Good Value Boat heaters

D.,
seems like planar gets excellent reviews on the PBO, have a look there (threads started by oldgit and pagoda)

at that sort of price even having a reverse cycle aircon I'd be temped (if I was using the boat in the winter that is...)

V.
 
I have one, so far, so good. There have be reports problems, but often due to poor installation. Glow plugs are a weak point and the supplied wire is a bit thin so voltage drop may also be a problem. Both of these are easily solved
 
Bigplumbs said:
Well I have just ordered one. I will set it up in the workshop and see how it goes. Cheap is an interesting word. Sould we use. Good value, Inexpensive or another word.
Click to expand...

To be fair, they are 'cheap' in terms of price and build quality. You can pick a full heater kit, with timer and remote control for a little over a hundred quid. You can't expect a great deal for that price, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised.
 
A friend recently bought one as a garage heater and is very pleased with it, will be interesting to see the long term reliability.
They are Chinese copies of a Planar.
 
snowbird30ds said:
I would be wary about the silencer unless in an open position as it looks spot welded in the piccie and won't be fully sealed, interesting translation for the fuel tank....
Click to expand...

I will set it up in the shed/workshop first to see how it operates and give it a decent test. Might be possible to run in some solder on the silencer to make sure it is sealed.

I must say I think the world has been ripped off somewhat with the main stream brands that were previously available
 
Interested in how you get on plumbs.

Are you going to use the 10 litre fuel tank or come off the boat tank? I think most issues with these on boats are fuel related. Might be good to use the small tank with white diesel?

Are you going to get a marine exhaust hull outlet?

How long do you think the air outlet tubing runs can be?
 
FARSCO said:
Interested in how you get on plumbs.

Are you going to use the 10 litre fuel tank or come off the boat tank? I think most issues with these on boats are fuel related. Might be good to use the small tank with white diesel?

Are you going to get a marine exhaust hull outlet?

How long do you think the air outlet tubing runs can be?
Click to expand...


When I set it up on the bench I will use the supplied tank and to keep things simple and to be able to spot any issues I think I will probably use this supplied tank on the boat as well.
It will be dependant on the space to fit the tank. I like the idea of it being completely separate from my engine fuel.


I will be fitting it in a Sealine S24 and I will indeed get the hull SS exhaust fitting £39 on ebay.

On the S24 I will run one hot air outlet to under the stairs in the main cabin and a second one into the upper 'tent' cabin location to be decided. The S24 is a small boat and I think that will be enough. I plan to draw the inlet air from near the heater (which will be in the engine bay) in the upper 'tent' cabin so as not to suck in any smells from the engine bay.


Exhaust will again be near the heater to the SS fitting on the outside of the hull.

I suspect I will have to buy some extra pipe and indeed insulation for the pipework and a Y junction for the 2 outlets. I think however I should be able to get all materials including the heater etc for about £200. I will fit it myself and part of the reason for buying it is because I like a little project.


I looked at the mainstream products like this last year and felt that they were way way overpriced for what they did and I also suspected we would not actually use it that much.


At this price and if it is ok I think it is worth a go and any boat is more appealing if it has heating when away from the pontoon


Hopefully it will be ok but if not it is not much money wasted and the holes I will have to drill are not that significant and the fittings over the holes can be left in place. I suspect all the fittings are interchangeable with the main stream units.


From memory and as a comparison I was quoted £2700 for a mainstream one fitted in place last year !!! :( :mad:


Dennis
 
Last edited:
Sounds great. Please post links to the additional parts you find that work with it if you don’t mind.

Best of luck!
 
FARSCO said:
Interested in how you get on plumbs.

Are you going to use the 10 litre fuel tank or come off the boat tank? I think most issues with these on boats are fuel related. Might be good to use the small tank with white diesel?

Are you going to get a marine exhaust hull outlet?

How long do you think the air outlet tubing runs can be?
Click to expand...

I am running mine on kerosene, aka heating oil, aka 28sec oil. Allegedly runs hotter and cleaner, as many report sooting up problems on diesel. You can control the fan and the fuel pump independently on the chinaspachers, so if sooting occurs you have room to adjust it out. So far mine has run fine on factory settings, but only clocked up about 12 hours so far.
 
CLB said:
I am running mine on kerosene, aka heating oil, aka 28sec oil. Allegedly runs hotter and cleaner, as many report sooting up problems on diesel. You can control the fan and the fuel pump independently on the chinaspachers, so if sooting occurs you have room to adjust it out. So far mine has run fine on factory settings, but only clocked up about 12 hours so far.
Click to expand...

What’s the consumption....interested how long 10 litres would last?
 
I've been thinking along similar lines, as these units seem very cheap / good value.
As vas suggested, despite having three reverse cycle air con units on board, which to be honest I find a bit noisy, something like this could be really useful in colder weather. The other advantage to me would be being able to program it to run twice a day say, to keep the overall temp in the boat at a sensible level throughout the winter, whether we're on board or not.
Andy
 
Bigplumbs said:
I must say I think the world has been ripped off somewhat with the main stream brands that were previously available
Click to expand...

Not sure what all the R & D costs were to those that first produced diesel heaters but I would say it was significantly more than it was for the Chinese factory that just copied one, not sure how they get away with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top