Portable Diesel Air Heaters for Extreme Cold and High Altitude

When infrastructure is limited or fails, heat stops being a comfort and becomes a capability. Our portable diesel air heaters deliver clean, ducted warm air to tents, shelters, vehicles and evacuation corridors — running off-grid, in sub-zero temperatures, at altitude, on the fuel you already carry.

Every unit in this collection is built around a proven Planar diesel air heater core, engineered and assembled in Canada. Two families are available: Planar for civilian, marine and recreational use, and CANHEAT Tactical for defence, police, search-and-rescue and government operations.

Why diesel air heating

A diesel air heater is not a space heater and not a propane burner. Combustion happens in a fully sealed chamber vented outside the shelter, while a completely separate circuit draws ambient air, warms it and ducts it in. Nothing from the burn enters the space you occupy.

• Dry heat. No moisture is added to the shelter — critical for drying gear, preventing condensation and avoiding frost buildup on tent walls.
• No exhaust indoors. Sealed combustion and external exhaust remove the carbon monoxide risk associated with unvented propane and catalytic heaters.
• Fuel efficiency. A 2 kW unit burns roughly 2 litres over 8 hours. A 4 kW unit burns 3 to 4 litres over the same period.
• Fuel logistics. Diesel, kerosene and JP-8 are the fuels already in the supply chain — no separate cylinder inventory to manage.

Performance at altitude

Combustion efficiency drops as air density falls, which is where most consumer heaters begin to soot, misfire or shut down. Our portable Planar units are rated to operate reliably at elevations up to 8,200 ft (2,500 m), covering the great majority of North American mountain, backcountry and alpine operating environments. The tactical CANHEAT platform is built around the same multi-fuel cores, tested for sub-zero temperatures and high-altitude operation.

Performance in extreme cold

Cold-weather reliability comes down to details that only show up at −30 °C: fuel that still atomizes, a glow plug that lights on the first attempt, wiring that stays flexible, and controls a soldier can operate with gloves on. Key design points across the range:

• Wide voltage tolerance for unstable or sagging battery power
• Overheat protection with automatic shutdown
• Crushproof, rain-resistant hard cases rated for field abuse
• Low heat and noise signature for tactical use
• Tactile controls sized for gloved operation in low light

Choosing your output

Sizing is not just about volume. Shelter insulation, ambient temperature, air exchange rate and how quickly you need to reach temperature all matter. Undersizing means running at full output continuously; oversizing wastes fuel and cycles the burner unnecessarily.

The CANHEAT tactical platform

CANHEAT is a modular system: one heater core, three controller configurations. The same 4D core moves between a Field System (portable, remotely controlled), a Multi-Power System (BB-2590 battery-assisted, dual-box), and a ULTV System (vehicle-integrated, hot-swappable in under 90 seconds). Kits can be reconfigured as mission requirements change, rather than replaced.

Certification and traceability

• CE certified (EMC & LVD) by Intertek
• NATO- and NCAGE-coded, with NSN available for qualified systems
• MIL-spec connectors and shielded wiring, EMI/EMC tested
• Built under ISO-aligned quality management principles
• Engineered and manufactured in Canada

Who these are for

Canadian Armed Forces, police services and government agencies procuring tactical shelter heating. Search-and-rescue and emergency response teams managing hypothermia risk. Remote industrial and off-grid sites. Winter campers, hunters, ice fishers, overlanders and boaters who need instant dry heat wherever they set up.

Government and volume procurement inquiries: gov@fairdcanada.com