Cheapest boat heating options?

[Paul1972stevens]

What do you all have to heat the boat have a budget of two hundred to heat a westerly Tiger 25....

 

[lpdsn]

What do you all have to heat the boat have a budget of two hundred to heat a westerly Tiger 25....

The cheapest is a fan heater and shorepower, even taking into consideration that many marinas charge well above domestic rates.

Diesel heaters are expensive and a pain in the neck. Diesel is no longer that cheap either.

Cast iron stoves are hard to fit.

Dylan Winter has found a way of getting the output of a medium sized nuclear power station out of Ikea tea lights but to be honest I've taken that with a pinch of salt (or is that a pinch of liquid sodium coolant).

 

[Tranona]

What do you all have to heat the boat have a budget of two hundred to heat a westerly Tiger 25....

Does not exist away from shorepower.

 

[BERT T]

One of these:

 

[jakeroyd]

We have an Origo Heat Pal on our 25 footer.
uses Bio Ethanol.
safe but does produce carbon monoxide , so ventilation is required.
from Amazon etc. and others . About £120
no installation , free standing.
basically a sponge in a tin.

Bio Ethanol from eBay or perhaps Go Outdoors.

other option are a Propex heater , blown air powered by gas or a diesel powered heater like Mikuni or Webast or Eberspacher. Not for £250 though.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Hot water bottle and thick sleeping bag.

 

[PhillM]

Origo heat pal. After similar search it was my choice £110 from Amazon plus bio fuel from b&q.

 

[William_H]

I presume OP has a cooker of some sort (gas or spirit burner). At the expense of higher operating costs the cooker can be used to heat the boat. To some degree at least. However you need proper ventilation including a chimney and flue over the cooker. You don't want to risk being poisoned with CO. All sorts of devices (flower pot) can be placed in the flames to produce radiant heat. good luck olewill

 

[Kelpie]

You could try one if the very cheap and basic solid fuel stoves on eBay, e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYPSY-STO...209?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a4ab80c61
I'm sure you could get that installed for under £200 with a bit of ingenuity. The through-deck fitting coukd be pricey unless you have a mate who can weld.

Note I take no responsibility in the event of the above stove setting your boat on fire!

 

[JumbleDuck]

What do you all have to heat the boat have a budget of two hundred to heat a westerly Tiger 25....

By far the cheapest is a disposable charcoal barbecue, used inside. Costs less than a fiver and you'll only ever do it once.

Note: this is because you will surely die if you try it.

 

[LittleShip]

Hot water bottle and thick sleeping bag.

"Hot water bottle" I use one in the winter to warm the bed, brilliant.

In the warmer weather I have a top chick to do it for me :encouragement:

Tom.

 

[No Regrets]

Used Propex can be found on Ebay for £250!

Very low battery consumption, run off LPG.

 

[[70521]]

http://www.damart.co.uk/

 

[West Coast]

Do you have a FW circuit on the engine? I have seen boats with a simple radiator in the saloon driven by the engine FW circuit. Low cost, incredibly effective when the engine is running

 

[Triassic]

Another vote for Propex. If you already have gas on the boat (and most of us have a battery) it's by far the simplest and most effective. If like me you have left the installation "unfinished" with a loose 4" pipe providing hot air into the cabin then shoving it into an opening in your jacket/trousers is a very quick way of warming the parts in most need.....

Only downside is it can be relatively noisy (depending on where you have put it) with the fan continuing to run for a few minutes after it's stopped heating, which on a small cabin is quite a bit of the time!

 

[milltech]

If like me you have left the installation "unfinished" with a loose 4" pipe providing hot air into the cabin then shoving it into an opening in your jacket/trousers is a very quick way of warming the parts in most need.....

I approve of your priorities!

I have a Reflex heater and have never needed more than the pilot setting. Start with cabin doors closed, when too hot open fore-cabin, when too hot open door to galley/heads, when too hot open doors to wheelhouse, when too hot switch off, reverse process till needed again.

 

[Sailingsaves]

Fork handles is what you need.

On a serious note, is the Origo Heat Pal not very similar to the Trangia cooker (£22.50 now - I am sure my second hand one cost less than that though) (I know Dylan used a trangia burner once on his boat too). I bought one of these one ebay years ago and it is simple and ok for camping. Is the Origo far superior? Never seen one in action.

Make sure you have a battery operated CO detector on board of course.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SWEDISH-A...855?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a4db3881f

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swedish-T...d&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=181692237855&rt=nc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swedish-G...796?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2edf1d2ccc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trangia-C...053?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43d95b0df5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trangia-Stove-/171723479392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27fb845960

 

[oldgit]

S/hand Eberspacher with timer Ex Van. £120.00
New fuel tank pickup pipe. £20.00
New SS exhaust hose and clamps £26.00.
Skin fitting made my self.
Warm air hoses and fittings from caravan shop. £55.00.
About £200 ?
You will need a tank for some diesel and battery tho....

All an eberspacher needs to keep it reliable..........is to use it.