[wayneIII]

Are there any van heaters (diesel, gas, propane, etc) that have the option of remote start? Im not needing remote start from anywhere, just similar distance to a car remote start, like from my house out to the driveway. Im aware of some that have timers, but that would not work for my needs.

Cheers.

 

[robwickham]

I had to hack a wifi enabled home thermostat into my Propex propane heater for remote control, now I’m wishing I included the propane tank solenoid into that circuit.

 

[wayneIII]

Wifi not a bad option actually

Im almost wondering if one of the chinese diesel heaters might have remote start? they seem to have a lot of tech on some of them.

 

[JeffWest]

Wifi not a bad option actually

Im almost wondering if one of the chinese diesel heaters might have remote start? they seem to have a lot of tech on some of them.

There is an after market controller that has that functionality built in -- I think it's called "After Burner" -- by all accounts -- it's quite awesome (full spectrum of heater functionality/adjusting/control and feedback via either Bluetooth or internet/phone if I recall correctly. Check the Chinese Diesel Heater forum on Facebook.

The little remotes that typically come with them (Chinese Diesel Heaters) do not have much range -- although I can get mine to fire up from about 40 feet...but it's hit or miss and tough to tell whether it was successful. Anywhere in the van yes...but outside....maybe.

 

[orton]

I have the factory remote start but reprogramed it from 10 minutes to 15 minutes run time. I also installed a vehicle powered pure sine inverter.

I let the van get cold at night and use the remote start before getting out of bed to warm the van. Set the dash controls for max heat and use a selector switch to direct the vehicle powered inverter to power a 750 watt electric baseboard heater.

This system might fill your requirement.

 

[wayneIII]

Orion - clever idea but I’m trying to heat van without starting van engine.

Jeff - I’ll look into this after burner

 

[wayneIII]

Home

Afterburner home page

www.mrjones.id.au

 

[JeffWest]

Home

Afterburner home page

www.mrjones.id.au

Yep -- that's the one!!

 

[gregoryx]

There's a couple threads right now discussing this for an Espar. In theory, it's a relay between red and yellow wires. Which I need to test since mine is also the newer CAN-equipped unit. But if that works, then it's a relay with any trigger you like: over WiFi; or on engine start; or temperature-based; or - in our case - the Victron stuff.

Alternatively is to figure out the CAN setup... then need a bridge for that.

The single-wire ON thing has me wondering about The Afterburner - I really like that setup. I would give Espar the money if they had a LAN-/WiFi-attached controller; unfortunately, they only make one with a 4G chip in it.

 

[Emohawk]

I needed to hack a wifi empowered home indoor regulator into my Propex propane radiator for controller, presently I'm wishing I incorporated the propane tank solenoid into that circuit.

 

[Covid van de Mic]

If you want to do the absolute cheapest way with off the shelf parts (more off the shelf than an ESP32 board) something like this should work:

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Transmitter-Receiver-Universal-Controller/dp/B08CCVJWL9/ref=sr_1_4?crid=12N18CN0WA7XT&keywords=x10+wireless+relay&qid=1641940761&s=electronics&sprefix=x10+wireless+rela%2Celectronics%2C122&sr=1-4

That would be what triggers the non-CAN relay-based Espar to start.

I've got a China-spacher diesel heater so am going the ESP32 route. I'm hoping I can learn the signaling on the wires from the Afterburner community, though the designer mentioned someone started selling knock-off's using his design and code so I may be on my own.