Diesel heater

I bought Webasto a few years ago and despite paying big bucks for both the product and professional installation I had multiple problems. Never again.

If I needed another one I’d probably go Eberspacher although I know of several people who have bought the cheaper Chinese replicas and been very happy with them.

Diesel heating is great and a smart choice if you want to enjoy colder weather boating - we literally went from using our boat 5-6 months to 12 months. Loved it.

But do not buy a 4-5KW unit - it will be far too powerful and will cook you. I had a 5KW unit with 6 outlets with on a 42 footer and even that was too much at times. Go smaller if you can.

Oh, oh,
I've just bought one, and have done loads of research on these.
If you are going to pay $900 for the one in the TM link, just get the HeaterX / Heatspace one from Chch. Good repuation and local support. But you an get cheaper from China.

We got a whoflungdung from China. It hasn't arrived yet. I can't actually remember the brand (will check which one we got). Me and my father spent ages researching the Chinese brands.
The one we got, they replied overnight to an email sending us the operating manual before we ordered, so communication and actually being able to contact them was a big tick. They also stated they had ripped off the Kyocera glow plug, so acknowledged they knew what the good gear was and how to copy it.

It was very very hard finding 2kW units that would ship to NZ, but we found one...
We are going to install it in a box / suitcase above deck, at the back of the cockpit, as a temporary affair. This saves us all the cost and ball ache of trying to fit the ducting into an old wooden boat and make sure we don't set it on fire.

Edit:
This is what we have ordered. Hasn't arrived yet, so can't tell you if it is any good, but wait a couple of weeks and we will be able to comment.
FDIK

www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002958614280.html?pdp_npi=2%40dis%21NZD%21NZ%24%20361.72%21NZ%24%20198.94%21%21%21%21%21%402101e9d516597825283905996e9301%2112000023624052855%21sh&spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_2003083670682.subject_2

Thanks Fogg. I had heard that the 5kw would be overkil. Also heard mostly good things about the chinese units but many suggest to buy two for spare parts. Just a little unsure about the quality of the accessories etc

How much will that be landed? I haven't bought anything overseas for awhile.. do you have to pay GST on it?

We run it without the muffler . It’s quite noisy on start up but quite down once it’s up to temp . Not sure where you get marine mufflers from 

Na, ya all wrong. Here in rural we have the luxurious insulation of not just one thin sheet of steel but also 2 whole layers of paint. It's a highly adaptive insulation that is in synch with our local environment, when it gets hotter outside it gets hotter inside and it even does the opposite just as well. It does all that without even using a battery, carbon or iAnything. But when the local environment gets a bit too chilly for the humans we also thought 'bugger this, lets get a heater'. So we looked for a smallish unit as it's the end of a shed so not huge. I had to work using no or next to no power there is only the smaller solar system to power everything. It couldn't burn things as the fumes stink and can be dangerous in smaller areas. Defiantly not a fan of yet more explosive liquids angle as we're challenging the local gas station already. Recyclable would be awesome. Even better if it had a component of renewable resource going on. Cost didn't really matter but in the end we found a heater that exactly fitted that entire list of desires for a miserly $199, so we brought 2. Those 2 old school knitted by hand woolly jerseys have been rockin it ever since.

There is a bunch of places to get the marine mufflers from. One of the NZ suppliers has them in stock, either heaterX or Heatport or HeatSpace. Two of those names are the same outfit, one is different.
But you can get them from offshore for a fraction of the price.

The main issue with a non-marine muffler is it is not sealed air tight around the edges, just kind of tac welded, or pressed. One of the ways you can deal with that is to get some exhaust cement and seal it up. Or heat stable silicon (if there is such a thing). You will need exhaust cement stuff for sealing other parts of the exhaust anyway.
The 'other' NZ site I am talking about also has legit through hulls for the exhaust. There is a random way of finding it on the website. $110nz I think, or you can get them of Aliexpress for about $26 (or maybe $16), if you trust the quality.
Aliexpress will do a marine muffler to I think.

Regardless of where you get the stuff from, get a CO alarm. I found a battery powdered one at M10, Quell Brand, so well recognised name.

I can't remember the landed cost of that stuff from AliExpress, mid $300. Freight is a fair bit, but they pay the GST (calculated at check out) if I remember correctly. (or is that Amazon, I know amazon do that). And unless they changed the rules, single items under $400 are exempt from all of that. My father made the transaction, so I'll need to check what it cost in the end.