generator and heating

[viramati]

Am purchasing freeman 26 river cruiser and need some way of heating it. I could go for the eberspacher airtronic D2 but they are around £1000. So I had also been thinking of getting a generator (which I would use anyway for doing work etc on boat) and a fan heater. the Honda Eu20i is good but expensive so I have been lokking around and found these
http://www.genpoweruk.co.uk/product.php?productid=16164&cat=249&page=1
or
http://www.genpoweruk.co.uk/product.php?productid=16186&cat=249&page=1

Any comments or ideas would be welcome

 

[alb40]

A second hand eberspacher system would be similar money installed.

A generator running a heater may be too noisey for you and your neighbours. Plus it would use quite alot of petrol as it would be running at full load.

Eberspachers are fairly quiet, more fuel efficient, and you can use it while your cruising.

I put one in our freeman 22 in the locker under the back seat. It cost £280 for the second hand unit, plus approx. £150 in ducting, fittings, fuel supply etc. Its been 100% reliable over the last couple of years since I installed it. Kepts the boat nice and toasty..

 

[viramati]

I can find the heater on e-bay but where did you find the bits (exhaust etc) to go with it

 

[William_H]

If you do wish to pursue the electric heating idea... Which may be a realistic option if you have 240v mains available for use when moored.

Then you will have accept lower overall power but possibly quicker respose.
You could attach a 240 alternator to your boat engine. This could give plenty of 240vAC power. The difficulties are that the alternator should be run at the correct speed. Usually 1500 or 3000 RPM. This means you can only use it either at cruise engine revs or at idle. Or both if you are willing to change belts on pulleys. An electric clutch is used to connect or disconnect the alternator at other times.
Or you could run a very small 240V blower heater on low setting off a large inverter. Fit the inverter in the cabin so its heat helps.

Or you could use a 12 volt heater of perhaps 500 watts. That is about 42 amps and not very much heat. it would require that you fit a much larger alternator to the engine ie 80 or 100 amp rating and only run the heater when the engine is running or when a very large battery charger is connected to the mains. PS you might have to make your own 12v heater as the idea is so unpopular that it would be difficult to buy one. That is not difficult however using computer cooling fans and nichrome wire on a heat resistant frame.
If you don't want to change the alternator then a heater of max 25 amps is all you can do for a regular alternator rated at say 40 amps.
That is only about 300 watts which won't cut the chill much unl;ess it is a tiny enclosed cabin.

If however you limit yourself to heating when the engine is running you would get more heat from the engine itself using a car type heater on the fresh water cooling circuit. Perhaps not quite so much heat from a raw water cooled engine.

But as suggested for real heat anytime the Eberspacher appears to be the best unless you go for a gas space heater.or solid fuel or similar.

A lot I would know having never considered a heater in my boat. if temp is below 20 degrees max I stay home. olewill

 

[nickcred]

Hi

We use a Kipor 3000 with a fan heater on our Birchwood 25. Always considerate about where we use it, i.e. try to moor away from other boats if possible but can hardly hear it when its 5 metres away from the boat. Also have a small oil fired radiator if we just want to take the edge off on a cold morning. Fan heater is fast and even on 1 kw setting heats the boat in a couple of mins. The Kipor has a "Smart Throttle" so adjusts its power to the load which keeps the noise down when not on ful load. One of the best/usefull purchases I have made when we purchased was around £360 I think.