I fancy a woodburner on board . . .

[luckypaul]

I've got an eberspacher and it's great, but not a lot of character to a hot air blower so I'm thinking of installing a small woodburner - a Dickinson Newport seems like a good idea, it's compact and looks good but what are the drawbacks to having a woodburner on a fibreglass boat?
All advice welcome.
(boat is Colvic Watson 29, spends time in UK, on continental inland waterways and in the med)

 

[Poignard]

I guess the biggest drawback would be the large space needed to store the wood.

But there should be no more risk to a fibreglass boat than any other, provided the hot bits are adequately insulated from the bits that might melt or catch fire.

 

[daveyw]

soot/carbon and resins dripping on your coachroof

 

[Wansworth]

I had two small yachts with wood/Coal fires.Used to burn drift wood and kept a sack of coke for occassions without a wood supply.The downside is keping it all clean,the dust and spring cleaning etc.Aftr a while you wil have a nice colour to the paintwork but a proper stove is great fun and useful....but not as handy as pushing astart button!

 

[Colvic Watson]

Burning charcoal could be possible? But the dust and mess from a wood burner is a pain. Still our CW's have the space for one.

 

[chinita]

I think the Dickinson Newport is primarily designed for charcoal.

I am thinking of getting one for my wooden boat.

Let me know how you get on!

 

[Downsman]

I've got a charcoal burner in my fibre glass boat (previous boat had a wood burner) and as pointed out ash/coal dust could be a problem..but..I've cracked it.. Bought a rechargable hand vacuum cleaner, a little one which I hold close to the heater whenever I need to either add charcoal or remove ash. It may sound a performance but it's really very simple and has cut down grubby book shelves and other surfaces by 95%.

If I can just draw your attention to wood burning? Some..not all.. pallet wood can be a health risk if burnt on a wood burner. The pallets are impregnated with a chemical to kill pests/bugs and will give off fumes when burnt. Have a look on Google at ...Danger burning pallets.. There's a lot of info on there which may be of interest.

 

[Seanick]

I have a 7Kw multifuel burner with a 4" flue. Its tall but 11" square on the base. For clean decks I use smokeless fuels like those nuggets that have been reformed. Coalbrite is not much use. Use wood when its there, or for quick heat then settle it down on smokeless coal and enjoy warm dry heat all night. You will be suprised how many bags of coal you can get in a locker, and how long it can last.
The odd sweep of the flue will control soot on the deck, but if you have run it at full bore and find soot on the deck then a bucket of seawater shifts it before it gets trodden in.
Emptying the ashpan and a bit of a sweep up is a small price to pay for silent electric free heat. A kettle on top gives free hot water and saves gas. The kids enjoy lighting it too. Firelighters and gloves make that quick and clean. We use ours when sailing, usually with the chimney down as it gets knocked over when we gybe!

My summary: A bit dirty, but worth it.

 

[armchairsailor]

I have a 7Kw multifuel burner with a 4" flue.

You've got 7kw? How big's the boat?? We only have a 4.5kw for our living room! Must be nice for a spot of winter sailing though.

 

[Simondjuk]

My summary: A bit dirty, but worth it.

Sounds like my kind of an old boiler!

 

[mikewilkes]

I think the Dickinson Newport is primarily designed for charcoal.

I am thinking of getting one for my wooden boat.

Let me know how you get on!

Morso Squirrel at 4 to 5 kw is also designed for boats as well. We have one in the sitting room at home. Can recommend them its our third house that we have put one in.

.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Morso Squirrel at 4 to 5 kw is also designed for boats as well. We have one in the sitting room at home. Can recommend them its our third house that we have put one in.

.

Just picked up a minted second hand one for £195 on Gumtree. It will be the second one I have fitted; great stove. For a boat less than 40' though I would think it too big on footprint and output.

 

[Sandy]

How big a tender do you have?

 

[mjcoon]

... what are the drawbacks to having a woodburner on a fibreglass boat?

I guess you won't have the temptation to burn part of the boat to keep warm. Like the Inuit did in Muir-and-Norden's story in the long-lost and lamented BBC radio programme "My Word" which started in 1956.

It's the title story in their book "You Can't Have Your Kayak and Heat It". Unfortunately I only have the second book, so I don't know which of the two was responsible for telling that story.

Mike.

 

[Blueboatman]

I believe that Tom Cunliffe is fitting a multifuel burner to his new grp boat so the OP would be in hallowed company
Actually it's quite a good blog he narrates about it, google TC et .

 

[mikeinkwazi]

Burning charcoal could be possible? But the dust and mess from a wood burner is a pain. Still our CW's have the space for one.

We have a 2kw charcoal burner heating a 32ft boat. Too hot sometimes we leave the hatches open!

 

[Kelpie]

If we didn't already have a Wallas parrafin heater, I would be fitting a solid fuel stove. Cheaper to buy, in some ways a much nicer heat.
We sail with two large hairy dogs so have long since given up on trying to keep things clean!

Know a guy who has the same stove (Aarow Acorn) in his 29ft boat as we have in our house. Toasty.

The Acorns are made of steel, not cast iron, so are both less prone to crack, and considerably lighter. However I think the smallest one is 4kw.

 

[Gordonmc]

We have a 2kw charcoal burner heating a 32ft boat. Too hot sometimes we leave the hatches open!

This is similar to a home-hewn one which I installed on my previous (wooden) boat. Although designed to burn charcoal I used wood and smokeless coal. Best of all, though was a mix of charcoal and peat briquettes.
That little stove was in use through three winters on a swinging mooring, often in sub-zero temperatures.
Some pointers; driftwood contains a lot of salt which won't do your flue much good, even stainless. Fresh cut pinewood resin will end up on your decks as a messy tar.
One final one; make sure you have good air-flow control to avoid too much flame and sparks exitting the flue. I had an H piece made up for the top of the lum with old bean cans hanging under the down-pipes to catch tar and soot.

 

[snooks]

If you want atmosphere, get an oil lamp, it also give off heat...much cheaper, much less hassle, uses no electricity, and gives a unique atmosphere.

You have heating already, so you don't really need another source of heat....so see how it goes.

Then if you find you want more atmosphere you can spend your money and get a wood burner.

 

[Poignard]

This is similar to a home-hewn one which I installed on my previous (wooden) boat. ....
That little stove was in use through three winters on a swinging mooring, often in sub-zero temperatures....

Does your dog miss it?