Why a diesel heater?

Since we started making truck bed campers, the biggest question has been, "How do I heat it?". We've been focusing on production for the last year but we're finally ready to start development on our own heater. 

 We chose a diesel heater as the method for heating the camper because they are an inexpensive and efficient way to heat small spaces. They don't produce condensation (unlike a Mr. Buddy style) and are much cheaper than high end units like a Dickinson.

Why are we making our own?

How do you use it?

Hot Box Diesel Heater is designed to mount to the side of your camper or sit on the ground next to it. When mounted, it can make use of the recirculation vent built into each side of the tent so it's not heating cold air. 

To power it up, connect the cable to the Diesel Heater Port and to your Hot Box and turn it on from Juicebox. A simple iOS and Android app will allow you to see your current interior temperature and set a goal temperature. The app will also allow you to set a schedule for when the heater turns on and off so you can conserve fuel when needed.   

Development

Estimated Launch - Fall 2025

We're very early in development on Hot Box. We've started electronics design for our "Leech" PCB that will allow us to control a standard diesel heater motherboard (very similar to the Afterburner controller if you've seen it). We have our first draft of the app design and controls/settings we want. We've sourced a great supplier for high end components. After we do another prototype we'll tool up a custom rotomolded leak proof fuel tank to take up every available cubic inch of space inside the heater. 

 We need your input on this project to make sure it'll meet all of your needs. There are tons of diesel heater owners out there any everyone does things just a little differently. Just like with the camper design, we want to pull all the best ideas into one product. Below are some screenshots of our app design and a poll for a bunch of questions we'd love to have your feedback on. Please comment below if you have any questions or feedback other than the survey.

Since we started making truck bed campers, the biggest question has been, "How do I heat it?". We've been focusing on production for the last year but we're finally ready to start development on our own heater. 

3 comments

  • Jeff Malcomb
    • Jeff Malcomb
    • August 19, 2025 at 12:05 pm

    Currently have a cheap diesel heater and am waiting to see what you guys land on before I upgrade. The two most annoying things about the cheaper heaters (i.e. things I will no longer put up with) are the loud ticking noise and the propensity for fuel leaking from around the cap. You guys fix those two things along with the simplified controls and I’m in.

  • Jeff Malcomb
    • Jeff Malcomb
    • August 19, 2025 at 12:04 pm

    Currently have a cheap diesel heater and am waiting to see what you guys land on before I upgrade. The two most annoying things about the cheaper heaters (i.e. things I will no longer put up with) are the loud ticking noise and the propensity for fuel leaking from around the cap. You guys fix those two things along with the simplified controls and I’m in.

  • Austin Crowe
    • Austin Crowe
    • August 14, 2025 at 8:27 pm

    Looks pretty awesome! Only thing that I caught was the hoses. I build camper vans and I know a lot of those slinky style heater hoses made from plastic off gas really nasty stuff. Not sure if that’s the case with yours but just from the video it looks similar.

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