Heating for a 31ft 2 cabin boat.

[burgundyben]

New boat comes with a Eberspacher, not sure what kW size, haven't looked yet.

Engine box is central to the boat, I can install the eber in the engine space, run one outlet to the aft cabin, one to the main cabin fairly easily.

Is it worth having a heating outlet in the heads? No worth it?

Cockpit will have a canopy, perhaps have an outlet in the cockpit? Or leave cabin doors open and allow the heat to permeate into the cockpit?

Presume its sensible to have outlet fittings that can be closed so I can put the heat where I want it?

 

[rafiki_]

Our 40 footer does not have heating in either heads, and is fine without. You might consider windscreen demisting in the cockpit?

 

[Baseplate]

Probably not worth the effort to run it into the head-after all, how much time do you intend spending in it? *grins* Plus, I assume that your head doubles as a shower? If so, floor fittings will be one unit-probably not a good idea to introduce a breach into a waterproof fitting (the shower drain not withstanding).

My 410 has heating ducts in both cabins and the saloon-10 minutes after firing it up, everywhere is toasty warm, even on a low setting.

 

[longjohnsilver]

We have an outlet in our heads. I keep it closed. I wouldn't bother, just heat the cabins. The most time you'll probably spend in the heads is when you shower, and then I'd want the window open to get rid of steam/moisture as soon as possible. Debs might disagree with what I've just written, but she hasn't realized the outlet is close able

 

[Spi D]

Personal preferences, I believe. We have in all cabins & heads and like it.

I suggest adjustable inlets to direct heat where most needed, especially if capacity is scarse (commonly so due to cost of heaters)

 

[PCUK]

I've put an outlet into the shower/toilet on our latest boat as it was cold in the old boat when the shower was turned off. All outlets are closeable to allow heating to be concentrated where needed. Previous boat was 12m flybridge with 3KW Eber'. Latest boat is 8m sports cruiser with 4KW Eber'. Expecting toastiness in all departments!

 

[KevB]

Wouldn't bother with one in the heads but a couple in the cockpit, one at each end, makes the space usable even on the coldest days/nights. Well worth the effort of installing them.

 

[MystereMarcus]

Ben,
On my 31 I had an Eberspacher D2 mounted starboard side in the engine bay. Vents were run to the fore and aft cabins as well as one in the cockpit by the navigators feet, nothing in the heads. The vent in the main cabin was an 'always open' type while the other two could be closed. The system worked well, however on cold mornings you'd get out of bed, put the heating on and then naturally put the kettle on. The heat from the stove had usually warmed the cabin before the eber had started up! It's very useful on cold evenings though.

 

[burgundyben]

Ben,
On my 31 I had an Eberspacher D2 mounted starboard side in the engine bay. Vents were run to the fore and aft cabins as well as one in the cockpit by the navigators feet, nothing in the heads. The vent in the main cabin was an 'always open' type while the other two could be closed. The system worked well, however on cold mornings you'd get out of bed, put the heating on and then naturally put the kettle on. The heat from the stove had usually warmed the cabin before the eber had started up! It's very useful on cold evenings though.

Did yours have the wing tanks fitted?

 

[MystereMarcus]

Did yours have the wing tanks fitted?

Yes it did. I'll see if I have a photo of the installation.

 

[David2452]

I would certainly put a vent in the heads, makes a great drying room for wet gear and keeps the place nice and dry after showering, it's effectiveness will depend a lot on the output of the heater as you are already taking two vents then if it is a 2kw then minimal but still worth having. If installing in the engine bay be sure to run an always open vent ducted from the heated space, or better yet to the exterior to bring in fresh air if the heater is man enough and has a remote temp sender to the air inlet of the Ebersplutter. Really he design of the heating system is dependant on the heater output so that would be useful to know.

 

[benjenbav]

On my Aquastar 33 I had a webasto system with vents in the saloon and both cabins, but not in the heads. Given sufficient power in the system I would, ideally, want a vent in the heads as well.

 

[Andrew M]

Cabins: obviously, I personally would also include the cockpit if the heater is up to it , and as mentioned previously windscreen demisting is a good thing. I'm just evaluating using a Kalori heat exchanger to run off engine water to blow onto the screen for if we mist up while motoring in addition to the boat heating system.

 

[Greg2]

As already said I would definitely put an outlet in the cockpit. It transforms the useability of the space.

Andy,
we installed an Eberspacher heat exchanger on one of the engines for windscreen de-mist and warming the helm position on chilly days. Well worth it but a note of caution, our engines run at 80 degrees so we get warm-ish air but not hot. Good enough to de-mist....in fact it does that when cold if I leave it on for fifteen mins or so before we sail.

 

[Mexican]

I can let her know John!!!!

 

[Andrew M]

Thanks Greg, good to hear it works in principle at least. I hadn't thought about the water temp and was just thinking "hot" water. It sounds like even that works ok so I'll continue the project, I was also thinking even just turning on the blower without any heat would clear some condensation , as in the stuff you get 1st thing in the morning. Thanks for posting about it.

 

[Freeloader]

Regarding the OP, I have a similar size boat and have an outlet to the main cabin, the mid cabin, the heads and two to the cockpit. Each has an adjustable outlet, so heat can be directed as required but this does require a little common sense - the heater must be allowed sufficient throughput to avoid overheating.

I have a 3.9kW Webasto that can easily cope with all the outlets simultaneously but a smaller 2kW would probably be adequate to do the cabin. Indeed, the heater is barely running on tickover once the required temeprature is reached and so a smaller one, running harder, could be more suitable for constant use - apparently they can coke up if not worked hard enough.

 

[Why Not]

My advice is to put heat into the heads - if you get very chilled and pop in for a hot shower,
there is nothing more luxurious than nice warm surroundings. I would even go for a
heated towel rail if your proposed system could support one.

Why Not

 

[IDAMAY]

+ 1 for the heated towel rail. On our last boat (42 ft) we had an Eberspacher D5 with outlets in saloon and three cabins plus one of the two heads. The one in the heads never really did more than take a bit of the chill off. On our present boat we have heated towel rails in both heads and they are brilliant, both for keeping the temperature up and everything nice and dry.

I think at least one of the heater outlets should not have a closure to prevent the danger of the system over heating.

Richard.

 

[About Time]

Definately one in the cockpit. This is most likely where you have the most space and enjoy the evenings.
Two outlets in in cockpit of my Windy 37 keeps us all warm all year if needed. It is a Webasto 3500 (Similar to the Eberspacher).