Great what’s your aim with Mk2 or 3 ?
Hotter water? Less fuel used? Beater? Quieter?
After using the kerosene for a week I’m super impressed. Starts really clean. Defo would recommend anyone running one of these heaters to use Kero. My research tells me it’s a cleaner burning fuel
Also with it being lighter than diesel it should blend better for me with waste oil. Time will prove this
Its Mk3 that I'm toying with now , just wanted to see what the hot air blower alone would do temp wise , first I used the heat exchanger from the L5 inside an old surround sound sub box , this didnt do much .
Then I coiled 60m of Gardiner green inside the box on its own and got 20 up to 45 on demand , not shabby but in conjunction with the original exhaust output it has scope , also meaning that the heater as you get it would not have to be cut up at all .
Tell me more about kero , can you use it straight , can you mix with diesel , where do you get the stuff ?
No one sells it in small quantities in our area. 500 liters is the smallest amount the suppliers will deliver and they require it to go into a diesel central heating approved diesel storage tank. I understand that its their responsibility to partially ensure (do their bit) that the oil is being used for heating only and not in a road vehicle.
Of course all this is much easier if you have oil central heating; you just need to syphon your requirements off.
The marinas sell red diesel. For taxation purposes they split its use into a percentage for propulsion and the remainder heating. If I remember the split agreed by the Receiver is 60% propulsion and 40% heating. The tax on the heating element is less than the propulsion element. You can specify 100% heating, but you can expect a surprise visit from VOSA and they will dip all your vehicles diesel tanks.
Canal live aboards are quite happy with that split as most don't use much diesel for central heating - its mainly coal or one of many solid fuel derivitives available these days.
Inland Marinas are required by law to sell a higher grade red diesel. Its much kinder on our Webasto diesel heaters than the less environmentally stuff was a few years back. But I understand some Marinas on the coast can still sell the less environmentally friendly stuff (lower grade) as they expect the diesel to be used at sea.
