Boat heating

[plolic]

Good day,

Those that use boat heating, what sort of heaters do you use? On my 1986 F36 I have an older Espar D4L (orange one) that works intermittently and have taken it off the boat for servicing, It needs duct cleaning as well. If it packs up, i will be looking at replacement. I prefer Diesel but propane or kerosene are options. What sort of heaters do you use? What about bulkhead mounted ones with an exhaust through the deck? How good are they to heat fore and aft cabins? Where do you have them mounted? How does the heat radiate? Where have you fitted the fuel tank?

Petar

[Michel]

Hi Petar,

The new Espars / Eberspachers are much more reliable than the old ones. I had the one you have in my previous boat. They are not suitable for continuous use, but they stay in the best condition when used often. I now have a bulkhead mounted Dickinson Alaska. I enlarged the hot water duct and have connected to it one small radiator in the front cabin and blowers/heat exchangers in the head and the aft cabin/pilot cabin.

After a few cold winters experience, I can say that the radiator and heat exchangers were really not necessary to heat my F44. I have a fan mounted near the smoke flue to cool it, and it disperses the heat throughout the boat. With two more fans in the front and aft area's, you can have heat everywhere.

Photos of my installation can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alabama_qu ... 118441897/ You have to browse around a bit to find the parts where I install the heater.

All in all, if you don't use the boat in the winter, replacing your Espar with a modern one gives the least hassle. Don't underestimate the amount of work in installing a bulkhead heater.

[THATBOATGUY]

We have a wall mounted Mr. Heater that works very well with the one drawback that it does put moisture in the cabin which ends up being condensation. We left Annapolis the day before thanksgiving and did not arrive here in Florida until after New Years working our way down the east coast. It would simply have not be doable without a heater.

Next spring we are considering Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and we will have an eye towards some form of diesel heat as tracking down a propane fill can be a pain and we carry about 200 gallons of diesel now.

George

[CrazyRU]

I'm in process of finishing cosmetic details of my new heater My boat is still in water, and I used the heater recently, spending New Year Eve on my boat. I didn't try antacite yet, charcoal works OK.

[Capitan Sardina]

I use a combination of a reverse cycle heat/cold (at the dock only) and a Dikinson/SIG wood burning stove.

The stove is great up to 25f or so. After that it struggles. Also it must be fed every hour or so. Great atmosphere and woody smell. On very cold evenings baking a chicken or similar in the oven helps.





cheers,

[phildowney]

hi
i live aboard and use cheap oil filled radiators to keep the boat warm all the time and a dehumidifier to keep her dry
i have an eberspacher too which works most of the time but isnt 100 % reliable. with the eberspacher on too it can get a bit too hot so i use it when im aboard and turn the radiators on low during the day when im at work.
its worth having a couple of diferent ways of heating the boat as if one packs up you get very cold!
ive often wondered if it would be worthwhile fitting a car type heater to run off the engine cooling circuit for some free warmth while motoring
i have liked the idea of a flued heater but i keep a dinghy on deck which covers most suitable places for a heater flue

phil, f 35 uk cat ketch "KUSI"

[Rick Simonds]

I, too, have wondered about car type heaters that run off the engine cooling system. It seems like a pretty easy addition and, with minimal heating requirements, a pretty handy gizmo for me.

Has anyone installed one? Any wisdom / insights / trapdoors you’ve found?

[Michel]

I have two fancoil heat exchangers with integral low power (computer-)fans fed by the hot water circuit from my Dickinson Alaska. With a few T-valves and extra hoses I could feed the fancoils with engine cooling water as well. I considered this, but being a sailor, I use the engine as little as I can. Furthermore, it's not good for a diesel to run just to heat water, the engine wear is least when loaded by the gearbox. These fancoils are not very expensive and mount behind a stainless grid. Here's a photo of the fancoil mounted in the cupboard under the head sink. It nicely heats the toilet seat and creates enough heat to shower without shivering, even in winter. Brand and type are Webasto Whisperer. Must be on the market in the US too. Had to replace a car heater once, so I know these units are four times the price of the Webasto units. You have to build your own fan speed regulator though, this is not supplied with the unit. I used (cheap!) computer fan speed regulators. I mostly operate them in low speed to minimize fan noise.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alabama_qu ... 118441897/

[plolic]

Well, two weeks of trial and error and some fault finding I found what the problem is with my D4L Espar heater. It was the fuel pump which I have replaced with UBG (used by good) @ $150 a piece. Tested it all day long today and no problems at all. I did find a cheaper one ($40) at consignment store but this one has 40% higher output and kind of makes the heater run very hot so I am not using this one. Love those small German things. At less than 0.5 L diesel per hour I get 4kW heat and use 70W power to toast the boat if needed.