Pansy heater

[zoidberg]

I have one of these, purchased from F-in-L some years ago and not yet installed. I'm a little ambivalent about that, due in part to John Passmore's blog about his boat heater, and in part wondering where I might place it in my 7' narrow 27' long sailboat.

Charcoal heater

Any thoughts and/or experiences to share?

 

[dom]

Any thoughts and/or experiences to share?

In the context of the thread title:
?

 

[LittleSister]

Do you have any pansies that need heating?

Seriously, years ago I researched charcoal heaters, and the impression I gained that people thought Pansy heaters were good, especially with limited space available, but the narrow (1"?) chimney made starting it a little difficult, and commonly people would heat the chimney with a blow-torch or hot air gun before lighting to help get the draught started.

I have a sort of 'project boat', 26' and modest beam, which has a charcoal heater (Bengco) fitted by the previous owner. It is located on, and to one side of, the lateral bulkhead dividing the saloon from the heads and forecabin. That the doorway in the bulkhead is offset to the other side helps, as does having the saloon table (mounted, and pivoting on, the mast support pole) in front of it, so it's a bit out of the way from general circulation space .

The heater is fitted about waist/chest height when seated, which keeps the floor area clear and radiant heat focused on people rather than their knees but means less heat is extracted from the chimney than would have been the case with the longer internal chimney on a floor mounted stove. (I have pondered attaching some sort of stainless plate arrangement to the chimney to extract more heat from the chimney, but having never used the boat don't know if that would be needed.) I have fired up the heater and it seemed to get the boat very cosy, but it wasn't especially cold at the time. (The Bengco is a little larger than the Pansy.)

The heater is mounted on stand-off brackets direct onto the faced plywood bulkhead, and I was concerned about the risk of fire or damage to the bulkhead (though none visible). My research suggested such an arrangement is not uncommon, with no reported problems, but I put a protective sheet of metal (brass, as it would be easier to work than stainless) behind the heater to be sure.

I hope that helps.

 

[Goldie]

We loved ours and below is what I posted in answer to a similar post last month, hope it helps:

Fill with fuel, light the meths soaked wick and open the damper to Max (all as per instructions) but after a short time to give it chance to at least start to fire up, REMOVE the screw in damper completely, place the nozzle of a dinghy foot pump in the ‘ole where the damper was and then VERY gently, maintain a positive pressure. It’ll roar away in no time and the damper can be screwed back in. Note the need to be very gentle with the pump or you’ll cover the cabin in crud - top of stroke to bottom should be several seconds. This worked every time for us and from discovering the technique, we loved our Pansy and would leave it lit for a week or more at a time (and it does great baked potatoes!).