Hi there, I am trying to find someone who could install a diesel heater into a caravan in the PE28 area and I'm finding it difficult to locate someone. I've tried what I think are all the usual places - on here, general internet search, Oftec and others - but no luck. Can anyone offer any help please? Many thanks in advance
You may have better luck with specialist Caravan/MH engineers.
Not sure I've ever come across a Diesel heater in a caravan, OEM are usually combined gas/electric units as gas and electric are standard power supplies for other appliances fitted in caravans. ..... and there are normally no Diesel fuel tanks fitted. But probably no reason why it can't be done.
Campervans and MHs are another matter, most base vehicle are Diesel engines, so the fuel source is readily available, and some people don't want gas onboard, so Diesel heaters are relatively common.
Just be aware that they’re not silent like electric or gas heaters. We were on a site recently on a frosty night & three campervans around us had diesel heaters: they were loud enough to hear from inside our MH, because the site was otherwise silent (eg no road noise). One smelt of diesel too, when we were outside, but that might be a maintenance issue(?).
Perfect possible to fit a diesel heater in a caravan. I fitted one to my Trigano which had no built in heating. They are not silent (fan noise and clicking fuel pump). Perfectly fine for morning/evening use but less so in the middle of the night. If off-grid you will need to keep your leisure battery topped up with solar. On the plus side even the small 2kw ones chuck out a lot of heat very quickly.
If you get one fitted a couple of suggestions. If diesel tank is put in front locker and fuel line runs under caravan there is very little chance of a diesel spill in the living area. If you do put tank in gas locker the fuel pump should not be in the gas locker as no electrics are allowed in the gas locker (mine is bolted to chassis). Avoid tanks which have fuel exit at the bottom as they can leak. Make sure exhaust exits to the opposite side to your awning.
Happy New Year to you. If you find someone who installs them in campervans - I see no reason why they can't install one in a caravan.
If you get one installed - always use a carbon monoxide monitor just to be safe.
I`ve fitted a 7KW diesel heater in my garage to provide dry heating in my garage. Simple installation and very effective. It`s self-contained (has an integral fuel tank) but as others have said you will have the noise of a fan and a slight clicking of the fuel pump. The most economical form of heating I could find as it runs on red diesel and unlike gas heating produces no smell or water vapour as it`s all exhausted.
I`d have no qualms about putting one in a caravan if there were no alternatives.
Prompted by a post from another UKCS contributor on a different post, think about fuel tanks and refills! Most Diesel heaters seem to be fitted to Diesel engined vehicles and AFAIK draw fuel from the large vehicle fuel tank, so a plentiful supply, likely to be a 60L or larger tank on a commercial base vehicle.
The post I was thinking of said they used something like 24 litres in 9 days on their MH, now two ways of looking at that, that's a fairly big tank to fit to a caravan, and if fitted in the front gas locker, likely to give some nose weight issues, as potentially some additional 30Kg to allow for. The other way is lots of Jerry cans to constantly refill a smaller fixed tank! - most fuel station won't allow more than a 10L Jerry can fill per session!
Thinking back to when we used to run small petrol generators on a pop-up camp site with no EHU, it was a real PITA keeping up with refilling Jerry cans, and a trip out to refill most days seemed necessary! - and they were not run 24 hours/day!
I've never run my heating in the caravan on gas until last Nov (always been on EHU before, but forced to on a unscheduled overnight stop), and was somewhat alarmed at the rate of gas consumption, made me realise that anything other than EHU was barely practicable for full time heating. A ready supply of gas, or in your case Diesel, is necessary for longer term use.
And, as mentioned by Gari, I found the 12V electric fan that operates my gas heating hammered my new 100Ah leisure battery pretty hard! Even with solar panels (which are VERY poor performers in dull winter months!), I wouldn't consider my solo 100Ah leisure battery up to the task of powering the heating permanently, I only ran mine for about 12 hours!
It's easy to work out the power necessary to heat a given space, but the fuel source and supply to run it needs careful consideration too, as does the 12v system to power the fan/controls! I wouldn't say it's totally unviable, but it's certainly more complex than simply fitting a heater!
Quote: Originally posted by richardspencer on 03/1/2026
Hey Monty - thanks for your advice and comments too. I've found a fitter - coming in just under two weeks. I'll update if folk are interested.
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Topic: Diesel heater installation caravan
via mobile 12/12/2025 at 1:43pm
