GAS HEATER(S)

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ColinHuggins

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Famiiar with Boat Safety Code requirements I know I can have a 'portable' heater on board, say the radiant type which screws onto the top of a Gaz bottle (stowage of the cylinder then becomes a separate issue of course.)

And a short (how long?) length of flexible hose is permissible between bottle and appliance, which would enable me to hang a different type on a couple of hooks (NOT permanently fixed of course, or I'll have to install flues 'n things.)

Now a little heater of about the right (2kW) size has been available for some time BUT it doesn't have a flame failure device. CO2 detectors I can put nearby but can I possibly modify the fire with a ffd? If so, how?

You may gather that blowing out in a puff from an open window or hatch is considered a real hazard, so any ideas welcome.

I do have a Mr Buddy portable heater which is a super piece of kit and comes with all the requisite sensors to get EEC approval - but those propane cartridges lasta-little and costa-lot!!
 
Colin. I also have a Mr Buddy. Forget the small canisters - far too expensive. Get the big Calor type bottle. Mine is due for its third winter and its still got plenty left.
 
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Be aware gas burned indoors produces severe condensation.

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Um, and a few other nasties too . . .

Just a thought: do you know the minimum amounts of high-level and low-level ventilation recommended for a heater of X BTU's in a volume of Y cubic feet? It's an established equation, albeit a specialist one!
 
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Get the big Calor type bottle

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Ah, the red propane type - comes in 3.9, 6 & 13kg compared with the 4.5, 7 and 12kg blue butane cylinders. I was advised that they'd be hard to find in marinas, being a caravan commodity.

Are you the Snappie 24 on the same pontoon as Ebb Tide? Could we meet up and if you show me yours, I'll show you mine. So how big is it? Where do you put it when you don't want to use it?

Mmm,can't wait.

(Please keep this secret, I don't want everyone to know . . .)
 
No matey. I'm on a swinging up at Girt Rythe.
I've been using my common sense and gas heaters for donkeys winters now without any equation ie use your noggin and provide plenty of ventilation. Love my Mr Buddy.
 
I very much doubt whether you can get a ffd for the heater but would you leave such a thing unattended for an instant, or sleep with it on, anyway? I'd use it as it is, keeping a careful eye on it, and turn it off even when nipping down to the facilities, or a pint of milk. The beauty of these heaters is that the heat is instant - but that's about the only good thing I can think to say about them /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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I know nothing about equations just the mistake I made thinking that burning gas without a flue was a good idea

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Why are cookers treated differently to heaters?

I'm guessing it's because it is assumed that they wont be on for more than say, half an hour or so, but the fact that they are there means that some people will use them for heating?
 
I had a wall mounted gas heater on my boat until recently, approx 800H 500W 100D, any one know where I can gat another similar one as I still have the gas connection/tap in place for a replacement heater??
 
That's my view, too. These little integral bottle heaters would be far to expensive to run for long in any case. As for cookers, we have an oven that is often on for a couple of hours for a cooked meal, no problem.
 
I've got the BSS regs to hand myself, just thought peeps might be interested in how LITTLE ventilation is specified, particularly with only one sleeping on board. And far less than required to reduce condensation IMHO.

But what the regs DON'T comment on is the situation with portable heaters, presumably because they are excluded. How much hose can be used between appliance and gas bottle before it becomes 'permanent' and must comply with all those flues 'n things.

I'll do some homework but would be grateful for any input, particularly if I go down Rabbie's path and modify the set-up to use a refillable cylinder instead of throw-away cartridges.

As Mr Buddy runs on propane not butane, it would make sense to change the supply to my cooker as well. But as said above, the red Calor cylinders may not be as easily available in the UK.
 
If we are on shorepower we will use a 220v fan heater, we have a 2kw one with built in thermostat that cost about £15, it gives heat quickly and dry heat. Away from shorepower we have a 1500w equivalent gas catalytic heater that can be wall mounted or used on it's built in stand. This catalytic heater (cost about £100) runs at a temperature too low to ignite even paper held against it and has a built in flame failure device. Catalytic heaters do not produce carbon monoxide but they do produce lots of water vapour so plenty of ventilation is required to avoid condensation but so far that has never been a problem for us. We (41ft boat) have lots of hatches and a full cockpit canopy so usually something somewhere can be left open enough to provide airflow even on wet nights. Our heater runs on either propane or butane with the appropriate regulator and we run ours from the red Calor propane cylinder we carry to use for the BBQ, all other gas used is butane. Propane Calor IS easily available from Calor dealers but not from marinas, but a cylinder lasts us 2 years so not a problem. We use a very long flexible hose, permanently connected to the heater and with a permanently fitted regulator at the cylinder which is kept outside in the cockpit, the heater is used on it's stand where needed. So far we have not left it on overnight but that is more because it was too warm than anything because unlike the fan heater it is not on a thermostat.

In case folks suggest Eberspachers, we have one fitted that has never worked since we bought the boat, it requires a new control panel at least, in any event is not ducted to where we need it (we sleep up front) and it uses too many amps for continuous use away from shorepower.
 
Thanks for contributing one and all - there's little point my hankering for the Wallas air-blown paraffin setup of my last boat: insufficient space and nowadays even less dosh!

I'm trying to reconcile best practice with commonsense, also conforming to inland waterway standards and therefore the Boat Safety Code cannot be ignored. So semi-permanent installations are not permissible - it has to be street legal OR easily removeable.

Catalytic heaters: the appropriate model (2kW) was too large to fit into my lickle boat, and I managed to vacillate long enough for them to be withdrawn from the market!

Feed from a refillable cylinder: there's a 2.5m hose available for Mr Buddy so that is certainly a possibility, but do I convert the cooker to propane as well given problems obtaining same echoed above? I can't see one cylinder lasting very long for both heating AND cooking - I reckon a week max in winter, and if you'll forgive the obvious, marinas are going to be my only source of supply.

Que faire?
 
Que fair? First you need to determine whether you can live with a flue-less system, with the unavoidable problems of fumes and moisture. If cost is putting you off a flued system, have you considered charcoal? Probably the least expensive flued system you can get. Many benefits and a nice cosy warmth. Most people who have used them love them, especially in smaller boats. Very environmentally friendly if you get 'green' charcoal /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You might get one cheap in a boat jumble as everyone gets onto the diesel bandwagon or moves into marinas with shore power.
 
This is listed in Force 4

This works fine for us as I said, cylinder outside in the cockpit and long (5m) hose. It will run off a Calor cylinder (Propane red OR butane blue) or any of the Gaz butane cylinders, with the appropriate regulator. Most people have them fitted on a bulkhead and to a plumbed in gas tap, we prefer to be able to move it around.
 
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