Shane and Nate said:
The only thing I don't like about the LG is that it rattles and squeaks like crazy while driving down the road.
On the Little Giant, that squeak is probably coming from where one of the pipes (usually the lower coil drain plug fitting) is going through the outer skin. It rubs back and forth during motion. If you cut the opening a little bigger, the squeak will go away.
LP heating systems for truckmounts, or portables, are
NOT a bomb waiting to go off, as some of you seem to think. Good Lord, what about RV's, and travel trailers, pop-up tent campers, and your backyard grill??? The belly mount tanks of carpet cleaning vans are built to withstand a direct hit from a 30-06. These heating systems are very safe, as long as you do not try to over-ride them in an un-orthodox way.
The
majority of van fires you hear about, are not propane, but are gasoline related.
The LP heaters that we use (our SAVAGE TM LP heater), have never "gone out" on a windy day. IF they were to, they are automatically relighted, by the "smart" heater itself.
The heat is so even, with no spikes or heat loss while cleaning. Where you set the dial, is where it stays for the entire job.
Set the wand down for several minutes. The heater will not fire the entire time unless you flow the system by keying the wand. So, you have no over-heating or dumping because the wand is idle.
There is no pilot to fuss with - it's an electronic pilot. There is no way to drive around in a cleaning van with the pilot of this heater accidentally being ON.
I've seen it happen years ago, techs leaving the pilot ON while driving to their next job.
All of the parts on this heater are extremely reliable, and will go for years without need for replacement, or attention, including the gas valve, electronic box, and auto-light feature, the burner and jets, and the coil itself (no coil problems in 10 years of offering this heater).
No, we do NOT use a copper coil, but instead we use a coil that is tested to above 10,000 PSI.
What will need replacing periodically on this heater is the
thermostat (about every 2 years), the LP tank
regulator (every 4 years or so), and a
flow switch every 4 years (all of these parts are less than $50 each).
Oh, and there are no LP jets to clean out like some of the other LP heaters require.
No bypassing, no diverters, no burping, no need for the technician to touch anything about the heater before cleaning other than the temperature dial - you just turn it ON.
While the heater is running, you can put your hand on the outside case, and it is just warm, even if it's been on for hours. I have been burnt by touching the case of other LP heaters while they were running.
There is no need to vent this heater through the roof of your van. A simple top cap diffuses the exhaust heat evenly away from the top of the heater.
There is enough heat for 2 wands, or less heat for delicate upholstery or fabrics. A single dial controls the entire heat range.
In all fairness I have never used a kero heater, but from what I understand the kero unit is forced air fed, not gravity fed, and does require about 14 amps of 110V power to run it.
I've also heard the 12VDC kero burners are not as reliable as the 110V ones.
I started cleaning carpet in 1984 using a Little Giant LP heater 3-HT for heat. I was satisfied with it for over a decade, until we decided we wanted a better heater.
Our heater requires only 1 amp to run it, but with our patented afterburner circuit that is this heater's trademark, we are squeezing more heat out of fewer BTU's.
Noisy bastids. But the heat is good. 
