Low temperatures this weekend

[Dorset Dan]

Just heard on bbc news that this weekends temps could be the coldest we have had for many years with severe frosts.

With perfect timing my boat is being lifted out on Friday for 6 weeks on the hard standing for annual maintenance.

As it has been so mild and the boat has been in the water on the south coast I have not done any winterising, I don't have a tube heater in engine bay, only thing I run is a dehumidifier in the cabin.

Any recommendations as to precautions to take for this forecast weather with the boat out of the water?

 

[Racingfrank7]

Run antifreeze mix through your raw water side of your engines.
How u do this depends on drive set up.
Check antifreeze content in engine coolant system, run water off and leave all taps open, run antifreeze mix through shower pumps bilge pumps and toilet system.

 

[steve930]

It might also be worth popping to b&q or screwfix & grabbing a couple of tube heaters & quickly throwing some cables/plugs on them. At least both those places are open til 8pm.

That is assuming you have access to power when on the hard

 

[rafiki_]

Drain out all your domestic water. Will need you to blow it out from a tap to clear the calorifier.

 

[CX54WEK]

Ours has been out of the water since November with heaters in the engine bay, heads and cabin running 24/7!

Guess this weekend will be the first time they are going to be tested out although we won't be going to the boat this weekend. Our diesel heating is on a timer so that will be coming on for a few hours during the mornings and evenings Friday to Monday so we are not overly concerned.

We have not even drained our water system down.

 

[VicS]

Run antifreeze mix through your raw water side of your engines.
How u do this depends on drive set up.
Check antifreeze content in engine coolant system, run water off and leave all taps open, run antifreeze mix through shower pumps bilge pumps and toilet system.

Low toxicity propylene glycol based antifreeze is available for your " domestic water" systems. It should be readily available from caravanning/ motor caravanning supplies outlets

 

[Wavey]

I know the tubular heaters cost peanuts to run but do people normally just leave them on 24/7 or put them on a timer?

 

[steve930]

I've got mine wired into a frost thermostat

 

[Dorset Dan]

Thanks all above. Mechanic is booked to drain the water from the engine once lifted and blocked off tomorrow and I will pop down this evening to drain the domestic water and see if I can get a couple of tube heaters installed.

 

[dingdongs]

Look for a trt05 on fleabay as they can be set to automatically come on at a said temp e.g.3 degrees etc

 

[rosssavage]

I know the tubular heaters cost peanuts to run but do people normally just leave them on 24/7 or put them on a timer?

Mine are on 24/7, I keep meaning to connect a frost stat, but they're permanently installed so need a bit more effort to instal the stat. I have t had them on until yesterday yet.....

 

[EugeneR]

I have a number of tubes set on thermostats, and two in the engine space and saloon connected to gsm controllers that not only work like a thermostatic switch but also lets me monitor and manage things remotely.

 

[colhel]

Just heard on bbc news that this weekends temps could be the coldest we have had for many years with severe frosts.

On the Scuttlebut we tend to follow Dr Simon Keelings' weather forecast. Can't recomend enough.

See here http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?447863-Weather-Thursday-s-Look-Ahead-A-leg-up-for-cold

 

[Dorset Dan]

Thanks for the link Colhel - seems to dispel the 'extreme' low temps that the BBC mentioned which is good news.

 

[CX54WEK]

Look for a trt05 on fleabay as they can be set to automatically come on at a said temp e.g.3 degrees etc

We had some of these on our boat in the really cold winter of 2010/2011. They failed and left the boat unheated in sub zero temperatures for a couple of weeks. Thankfully everything thawed out ok with only the domestic water pump suffering damage but since then we don't trust them and leave our heaters on 24/7.

 

[Momac]

I am sure you can get tube heaters with a built in thermostat which is presumably better than the plug in type. My engine bay tube heater is on a simple plug in timer. I can easily get to the boat and switch it to full time if the temperatures look like they will remain below freezing during the day. Nothing like that seems forecast for the near future.

I also have one small heater which has its own thermostat and had it some years . It presently sits near my calorifier as extra protection in case there is some water remaining in there. A shame B&Q haven't stocked them for a long while . A very good product that I am sure was quite cheap - under a tenner when B&Q own branded . I see them now under other branding for about £20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Protection-Convector-Greenhouse-Radiator-Protector/dp/B00A8N5P2M

No need to heat the boat as such - just try to keep it above freezing. A few tenners worth of heating over the winter in exchange for lack of frost damage is well worth it.
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