Heating options for use under way

Sea Change

Sea Change

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What are the best options for a boat heater that will work when under way? Not talking green water across the decks, but but coping with a degree of heeling and airflow over the sails.
I know the obvious answer is an Ebersplutter or a Webast*rd but I don't like boxes of electrical trickery if I can avoid them.
In an ideal world I would get a woodburning stove, cos I know how they work and there's nowt as reliable. But maybe a drip-feed diesel heater would be better. Open to suggestions.
 
Do drip feed heaters work when the angle of dangle is more than a few degrees, or does the drip drop in the wrong place? You might have to upgrade to a multihull, but it would be nice and warm. :)
 
I am about to find out; old boat had solid fuel stove; new boat has Refleks... but I won't be able to make an intelligent comment for a year or so!

If using either type under way, you want to keep the cabin under slight positive pressure and have the flue emerging in an area of relatively low pressure. In practical terms this means, in a sailing yacht, "don't have the spray hood up going to windward with the stove lit" and "do have the stove installed somewhere where the flue emerges roughly in line with the mast, and not anywhere where the downwash of air from the boom can affect it".
 
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I have an Eberspacher on the UK boat but like you I prefer to be independent of electrics and flame sensors etc. I will install the heater from Sigmarine.com in Vancouver. It runs on propane. I have in mind to convert to paraffin since I don't like gas. The original model ran on paraffin, with compressed air in the tank pushing out the fuel and worked well underway. I have heard it said that in rough seas it may have a problem but never noticed it over some five years. Best performance is with a small low amp Hella fan above the heater to cool the deckhead and blow warm dry air around the cabin.Cozy Specs.jpg
 
Yes I agree. My own boat has not enough space to fit the Taylor on the bulkhead against the settee etc. The Sigmarine is much narrower and actually a lot cheaper as a straight propane unit. I figure with cost of conversion to come out maybe equal to Taylor. Have not added in any duty tariff as yet. Both have the same stainless tube and vent stack.
 
I have a Sigmar 100 for use at anchor and a Webasto 2000 for underway and instant heat.
The Sigmar is not happy underway or in strong winds! it would need a balanced flue to cope.
The Webasto uses very little electrickery and is ideal for underway. With the Sigmar, Taylor's and possibly Refleks types you would have to keep going below to check that it hasn't blown out.
 
The thing is also there's the electricity involved with a blow type heater, but not with drip style diesel heater or a solid fuel burner. The latter I'd go with as there isn't anything IMHO that's cozier in a cabin than a wood burning fire..
 
AngusMcDoon said:
Do drip feed heaters work when the angle of dangle is more than a few degrees, or does the drip drop in the wrong place?
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I know their flow regulating valves don't like to be moved significantly up and down relative to the other workings. So you need to mount the valve forward or aft of the stove, not to port or starboard where heel will raise or lower it.

Pete
 
Seriously, after many years with solid fuel stoves afloat, wood is not what you want to burn in them - softwoods burn fast and foul up the flue with flammable deposits and hardwood scraps in boat stove sizes are not very common. Stick with smokeless coal. One very important point - be sure to have a damper in the flue.
 
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We have a log burner fitted by the previous owner. I use only lump wood charcoal made into small newspaper packages which reduces the dust when handling. Using charcoal also reduces the amount of smoke and is less antisocial whilst in a marina. I fitted a carbon monoxide alarm to be safe. Slightly off thread the carbon monoxide alarm went off a few times when I was away from the boat. We could not work out what had caused this but a couple of weeks later one of the house batteries was found to be gassing off and after that was replaced I had no more false alarms. I assume that the gas has a similar signature to carbon monoxide.
 
So many options. Thanks for the ideas.
A balanced flue sounds interesting.
I don't think it sounds like there is any advantage to a drip heater over solid fuel unless I can get one with a balanced flue. But using the same fuel as the engine would be economical. I like things simple of course.
It would be too much to ask to have a solid fuel stove with a balanced flue, I supposed?
 
Sea Change said:
I don't think it sounds like there is any advantage to a drip heater over solid fuel unless I can get one with a balanced flue.
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I can't find a link but somewhere in the refleks literature there's a paragraph about needing to be fitted in a tray as a small amount of fuel leakage is possible in 30' waves :)
Downside is that they need a min 400mm high chimney height above the deck, I get round this by having a small computer fan pushing air in, burns clean as a whistle now.
 
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