Measurements of the adiabatic temperature change (DT) and the specific heat transfer (DQ) of Ni 2.18 Mn 0.82 Ga Heusler alloy were taken in order to quantify the direct giant magnetocaloric effect of the alloy when it is in the vicinity of magneto-structural phase transition (PT) from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite, and their results are presented. A new vacuum calorimeter was used to simultaneously measure DT and DQ of magnetocaloric materials with a Bitter coil magnet in fields of up to H ¼ 140 kOe. Other thermomagnetic properties of this alloy were investigated using standard differential scanning calorimetry and PPMS equipment. The maximal values of magnetocaloric effect in H ¼ 140 kOe were found to be DT ¼ 8.4 K at initial temperature 340 K and DQ ¼ 4900 J/kg at 343 K. Using this direct method, we show that the alloy indeed demonstrates the largest value of DQ as compared with previously published results for direct measurements of magnetocaloric materials, even though at 140 kOe the magnetic field-induced magnetostructural PT is still not complete. V