The invention aims to provide a heater for low-temperature ethylene unloading and a working method of the heater. The heater is characterized by comprising a shell pass cylinder, a supporting skirt, a methanol injection port, a drain outlet, a first seal head, an ethylene reinforced cylinder section, an ethylene side pipe box, a first heat exchange pipe bundle, a second seal head, a steam reinforced cylinder section, a steam side pipe box, a second heat exchange pipe bundle, a first detection instrument, a safety valve port, an emptying interface, a liquid level detection interface and a second detection instrument, a detection instrument and a man hole; the ethylene side pipe box is provided with an ethylene injection port and an ethylene outlet, and the steam side pipe box is provided with a steam injection port and a condensate outlet. The whole set of device adopts a double-heat-exchanger structural design, the medium of one group of heat exchange pipe bundles is low-temperature ethylene, the medium of the other group of heat exchange pipe bundles is water vapor, the medium in the cylinder is methanol, and the steam and the low-temperature ethylene exchange heat indirectly, so that the purpose of rising the temperature of the ethylene is achieved. The heater is compact in overall structure, good in heat transfer effect, is energy-saving and environment-friendly, is low in cost, and is safe and reliable.