Diesel heater installation - a safety feature or a huge oversight.

[Simon F]

Hi All,

My new(ish) to me, sailboat has a diesel heater fitted that has duct outlets in the saloon, the aft berth, the heads' compartment, and the little bit between the saloon and the fore cabin. It doesn't have one in the fore cabin where I sleep in the vee berth. Is this typical, and is there a safety reason for it? Or maybe it actually works better that way? It's certainly the part of the boat I would most like to be a bit cosier as the pilot berth is mainly a store for long objects like surfboards/danbouys etc and I don't sleep in the saloon (or the heads). I could easily re-rpurpose the duct leading to the heads as a vee berth outlet, as it passes through the fore cabin en route to the heads, but I thought I'd check there isn't a reason not to that hasn't occurred to me. (likely)

Thanks,

Simon.

 

[PaulRainbow]

No reason not to have a vent in the cabin, but make sure you have Co alarms

 

[Chiara’s slave]

No reason not to have a vent in the cabin, but make sure you have Co alarms

And of course, as it’s a non permanent living space, test the alarms regularly. They might have been doing the ‘replace battery’ bleeping for a fortnight while you’re not there.

 

[Plum]

Hi All,

My new(ish) to me, sailboat has a diesel heater fitted that has duct outlets in the saloon, the aft berth, the heads' compartment, and the little bit between the saloon and the fore cabin. It doesn't have one in the fore cabin where I sleep in the vee berth. Is this typical, and is there a safety reason for it? Or maybe it actually works better that way? It's certainly the part of the boat I would most like to be a bit cosier as the pilot berth is mainly a store for long objects like surfboards/danbouys etc and I don't sleep in the saloon (or the heads). I could easily re-rpurpose the duct leading to the heads as a vee berth outlet, as it passes through the fore cabin en route to the heads, but I thought I'd check there isn't a reason not to that hasn't occurred to me. (likely)

Thanks,

Simon.

It is nice to have an outlet in the forecabin where you sleep, particularly good if the outlet is as low as possible. If the air inlet to the heater draws air from outside rather than recirculating the cabin air you will significantly reduce condensation.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

It sounds like you could Tee off the duct to the heads and install an outlet somewhere convenient in the forward cabin.
You could then close the heads vent and be toasty warm fore cabin.
Take a good look at the insulation on the ducting. A well insulated ducting system make a world of difference to the available in the cabins.

 

[Simon F]

It sounds like you could Tee off the duct to the heads and install an outlet somewhere convenient in the forward cabin.
You could then close the heads vent and be toasty warm fore cabin.
Take a good look at the insulation on the ducting. A well insulated ducting system make a world of difference to the available in the cabins.

Thanks Ian - I reckon that's about right. I might put a co alarm right by the outlet for peace of mind.