Is the Vevor diesel heater a YouTube scam? It seems too good to be true. Specifically, does this Chinese diesel heater put out as much heat as some YouTubers claim? And is it cheaper to run than central heating powered by heating oil and/or cheaper than inverter (heat pump) air conditioning units?

Disclaimer in advance. This article relies soley on bro science. I have used a Vevor diesel heater, 8kw version, for a month to heat a single floor, 60 sq/m space with average insulation. These are my experiences and thoughts on how it compares to two other heating methods (oil & AC).

Vevor Diesel Heater Review – Short Version

Yes, the Vevor is a powerful heater as claimed.

With regards to running costs I’d say the Vevor diesel heater costs about the same as a modern inverter air conditioning unit or oil central heating for small areas. With some provisos, detailed below.

You can buy Vevor diesel heaters on ebay

This is the heater that I bought. The controller is blue instead of black but apart from that they should be identical.

Long Version

An inverter air conditioning (AC) unit costs me around 2.5 Euro a day (800 watt unit, at 30 cent per kw/h, running for 10 hours).

Oil central heating costs me around 12 Euro a day if its on for 10 hours.

The Vevor diesel heater has cost me around 5 Euro a day to run if used with normal diesel (approx 1.7 Euro/litre) for 10 hours at full power.

Inverter AC Issue

For the heating to be on for ten hours constantly, the outside temperatures will need to be cold, this means the AC unit will not be as good at producing heat as the diesel heater or the central heating. So although the AC is potentially the cheapest to run out of the three it won’t give as much heating. In my experience general room heat will be lower than the other two and it is not suitable as the primary source of heat when temps are less than around 7C. Again, in my experience. Your experience may be different.

In my experience the AC can heat around 30sq/m and the Vevor 45sq/m+. So although the AC is cheaper, it heats a smaller area.

Central Heating

The central heating costs more but it will heat the entire space to the desired temperature.

Diesel Heater

The Vevor diesel heater will heat more or less the entire space to an acceptable level. But not as high as the central heating.

Summary

Answering the original two questions…

Is the Vevor diesel heater is as powerful as the YouTube videos claims?

Yes. Even in cold weather it can heat a 60 sq/m space to an acceptable level.

Is a Vevor diesel heater cheaper to run than the other methods?

Probably not.

I think when you take into consideration the running cost versus the amount of area that each method can heat (for 7+ Celsius temps), they are all pretty close. I’d say the AC probably has the slight edge on the Vevor and the Vevor a slight edge on the central heating.

To put it another way, to get the same performance as central heating I think I would need two or three AC units. Cost between 5 and 7.5 Euro a day vs 12 Euro for central heating.

Or two Vevor units. Cost around 10 Euro a day vs 12 Euro for central heating.

Colder Temps

For colder temps, less than 7 celsius, I’m going to count out the AC because of its reduced heating capacity, at least in my case.

So for an all year round heating solution (if you experience temps lower than 7C) it comes down to oil central heating and the Vevor and as I said above, I think the Vevor probably just edges central heating, as long as you are not trying to heat an area of 60sq/m+.

All in all I think the price difference between the three methods is very small.

If you need heating for below 7 Celsius temps and you don’t need to heat an entire house and you are happy to have a diesel heater temporarily installed in your home or permanently installed on your garage/workshop, I think the Vevor is a great choice.

If you have oil central heating, does the cost savings of the Vevor make it worthwhile?

Assuming you can turn on the radiators only in the rooms you are using, I’d say probably not. While you could be paying a bit more for the central heating the fuss and clutter from placing a diesel heater in your house temporarily probably makes the visual pain more than the financial pain. If you know what I mean.

If you need to heat a space that does not have central heating, the Vevor is a good choice vs the purchase cost & running cost of oil central heating. In my experience.

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