heating

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mike_bryon

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we will be living aboard in the UK from april and want to sort out the heating before next winter. We currently have none! Our boat is 60ft, 5 cabins plus saloon, heads etc. We are a family of 6. Can anyone recommend an economical solution. We have 16am shore power.

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Mike, I had to go through this myself, on a 48 footer.
As a reply to another question on this forum I made a longish post which you can view <A target="_blank" HREF=http://link>here</A>. Heating is a serious matter if you live aboard and there is no such thing as a cheap AND good solution. Do not make yourself dependent on shorepower, also because you need a heating that also allows you a forced ventilation. Remember one thing: the battle is not against the cold, but against condensation.
PM me if you need any specific information.


<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands
 
With a boat of that size, I would recoomend that you consider a hot water system, with the heater set up to be able to use shore power if available, engine heat, or in worst case diesel. Thus you would have hot water onboard as well as heating, and the hot water pipes are much easier to hide than heated air.

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missing LINK, sorry

Too late for editing.
But, yes, indeed, link does not work, my mistake, <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=LIVEABOARD&Number=215238&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=heerenleed&Match=Username&Searchpage=8&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=206440>here</A> it is again. Sorry about this.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands
 
thanks, we have looked at some wet heating systems to drive radiators or air blowers which do you recommend? Peter's point about condensation seems to suggest that forced air is better. Some of the products on the market seem to be designed for occasional use e.g. with parts that have lives of 3,000 hrs. We welcome any recommendations on models/manufactures.

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Re: missing LINK, sorry

Thank you for persisting with the link, we will look carefully at your advice. We had already seen the Kabola system and it does look good but very expensive once you take cost of instillation, radiators (even when bought at domestic store) etc.

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Re: missing LINK, sorry

heating is expensive be it marine or domestic. We have a smaller boat than yours 44 foot which is heated by a Dickinson Newport diesel heater in the salon -- good try heat and cost me about £500 imported from Canada

In addition we have a Webasto air heater that warms up the aft cabin, and (when I get round to it) will have a ducts to the pilot house and shower compartment.

Lastly, we have a couple of small 500 watt panel heaters and a little convection heater when we are shore powered.

The convection gets used if we can't be bothered to light the Newport. before going to work for example.

One panel heater takes the chill off the pilothouse and salon, while the other heats the forward heads

Ideally I'd like to take that one out and replace with a heated towel rail that runs off warm water. The thought is top install a water circuit into the Dickinsons' and route to a rad or two and the spare coil on the calorifier, but to tell the truth is probably too much like hard work.

Our webasto burn air from inside the boat venting outside of course and this helps suck air through the boat and reduces condensation.

Whatever you decide on a boat that size you will have to spend a lot of money to warm it up properly

Good luck!


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Re: missing LINK, sorry

If you go to your original post (or actually any of your posts) you will note that there is a facility to "Edit" in the top right hand corner of the post. Clicking on this will enable you to correct any mistakes not spotted until after posted! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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Whilst I have not really explored the water heated end of the spectrum, The advice I have had has recommended that at each point that needed a heater, there should be some small heat exchanger with a computer style/sized fan to circulate the air. I seem to remember a PBO article about this sort of a set-up some years ago. However I am sure that you will get a number of posts recommending that some form of pot-bellied stove is more suitable for long term use and I cannot argue about that as I have no experience to base my response (only recently installed my heater).

I have an eberspacher 4 kw air system with 5 outlets which works well in my boat

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Re: missing LINK, sorry

I know about the EDIT facility. You can only use it within a limited time after posting the message. When you discovered I had put in the wrong link I was already too late for editing. Hence the new msg.
cheers

<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands
 
Re: missing LINK, sorry

The installation itself was free: we did it ourselves. A big advantage, because you know how the system is put together. Using plastic (tylene) pipework the installation was no big deal. I think we did it in 5 days, including the installation of the Kabola itself. The mikuni I wrote about turned out to be not a good idea. It broke down in its second year and keeps giving its owner much trouble now.

Since my first post on this there is a competitor for Kabola in the market. I'll try and find out their name and adress.


<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands
 
I live aboard my 50ft canal boat and use a Alde gas central heating boiler coupled to a number of radiators in each cabin.
I have it heating an emersion tank via a coil before the rads. I fitted a 240volt central heating pump into the system for mains pumping while the 12volt is switched of .
It has a by-pass with gate valves just after the emersion tank to isolate for only heating water for the summer.
The emersion tank also has a coil from the engine and a 240volt heating element set on a battery operated timer.
I use the largest 47kg gas cylinders mounted in the forepeak outside vented.
To back this up i am shortly going to fit a small solid fuel pot belly stove with a back boiler connected into the rad system as a back up.
I use one 47kg every three to four weeks. With the heating left constantly on all winter on a low setting. I have run this system for three years so far with only one problem.
The 12volt pumps in the Alde heaters are a bit crap so i fitted the 240v one and now only use the 12v when away from the mooring.
This system works well and is reliable. On the mooring with mains power and also away cruising. There is no smell and little battery drain. The boiler takes up very little space and is room sealed. Also nearly silent with a dry heat.
Only draw backs is the size of the gas bottles and possibly the cost of gas over diesel.
I fitted it all in new.
Rads from local plumbers.
Used 22mm pipework.




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Hi, Sorry if you a already know all this.

3 things need resolving if you want to be comfortable in winter

You need adequate insulation to ensure youdont get condensation occuring on internal surfaces.

You need adequate heating. (ideally with a high radiant heat source. We all like to sit infront of an open fire on a cold winters night. )

You need good ventilation. This might seem strange but damp outside air heated up to 20 degrees C will be very dry, in terms of RH ie outside air a 5 deg C will be less than 40% RH when heated to 20 Deg C.

I would go for a Dickinson diesel heater with a back boiler. You can inport one direct from Canada for a fraction of the price of the UK distributor. They use no power and provide cheap dry radiant/convective heat.

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Fantastic amount of leads and advice - thanks to you all. We will check out the Deckinson diesel and Alde gas options and welcome the information on insulation/ventilation and will visit the kuranda site.

The quoted price for a professional installation of a Kabola system (£7K plus vat) may well mean I install myself this summer or go half way and have the selected boiler installed professionally and then plumb it myself. As suggested there will be no better way of knowing the system.

Will let you know what we opt for.


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Thanks to a large extent to this forum, I think I finally narrowed down my search for the heater, (Dickinson solid fuel one). Now for source and the details. It looks like it will be spring by the time I finally have one onboard!!!
 
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