cold times on my Jeanneau Sundream. Could i use one of these on the boat? gas boilers

pvb said:
The answer is essentially no - those gas water heaters require special flue arrangements which are difficult to achieve on a sailboat.

You could fit a calorifier to your 2GM20.
Click to expand...

can you do that on a raw water cooled engine? don't know, just wondering.

op could convert to fresh water, but I guess it's not going to be cheap...

V.
 
Here in NZ a "Califont" as instant gas hot water heaters are known are very common on all types of boats-and trouble free.

The secret is in the name-Instant hot water heater-they are not often on for more than a minute or so, unless taking a shower.

We have a steel Hartley 32 in Evans Bay Marina here in Wellington fitted with such a device. Non flued, it just has a heatproof plate between its outlet heat vents and the ceiling. It is mounted near the main companionway and hatch. Most NZ sailboats used for cruising or liveaboard have a califont fitted, most unflued..

Being very well aware of the problems of CO poisoning I have no issues with it as it is. Combustion is clean with a correct colour flame and, as I said previously, unless used for a shower, it is only usually working for seconds, not minutes. The CO build up time is just not there in our normal use. The vessel is very well ventilated with three deck mounted mushroom vents, and the sliding hatch, under a wooden and glazed doghouse, is ALWAYS open a little when it is in use.

I also used a modern paraffin heater without a flue on really cold evenings on a 37 foot yacht a few years ago. I mounted a Kidde CO alarm right above it, which never went off. The heater was fitted with a low oxygen shutoff-it never shut off either.
 
rotrax said:
Here in NZ a "Califont" as instant gas hot water heaters are known are very common on all types of boats-and trouble free.

The secret is in the name-Instant hot water heater-they are not often on for more than a minute or so, unless taking a shower.

We have a steel Hartley 32 in Evans Bay Marina here in Wellington fitted with such a device. Non flued, it just has a heatproof plate between its outlet heat vents and the ceiling. It is mounted near the main companionway and hatch. Most NZ sailboats used for cruising or liveaboard have a califont fitted, most unflued..

Being very well aware of the problems of CO poisoning I have no issues with it as it is. Combustion is clean with a correct colour flame and, as I said previously, unless used for a shower, it is only usually working for seconds, not minutes. The CO build up time is just not there in our normal use. The vessel is very well ventilated with three deck mounted mushroom vents, and the sliding hatch, under a wooden and glazed doghouse, is ALWAYS open a little when it is in use.

I also used a modern paraffin heater without a flue on really cold evenings on a 37 foot yacht a few years ago. I mounted a Kidde CO alarm right above it, which never went off. The heater was fitted with a low oxygen shutoff-it never shut off either.
Click to expand...

I suspect that here in the UK such an installation would be frowned on by any marine surveyor.
 
Many Moody yachts have been fitted with these instant hot water gas heaters and they work well. They produce same amount of carbon monoxide as a gas cooker, therefore safe with ventilation.
 
vyv_cox said:
You can fit a calorifier to a raw water cooled engine. There is a page on the subject on my website. Very many Bukhs fitted to Sadler yachts
as original equipment ran calorifiers.
Click to expand...
I’ve been looking at this as well, looked at your info relating to the Bukhs but cannot see on a 2GM20 where to connect warm water feed from.
 
pvb said:
Lots of things were done in times gone by which aren't allowed today.
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As pvb says these were common a few years ago, and not just on Moodys. They do need to be flued to above deck. Surveyors often don't like them much but will generally accept them if the gas side is safe and the exhaust well clear of any cabin openings.

There are advantages: running a diesel just to get some hot water as a byproduct is grossly inefficient.
 
pvb said:
Lots of things were done in times gone by which aren't allowed today.
Click to expand...

AFAIK perhaps obtaining a BSS inland waterways certificate would be difficult, but a surveyors advice is just that-advice. If Insurance or finance is involved it may be a different scenario.

I don't think there is legislation which makes these "Not Allowed" on UK seagoing leisure craft.

In my opinion the biggest danger-as with ANY gas equipment-is the potential for leakage of gas combining with air to become highly explosive.

It may not be best practice, but in certain circumstances is the best answer.
 
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CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
Many Moody yachts have been fitted with these instant hot water gas heaters and they work well. They produce same amount of carbon monoxide as a gas cooker, therefore safe with ventilation.
Click to expand...

Exactly-how many yachts have flued gas cookers?

None to my knowledge. So why is a califont or instant hot water heater frowned upon.

We had a Paloma on our 40 foot narrowboat 40 years ago, unflued, no problems at all. And a gas only fridge-which WAS flued.
 
pvb said:
I suspect that here in the UK such an installation would be frowned on by any marine surveyor.
Click to expand...

And that's the sort of statement that gets me thinking.

Due to the 'high standards' required of us here in the UK, do we actually benefit by them? Do we have less people dying of CO poisoning as a result of these heaters not being tolerated, or does our risk-adverseness mean that the price of our sport goes up with little benefit?

Discuss...
 
langstonelayabout said:
And that's the sort of statement that gets me thinking.

Due to the 'high standards' required of us here in the UK, do we actually benefit by them? Do we have less people dying of CO poisoning as a result of these heaters not being tolerated, or does our risk-adverseness mean that the price of our sport goes up with little benefit?

Discuss...
Click to expand...

But ARE higher standards applicable to these instant gas water heaters?
Is it the surveyors, and subsequently insurance companies, that look down on them? AFAIK installation is regulated but is their use verboten? I don't believe so.
As CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said, they produce the same amount of CO as a cooker when in use, and would normally be in use for a far shorter time-even when using for showering.
Here in the Southern Hemisphere, NZ and Australia, they are part of most local boats kit, only imports using alternative water heating methods.
 
We have an instant gas hot water heater, flued into the cockpit. I think ours is a Bosch. We were surveyed for Pants, 18 month ago - did not blink an eye. I believe they are common in 'motor homes' and caravans. As mentioned you bake bread in your gas fired oven (where is it flued?). The trouble with calorifiers - you need to run the engine.

Jonathan
 
so the consensus is it will be fine if i leave the head port light window open. or it could go in the cockpit locker which would have plenty of room for one
 
rotrax said:
Exactly-how many yachts have flued gas cookers?

None to my knowledge. So why is a califont or instant hot water heater frowned upon.
Click to expand...

People have mentioned boat cookers, but these are installed in a much larger space and have tiny gas consumption. A typical boat cooker's burner is around 1.5kW; these instant gas heaters are 15-30kW output - using 10 to 20 times more gas!
 
UK-WOOZY said:
so the consensus is it will be fine if i leave the head port light window open. or it could go in the cockpit locker which would have plenty of room for one
Click to expand...

If you do get one, make sure it's one certified for boat use; most aren't. If you get one which isn't, your insurance may be void.
 
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