Vevor asked me if I would like to test a parking heater. Spring is just around the corner, so what could be better than testing a parking heater? :-)

Of course, the offer came in handy because I’ve been interested in offers and videos about these „Chinese parking heaters“ for years. I would like to have one for the garage, which I use as a workroom, because it can get quite chilly there in winter.

Until now, I was always of the opinion that such a simple Chinese parking heater would cost around EUR 120. But Vevor offers the CY 5002 parking heater for just EUR 86.99! That’s a really great price! :-)

And the best thing is that it’s an all-in-one solution, which means that everything comes pre-assembled in a housing and all I have to do is connect the pipes, fill in the diesel and „start heating“ straight away! :-)

Transparency note

This product was provided to me free of charge by Vevor. However, the review reflects my own independent opinion and is not influenced by Vevor.

Vevor CY 5002

The 5 kW all-in-one diesel parking heater comes with a built-in 5-litre fuel tank, heating unit and fuel pump.

It offers a heating time of at least 10 hours with 40 watts of power consumption and 0.18 to 0.48 litres of diesel in continuous operation and works with a 12 V power supply.

The scope of delivery includes a remote control, LCD display, exhaust pipe, silencer, air filter and the necessary installation kits – everything you need for installation and operation.

Intended use

Cars and buses

Vevor states that this all-in-one parking heater is intended to be installed in the passenger compartment or boot of cars and buses. However, the heater makes little sense in the engine compartment of a car – it is too large for this and not designed for this purpose. If you need a parking heater for installation in the engine compartment, you will find a suitable solution at Vevor.

However, I can also imagine installing it permanently in a motorhome or caravan.

Caravans and campers

The parking heater has an output of 5 kW, which is perfectly adequate for a medium-sized caravan. In my opinion, the fan power is also sufficient to supply the ventilation pipes, even if the noise level is higher than with the more expensive camping heaters from Truma.

Advantage: Diesel is available as a replacement fuel at every petrol station, so you don’t have to deal with deposit gas bottles.

In addition, there is no need for regular gas testing of the gas system if no other gas-powered appliances are installed in the motorhome or caravan.

Workshop

The diesel parking heater supplied is ideally suited for this, as it is designed more as a stationary appliance in buildings than in vehicles. The only problem is that it only has a 12 V connection. But there are also suitable power supply units and 12 V plugs.

I will mount the parking heater on two brackets on the wall, through which I will realise the exhaust pipes and the fresh air supply. But unfortunately I don’t have time for that at the moment. However, I will report on this in detail in my home blog.

Unboxing

The AIO parking heater arrives by post in the usual Vevor cardboard box. The parking heater is well padded and well protected inside. I like the fact that only as much plastic was used as necessary. Nothing is unnecessarily wrapped in environmentally harmful plastic film.

Scope of delivery

The scope of delivery includes a relatively flexible exhaust pipe with matching silencer, the pipe for the burner’s supply air with a corresponding filter, the heating air pipe with an air vent and various clamps and screws. An astonishingly comprehensive, richly illustrated manual in English is also included. As usual, it has been translated from Chinese and reads a little clumsily, but is easy to understand.

Everything makes a solid impression on me. The quick-release fasteners on the lid could be a little more curved to make it easier to open, but then you would probably get caught on them all the time. In this respect, a well thought-out balance between function and safety.

Construction

The sheet steel housing of the parking heater is equipped with two handles and has a display on the front. The large blue screw cap of the diesel tank is located at the top, making refuelling easy.

The red canopy in the typical Vevor red colour is very easy to open thanks to the four quick-release fasteners. There are two large cut-outs on both sides, making it easy to read the fuel level.

The fabric-covered connection cable for the battery or power supply protrudes from the rear of the housing. I estimate the wire gauge to be 2.5 mm², which is well dimensioned for this application and ensures a reliable power supply. The cable is firmly connected to the device and cannot be removed.

The intake opening for the room air is also located at the rear and is protected from coarse impurities and prying fingers by a protective grille.

At the front is the connection flange for the flexible hot air pipe through which the heated air is channelled into the room.

The diesel tank with a capacity of 5 litres is located at the top, with the diesel pump directly next to it and the heating unit underneath. For the time being, only the connections for the air supply hose and the exhaust pipe protrude from the heating unit; these will have to be fitted later.

The scope of delivery also includes a radio remote control with a range of 10 metres, which is still covered with the blue protective film. It can be attached to the key ring using a carabiner. A practical sliding mechanism covers the keypad to prevent the heating from being switched on or off accidentally from a distance.

Dimensions

The appliance measures 41 cm in width, 41 cm in depth and 15.2 cm in height, with a weight of 9.9 kg.

Installation of the pipes

When installing in a building, the length of the supply air and flue gas pipes is usually just long enough for a wall duct. If an extension is required, the silencer should also be installed on the outside.

All pipes are securely fixed with hose clamps. There are also clamps for wall mounting for the exhaust pipe – a well thought-out detail! These can even be mounted in sheet metal using the universal screws supplied. The screws make a good impression; you can apply a lot of force here without any of them snapping off. Nothing looks cheap or carelessly put together, which really surprised me in a positive way.

Thought has also gone into this! All clamps are easy to fit as the screws are always within easy reach. There are no obstructing edges in the way, and there is even a long slot above the flanges for the combustion air supply and the exhaust pipe – perfect for working comfortably with a screwdriver. Chapeau!

What don’t I like so far?

I don’t like the fact that some of the pictures in the enclosed instructions show that the exhaust pipe has been pushed through the opening in the rear foot during installation in a building, as this forces it past the fuel hose. Far too close in my opinion!

People! Don’t copy this! Set up the heater at right angles to the wall and run the pipe directly to the wall and thus into the open air! This makes the pipe long enough for thicker walls!

Of course, this is not a defect in the appliance, it just has something to do with common sense.

For installation in the wooden floor of a caravan, I would have liked to see a plate for the exhaust pipe and the supply air hose, as is also included in the set for installation in the engine compartment. It should be noted that the exhaust and the hot air outlet can become very hot: The exhaust reaches up to 270 °C and the outlet air can get as hot as 150 °C. The instructions even state the flash points of various materials. You should therefore be careful and ensure that there are no flammable materials in the vicinity.

The appliance only has a simple cover at the end of the fresh air hose with holes and no real air filter. A pair of women’s tights or a fine sock over the casing could be a temporary filter solution. But of course there are no moving parts inside, nevertheless, in a dusty environment, sucked in and burnt particles could lead to deposits in the combustion chamber. For „normal“ environments, however, the factory filter effect is certainly suitable.

If the parking heater is disconnected from the power supply, it unfortunately loses the settings and the time – which is a pity. However, it’s no big deal if you only use the Vevor for heating and not for defrosting a vehicle. As there are no weekday settings, the parking heater is less practical for commuters (perhaps in a motorhome?) anyway. :-)

Commissioning

For the test, I placed the heater on two trestles in the garden and connected it to the old battery from the Rodius.

Programming the remote control

The remote control must first be paired. Up to two remote controls can be paired with the device. To do this, press and hold the „Up arrow“ button until „HLA“ appears on the display. Then simply press the „Off“ button on the remote control – and it is connected!

Display buttons

I find operating the device a little awkward. I either have to get used to it or memorise the button combinations.

I will only list the most important functions here. There is also a hidden menu that allows you to change many of the heating settings. However, I won’t use this because it can really mess things up.

Here are the buttons on the display:

• Top left: The „Settings“ button
• Bottom left: The „OK“ button
• Top right: The „Up arrow“ button
• Right in the centre: The power button
• Bottom right: The „down arrow“ button

Setting the time

• press the„Settings“ button
• set the time using the „Up arrow“ and „Down arrow“ buttons.
• confirm the individual digits with the „OK“ button
• press the „OK“ button for the last digit and you’re done!

Priming (pre-feeding)

We fill the tank with diesel:

Now the diesel has to be pumped through the pipes into the combustion chamber so that we can start the heater.

• press the„OK“ button and the „arrow down“ button simultaneously
• „h off“ appears on the display
• Press the„Up arrow“ button and the pump starts pumping.
• wait a few seconds

We must do this when starting up for the first time and every time the tank is empty (which should be avoided if possible).

To start the heating, simply press the „On“ button.

Setting the temperature

• Press the „Settings“ and „Up arrow“ buttons simultaneously until „(°C)“appears in the display in degrees Celsius.

The temperature can now be set using the arrow buttons.

Setting the injection quantity

• Press the „Settings“ and „Up arrow“ buttons simultaneously until „P“ appears on the display.

„P“ stands for the pump frequency. The pump frequency can be set from 1.6 to 5.5 Hz using the arrow buttons. The higher the frequency, the more heat is generated.

Further information on the display

„OK“ button to display the following information:

• Outdoor temperature
• Set heating temperature
• Battery voltage
• Error messages (00 means no error)

Start heating

Press the „On“ button on the remote control or the display. Use the arrow buttons to set the temperature.

Switch off the heating

Press the „Off“ button on the remote control or on the display. The heating will now switch off the pump and turn up the fans until the combustion chamber temperature has dropped so far that the heating can be safely switched off. This process can take around three to five minutes! Never interrupt the process!

Heating duration

The consumption is specified as 0.18 – 0.48 litres of diesel per hour. Depending on the outside temperature and your personal comfort temperature, of course. The calculated heating time with a tank of 5 litres is between approx. 10 and 27 hours, depending on the heating level and the associated consumption. If the battery doesn’t run out before then, you can easily get through the night.

Performance

Vevor claims an output of 5 kW for the appliance. This sounds credible, as the consumption is stated as 0.18 – 0.48 litres of diesel per hour. One litre of diesel contains 9.8 kW of energy, so in purely mathematical terms (0.48 litres × 9.8 kWh) this results in an output of 4.7 kW at full load.

Even in February in the garden, a warm stream of air came out of the air vent after a very short time. Yeah, that’s nice. It doesn’t make sense to heat the garden, but it’s nice to be in the warm air flow. :-) The performance is impressive, I won’t be freezing in the garage with it, that’s for sure. :-)

Battery protection

So that you can continue driving the next morning without any worries, battery protection prevents the battery from discharging. If the voltage falls below approx. 11.7 volts, the parking heater interrupts the heating process, cools down the heating chamber and only then switches off completely.

With a 100 Ah car battery in a diesel vehicle like our Rodius and the parking heater, which consumes an average of 40 watts, it takes around 15 hours for the voltage to drop below 11.7 volts. Of course, this is only an estimate under ideal conditions – without all the other consumers in the car, low temperatures or the age of the battery, which also affects it a little.

Volume

The parking heater is up to 85 dB loud in the start-up phase, but is often used in motorhomes worldwide, so the noise pollution cannot be as serious as the bare figures suggest.

The ticking of the fuel pump can also be heard, but I don’t find it loud or annoying.

The operating noise can vary depending on the operating mode anyway, but is between 40 and 60 dB in normal operation – typical for parking heaters.

Smoke development

I couldn ‚t detect any soot development with normal diesel fuel that I bought from Agip! Nothing! Nothing at all! I even smelled the exhaust – I hate the oily odour of diesel engines, but here I smelled absolutely nothing! Irritated, I held my hand in the exhaust stream … and realised that it was really hot! But smoke? Not a thing!

How it works

How does a diesel parking heater actually work? There are always the wildest assumptions.

1. Firstly, the combustion air is blown through the fan into the combustion tube, which is located in the combustion chamber.
2. The diesel is then injected by a pump and hits the hot glow plug, which ignites the fuel. Combustion takes place as a clean, slow flame that burns efficiently and constantly thanks to the continuous air supply.
3. Once the glow plug has assisted the ignition of the diesel, it is switched off, as the metal in the combustion chamber itself now remains hot enough to continue burning the fuel, thereby reducing power consumption.
4. The exhaust gases are continuously discharged through the combustion chamber and the exhaust to remove the combustion residues and enable clean combustion.
5. Meanwhile, the ambient air is channelled outside over the cooling fins of the heating chamber, where it heats up. This warm air is then discharged into the interior through the air vent to heat the room.

Good to know: The air flows of the combustion air and the room air cannot mix.

When the desired temperature is increased, the pump cycles at up to 5.5 injections per second and the fan turns faster to blow in more combustion air and move more room air through the heat exchanger.

Wear parts

The most important wearing parts of a parking heater are the glow plug and the metering pump. A glow plug with a complete set of seals for the combustion chamber costs around EUR 16 and a replacement pump not quite as much.

Instructions for use

Fuel

The Vevor CY-5002 is a diesel heater. Full stop! Only diesel (winter diesel at very low temperatures) or heating oil may be used. At very low temperatures, however, heating oil can become too viscous.

Even if you often see people on YouTube dumping anything that burns into the heater and even not stopping at paint, you should only use the recommended fuels. For the sake of your own health and the service life of your heating system.

Power consumption

During the start-up phase, the heater requires a power supply of 12V direct current and a current of at least 15A. During normal operation, it consumes 40 watts.

Always switch off properly

The heater should never be switched off abruptly. After switching off, it needs 3-5 minutes to cool down properly. Switching it off abruptly can cause damage to the appliance or promote smoke development.

Supply combustion air from outside

The black hose with the air filter must be installed outside so that the combustion process does not consume the oxygen in the occupied zone and the user can continue to breathe deeply.

The exhaust silencer must never be installed with the outlet opening facing upwards and the opening for the condensation water must always face downwards!

Do not install silencers indoors!

You can see it in many videos, but the silencer must not be installed indoors. The silencer has an opening for condensation drainage, through which exhaust gases can also penetrate. It should therefore always be installed outside the vehicle or building to prevent exhaust fumes from entering the interior.

Video

Pro

I was pleasantly surprised by the Vevor! I really have to say that.

• Extremely favourable price
  The Vevor CY 5002 costs only 86.99 EUR!
• Versatile application possibilities
  The parking heater is not only suitable for cars and buses, but also ideal for installation in motorhomes, caravans and workshops.
• Good heat output
  With an output of 5 kW, the heater is powerful enough to efficiently heat a medium-sized caravan or room.
• Energy efficiency
  The consumption of 0.18 to 0.48 litres of diesel per hour ensures a long heating time (10 to 27 hours on a tank of 5 litres) and efficient use of fuel.
• Environmentally friendly packaging
  The appliance is supplied in well-padded packaging, using only as much plastic as necessary, making it more environmentally friendly.
• Comprehensive scope of delivery
  The scope of delivery includes all important parts for installation and operation, including exhaust pipe, air filter, wiring harness and a detailed manual.
• Stable and solid construction
  The appliance is well made, with robust materials and well thought-out details
• Battery protection
  The heater protects the car battery from being drained by automatically stopping operation when the voltage drops below 11.7 volts.
• Practical installation
  All pipes and connections are easily accessible and enable simple installation. The included clamps and screws are of high quality and well made.
• Durability
  Important wearing parts such as the glow plug and metering pump can be replaced at low cost, which speaks in favour of long-term use.
• Convenient handling
  The remote control has a practical range of 10 metres and can be conveniently attached to a key ring.
• Proven technology of China parking heaters for years
  The technology of these parking heaters has proven to be reliable and efficient over the years.

Contra

I have endeavoured to find faults – otherwise it wouldn’t be a test. In doing so, I noticed a few little things. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether my criticisms are relevant or negligible.

• Less intuitive operation
  I don’t find the operation of the device particularly intuitive.
• Shielding plate
  There is no shielding plate for the exhaust and air supply hose in the wooden floor of the caravan.
• Fuel hose
  The green fuel hose does not have a printed specification. However, retrofitting is possible without any problems.
• No real air filter
  The heater does not have a real air filter, only a cover on the fresh air hose. In dusty environments this could lead to deposits, but it is sufficient for normal environments.
• No backup battery
  The heater loses all settings and the time in the event of a power failure. This is not a problem for pure heating operation.

Conclusion

The Vevor CY 5002 All-In-One diesel parking heater is a versatile and reliable solution that is particularly suitable for use in vehicles, motorhomes, workshops and smaller spaces. With a heat output of 5 kW and a diesel consumption of 0.18 to 0.48 litres per hour, it offers impressive efficiency and a heating time of up to 27 hours on a single tank.

A particularly practical feature is the ability to obtain diesel from any petrol station, eliminating the need to handle gas cylinders.

The design and installation of the heater are well thought out, the workmanship is solid and the extensive range of accessories makes installation easy.

Overall, the Vevor CY 5002 offers good value for money for anyone looking for a reliable diesel parking heater for various applications. It is particularly suitable for use in workshops, motorhomes or as a mobile heating solution in vehicles.

Buy now

You can buy the Vevor CY 5002 for only 86,99 EUR here!

Alternatives?

The CY 5002 does not meet your requirements? If you would like to discover other parking heater options, take a look here: More heating solutions.
And don’t forget: You can save even more with the code VEVOR5OFF!

Example: a parking heater for direct installation in the engine compartment for just EUR 86.99!