These are best purchased by either someone that has experience with one or knows someone who does. They're not horribly difficult to setup but experience really helps. If this is your first time with one, I suggest searching for some on-line videos and really educate yourself on how to set one up, operate and maintain it.
The reason I suggest that is because there are no real "installation" instructions included that explain how to set it up, how the unit works (aside from the controls) and how to maintain or service it. There are also some very important things you should know - for example, it's crucial that these don't lose power as they need a "cooldown" period when you shut them off. The blower needs to run a brief period of time to cool the heating chamber else you can damage the unit.
This is a pretty standard design, but both the quality of components and features on this model are good for the price. I personally prefer the models in a cabinet like this one. It's more versatile when it comes to installation, especially if you plan to use it to heat a small structure like a shed, garage, etc, rather than a vehicle.
It's not terribly noisy, though the clicking of the fuel pump can be annoying. It's actually not as bad as some units I've seen but it can still get on some people's nerves to hear a constant "tick, tick, tick".
This is rated "5kW to 8kW". However, in my experience, the actual heating unit inside the cabinet appears to be a standard 5kW unit. Furthermore, output is going to be proportional to fuel consumption - you can only get so much heat per unit of fuel. If you look at their fuel consumption chart, it stops at 0.43 litres per hour, which is generally what 5kW units use. It's common in the industry for the 5kW units to be advertised as higher output than they can actually achieve so I'm going to expect the same is true here.
That said, this does put out very good heat. You will have no problems heating a van, small shed or small camper. Anything up to around 160 sq ft. You may even be able to heat a small garage to a comfortable temperature in the winter depending on your climate. It may not be enough for a garage in International Falls, Minnesota in January but might keep up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This kit pretty much includes everything you'll need aside from fuel. Some nice features for this unit include a timer and a remote, so you can set run duration and/or turn it on/off and change the temperature remotely.
I should note that the video they show in the product description shows bluetooth capability, so you can control the unit from your smartphone, but this unit does not have that capability. I imagine the video is just a promotion of their products in general and that higher end units have this ability.
The outlet pipe on my unit had some nasty indentations in it when it arrived which seems to be from how it's packaged and not due to shipping. It's only cosmetic, it's probably shorter than what most people will need and therefore they'll likely buy a longer one anyway, and I don't really need the extra hose for my purposes, so it doesn't matter too much. But it really shouldn't happen. Everything else inside the box was fine.
Overall, I'm happy with this order. I ordered this to heat a small work shed in the winter (just to take the chill out of the air) and as an emergency backup heat source should some catastrophe occur that I lose heat in my home. I could at least heat a small area of the house until heat was restored. I plan on making some fittings that will allow me to get air intake and output exhaust through a window and a quick connect to a 200Ah battery I also have for emergency use.
