Heating

[gilespie]

Can anybody give advice about boat heating? We're thinking about fitting webasto heating in our Nicholson 35, and it sounds really good. Are there any drawbacks with this type of system (apart from initial cost!!). And how well does it work for liveaboard conditions. We'd envisage using it duriing Autumn/Winter in UK and Northern Europe.

 

[Guest]

Does it need to be out of the saloon? If not something like the reflex is half the price and boils the kettle to!

Roly, Voya Con Dios, Glasson, Lancaster http://www.voya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk//MW1/Intropage.htm

 

[Gordonmc]

I would be interested in experiences as I want to improve winter warming. Had a paraffin fired cabin heater which frightened me silly... all that flame in a confined space.
Gas seems the most convenient... but it would add to the moisture content in the cabin. Hot air systems (Webasto or Eberspacher) are costly unless you can convert a lorry unit and another drawback is the battery power drained by the fan.
One of the nicest little heaters I have seen was in a Vertue, a small charcoal burning brass affair... but I have never seen them for sale. Fine smell, dry heat and very little flame.
So in the short term it is an electric fan heater when we have shore power and a portable butane heater when we don't.

 

[Robin2]

I installed an Eberspacher DL5 in my catamaran before Christmas and I am very pleased with it (apart from the initial price!). As you can imagine there is a need for a lot of ducting to get warm air to all corners of a cat.

It came with a timer so the boat is grand and warm when I get home and get out of bed in the morning. I use about 3 litres of fuel a day - a bit more on cold days - but I have very little insulation in the boat at this stage.

I was suffering from dreadful condensation before I got the heater (probably the coldest part of the winter) but I have no problem now.

 

[Guest]

Katoema, a 40' steel ketch, is cork lined throughout and uses a Webasto. (Its her 2nd one to be installed). It is used on a closed system, like domestic heating, with flat surfaced radiators. Runs on diesel from main tank and has proven economical running costs approx 1Lt per day. As she does not suffer from condensation, the bunks are lined with Ventair 15, the material that repells condensation when sleeping on a bunk.

The Webasto as the heat source cannot be beaten, but how you circulate that heat will need to be researched for you vessel.

 

[Mirelle]

The charcoal burning stove is a Pansy, made by Pascall Atkey in Cowes IOW. Don't know if they still make them.

I have a coal stove made by Shipmate in the USA but they closed down some years ago.

I am told that Davey and Co have just started to produce a nice small coal stove, but I have not seen one. Colin Frake in Faversham does make a very nice one which I have seen - about on the minimum size, but keeps in overnight well.

I am definitely a solid fuel fan; much safer than liquids or (horrors!) gas!

 

[ZEBEDEE]

Just fitted Eberspacher Hydronic 5Kw and am very pleased as it gets heat to all parts of boat without having to use large ducting. You can even use small domestic radiators.

 

[cynthia]

Went to a boat jumble at the back end of last year - one guy was selling re-con Erb. from lorry cabs. Although they only had one outlet, they were blasting out heat and as the vendor was something to do with the company, seemed well maintained and reliable. Price was between £100 and £150 depending on model. Seemed a good deal to me.

 

[Guest]

We once laid alongside a yacht which had hot-air heating (not sure whether webasto or Eberwhatnot). One evening when the owners were out, the heating system burst into flame and burned out the boat. Not a nice experience, but that is my only knowledge, except to say that they make a noise.

In Fare Well we had a diesel cooker which heated the water and ran one radiator, but that made a noise too. We also had a Refleks which was supernb but ugly. When we sold her and the new owners did not want the Refleks, we took it off them and it has been in Hosanna since. Total usage 26 years, silent, economical and efficient, but you do have to servcie the carburettor once a year and that is messy.

In Hosanna we also have oil-fired central heating. Now she is a big boat, but it is possible to get a small boiler of the type fitted to Dutch barges that has a 12 volt thermostat. I think the trade name is Kubola or something.

We also have two wood-burning stoves, and one of them is alight as I write. If we are cruising all winter (and that is often the case) then we never lack for cheap fuel for we find it floating. Seawater soaked wood (when dried 0f course) burns with a lovely colour and it is a fine dry heat. The stoves are probably too heavy for some boats. I think ours would sink a beneteau.

A lot depends where you lay up for the winter, if you do. Many people do so in a Med marina. The chances are you will not need heat overnight, nor during the day, and a 500 watt electric fire will do the trick in the evening and cost very little. It also makes a lot less mess than a wood stove.

William Cooper

 

[Guest]

I fitted a Taylors Diesel heater for my stay in UK this winter Cost about £600 heats by Spray replica (huge volume) a treat. Uses minimal diesel, no power, gives a cheery glow and could be repaired by anyone in any part of the world.

 

[Guest]

Wouldn't touch an Eberspacher, Webasto or Mikuni, particularly for liveaboard use where unreliability can be a big problem. Search hard for the space to fit the small Kabola boiler, or the Danish Refleks heater works very well. And on the subject of noise I once spent a beautiful night in newton ferrers on passage to Falmouth, looking forward to first light and the birds in the trees. What did we get but the awful pervasive roar of an Eberspacher/Webasto/Mikuni on the next door boat. Spoilt the morning!

 

[gunnarsilins]

I have....

...Webasto 9 kW heater running on diesel from the main tanks warming water which circulates through small radiators.

This sytem has proved very realible and allows us to live on board even when temperature is below -15 centidegrees and the yacht is stuck in 15 cm of ice.

 

[Guest]

Hello Bill

You don't know me but i've read all the Hosanna books and wondered where you are now and if there are any new books on the way.



johnS

 

[ccscott49]

Webastos are very efficient, noisyish. I like them and have one on board, kept me warm in two very severe winters in Holland. The others are also very good, less noise, but less efficient as the heat eminates from one place. A big boat can carry the big systems. If i was fitting new, I would go for a water and radiator system, with modern eberthingy boiler and modern push fit piping, which is both quiet and efficient. The refleks and the others, do hgive off a nice glow, admitted, especially reflecting off varnished wood!!!

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Heating, DON\'T USE TOYS

We used to have a Nic 35 but decided to buy a larger boat as we wished to live aboard. We bought a Nic 48, which had no heating. We keep her in a small marina in the Netherlands as we still work and need to do so for some other 8 years before we can do the serious cruising. Anyway, there are some 15 liveaboard-boats in our marina and we did some serious listening. All but one have Kabola central heating systems. The one that hasn's uses a Mikuni. After we sold the house we still had to live aboard our Nic35 for some time during winter befor the 48 arrived. The nic35 had a new Webasto which we installed the previous summer. It broke down after 3 weeks of permanent use. These are toys which will keep you warm in spring or autumn, but arre too fragile for permanent use. Se we decided to take the Kabola. The others were right. For your Nic35 however, the Kabola will be too bulky and too heavy. The Mikuni might be an option. Do use a water heating system. We spent a lot of time finding the right radiators as we did not care to live on a boat stuffed with bulky ones. Finally we found them at our local central heating business. Don't try and find them at marine supply stores, as they will overcharge you and you won't have much choice. It is a good idea to add a heat exchanger into the system and heat fresh air from outside the boat. This will keep the condensation at bay. The radiators will keep the temperature more constant which avoids the system to switch on and off too frequently (as air heating systems do).
Last but not least: your Nic 35 has the advantage of having most lockers lined with plywood. That keeps condensation out. To get rid of the condensation in your hanging locker and in the lockers behind the backrests, simpy line them with rubber carpet underlay. That does the trick perfectly. We learned from our fellow-liveabords that there is no such thing as a battle against the cold. There is, however, a battle against condensation. Good luck!

Peter @ s/v Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Netherlands