HCALORY 8KW Diesel Heater with Remote Control & LCD Display - 12V Portable Diesel Air Heater for Cars, Trucks, Garages, Boats, RVs & Trailers | Automatic Temperature Adjustment & 10L Fuel Tank | Perfect for Winter Camping, Road Trips & Off-Grid Heating

– After the Sale SupportMy unit was received quickly after placing the order. While in transit, I requested a copy of the manual, which the seller promptly forwarded to me. Kudos to the seller for being prompt and supportive of the product.Even though it was packed well, my unit arrived with some small cosmetic damage to the housing, which makes me think it was packed this way from the factory. The damage was minor and would not affect performance so I proceeded to fire the unit prior to install just to check the function. The unit performed flawlessly both mounted on its side (with the fuel intake top-side) and in the conventional exhaust/intake ports down. I ended up mounting it ports down and routing the exhaust outside the building... I'll be routing the intake outside once I come up with a more robust filter option (the intake filter delivered, does a great job of keeping the noise down, but has looks like it could plug easily).-Use at High Altitude (7000' ASL)As another buyer mentioned, the altitude display does not read the current altitude of the unit, nor can you dig into the programing to adjust the altitude, or monkey about with the fuel/air flow (at least as far as I've found). That said, I believe the unit is properly compensating for my installation altitude. I've measured the maximum fuel usage and when running wide open, the unit is delivering fuel at 0.39L/hr. The specifications in the product imagery indicate a max fuel burn rate of 0.48L/hr. The fact that I'm seeing reduced fuel consumption, along with the lack of significant carbon build up or smoking (running rich) indicates that the unit is burning sufficiently lean for the elevation I've installed it at. Presently I've only run 10 gallons (~39 liters) of diesel through the heater or near 100 hours of run on low, but so far, so good.– Heat OutputThe unit is listed as a 5-8KW unit but by simply doing the math on what I've measured as minimum and maximum fuel usage, the unit is actually firing at 1.6KW (low) or 5,500BTU/hr - 4KW (high) or 14,000BTU/hr. This is well within the norms for a 5KW heater. Keep in mind, there are NO 8KW machines in this form factor, on the market, it's all just marketing nonsense.– ThermostatThe big draw for this machine was the thermostat. The bluetooth version of the controller (with the large knob at right) features a thermostat that is actually capable of turning the heater on and off. Unlike most cheap diesel heaters on the market (which only throttle the fuel input and fan speed – reducing the unit to idle when a set temperature is reached) this one turns off. This was an important feature for my application, as I'm using it to keep our off-grid pump house above freezing during the winter months. You'll have to enter the program menu to setup the on-off thermostat feature, once setup the machine will go through a startup and shutdown process based on your set temperature. And this function works flawlessly! – at the expense of some additional power usage to support the glow plug heating at both startup and shutdown. No idea yet, how this impacts the life of the glow plug, but I've bought a spare - just in case.-Observed Power UsageWhile running this unit draws about 10W on low and 35-40W on high. Startup requires a minimum of 120W - I'd suggest a power supply that can handle 15A at 12V.–Bluetooth and RemoteI haven't paired the included remote, I just don't need it for this application it is likely already lost in some parts bin in the shop. The bluetooth application works fine, though it is pretty minimal in function. My phone connected to the heater without issue and the app allows control over the heater, as expected. The most useful function of the app is that it delivers the burn chamber temperature - I wish this was displayed on the actual thermostat control, as it is yet another indicator of how well (or poorly) the heater is running.–Overheating IssueInitially I had overheating problems – anytime I tried to run at full burn. This overheating occurs WITH or WITHOUT the ductwork installed. Since the burn chamber is cooled by the airflow delivered over the burn chamber fins, I looked for obstructions there. The burn chamber heat-exchanger fins looked good, with little to no casting flash. The culprit was the simple heater air intake "screen" which is molded from plastic and features a wide flat grid. This screen had unacceptable amounts of flash and greatly reduced the airflow through the unit. I removed the poorly made factory screen and used a large hose clamp in its place. Later I picked up a nice 3D printed screen off of ETSY that offers some protection on the intake and solved the overheating issue, by allowing improved airflow across the unit.