Falmouth Liveabord Suggestions

In my youth,I spent a lot of time in Falmouth. Loved it.
Heating: All gas/parrafin units produce water. Simple chemistry. Flued units are the only possibility for a live-aboard if you don't have mains power. There are some small woodstoves for boats, but you need to feed them fairly frequently. Google 'Force ten stoves'. Insulation is probably your best investment.
Apart from the lecky requirement, just look at the number of problems with Ebers on these forums, and the PRICES. At least, if you have a solid fuel/wood stove, it is fairly simple,and can be fixed.
I lived 'off grid' for a few years and explored the possibilities. Tilly lanterns are very bright, and hot, but same old prob. Burn hydrocarbons, you get water. OK in a a house (sort off) but not in a boat. Built a wood stove with a heating coil for domestic water. Worked well, but again, you are short of space.
Best bet is a mains link were you find haven
 
DownWest said:
In my youth,I spent a lot of time in Falmouth. Loved it.
Heating: All gas/parrafin units produce water. Simple chemistry. Flued units are the only possibility for a live-aboard if you don't have mains power. There are some small woodstoves for boats, but you need to feed them fairly frequently. Google 'Force ten stoves'. Insulation is probably your best investment.
Apart from the lecky requirement, just look at the number of problems with Ebers on these forums, and the PRICES. At least, if you have a solid fuel/wood stove, it is fairly simple,and can be fixed.
I lived 'off grid' for a few years and explored the possibilities. Tilly lanterns are very bright, and hot, but same old prob. Burn hydrocarbons, you get water. OK in a a house (sort off) but not in a boat. Built a wood stove with a heating coil for domestic water. Worked well, but again, you are short of space.
Best bet is a mains link were you find haven
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Other options on solid fuel heaters - Bengco & Hampshire Heaters - you'll find both if you google them. Similar prices. I'm looking at them at the moment.
 
Seajet said:
One answer to the necessary hole in the deck / coachroof might be a dinghy buoyancy tank inspection hatch, to remove the flue and close it off in the summer if off for a sail ?

A free standing mains electric 'oil filled radiator' heater like a DeLonghi Dragon would be excellent and more economical ( safer too ! ) for longer periods, they have 2 settings and a thermostat, around £50 I think.

Mentioning safety makes me think, do have some alarms, good extinguishers and an escape route even if it's a dinghy alongside, especially if alone.

I'm jealous, I think you'll have heaps of fun !
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Seajet, that is such a simple and elegant idea - and an entirely doable one too. Thanks for the prod! Yes, I'm starting to learn that solid fuel holds a lot of plus points! Hmm, alarms, I do not have - yet! - I seriously need to move that up the priority list. I have a gas stove, and if I get a solid fuel, I'm guessing I would need a gas alarm, and a C02 alarm?

Thanks, yep, I'm kind of giddy about this whole adventure and really looking forward to it! :D

jakeroyd said:
Another heater to consider is Propex , sort of like an Eber but burns gas. You need a fair sized gas bottle for winter use.
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jakeroyd, looks interesting, I'm kind of leaning away from gas, but great to see the options!


DownWest said:
Flued units are the only possibility for a live-aboard if you don't have mains power. There are some small woodstoves for boats, but you need to feed them fairly frequently. Google 'Force ten stoves'. Insulation is probably your best investment.
Apart from the lecky requirement, just look at the number of problems with Ebers on these forums, and the PRICES. At least, if you have a solid fuel/wood stove, it is fairly simple,and can be fixed.
Click to expand...

Downwest, yeah, I have an Ebber onboard, but I'm seriously thinking about ebaying it and reinvesting in a solid fuel. Looks like the insulation is a good direction for me (at the mo), until I can figure out where to actualy site the solid fuel!! Good to hear from another 'off-gridder', thank you! :)

Comrade Red said:
Other options on solid fuel heaters - Bengco & Hampshire Heaters - you'll find both if you google them. Similar prices. I'm looking at them at the moment.
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Comrade Red, Wow, that stove is teeny!!!! Thanks for the link, more reading!! :)
 
If you are at anchor, or on a beach then just buy a cheap dinghy and a tarp to store your solid fuel. If you have a vehicle, or can beg a lift, theres a recycling place about a mile from penryn that will let you take wood for a small fee. Usually plenty of old 4x2 and stuff there that goes in a stove lovely! Plus using a saw will warm you up enough to not need the fire for a bit longer!
 
Back in the 70's and 80's, there were plenty of 'hippies' who lived in Wales smoking dope and they heated the dwellings with converted butane tanks which they had sawn the top off and then fitted it back on with hinges and a latch. It was then mounted on its side and a chimney was fitted to the back.

Usually they were constructed from the 15kg bottles but a small version can easily be fabricated from a 7kg bottle and remember every surface of a charcoal/woodstove radiates heat at about 600-700°C, which, on a boat is serious heat output for such a small amount of space. ;)

A charcoal stove would require a very small flue, probably 1" to 1½" max. :)
 
lenseman said:
Back in the 70's and 80's, there were plenty of 'hippies' who lived in Wales smoking dope and they heated the dwellings with converted butane tanks which they had sawn the top off and then fitted it back on with hinges and a latch. It was then mounted on its side and a chimney was fitted to the back.

Usually they were constructed from the 15kg bottles but a small version can easily be fabricated from a 7kg bottle and remember every surface of a charcoal/woodstove radiates heat at about 600-700°C, which, on a boat is serious heat output for such a small amount of space. ;)

A charcoal stove would require a very small flue, probably 1" to 1½" max. :)
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There's a guy who works at the Eden Project who makes similar design stoves, but they work so that the gas given off is burnt on a secondary system in an inner chamber. Or something like that. I'll ask around tomorrow. Ah, just asked the Mrs, and it was a big oildrum sized system. But have you seen kelley kettles?
 
simon barefoot said:
If you are at anchor, or on a beach then just buy a cheap dinghy and a tarp to store your solid fuel. If you have a vehicle, or can beg a lift, theres a recycling place about a mile from penryn that will let you take wood for a small fee. Usually plenty of old 4x2 and stuff there that goes in a stove lovely! Plus using a saw will warm you up enough to not need the fire for a bit longer!
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simon, haha, yep, nothing like a bit of wood sawing to warm one up!!! good to know about that recycle place, i think i'm sold on the idea of solid fuel so now i just need to work out which version! :) i like the idea of the floating storage option too!

lenseman said:
Back in the 70's and 80's, there were plenty of 'hippies' who lived in Wales smoking dope and they heated the dwellings with converted butane tanks which they had sawn the top off and then fitted it back on with hinges and a latch. It was then mounted on its side and a chimney was fitted to the back.

Usually they were constructed from the 15kg bottles but a small version can easily be fabricated from a 7kg bottle and remember every surface of a charcoal/woodstove radiates heat at about 600-700°C, which, on a boat is serious heat output for such a small amount of space. ;)

A charcoal stove would require a very small flue, probably 1" to 1½" max. :)
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lenseman, those hippies knew a thing or two!!! I never heard of such a thing, but its a genius idea! Off to check it out on google, surely some hippy, somewhere will have made a little plan drawing! :rolleyes:

simon barefoot said:
But have you seen kelley kettles?
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Those look pretty wild! There's also somethig that they use in Africa that somehow recycles the off gas into a secondary system - I wonder if its a version of your oil drum design? There's also solar ovens which are a pretty neat idea, it would be great to somehow get a 'marine' version of this going on! Then of course, I'd be forced to sail to Australia to really benefit! :D
 
floebs said:
lenseman, those hippies knew a thing or two!!! I never heard of such a thing, but its a genius idea! Off to check it out on google, surely some hippy, somewhere will have made a little plan drawing! :rolleyes:
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Hippies were capitalism's stormtroopers. One probably has a nice little business making them now. :D
 
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Comrade Red, wow, thats looks wild!! thanks for the piccie, gives me a better idea of what simon was talking about!! now i need to get my magnifying glass out and decipher those chalked instructions!!! or just visit the eden project :D

simon barefoot said:
Thats the one! I was going to take a picture of that but it was dark and I was carrying a ladder...
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Simon, pah! what kind of excuse is pitch black and ladder carrying?? I could have frozen to death by the morning!! ;)
 
Bonsai & Shed

floebs said:
Comrade Red, wow, thats looks wild!! thanks for the piccie, gives me a better idea of what simon was talking about!! now i need to get my magnifying glass out and decipher those chalked instructions!!! or just visit the eden project :D



Simon, pah! what kind of excuse is pitch black and ladder carrying?? I could have frozen to death by the morning!! ;)
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I wonder if it would be possible to make a mini-bonsai version, perhaps out of a large paint tin? Oh for a shed!
 
From another thread, seems that force ten engineering is no more. But they used to make a neat stove out of some 100x100 box section. Used charcoal, but wood was a practical alt. in small sizes.
If you got some scrap and cut it to size, any welder could put it together in an hour.
PM me with an e-mail, if you want a design.
DW

A US outfit used to make kits for oil drum stoves. All the door stuff, feet and baffles, just ad a drum and hacksaw. Touch big for a boat though..
Oh, and read this for encouragement

.http://www.atomvoyages.com/articles/iceman.htm
 
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