Good Value Boat heaters

This thread is growing!

I buy all sorts of stuff from China including big still like automatic pool covers, containers of furniture etc. In general I have no issues with it. There are a few things that I would not buy and a hydrocarbon consuming heater is one of them - to me the risk of fire or CO on an unknown device is simply not worth it. The other ( in a boat context) would be a battery charger. I just replaced one and went for an expensive Mastervolt. Is it better? No real idea, but it is on 24//7/365 on an unattended boat so I dont really want to take the risk.

I had an eber once and even with that I always had a window open in the cabin and rarely ran it overnight due to CO risk ( detectors then were not really available).

The OP has a different view, and we are all entitled to our views.
 
Portofino said:
Dennis can’t you see the risk of being on the receiving end of litigation from a no win no fee law outfit ? Similarly having to explain a damming insurance accessor report about your safety argument regarding lack of suitable ,acceptable , industry standard safety testing like CE marks ,as an example there could be more standards it’s not met ?

Exceeding the speed limit say doing 34 in a 30 and getting “ done “ is a small TRIVIAL fine / speed awareness/ points or whatever , it’s a calculated risk as you have righty’s pointed out .

The RISK here is beyond my comfort zone ,for my personal use and worst still 3rd parties on board .
Bench testing in a shed in the garden is not enough .
Why not get trading standards involved as a CYA - cover your arse .But I think I know what there response will be .

Risky can’t you see that ?
Click to expand...

I will not live my life in the sort of world you explain above. Moreover this is generally not how it is in the UK. Also the difference between you and me is that this work is way way within my comfort zone and I honestly believe that I can and will do a far better job on my boat than most of the people available to do it. I honestly have grave concerns that people think the way you do in this regard. I see you are in France and perhaps there are big differences there..... I don't know. But in the UK there is a very big DIY Culture and there is also a Principal that 'An Englishman's Home is his Castle' and this protects the rights of a home owner to do many things in their property without any qualifications or certificates at all. I am not sure that this extends to ones boat but I suspect it does in some way.


You speak as though what I am suggesting is unusual but in the UK it is not...………………… The world is full of risks and I prefer to deal with the real ones rather than worry about some sad mythical Lawyer charging at you on a horse some time in the future which in reality will not happen.


The whole no win no fee thing thankfully is not that big in the UK and long may it remain so


You must also appreciate that this is DIY work I will be doing for myself and there are very different 'laws' around this in the UK.
 
MrB said:
I'm no expert on this but the way I've always thought it was "cannot legally be sold in the UK" but what's stopping you buying one in China and shipping it over? Enter Ebay.:confused:
Click to expand...

erm no.

For starters they are not Chinese, they are Russian. Maybe they are made in China but so are a lot of Western goods too. Not sure if Russian merchandise is any better than ours but they won the space race so their technology arguably is. I only know Russian motorbikes and they are cheap and indestructible. (cue Ural vs BMW )

As for imports. No, they are sold here.
As for professional installation, they have a dealer network already in place. https://planarheaters.co.uk/authorised-dealers

Like so many of these threads I cant get to the bottom of what is bull, what is bias and what is fact.
 
Last edited:
BruceK said:
erm no.

For starters they are not Chinese, they are Russian. Maybe they are made in China but so are a lot of Western goods too. Not sure if Russian merchandise is any better than ours but they won the space race so their technology arguably is. I only know Russian motorbikes and they are cheap and indestructible.

As for imports. No, they are sold here.
As for professional installation, they have a dealer network already in place. https://planarheaters.co.uk/authorised-dealers

Like so many of these threads I cant get to the bottom of what is bull, what is bias and what is fact.
Click to expand...

I was only using China as an example and wasn't referring to the heater in question. My reply was just my take on "cannot legally be sold in the UK"

I get your point though.:encouragement:
 
Apparently they were exhibiting at SIBS this year. Not a bad gig for some pirate smugglers but SIBS as we all know is going downhill anyway. Just cant quite muster the class of yesteryear.
 
MrB said:
I was only using China as an example and wasn't referring to the heater in question. My reply was just my take on "cannot legally be sold in the UK"

I get your point though.:encouragement:
Click to expand...

Sorry I answered to you as a continuation but actually it was to the board as a whole. So much gumf to wade through I am now independently researching them
 
Boat2016 said:
These heaters are Chinese copies of a Planar and not the genuine thing.
Click to expand...

Better have a real close look at your Eber/Web. Just in case you know. Those Chinese can knock anything off. Build a wall, build it quick ;)

And I am not joking. They were plagued by it
 
rubberduck said:
Are you qualified to test it ?
Take the unit to trading standards & ask them to get their experts to check it out, if its OK you can come back here & tell us, if not you may end up saving someones life !
Click to expand...


Why do you assume it is crap...…………………………. Should I take everything I ever buy to Trading standards based on the fact it might be less expensive than something else....…………………

You also seem to assume that there is someone qualified in some official way to do every thing...…. I mowed my own lawn the other day and I did not have an operators licence or certificate of competency for the mower..... Imagine if I would have killed someone ………………..The sky is falling beware


I wonder where some people on here have spent their life...…. It isn't the world that I observe around me...…..
 
Last edited:
petem said:
Aren't we conflating two things here...

1) Branded Planar heaters which may or may not be CE Marked.
2) Non branded Chinese heaters which almost certainly aren't CE Marked.
Click to expand...

My friends heater he’s used in his garage is one of the red ones off eBay for £120 and that had no branding at all.
 
BruceK said:
erm no.

For starters they are not Chinese, they are Russian. Maybe they are made in China but so are a lot of Western goods too. Not sure if Russian merchandise is any better than ours but they won the space race so their technology arguably is. I only know Russian motorbikes and they are cheap and indestructible. (cue Ural vs BMW )

As for imports. No, they are sold here.
As for professional installation, they have a dealer network already in place. https://planarheaters.co.uk/authorised-dealers

Like so many of these threads I cant get to the bottom of what is bull, what is bias and what is fact.
Click to expand...

Hell Bruce I agree with you again...…… We should go out for a pint one day :)
 
BruceK said:
I still struggling with the concept of cannot be legally sold with the fact they are being legally sold. Not quite sure how that all works :ambivalence:
Click to expand...

Who says they are being legally sold ? There’s plenty of sellers who break the law.
 
Boat2016 said:
Who says they are being legally sold ? There’s plenty of sellers who break the law.
Click to expand...

Who says they are not being legally sold...… The perils of the internet..... When will those internet police catch up with all this...….. Those cats jumped out of the bag years ago...…….. Ever tried to herd cats
 
jrudge said:
The OP has a different view, and we are all entitled to our views.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but to quote Prof Brian Cox:

“The problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top