"Fuel -operated CABIN Heater"?

[Wolfy]

Not engine-warmer.



'07 Ram catalog (pg. 36, item "B"):



"This FOCH provides supplemental heat to the passenger cabin, eliminating the need to idle your Cummins diesel engine. ... "



Unable to get complete/current info re. this "accessory".



Any one got experience/knowledge/opinion of this thing?



Thanks!

 

[brista]

It's an Espar heater. I have one. Works awesome. I'm not sure how they plumb them as a dealer add on but mine warms the engine as well. Nice heat and no idle required.

 

[jelag]

Espar and Webasto both make 3 kinds of heaters that run on diesel... . 1 that heats water only, 1 that heats air only and 1 that does both... . on large class 8 trucks your likely to see the 3rd style that heats both water and air..... keeping the engine and cab warm... . on marine applications you usually just see air heaters and on smaller equipment that doesn't have the battery sizing ability you see just water heaters and a timer circuit to start and stop the trucks heater fan as necessary to preheat the drivers compartment... .

Webasto will only install one for you and if you can find a good Espar dealer they can sell you the D5 I think is the most common heater and timer... . it heats the water and with the timer circuit will cycle on and off the trucks heater fan... it also has a battery monitor so that you can't run the battery down and it won't start... .

Most of these heaters consume less that a quart of fuel overnight or for an extended amount of time... . Hope this helps and is what your looking for...

 

[Wolfy]

Espar and Webasto both make 3 kinds of heaters that run on diesel... . 1 that heats water only, 1 that heats air only and 1 that does both... . on large class 8 trucks your likely to see the 3rd style that heats both water and air..... keeping the engine and cab warm... . on marine applications you usually just see air heaters and on smaller equipment that doesn't have the battery sizing ability you see just water heaters and a timer circuit to start and stop the trucks heater fan as necessary to preheat the drivers compartment... .



Webasto will only install one for you and if you can find a good Espar dealer they can sell you the D5 I think is the most common heater and timer... . it heats the water and with the timer circuit will cycle on and off the trucks heater fan... it also has a battery monitor so that you can't run the battery down and it won't start... .



Most of these heaters consume less that a quart of fuel overnight or for an extended amount of time... . Hope this helps and is what your looking for...

Thanks everyone!



Positive feed back at 2 forums from users of these (Espar) units.



I have sent an e-mail to Espar via their web-site contact, and will report their response here.



E-mail:



[[Hello,



Some questions regarding your coolant heater for Dodge (I will post your response on the Turbo-Diesel Register web-site, and RV. Net, ... I am a forum member at both sites, where discussion of these units is taking place):



On page 36 (item B) of the 2007 Dodge Ram (truck) catalog, there is mention of a "fuel operated cabin heater". The photograph shows the word "Hydronic" on the side of the unit.



1. Is this an Espar unit?



2. If so, which of your technical manuals and web-site descriptions applies to the unit that would be supplied for '07 Ram trucks?



3. Is this a factory installation original-purchase option, or strictly a dealer-supplied/installed item?



4. When will these units be available through Dodge dealers (My dealers seem not to know much about the heaters)?



5. What is the cost of the appropriate unit or kit if purchased directly from Espar or it's dealers?



Thank you for your time and attention,and any information,]]

 

[JEstes]

That's pretty neat that they're doing this on trucks! They've used these things on airplanes for years, and they get the cabin warm in a hurry. The ones on planes are called combustion heaters though.

 

[jelag]

I tried to become and Espar Dist... we have been dist pacbrake for 25 years... their field sales guy was very slow to get back to us..... some stuff he promised us from the their manufacturing plant in Canada took months to get to us... . we tried to do this in the summer of 05 to be ready for the 05 winter... . we never got their... ... several emails to the factory and the rep went unanswered, and finally after 60-90 days he wanted us to sub dist under someone who was 400 miles from us..... no one in our area carries the product but the truck dealers... . I tried to buy 4 or 5 units for our personal trucks... . 3500 dually's, F550, 56K lb IH Class 7 truck... you get the picture. .

We never set up a good relationship with the dist we were to sub under and product ordered never arrived..... than I noticed on this forum that this unit can be ordered as a factory install on our trucks... but some of those customers have had 2 or 3 units changed out... . these threads are on this board.....

However we have customers who have fleets with the larger units on them with excellent results and I've found that a fleet of 50 trucks can become a self installing dealer... . which would take about 50% or more of our customer base from us.....

Wolfy---- if you get a reasonable answer from them I'd like to know personally as that than puts the failure to deal with our needs in the hands of the local rep... . we he covers 5 states here... anyway I will go after the factory again and see what happens... .

Thanks all for listening... . again

jim

 

[sag2]

The Mopar unit is PN 82209444AB and dealer net is $1075, retail is $1434. 50. Not sure whose unit it is, but the flyer has a photo of the unit and it is an oval shape with "Hydronic" on the side. It has two lines out the bottom on one end, and two out the back on the other end. It has a timer included, and says it heats cabin as well as the engine. Says it uses one cup of fuel per hour.

 

[brista]

The Mopar unit is PN 82209444AB and dealer net is $1075, retail is $1434. 50. Not sure whose unit it is, but the flyer has a photo of the unit and it is an oval shape with "Hydronic" on the side. It has two lines out the bottom on one end, and two out the back on the other end. It has a timer included, and says it heats cabin as well as the engine. Says it uses one cup of fuel per hour.

It is an espar. http://www.espar.com

 

[zippinbye]

Combustion

That's pretty neat that they're doing this on trucks! They've used these things on airplanes for years, and they get the cabin warm in a hurry. The ones on planes are called combustion heaters though.

I agree that the ones in aicraft crank out the BTUs - they are generally in piston twins that do not have the ability to duct exhaust manifold heat into the cabin (like a VW bug) or do not have bleed air from a turbine engine as an energy source. They scare the crap out of me - raw gas in a burner can inside a perfectly good airplane - every time you hit the ignitor, you hope for a small "woof," not a big one. Numerous aircraft have become fireworks from these things. It's a much better idea with diesel, plus it's easier to step out of your Ram if you get more fire than ordered, compared to an airborne plane! For all of you in the midwest, northeast, Alaska and most of Canada, the Espar sounds like a no-brainer option. Now if they could only build one that chills for those of us in the southwest.