hot water heating system vs hot air system

[wotayottie]

any views? it will be easier to retro fit diesel powered water heating and radiators to my boat than hot air eberwhatsit type, and it has the benefit of getting round the fact that my raw water engine doesnt heat the hot water very well. but do they work as well?

has anybody got any practical experience of the water types?

 

[rickp]

We have a Kabola which is similar to a combi boiler (with instant hot water) and radiators and its fantastic. Really keeps the boat toasty and feels just as warm as being at home. We have 4 radiators in the saloon and one each in the the 3 cabins and deck saloon.

Rick

 

[DipperToo]

See my reply to an earlier request for cabin heating.

Link Here

 

[nedmin]

No contest! Had both ,Rads far superior.Plus plenty of hot water.

 

[desiderata]

We have had experience of both - hot air - noisy and inefficient (main cabin boiling hot and the others still freezing cold). Water system with radiators easy to live with and far more efficient.
Depending upon your type of boat governs what sort of boiler is easy to fit.
If you have space a drip feed like a kabola is excellent and uses no electric power other than if necessary a water pump, however, you do need to have a chimney going out the top of the boat and it takes a reasonable amount of space.
If you haven't either got the space or don't want a chimney, I can recommend the hurricane heater which is what we have in out motor cruiser, it takes up very little space and can be hidden away with a skin fitting out the side of the boat - a full service also takes less than 1 hour and there are not complex parts (i.e. having to buy a £100 part because a 50p bit has broken which we had with another boiler)

 

[Robin2]

I chose hot air because I believe the circulation of air will help to defeat dampness. You can get little blower radiators for water systems (like a heater in a car) which may offer a similar advantage, but at a price. I wore out two Eberspacher blowers and changed to a Wallas. I've worn out one Wallas blower now, but much cheaper to replace, and I think I can repair the electric motor for a few €.

 

[Graham_Wright]

[ QUOTE ]
(like a heater in a car)

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not a car type heater? They have to be dirt cheap from the breakers, fairly easy to fit and small

 

[JerryHawkins]

We've had both. Eberspacher Airtronic D2 on last boat - just one main cabin and simple run for large bore air hose. Current boat I've fitted Eberspacher Hydronic 5. We have two blower matrices, onew for main saloon and one for wheelhouse. A heated towel rail is great in the heads and a standard small double domestic radiator in the forward cabin. the small-bore pipe runs make installation very simple compared to finding routes for large bore air ducting around the boat. Never had a problem with the Eberspacher that I couldn't fix. They are not fit and forget, they do need maintenance every so often!

We also have a Refleks gravity feed diesel heater for when it gets really cold or the Eberspacher is demanding attention! Advantage of this is no power needed and quiet. Ours has no water jacket but you can get this for some models; add a small pump and plumb inti radiators.

Depends on what you want and the size and layout of your boat.

Cheers,

Jerry