Boat Heating

[Minerva]

We currently have an eberspacher onboard which works adequately, despite sounding like a hairdryer is blowing at your feet and drawing an unknown number of amps.

General plan is to make the boat more Scottish winter-sailing friendly. Thinking about installing a diesel drip heater; Taylor’s / Dickinson / Refleks for cozy evenings aboard.

I can see the benefit of the “cozy” factor of a glowing stove by feet & the quiet nature of the device.

question being really, is it daft in 2024 to be thinking about the installation of a diesel
drip heater over and above an eberspacher?

 

[GHA]

Love my refeks. Living aboard in the UK it would stay on for weeks at a time during winter, lovely dry warm boat with a pot of stew bubbling on the Refleks hotplate during a wet & windy night is ever so cozy

 

[Sandy]

With a diesel drip heater you can put a stew on at lunch time and enjoy a hot evening meal.

 

[Ostara24]

+1 for Refleks.

Practically Maintenance free, they put out more of a “drying” heat than the air heaters.

I installed mine as a back up for the Webasto, and in the end never used the Webasto again!

So IMHO drip beats blow!

A few of tips:

1) plan the install carefully, don’t jump at the first location that you think of, give it time, because once you cut that hole in your cabin top there is no going back!

2) use gravity to feed the diesel, not a pump, I have my 2000 running for days with no power use at all.

3) if you can get one with the stove plate on top, great for keeping a pot of soup etc warm.

I found the Refleks factory to be very helpful and completely knowledgable on their product, they are “old school” and give straight answers, no sales nonsense.

 

[Plum]

I have a Taylors 079D drip feed stove which is great on my small boat but will depend on the size of boat you are heating and how well insulated and you can't cook on it.

 

[lustyd]

question being really, is it daft in 2024 to be thinking about the installation of a diesel
drip heater over and above an eberspacher?

Assuming you'll keep the Eberspacher I don't see a downside to trying it. Eber's are certainly noisy beasts but I don't think I'd uninstall mine. If you have the space for the alternative then worth a go

 

[Minerva]

+1 for Refleks.

Practically Maintenance free, they put out more of a “drying” heat than the air heaters.

I installed mine as a back up for the Webasto, and in the end never used the Webasto again!

So IMHO drip beats blow!

A few of tips:

1) plan the install carefully, don’t jump at the first location that you think of, give it time, because once you cut that hole in your cabin top there is no going back!

2) use gravity to feed the diesel, not a pump, I have my 2000 running for days with no power use at all.

3) if you can get one with the stove plate on top, great for keeping a pot of soup etc warm.

I found the Refleks factory to be very helpful and completely knowledgable on their product, they are “old school” and give straight answers, no sales nonsense.

And do you have the header tank filled via an electric pump? I imagine taking off a feed from the spare outlet at the engine filter would be an easy enough proposition?

 

[GHA]

And do you have the header tank filled via an electric pump? I imagine taking off a feed from the spare outlet at the engine filter would be an easy enough proposition?

Mine has a header tank in the heads & a little facet type fuel pump which transfers from the main engine diesel tank.
Make sure you have a loud alarm to tell you to turn it off!!

 

[Minerva]

Mine has a header tank in the heads & a little facet type fuel pump which transfers from the main engine diesel tank.
Make sure you have a loud alarm to tell you to turn it off!!

I would imagine a switch where the feed pump only runs with your finger "on the button" would be the job to stop overfilling..?

 

[GHA]

I would imagine a switch where the feed pump only runs with your finger "on the button" would be the job to stop overfilling..?

those little cheap "brbrbrbrbrbrbrb" fuel pumps are slow though, takes about 5 minutes for a few litres. eventually it went on a timer, not been used for quite some time though

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I dismantled and removed the Dickinson heater, glassed over the deck penetration. I had the following issues when I bought the boat associated with the heater:-

1. Soot in the cupboard space and grime from the heater.
2. Diesel smell inside the boat. It was a tank system with remote pump.
3. Diesel spill from weeping connections.
4. Unimpressive heat output.
5. Water damage to balsa core at the flue penetration.

All these problems can be addressed with the correct installation, inspection and maintenance, but it did not feature in my own refurbishment plans. I don’t live aboard but sail all year round in Scotland, out of the Oban area and I don’t see the need for it. I have a Mikuni hot air heater which was superior in every way. It has stopped working and will be replaced with another model of hot air heater.

I have read about the Refleks heaters being good if sailing in Canada and Norway, or other such locations.

 

[Ostara24]

And do you have the header tank filled via an electric pump? I imagine taking off a feed from the spare outlet at the engine filter would be an easy enough proposition?

Yes, I have a spur coming off from a fuel polishing system I installed.

I have a 20 liter tank on the otherside of the bulkhead beside the heater about 1m higher, a tankfull can last for weeks in winter.

BTW another tip: shell out for the double sealed insulated flume pipe all the way to the top of the chimney outside, better draw so heater burns cleaner.

I would post pics but being a new member I cannot post pics yet.

 

[Trident]

Of course for a couple of hundred pounds you can make the Eber almost silent - they do extra quiet fuel pumps, though hanging the normal one on a cable tie works well to stop the ticking if that bothers you , and the bit most people forget, they do a ducting silencer to reduce the nose of the air flow which makes a big difference (about £80 to £110 depending on the size of air ducting you have) and finally you can add a further exhaust silencer if that one is noisy

 

[Plum]

We currently have an eberspacher onboard which works adequately, despite sounding like a hairdryer is blowing at your feet and drawing an unknown number of amps.

General plan is to make the boat more Scottish winter-sailing friendly. Thinking about installing a diesel drip heater; Taylor’s / Dickinson / Refleks for cozy evenings aboard.

I can see the benefit of the “cozy” factor of a glowing stove by feet & the quiet nature of the device.

question being really, is it daft in 2024 to be thinking about the installation of a diesel
drip heater over and above an eberspacher?

Agree with others, reduce the noise with a silencer. On medium fan speed mine only draws one amp, can you make that up with solar the next day if its on all night?

 

[Dockhead]

How big is your boat? How many cabins?

Drip heaters are great for once space but not so great for several.

For several spaces, hydronic is much better. The Eberspacher 10 my boat was built with in 2001 was unreliable and expensive to fix. I finally replaced it in 2018 with the next generation M12, which has been flawless since 2018.

I still don't completely trust it, so if I had the bulkhead space (I don't) and the willingness to cut a hole in my deck for a chimney (I don't) I would install a Refleks on the salon bulkhead to supplement or back up the Eber.

Kabola, Post and some other less compact diesel/hydronic heaters are supposed to be more reliable and more serviceable than Eber/Webasto types, which are based on truck heaters. Don't know if Kabola are still made, however.

 

[onesea]

Another thought of your looking to remove an evening and morning chill but not heat overnight (some might we don't).

Taylors paraffin heater.

Once you learn to use one they heat well and quickly. Low smell, good heat and only a 20mm deck hole.
Again no only one compartment but we get 20c+ when 4c outside.
I have used it in all weathers of a winter when working on the boat, also on chilly sails as well.