Eberspachers and Carbon Monoxide

XDC

XDC

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If you can smell the exhaust gas from the heater of a boat upwind of you are you inhaling CO and if so is that slowly filling your own boat?

Distance involved is a standard pontoon walkway plus perhaps 10’
 
If your CO alarm is one of those with a little LED display it'll tell you how much CO is about. Some don't start displaying a value till it's over 30ppm though.

Probably not much risk from an Eberspaecher on nearby boats. Different if another boat owner was running a large petrol engine just upwind of you.
 
Thanks.

Our marina has asked us if we’d move as they can fit a larger boat in our space and if we agreed we’d be behind some liveaboards.

Not really a problem as we don’t tend to stay on board when it’s cold but on the odd occasion that we do we always crack the front hatch open.

Silly not to ask :encouragement:
 
Noise can be more of an irritant at 3am. I've a, I think, temporary liveaboard next door and ended up turning the boat around to get a better night's sleep. He's otherwise no problem at all and I can see the advantages of having somebody nearby if anything happens to the boat when I'm not there.
 
dom said:
Risk posed by Eber from another boat? Agree with lpdsn re small magnitude of risk.

One nevertheless needs to be aware of engine fumes generated by proximate vessels:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/591058f840f0b67b04000002/MAIBInvReport9_2017.pdf
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Very informative report , ty if This does not make every one take heed and fit a CO alarm. there risking their life.
It amazes me that their are still boats out there without one, Bloody madness if you dont have one GET ONE:encouragement:
 
The levels of carbon monoxide in the exhaust of a normally functioning heater are negligible, exhaust gases of engines (especially gasoline w/o catalyst) are magnitudes higher. CO levels only rise if the heater has a fault, mostly blocked intake or exhaust.
 
XDC said:
If you can smell the exhaust gas from the heater of a boat upwind of you are you inhaling CO and if so is that slowly filling your own boat?

Distance involved is a standard pontoon walkway plus perhaps 10’
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I would not care if there was a risk of CO I would be very upset if I had to endure the smell etc from someone running a diesel heater up wind of me. Especially in a marina where other sources of heat are available.
 
steveallan said:
I would not care if there was a risk of CO I would be very upset if I had to endure the smell etc from someone running a diesel heater up wind of me. Especially in a marina where other sources of heat are available.
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That rather depends on the type and size of boat, really. We tried heating our 13m sailing boat with fan heaters and ran up a significant bill without feeling warm. The Webasto has it toasty even with snow on the side decks.
 
steveallan said:
I would not care if there was a risk of CO I would be very upset if I had to endure the smell etc from someone running a diesel heater up wind of me. Especially in a marina where other sources of heat are available.
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Just as well you are not a long distance lorry driver - webastos and ebbies run much of the night in most lorry parks. As others have said not all boats have access to other heating. My current craft is the first with electric hookup, and if I arrive in evening in a strange place often no possibility of electric card till next day, which is anyways a waste of money as I leave having used only a fraction. Im unlikely to run my ebbie late into night as we have good duvet and often imbibe sleep inducing liquids, but first thing in morning the heater is a great comfort
 
Exhaust from my van cab heater, what ever mr Vw fits.
CO is 7 parts per million, this tested with a flue gas analyser .

If you consider the air in take for a boat heater is often close to the exhaust, maybe a meter or so apart, and we can presume no recorded poisoning by monoxide in this type of installation. Plus the many thousands of lorries using near identicle equipment, again we do not hear of poisoned lorry drivers.

My conclusion is no risk of death from your neighbours heater,
 
maby said:
That rather depends on the type and size of boat, really. We tried heating our 13m sailing boat with fan heaters and ran up a significant bill without feeling warm. The Webasto has it toasty even with snow on the side decks.
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It's also a completely different kind of warmth. Someone with more science knowledge than I can comment better on humidity effects but having lived with just a fan heater before getting the ardic working, the former can feel like sitting next to a heated stick in a cave while the latter feels like a nice warm and cosy cave. Maybe I just had a rubbish fan heater...

We've not had neighbours who stay on their boat for ages and we don't leave it on over night anyway: I think I would be embarrassed by the noise and fumes. I don't know how quickly it dissipates but holding the CO alarm over the exhaust set it off
 
Diesel exhaust fumes have been known to cause death by monoxide poisoning:

"While it is known that diesel fuel combustion engines produce much lower concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) than gasoline engines, these emissions could certainly generate lethal ambient concentrations given a sufficient amount of time in an enclosed space and under suitable environmental conditions".

Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18643868
 
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