Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

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seumask

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Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

It has occurred to me that on our simple boat we might use the recently purchased Cobbs BBQ to keep our selves warm on the occasional cool evening we are on the boat. So far we have only used the BBQ for cooking in the cockpit and I hope it might provide a dry heat if adequately ventilated , i.e. a suitable amount of hatch left open, if used in the cabin say placed on top of the stove. Can anyone report any problems / pit falls there might be in this set up?
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

I'd be concerned about the amount of heat that it could chuck out - potentially scorching the surrounding material - but it does depend on your layout!
I wouldn't recommend it ... but then I don't like things burning inside a boat that I cannot turn off quickly....
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

I knew there'd be a good reason ... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

At least you'd die warm /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Don't do it, carbon monoxide poisoning will get the better of you.
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

It's actually a favoured method of suicide, it's been going around the Internet.
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

OK I understand that Carbon Monoxide is the issue and will not be going ahead with this little idea but can anyone coment on weather there is a much higher risk of carbon monoxide production with charcoal than there is with using the calor gas stove which many people already use on board.
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

the instructions allow that after the lighting and burning-in stage, once the covers are on it can be used for indoor cooking, so presumably you need ventilation whether in a house or on a boat - I wouldn't get too excessive with the smoking chips, 'though /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

Yes it will be hugely more CO than a gas stove. I have a CO detector on the boat with a numeric readout of CO concentration, I think in ppm. I also have a charcoal heater (homemade) with a proper flue.

With the (gas) cooker running, I have never seen any reading of CO at all, always 0ppm on the display of the alarm. With the charcoal lit, I sometimes get a low reading eg 10 on the display, well below the alarm level. Once I did something silly (won't explain how silly I was here!) the result being that the chimney was blocked. CO level very rapidly set the alarm off with 100+ on the display and I realised what I'd done. Gas burns much more cleanly than charcoal.

I would think that if you burnt charcoal without any flue in an enclosed area, it would only take a matter of minutes to reach dangerous/lethal levels. Apart from that, the smoke might not be much fun...

But burning charcoal is a great way to heat the boat (with the proper flue). A few searches here and on Google gave me a few tips on how to design it, I made it from stainless steel maybe about £80 and half a days work welding it together. So there is a safe way to do all of this too without spending big money.

Chris
 
Re: Cabin heating with Cobbs BBQ !

I have used the briquette basket from a Cobb to heat up the cabin BUT... i use it within a Pioneer heater with a proper chimney.
The Pioneer is a portugese version of the Taylors paraffin heater with a primus type stove whaich can be removed from the casing.
I wouldn't use the Cobb inside the boat, even with hatches and ports open.
 
Gas burns much more cleanly than charcoal?

It may well do, but the chemical formula for the reaction isn't going to be hugely different, gas and charcoal are both hydrocarbon fuels, gas producing H2O and CO2 on burning, and charcoal producing CO2.

The hydrogen component is by far the most reactive so in the absence of a good enough fresh air supply gas will always produce it's quota of H2O, leaving the carbon to combine as CO. At least the charcoal won't have a hydrogen component to absorb the O2.

However, to echo your bottom line EITHER are a great way with a proper flue which (as the poster was comparing) a gas cooker doesn't have.

A gas heater (with flue) has the advantage of reducing but not eliminating the H2O output to the cabin. Charcoal just burns dry.

Either method of open flame in a cabin is asking for trouble.
 
Re: Gas burns much more cleanly than charcoal?

Re: charcoal heaters... I made a very successful charcoal heater for a caravan using an old heavy walled water fire extinguisher... cut a door for filling, added a griddle to support the charcoal, cut another door below this for ash removal. Air control was a bit basic - both doors closed, one or other open, or both open, and the flue was 28mm copper pipe which fitted snugly over the spigot at the top with the help of a little fire cement. made an "h pot" from copper pipe for the end of the flue, and it worked really well. Total cost about twenty quid....
 
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