Boat heating

[David2452]

Planar are looking for a distributor in UK as they have no credible presence, I was in talks with them for a while and they even agreed to change a couple of things for the European market like the awful dosing pumps and a few other items. I really couldn't go any further, they would have been a bit cheaper than the others even with a proper setup, spares availability in UK and warranty costs. But not enough to compensate for the basic unsophisticated nature of them, they are currently working on a Webasto clone which would be better but that has already been done by M.V. quite well and back up and warranty coverage from a very well respected and long established UK importer.

 

[SiteSurfer]

That David ^^

 

[owen-cox]

I have messed and repaired eberspachers for years but if buying new would be tempted by vyv's recommendation. Of course you would have to add bits to the basic kit shown, silencer, through hull but still a cheap option.

You wouldn't need a silencer they are very quiet as standard.

 

[Mrnotming]

On another similar thread,I asked Owen if there was a water heater that would act as a heat source for small radiators (some seen with a fan to rear).I saw a very neat installation on a 36 footer using small bore plastic piping,as used domestically often nowadays.
I think the installer of the gear had large truck experience to aid this very neat approach.
Would Planar have an equivalent?

 

[Tammany]

Been thinking alot about this as a future upgrade. A friend uses a webasto diesel heater which seems to be good, you can also combine this for a hot water system too. Electric wise he has a greenhouse tube heater which I believe is on permanent during the winter months. A lot of people swear by solid fuel heaters too. A liveaboard westerley centaur near my mooring uses this, can always see little plumes of smoke coming from his chimney when it's cold. Apparently very effective, a little too effective at times he says and boat turns into a sauna

 

[maby]

Definitely diesel blown air for the best combination of flexibility, raw power and low running costs. We had Webasto on our previous boat and Eberspacher on the current boat - both brand new - we loved the Webasto and hate the Eberspacher. Both work fine when the boat is cold and you want it running flat out to get the temperature up, but once it is there, the Eberspacher falls down - it simply does not like ticking over at low power. The Webasto would tick over for hours, sipping diesel, but the Eberspacher struggles to stay alight and cokes up terribly.

The Eberspacher has just come out of warranty - the next time it develops a significant problem, it will be straight out and a Webasto going in in its place.

 

[owen-cox]

Definitely diesel blown air for the best combination of flexibility, raw power and low running costs. We had Webasto on our previous boat and Eberspacher on the current boat - both brand new - we loved the Webasto and hate the Eberspacher. Both work fine when the boat is cold and you want it running flat out to get the temperature up, but once it is there, the Eberspacher falls down - it simply does not like ticking over at low power. The Webasto would tick over for hours, sipping diesel, but the Eberspacher struggles to stay alight and cokes up terribly.

The Eberspacher has just come out of warranty - the next time it develops a significant problem, it will be straight out and a Webasto going in in its place.

Planar does the same as the webasto and has been designed specifically to alleviate coking problems. it is also very easy to clean if it did ever need to be done anyway.

 

[owen-cox]

On another similar thread,I asked Owen if there was a water heater that would act as a heat source for small radiators (some seen with a fan to rear).I saw a very neat installation on a 36 footer using small bore plastic piping,as used domestically often nowadays.
I think the installer of the gear had large truck experience to aid this very neat approach.
Would Planar have an equivalent?

Teplostar the makers of the Planar heater also produce the Binar 5 which is available in petrol and diesel versions. these are the water heater version of their heater and is 5kW output. it can be used for central heating style heating via radiators and could also heat a calorifier.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm beginning to suspect that the Cox family has some shares in Planar.

 

[KevB]

Definitely diesel blown air for the best combination of flexibility, raw power and low running costs. We had Webasto on our previous boat and Eberspacher on the current boat - both brand new - we loved the Webasto and hate the Eberspacher. Both work fine when the boat is cold and you want it running flat out to get the temperature up, but once it is there, the Eberspacher falls down - it simply does not like ticking over at low power. The Webasto would tick over for hours, sipping diesel, but the Eberspacher struggles to stay alight and cokes up terribly.

The Eberspacher has just come out of warranty - the next time it develops a significant problem, it will be straight out and a Webasto going in in its place.

Must be something with the installation. I have an eberspacher D4 and when the temp is about 2 deg away from your desired setting it starts to slow down till the temp is reached then ticks over slowly in the background. When the temp drops 2 deg below your setting it winds itself up again. I use the thermostat in the temp controller rather than the one built into the unit.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Must be something with the installation. I have an eberspacher D4 and when the temp is about 2 deg away from your desired setting it starts to slow down till the temp is reached then ticks over slowly in the background. When the temp drops 2 deg below your setting it winds itself up again. I use the thermostat in the temp controller rather than the one built into the unit.

We have the same experience. It might not apply to the complainant but I suspect lots of Eber problems (and their bad name) comes from people fitting second hand ones badly. Ours was new with the marinising parts from Eber fitted exactly according to their instructions and apart from blowing up its control board once (a known problem at the time and solved with a redesigned board) has never missed a beat.

 

[vyv_cox]

I'm beginning to suspect that the Cox family has some shares in Planar.

Owen has posted that he is the UK distributor. I have no connection with Planar at all, although I have seen Owen's heater working well.

 

[vyv_cox]

We have the same experience. It might not apply to the complainant but I suspect lots of Eber problems (and their bad name) comes from people fitting second hand ones badly. Ours was new with the marinising parts from Eber fitted exactly according to their instructions and apart from blowing up its control board once (a known problem at the time and solved with a redesigned board) has never missed a beat.

+1. My Eberspacher runs at the lowest heat output for hours. All as you say except that ours has never failed in any way since I installed it in about 1998.

 

[MengWalton]

This has turned into quite a good thread, I'm getting plenty of information to make my choice here!

 

[ghostlymoron]

Sorry Vyv/Owen I hadn't seen that post.

Owen has posted that he is the UK distributor. I have no connection with Planar at all, although I have seen Owen's heater working well.

 

[maby]

We have the same experience. It might not apply to the complainant but I suspect lots of Eber problems (and their bad name) comes from people fitting second hand ones badly. Ours was new with the marinising parts from Eber fitted exactly according to their instructions and apart from blowing up its control board once (a known problem at the time and solved with a redesigned board) has never missed a beat.

Ours was brand new and professionally fitted three years ago but was always rather unpleasant in comparison with the (also new and professionally installed) Webasto in the previous boat. I used to use the Webasto for frost protection, leaving it on continually for weeks at a time on the lowest thermostat setting and it never blinked. When the Eberspacher was misbehaving, the installer blamed letting it run on low power for long periods for coking it up.

 

[Tammany]

You can get reconditioned webasto's on ebay quite regularly for a good price. The Europeans have them fitted to cars as standard to warm it up in sub zero conditions so they are common in Europe especially in VW's & BMW's. Never seen one in this country though and have had several used BMW's over the years.

Something like this, you have to add parts to it to fit a boat but it's a good starting point.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Webasto-Thermo-Top-KIT-5kW-DIESEL-WATER-HEATER-12V-Boat-Motorhome-WARRANTY-/222121693294?hash=item33b77c106e:g:f1wAAOSwQNRXLQFq

 

[Autoterm]

Planar are looking for a distributor in UK as they have no credible presence, I was in talks with them for a while and they even agreed to change a couple of things for the European market like the awful dosing pumps and a few other items. I really couldn't go any further, they would have been a bit cheaper than the others even with a proper setup, spares availability in UK and warranty costs. But not enough to compensate for the basic unsophisticated nature of them, they are currently working on a Webasto clone which would be better but that has already been done by M.V. quite well and back up and warranty coverage from a very well respected and long established UK importer.

David, that would be interesting to know who you were in contact with from our company Autoterm (manufacturer of Planar heaters). As stated here above units sold in Russia, and on eBay are different from the units that we sell in Europe. In Europe we sell heaters with different dosing pumps that we supply from Germany, all heaters have TUV and CE certifications, and 2 year factory supported warranty. The configuration and technical specification of products made for export is different from the one sold in Russia and CIS countries. The manufacturer does not sell its products outside the Russian Federation though e-trading platforms like Ebay, Amazon and others. We have a dealer in the UK www.planarheaters.co.uk.