Espar Heater Inside its Box

What Size Diesel Heater Do You Need for a Van?

Key takeaways

Wondering what size diesel heater you need for a van?

For smaller vans, you need a 2kW diesel heater (~3,000 BTU’s of heat).

For large vans, you need a 5kW diesel heater (~12,000 BTU’s of heat).

Van Diesel Heater Size Chart

Van Size Heat Requirements Diesel Heater Size
Small Vans 3,000 to 5,000 BTU’s 2kW
Medium Vans 5,000 to 8,000 BTU’s 3kW
Large Vans 8,000 to 12,000 BTU’s 5kW

Related: Best Diesel Heaters for Van Life

How to Calculate Exactly How Much Heat You Need

To calculate exactly what size diesel heater you need for your van, multiply the square footage of your vehicles interior living space by 20 BTU’s.

20 BTU’s (or British Thermal Units) is the standard measure of heat output recommended per cubic ft of space used in home heating and air.

Formula for Calculating Heat Needs:

(Length x Width x Height of Living Space) x (20 BTU’s)

A male and female stick figure contemplate measuring the dimensions of a camper van while the female asks, "are you sure you don't want me to ask my dad?"

As you can see from the table below, most reasonably sized vans will stay adequately heated with 3,000-12,000 BTU’s (assuming your floor, ceiling, and walls are well insulated). If you’ve converted a school bus or box truck camper or something larger, just use the calculation to check the cubic footage.

Vehicle Length Width Height Cubic ft BTU’s
Sprinter 170 Ext 15.75 ft 5.83 ft 6.58 ft 604.19 ft³ 12,083
Ram ProMaster 159 12 ft 6.25 ft 6.41 ft 480.75 ft³ 9,615
Ford E-Series 10.11 ft 6.13 ft 4.49 ft 278.41 ft³ 5,568
VW Van 8.85 ft 4.925 ft 4.42 ft 192.65 ft³ 3,853
Dodge Caravan 7.29 ft 5.16 ft 5.08 ft 191.09 ft³ 3,821
Chevy Astro 10.5 ft 4.65 ft 3.90 ft 190.41 ft³ 3,808
Ford Transit Connect 9.79 ft 4.05 ft 4.12 ft 163.35 ft³ 3,267

Webasto, Espar, and Vevor all provide diesel heaters that produce over 12,000 BTU’s.

Related: Diesel Heater Installation Cost

Heater Max BTU Output Source
Webasto Air Top 2000 STC 7,000 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic S3 Commercial D2L 7,506 BTU/h Product Manual
Vevor 3KW Diesel Air Heater 10,236 BTU/h Product Manual
Webasto Air Top Evo 40 12,000 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic M3 Commercial D4L 13,648 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic M3 Recreational D4R 13,648 BTU/h Product Manual
Vevor 5KW Diesel Air Heater 17,060 BTU/h Product Manual
Webasto Air Top Evo 50 17,000 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic L3 Commercial D6L 20,472 BTU/h Product Manual
Vevor 8KW Diesel Air Heater 27,297 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic XL3 Commercial D8L 27,297 BTU/h Product Manual

 

Is it Better to Have a Bigger Heater?

Larger heaters produce more heat, but as long as your minimum capacity is met, more BTUs just gets you warm faster.

Heater Max Output Time to 12,000 BTU
Vevor 8KW Diesel Air Heater 27,297 BTU/h 26 Minutes
Espar Airtronic XL3 Commercial D8L 27,297 BTU/h 26 Minutes
Espar Airtronic L3 Commercial D6L 20,472 BTU/h 35 Minutes
Webasto Air Top Evo 50 17,000 BTU/h 42 Minutes
Vevor 5KW Diesel Air Heater 17,060 BTU/h 42 Minutes
Espar Airtronic M3 Commercial D4L 13,648 BTU/h 52 Minutes
Espar Airtronic M3 Recreational D4R 13,648 BTU/h 52 Minutes
Webasto Air Top Evo 40 12,000 BTU/h 60 Minutes
Vevor 3KW Diesel Air Heater 10,236 BTU/h 70 Minutes
Espar Airtronic S3 Commercial D2L 7,506 BTU/h 95 Minutes
Webasto Air Top 2000 STC 7,000 BTU/h 102 Minutes

 

Are Larger Heaters More Efficient?

Its difficult to calculate the fuel consumption of each heater at a specific BTU output, but manufacturers state the minimum and maximum fuel consumptions, and the differences are stark.

Heater Max BTU/h gal/h Cost Per 24 Hours
Espar Airtronic XL3 Commercial D8L 27,297 0.25 $24
Espar Airtronic L3 Commercial D6L 20,472 0.19 $18.24
Webasto Air Top Evo 50 17,000 0.16 $15.36
Vevor 5KW Diesel Air Heater 17,060 0.13 $12.48
Webasto Air Top Evo 40 12,000 0.11 $10.56
Espar Airtronic M3 Commercial D4L 13,648 0.12 $11.52
Espar Airtronic M3 Recreational D4R 13,648 0.12 $11.52
Vevor 8KW Diesel Air Heater 27,297 0.13 $12.48
Espar Airtronic S3 Commercial D2L 7,506 0.07 $6.72
Vevor 3KW Diesel Air Heater 10,236 0.09 $8.64
Webasto Air Top 2000 STC 7,000 0.06 $5.76

 

What Size Diesel Heater Should You Buy?

A male and female stick figure stand next to a diesel heater inside a van while the female states, "It's warm but i'm still cold"

Considering all of this… The right size diesel heater is the one that produces enough BTUs to cover your vehicles heating requirements based on this formula:

(Length x Width x Height of Living Space) x (20 BTU’s)

If you’ve got that, you can be confident that whichever size diesel heater you choose will provide you with more than enough heat.

Related: Van Heaters: Propane vs Diesel vs Electric

 

How Many BTU’s is an 8kW Diesel Heater?

Wondering how many BTU’s an 8kW diesel heater outputs? 8kW diesel heaters output around 27,000 BTU’s of heat per hour at max output.

Vevor (Chinese diesel heater brand) and Espar both have 8kW diesel heater models.

8kW Diesel Heaters Max BTU Output Source
Vevor 8kW Diesel Air Heater 27,297 BTU/h Product Manual
Espar Airtronic XL3 Commercial D8L – 8kW 27,297 BTU/h Product Manual
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