'd be tall but I'd like to put the heater on a platform above the radiator as to not have a bunch of bends in the exhaust
The problem you will have is the acrid condensate will condense in your radiator 0 You must always have the exhaust drain downward from your radiator until it exits your shop - as an alternative you could put a pinhole in the bottom of your radiator and run a small tube outside
Thanks for watching, everyone! Here's the build list: * Vevor Diesel Heater: www.vevor.com/diesel-heater-c_10321/heater-p_010495189666 * De'Longhi Oil Heater: www.amazon.com/dp/B000TGDGLU/ * Extra 10ft of Hose: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR3TYGK7/ * Rustoleum Red Engine Enamel: www.amazon.com/dp/B0C828J6ZN * RTV Silicone: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R17MD5S/ * 64" of 1-1/2" angle iron * 16" of 1-1/2" flat bar * 8" of 3/4" angle iron * Black spray paint
The condensate from the exhaust is very acidic I don't know if it could possibly eat a hole in that radiator at the bottom in some time or not? I know it will eat a hole through copper because I've seen it happen. Just something to be aware of. A carbon monoxide detector would detect any leaks
@@HollisDoesStuff yeah, I didn’t have any diesel around at the time, and kerosene is close enough for a test. I’ve since filled it up with diesel for normal use.
The hot exhaust should go into the radiator at the top and come out the bottom! it will heat better and push the condensate out of the exhaust pipe.
I came here to say this same thing. Bump in efficiency as well as solving the problem of condensation. 👍
Correct !! I would also have the radiator tilted / angled towards the end that the exhaust is exiting to promote draining the condensate. He's going to run into soot build up issues soon.
And the air intake on the blower could have been picked up on the top of the radiator with a cowl.
I came here also to make that suggestion. As it stands....it will trap the condensate. Burned hydrocarbons and water for carbonic acid. Very very corrosive. Going back over 30 yrs to my oil burner days as a heating/boiler tech.. BUT......WHAT A GREAT IDEA. I was considering using a 3 or 4 foot hydronic base board fin tube or an actual cast iron radiator. But you can find those electric all the time at yard sales. Garage sales. Goodwill. Or even free at the local dump!
Installed with this method in a boat bilge you can have a bilge heater and route the heat into the cab. Thanks for the great idea!
as stated there is room for improvement but you got "proof of concept" ! I like that you took the time to build, paint, and make it look nice as well!
Neat idea! I did something kinda similar but with a large barrel in my garage.
My suggestion: raise the heater above the radiator so the exhaust is going into the top of the radiator. You’ll get more heat out of it that way. Also tilt the radiator at a slight angle towards the exit pipe so condensate can drip out. Where ever the exhaust is exiting should be the lowest point in the system.
Lastly on mine I increased the exiting pipe diameter because I’ve read from multiple sources that increasing the exhaust length and thus back pressure is bad for these units.
Great idea and it makes perfect sense to do so.
Just a suggestion - paint a spot on your SS exhaust pipes with high temp flat black to make your IR thermometer far more accurate. The emissivity of shiny SS is low. Enjoy your heater!
Or get a decent thermal camera that has an option to configure it for shiny surfaces.
Works a charm too. And.... pretty colors. LOL
All joking aside, I put off buying one for years as I couldn't justify it.
Finally, I bought a Flir that was on sale.
It turns out that there's a lot of use for it.
I love how every year somebody is doing that same experiment 🙂
You can find those oil heaters at garage sales usually very cheap .
Awesome build
The IR thermometer does NOT read at the red dot. The reading is taken by averaging all the temperatures in an ever widening cone around the laser dot. The cone of average readings gets huge as you move farther away. You need to be right on top for an accurate reading. So many people use these things wrong. Also, the person who posted about the emistivity is correct.
Great idea. One suggestion for future videos: Either cut the music volume by 50% or lose it altogether. The latter would be my choice. Lots of content creators add music and it really isn't needed and add little to nothing to the video.
Wrong. Horrible idea lol. Get the toxic fumes outside as fast as possible. Im sure you will argue with that though.
@@Utubegofukurself I would agree with you, but I think you posted your comment not where yo intended to.
@@BryanTorok ROFLMAO!!! Been there, done that. Thinking that I'm clicking on the reply I meant to but accidentally clicking on wrong one. LOL
You are 100% right on the music thing. I don't know why so many creators think that music is necessary at all, on vids like these.
There's this one channel where the guy repairs laptops. He has some really good equipment, nice pro electronic microscope and all.
Yet, he has this really low bass, droning beat that just repeats itself. It actually detracts from the content. several of us have mentioned it, but as always happens, creators are a stubborn lot and don't listen to viewers.
I hate music on video that’s supposed to making something just talk do a voice over
@@BlondieHappyGuythe reason they don’t do anything about what people comment about is they make money off of the comments
I used a turbo charger intercooler with a 12 volt radiator fan on mine.
Similar results as you....
There is probably one way to improve this setup even further:
A thin boxfan blowing on the side of the former oil heater from middle to out.
I use that same diesel heater in my shop too,,it was nice but with this idea ,it would be even more efficient, nice idea!
FYI: Those Chinese Diesel Heaters efficiency has been measured at about 60% so the actual output is not 20K but about 12K BTUs. Capturing the exhaust heat is worth maybe another 20%. They are not efficient, but they are cheap and easy to setup and use.
On another note, never have the exhaust positioned above the heater. As others have stated you will get condensate build up which will then restrict the exhaust and that will cause soot buildup in the burn chamber eventually to the point where the heater will refuse to run.
Did you ever consider a hot water baseboard unit? The exhaust would be kept straight so there would be minimal backpressure and if set up at an angle any condensate would run out the end.
I think short term this will work, but long term the radiator may well choke up with carbon. Not the easiest thing to clean out.
You could get a wood heater fan and put on top of the radiator. It works with no power and would move the air around Great idea and great video.
What a great idea!
I really enjoyed you video!!
I have one of those compact Diesel heater units, great little heater, but I too have thought about the heat wasted out the window. This is a very good adaptation! I've learned that off road Diesel fuel with the red dye is less expensive than regular Diesel or kerosene, but they're pretty much all the same heat wise, kerosene is the same thing without paraffin to lubricate the pump and injectors of a Diesel engine.
Put smokeless 2 stroke oil in the kerosene will lubricate the pump. its recommended when running kerosene
Where can you buy off road diesel?
Great job, my man! I was able to garner a lot from your video that I can apply to my own build. Thanks!
Nice idea, you have given me some new thoughts on my own set-up. Remember the exhaust condenses so you will need some sort of drain in the heater body, I would suggest a radiator bleed valve as it is easily installed and used.
Cool idea! Deboss garage just did basically the exact same thing using the veevor diesel heater. As other commenters have mentioned, it would probably be better to mount the exhaust into the top of the heater, and put the diesel heater above for condensation and soot buildup purposes.
You should run the exhaust into the top. That way you have a chance of the moisture in the exhaust to actually be pushed out the bottom of the radiator with the exhaust.
Wow a harbor freight cobalt step bit would have made your life sooooo much easier
@@apintonut would you believe I JUST got the Temo step bit that won the @projectfarm comparison and completely forgot about it?? 🤦♂️
yes, a secondary exhaust heat exchanger usually doubles the efficiency and cuts the heat bill by half. so, adding another radiator to the gas furnace in any house will massively cut the heating bill. pays for itself over time. also, getting regular diesel off the gas station will cut the fuel cost further by another half, using the old canister from kerosene. your home depot kerosene is expensive.
and again, on the radiator, using the lower point as an exit instead of the top will further cut the energy consumption by another 10%, "trapping the heat", heat prefers top layers over bottom. and all the extra paint works as an insulator.
I've wondered about that. We have a Viessmann hydronic furnace.
As it is, it's very efficient and inexpensive to run and maintain.
Fortunately, it doesn't have one of those expensive over done controller computers.
It's just a small, hand-sized one.
The exhaust pipe is on top and the pipe goes up about 12" then angles off to the wall where it meets the chimney.
I've thought of adding some kind of heat exchanger, but have no idea where to even start.
Then, I wonder if that could create a problem, since the exhaust going out to the chimney would be cooler. So would it rise up to the outside.
But if it would work, I think even letting it heat the basement, would irradiate up into the house as well.
If not, then adding some minor duct work would be easy.
Create you intake pipe and run right beside exhaust pipe to the outside. This will stop a siphoning effect from any cracks you may or may not have 😉
This is the best design of this idea i have seen. I have been thinking of getting one of those heaters and i think i may do what you did.
I suggest putting the heater and rad inline under the window 6 inches from the wall, the rad heat will help with window heat loss
I recommend piping the exhaust straight into your lungs. Maximum efficiency and warm yourself from the inside out
you should make a little hole on the lowest part of the exhaust to let water (condensation) go out
i think if you added a couple 12v computer fans to the top of the radiator it would improve convection
I have a large 280mm slow-turning PC fan on mine - its silent and uses just 2 watts
a great Idea I am sure we will see this idea popping up in amazon shortly. only issue is the exhaust moves so quickly would be nice if you could capture more of the heat.
people have been doing this mod for a few years, there's plenty of videos on youtube. I collected all the stuff to do it already but haven't started.
This is an excellent build. I have thought of using one of these diesel heaters for quite some time now. This is an elegant solution to getting the maximum efficiency from them. I will build one soon for my shop and ditch the old wood stove.
Thanks Al Hartley
Before watching I will point out that if you use an engine to work a heat pump, you effectively get more than 100% efficiency.
You can also run a generator and extract the "waste heat" is you have a use for the electrical power.
Running the exhaust through some kind of heat sink like your old radiator is the way to go. I'm thinking of doing something similar using a long exhaust pipe coil in a fish tank with sandy soil.
You could add a couple of large diameter PC fans to the bottom of the radiator section and really accelerate the dispersion of heat into the shop, they would be able to run off of the same 12VDC supply that powers the heater.
A Russian blog found by experiment and calculation that these 5Kw heaters on max deliver 3.5Kw at the blower outlet and were able to extract a further 1.25 Kw adding a radiator to the exhaust
Dude I’ve done all this and I can tell you now THE most optimal way to to do this is using a heat exchanger, wet radiator, and a water pump.
I got an old EGR heat exchanger, plumbed this into the Rad, and pipped the exhaust through it.
It throws out a LOT of heat…
If you really wanted to scavenge all the heat of the exhaust you could tag your air rad on the end.
Trust a water Radiator is the way to go.
Did this extract same thing mate it’s unreal
Wouldnt that cut your power supply by driving a water pump as well? If your runnig this puely on solar .
@@chadjansen9097 no, why would it I just got a . Small 12v hot water pump to circulate water through the radiator. Tho k it was £20 of Amazon
any pictures of you setup
@@bogoff99 it’s in bits at the min S rebuilding cabin.
It’s easy though, just pipe the exhaust through a second hand egr heat exchanger, then pipe the water through the exchanger with a little 12v hot water pump and run the pipes into. Radiator.
Done nothing more to it than that really.
Saubere Arbeit 👍 Du wirst jedoch Probleme mit dem Kondenswasser bekommen. Führe das Abgas oben in den Radiator und leite Es unten mit Gefälle nach aussen. Alles Gute.
Voice of experience: Replace the automotive accessory plug with an XT-30 or Anderson PowerPole connection. Much more capable of handling the amps that are pulled while the glow plug is heating up, plus the connection type is much more secure. Those old-school cigarette-lighter style adapters, as well as the SAE connectors, just aren't the best solution for what you're doing, and on an AWSOME BUILD like this, you want only the best! When you shut it down, make sure you let it go through the "process", or you'll build up carbon in the unit. You can buy oil heaters at Goodwill or similar places for
Great info, thanks! I did remove hte cigarette-lighter adapter, because both the Ecoflow and car jumper were limited to 10A out on that outlet, which wasn't sufficient to power the heater. I found that the Ecoflow has a 12V/30A Anderson output. I hard-wired the heater to that for now, but my plan is to get an adapter and wire it to plug in cleanly.
Love the repurposing to get the efficiency up. You need to take the combustion air from the outside as well so you're not consuming the warm air.
I'm no expert but surely this is less efficient? It's like the recirculation button on car aircon - the aircon (or heater in this instance) it doesn't need to work as hard as it's heating already warmer air?
@lee_brooks No, the air being heated isn't the same air used for combustion. Theses heaters are designed with 2 air inlets, one for the room air that gets heated and a completely different air inlet for combustion. This is just like your car, the air used for combustion has a different inlets for the air being heated. If you use inside air for combustion it will suck in the outside air and make the room drafty.
@@christopherguy1217 Thanks for the explaination : )
This was great! I have a friend who did something similar running the exhaust through metal piping before exiting his house .. don't know why more people don't work on that idea and take advantage of the exhaust heat! Good job!!!
Maybe because you can die from exhaust fumes if it has a leak lol. Yeah, GREAT idea lol
adding fan to allow air go thru the radiator and make the heat spread more in your room
Great video 👍
Music is amazing, you have a new subscriber.
The oil/electric radiators are fine. mine can keep a 25°C difference on the low setting. my Space is relative small and well insulated.
You should have the air intake for combustion on the outside. Doing that will prevent the heater from pulling heated air from inside that will be replaced by cold air pulled through gaps in doors, windows, etc.
Just a thought...
If there is heat coming out the exhaust pipe... and you can find a oil heater in like a garage sale (super cheap) maybe add a second heat exchanger
Thats relly great idea. I was wandering what would happen if take the top of the radiator off. Flip it on its back, so exhaust ports are now at the bottom. And have a u shaped vent blowing back through inside and outside of the radiator at about a foot or two distance. I wander if that would help with condensation but also reduce the temperature of exhaust coming out the window. I think even if it doesnt make heater more efficient it could potentially just move more warm air around the room. Thats what i was thinking to built before i watched this video, now im not so sure seeing how efficient this setup is.
My idea was to coil a long piece of exhaust tubing inside of a duct tube and run the air outlet from the heater through that. Your idea is a lot easier though!
Usually when I see builds like these I tend to hate them and think people are stupid. But you actually did a really good job cuz I most people that just let me play the gun at don't show you temperatures or tell you the temperatures. But you were literally putting your hand on that exhaust pipe had not flaking it. I got to say amazing and a brilliant idea.
The thermometer you are using has a shotgun effect. the laser is just a pointer. you need to get very close to get a good number, shiny surfaces will cause some false readings so some high temp black paint would help
I was thinking about doing this exact thing but KEEPING the oil to better transfer the heat
@@dronedrops8173 that was my original idea, but then I realized 1) there no good way to get the heat into the radiator while keeping the oil in it, and 2) the oil only retains heat, which I don’t care about. I want to capture and disperse it while I’m in my shop, not retain it to heat my shop after I leave.
Cool idea. I'd have just run the pipe straight through the radiator and kept it filled with oil. Let the exhaust pipe heat the oil without making an issue of condensate gathering in the radiator.
This was my ideal exactly and a fan of some sort
@thewebbsace it shouldn't need a fan. The heat should rise off of it just like it was intended to originally.
But if you really want a fan you could just mount the vevor heater in such a way that the blower on the front blows across the top of the radiator.
That is a lot of work bro
Instead of sooting up your heater with exhast obstructions just buy a second heater. I can run 2 on lower settings-use same amount of diesel as 1 heater on high and my shop stays 10F warmer than 1 on high setting
When I have time I would like to use the exhaust as a "pre-heat" for the air intake that way the starting temp is elevated resulting in more heat and less fuel used.
You could use bathroom heater elements, big tubes, big area
I always wanted to put a long steel duct pipe along tge bottom if my shop wall with the 80BTU torpedo blasting into it & the far end exiting outside...
Fill the radiator with sand and be even more efficient.. I did that with an old wood stove and filled the chimney pipe and ran the exhaust through stove & out the pipe.... Works a treat and holds heat for hrs after turning the diesel.heater off ✌
I've been looking at sand batteries (generally powered by excess solar and an 'immersion heater' type device (and they're great) but in this instance surely you need the airflow though? Not critical - just trying to understand : )
Efficiency and heat distribution would be improved if the output vent faced the radiator fins. Radiator style heaters work best with a fan to distribute the heat around the room. I'm sure it does a fantastic job as is, just giving my two cents... Everything can always be better ;)
@@jakepatrie8332 yeah, I thought about that. My original plan was to use a steam radiator like I’ve seen others do, and point the fan toward it to increase efficiency. But this type of radiator is designed with convection channels that cause air flow without a fan. That’s why I decided to use it and keep them separate.
nice, if you would use the exhaust heat to warm up some of that oil that used to be in the radiator wouldn't last longer? Or have it warming up a five gum bucket worth of oil similar kind of idea?
do a followup video after about 100 hours of running. i tried to do a heat exchanger with 1 inch iron pipe and after about 100 hours the heater would not heat well and had a soot buildup inside the combustion chamber. i think if i would have gone to a 2 inch it may have been fine though. the fan on the inside of the burner is not strong enough to force the exhaust any distance more than about 10 feet. if i would have done the 2inch iron pipe i think it would have worked though.. also going to need a drain. got about 8 ounces of water off the first heat exchanger after 20 hours or so
I'm impressed, you are quite the innovator and fabricator. Thanks
My only one critique is water in the exhaust can rust our your lowest point. Using a small tilt & a separator with a catch pan could eliminate it though!
Consider making provision to drain condensate water from your exhaust pipe and radiator. Otherwise that’s a problem on the way.
The exhaust pipe temps using a temp gun will be off... read too low.... on the bare stainless steel. If you put some black paint or tape on the pipe, it will give a much more accurate temp. I think my readings were off by about 20-30% maybe more... like 100* on the bare metal pipe was actually 130* with black tape. Something close to that
I like that you painted it. Red, red just looks hotter than white. That probably added 10°.😂
🤣
Great idea for long term off grid solutions!
However, during a snowstorm/ power outage last winter I heated my 750 sqft home with an electric radiator and a few strategically placed box fans connected to a battery bank and an inverter. I was able to keep it about 65-70 degrees for 3 days when it was around 0 outside.
My experience with electric radiators is that they work great with well insulated spaces.
We now have a propane heater for backup. Next will be a wood stove.
That reminds me. I need to run the 2 generators and let them run almost dry and buy new gasoline.
As long as natural gas keeps flowing the hydronic furnace doesn't take much electricity to operate. Just the circulating pump at about 300 watts or so. Gas should keep flowing, because it did keep flowing back when that major North East grid thing happened that affected the USA North East as well as Canada. That was in the summer, but the gas still flowed so we had hot water and the gas stove still worked.
I now longer have the battery bank anymore as the 6 deep cycle batteries finally died. Those puppies lasted over 14 years!!!
I really should get 2, 3 or 4 of those Lithium 12V, 250aH batteries and rebuild my backup system.
To upgrade your idea use a used car EGR connected to the exhaust connect the water pipes to a central heating radiator use a small 12 volt pump to circulate the water that will be the most efficient way to get extra heat out of a diesel heater I use two of these systems to heat my home so I'm sure they will be ok for a workshop you can actually couple up more than one EGR together you can find lots of videos on RUclips on this subject
You can run kerosene in it also pls add carbonmonoxide dedector cuz that exht pipes tend to crack
would it create instant heat, if you just replaced the electronic heating elements of the oil rad, with a metal rod, attached or coupled to the exhaust, run into the oil reservoir to heat the oil? the hot metal rod would then heat the oil?
Thats awesome
Great job. I like your design,
Should've added some gold to the radiator to give it an Iron Man motif 😂
I'm wondering if a car coolant radiator would work too?
You need to put a drainplug in the radiator. Water will condensate inside and you probably will not want to take the caps off periodicly.
Try running the exhaust into one of those oil heaters and out of it and into another oil heater see if it captures more heat. I'm also wondering about condensation buildup of water inside these units.
wondering if you will have problems with carbon build up from the back pressure, as your running of a new unit for 1 hour is not enough of a test
I'm looking to do this at some point, but I'm waiting to cross paths with a radiator that has a decent amount of thermal mass to it.
Better imo just use long exhaust (angled downward for drainage) covered with a bunch of stainless steel scotchbrite (scourer) pads (cost is cheap) add fan to blow across it if desired.
No back pressure, moisture carried away and is fast-easy to do.
Pads are a tight fit over the 1" exhaust and can stretch out or bunch up as needed to cover length.
with that 90' bend going to the radiator will trap the condensation in the exhaust causing an ERROR code. I would put a bleeder valve at that bend.
run diesel, way cheaper and works just as good! and for who is wondering, you could also use an old car radiator and add a fan!
people can use a smaller cheaper rad if you add a fan to blows air threw it or more mass in the rad. basically extending the builtin heat exchanger
Add a wood stove fan or 2 on the rad an can help heat the room faster
i'm impressed!!! i need to find an old oil heater now. thanks
If hot exhaust goes in the bottom and colder goes out the top, wheres the condensation going?
The answer to this question will cost him a new heater soon...
condensation goes down, to the hottest point of the device and they will be turned into steam. If the heater runs hot enough, the moisture will exit the system. If not.. I guess it will fill up and start making bubbly noises
@@EIS77-harmlessgoy if condensate collects in the radiator, I'll add a drip line. If that doesn't handle it, I'll modify the stand to raise the heater up a few inches so it doesn't backflow up the exhaust. I'm not stressing it.
Cool, clean build. I have watched a few of these type of conversions. The thing that made the radiator heaters hold heat for as long as they did is the oil or water inside them. I've often wondered if the re e is a way to heat the oil inside them with the exhaust. Until that gets figured out by someone smarter than me.... I would say this is the best route.
Can't go by the kWh or BTU. 1liter of diesel can produce 10.6 kWh under ideal conditions the math never adds up but they do put out a reasonable amount of heat
Put a small slow fan on the radiator.
Liked that build, let us know it soots up quickly. And I'm not going to gripe about the music, no, no way no how I'm not going to gripe about it,, I'm just not going to.
I enjoyed your video, good build.
a large cast iron radiator for an old boiler system would work even better since cast iron holds it's heat.
How are you draining condensation?
It be great if I can Use the heat exhaust to heat up a hot water tank
Have you experienced any condensation gathering in the "oil heater" from cooling the exhaust gasses below condensation temperature?
@@Mr.Engineer. I’ve only been using it for 2 days so far, so I haven’t had the chance to check. If it’s a significant problem, my plan is to add a condensate drain line at the bottom of the radiator and see if that solves it.
@@offgrid101
Been thinking about doing something similar for my basement, but then I would use my chimney for the exhaust and having the exhaust travel 7-8 meters straight up leaving a lot of moisture all over the bricks.
What will then happen when I use my fireplace and will it lead to forming of more soot and a higher risk of chimney fire?
Maybe I must have a pipe all the way up the chimney and have the exhaust exit the pipe at the top of my chimney.
Hard to find any data on this online, so your results would be highly appreciated if you share them :)
Also, did you think about cross flowing the radiator for "better efficiency" or does it heat evenly enough as it is?
@ definitely, will share my experience and any updates or changes I make! FYI, I checked it tonight after running 8 hours yesterday and 8 hours today - no noticeable moisture buildup.
Where was you looking? Great idea !
This might be a dumb question, but would it matter if I routed the exhaust from top of the radiator to the bottom?
It'll be better your way as the condensation will exit rather than building up in the radiator. I'd tilt the radiator towards the exhaust side also as to promote draining.
@brettd.3222 that's what I was thinking. I know it'd be tall but I'd like to put the heater on a platform above the radiator as to not have a bunch of bends in the exhaust
The problem you will have is the acrid condensate will condense in your radiator 0 You must always have the exhaust drain downward from your radiator until it exits your shop - as an alternative you could put a pinhole in the bottom of your radiator and run a small tube outside
Thanks for watching, everyone! Here's the build list:
* Vevor Diesel Heater: www.vevor.com/diesel-heater-c_10321/heater-p_010495189666
* De'Longhi Oil Heater: www.amazon.com/dp/B000TGDGLU/
* Extra 10ft of Hose: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR3TYGK7/
* Rustoleum Red Engine Enamel: www.amazon.com/dp/B0C828J6ZN
* RTV Silicone: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R17MD5S/
* 64" of 1-1/2" angle iron
* 16" of 1-1/2" flat bar
* 8" of 3/4" angle iron
* Black spray paint
Found that it built up sooo much condensate that it made a problem code. Smaller radiator but same idea.
The condensate from the exhaust is very acidic I don't know if it could possibly eat a hole in that radiator at the bottom in some time or not? I know it will eat a hole through copper because I've seen it happen.
Just something to be aware of.
A carbon monoxide detector would detect any leaks
you will find with greater use condensation build up in the heater rad , LOOKS COOL BUT KEEP TRYING
How long will it run with the booster pack?
At 13:30 were you putting kerosene in it? Awesome idea by the way, going to keep my eye out for an old radiator style heater in fb or somewhere.
@@HollisDoesStuff yeah, I didn’t have any diesel around at the time, and kerosene is close enough for a test. I’ve since filled it up with diesel for normal use.
It will fill up with condensation.
How did you seal your exhaust pipe to the radiator?
@@massimo187 welded on a piece of steel tubing to the old heating element at 11:00