parafin heaters?

Storyline said:
Does anyone know how much soot/dirt that these flued paraffin heaters emit? Does the deck and sails get covered ?
Click to expand...

If a paraffin burner is burning correctly there should be no soot; if you have a yellow flame you will get soot but not with the correct blue flame. Mind you, I had a coal stove burning smokeless coal for 25 years and never had any soot either.
 
I have an Origo heatpal and very ngood it is.
Thinking of the space problems on a 19 footer , is there any mileage in having an Origo cooker as well ?
The burner is the same and could be moved to the floor when not cooking (with suitable guarding etc. or using a heatpal)
You would only then need one fuel on board (Bio Ethanol)

The advantage they have over parafin is that they are spillproof.

I would not use parafin in a boat at all.

The Origo has it's dangers but there is no perfect solution on a small boat.
 
Storyline said:
I have only recently considered a heater like this. Up to now I have always planned to get a blown hot air heater so I have not really thought about it carefully. However on a quick glance at some of the alternatives they seem to recommend the air source for the heater be as close as possible so would not the air flow the heater creates just be from the air source to the heater ?
Click to expand...

Well yep. But with the samphires it's a completely closed system... and with a bog standard solid fuel single flue stove the intake is whatever hatch you happen to have open at the time so you can control the flow.

Blown air heaters are great but they're bloomin noisy and despite what others seem to experience I find they really take their toll on the battery so you end up having to run engine or generator when solar or wind would otherwise have been enough. Not all the time mind.
 
CaptainBob said:
Well yep. But with the samphires it's a completely closed system... and with a bog standard solid fuel single flue stove the intake is whatever hatch you happen to have open at the time so you can control the flow.

Blown air heaters are great but they're bloomin noisy and despite what others seem to experience I find they really take their toll on the battery so you end up having to run engine or generator when solar or wind would otherwise have been enough. Not all the time mind.
Click to expand...
Could it be that a closed system moved warm air efficiently around the boat due to convection ? Then you could open ventilation sources to maximise that. I do like the fact that the Samphire system is always going to have enough fresh air for combustion even if all the hatches are shut.

I have no experience of blown warm air heating so cannot comment on the noise but I do know that the heater itself would have to go near our cabin and swmbo is extremely sensitive to noise !

I also think I would enjoy the ritual of lighting it. I have a coal fire at home and never get bored lighting that. The other nice thing about the Samphire is you can see the cosy glow of the flame.

I wonder anyone who has spent time cruising with both types of system (blown air, stoves) could comment on the pros and cons of each. I realise there will be loads of stuff on the forum already which I will read now but any new comments would be welcome .....
 
Storyline said:
Could it be that a closed system moved warm air efficiently around the boat due to convection ? Then you could open ventilation sources to maximise that. I do like the fact that the Samphire system is always going to have enough fresh air for combustion even if all the hatches are shut.
Click to expand...

Yes probably, and the all hatches closed thing is definitely true also, it's probably very very safe as a result. But it's not going to shift anything like the volume of air that a standard single flue stove will, as they get the combined airflows of both convection and throughput.
 
CaptainBob said:
Yes probably, and the all hatches closed thing is definitely true also, it's probably very very safe as a result. But it's not going to shift anything like the volume of air that a standard single flue stove will, as they get the combined airflows of both convection and throughput.
Click to expand...
Yes, and considering that drying out the boat/oilies is one of the main reasons for wanting a heater it sounds like a big disadvantage. It is one of those frustrating purchases where you do not know if you have made the right decision until you get one. Then you are either very happy or very pi**ed off.
 
Storyline said:
Yes, and considering that drying out the boat/oilies is one of the main reasons for wanting a heater it sounds like a big disadvantage. It is one of those frustrating purchases where you do not know if you have made the right decision until you get one. Then you are either very happy or very pi**ed off.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Difficult to suck it and see when you have to first drill a 5" hole in your deckhead :(

Definite personal thumbs up for the Faversham, by Colin Frake though.
 
I've not had a solid fuel stove but I have had a Taylor's paraffin heater. Even though it uses cabin air for combustion, it never really set up much of a circulation of heat. The addition of a simple 12v fan on the bulkhead above the heater made a marked difference to the heat distribution. After fitting the fan heat was distributed throughout the boat, even at foot level.
 
A Dickinson Newport (which can also burn paraffin) seems to tick all the boxes. There is an optional heat scavenger fitted in the flue available. In our case that could blow warm dry air into the heads to dry oilies.

Has anyone got one a Newport ?
 
Storyline said:
I have been reading through some old threads and there is a lot of info!
Some people recommend the Sigmar heater. This appears similar/identical to the Dickinson - is it the same thing ?
Click to expand...

Some say Sigmar heaters are better than any other. I can't comment. But Ely Boat Chandlers are very knowledgeable on the subject and happy to natter about them (no connection, but I've bent their ear about them and they're very patient):

http://www.elyboatchandlers.com/wall-mounted-heaters
 
What about a Sterling engine powered fan? no power use at all. I will do a search and post a link for those with both the money and the interest.
 
Last edited:
I fitted one of these type of heaters on a small boat. http://wallas-uk.com/paraffin-heaters/1300-paraffin-heater-kit. A very sturdy design. Similar to other types of blown air heaters it is fiddly to fit and you need a space for the components. But an excellent heater, nice and quiet. Obviously fine when not underway but not sure if you could use at sea leaning over at 20 degrees though. Mine was on a catamaran. But I understand they are used by commercial fishing boats as cabin heaters so could be Ok when at sea. It needs battery power as well for the fan.
 
Storyline said:
Could it be that a closed system moved warm air efficiently around the boat due to convection ? Then you could open ventilation sources to maximise that. I do like the fact that the Samphire system is always going to have enough fresh air for combustion even if all the hatches are shut.

I have no experience of blown warm air heating so cannot comment on the noise but I do know that the heater itself would have to go near our cabin and swmbo is extremely sensitive to noise !

I also think I would enjoy the ritual of lighting it. I have a coal fire at home and never get bored lighting that. The other nice thing about the Samphire is you can see the cosy glow of the flame.

I wonder anyone who has spent time cruising with both types of system (blown air, stoves) could comment on the pros and cons of each. I realise there will be loads of stuff on the forum already which I will read now but any new comments would be welcome .....
Click to expand...

I have a Sigmar100 and a Webasto Airtop2000 on my boat.
The Sigmar is great at anchor with its cosy visible flame. The Webasto is great for instant heat and for keeping the cabin warm when underway.
The Sigmar is not really suitable for use in strong winds or when underway.
The Samphire looks to be very interesting and well worth further investigation. Like the Sigmar it doesn't require any electrics. The Webasto doesn't need much electrikery once the fuel has initially ignited.
If you don't mind not seeing a flame then a small Refleks would suit very well, but it is free standing not bulkhead mounted. The larger Refleks have a visible flame.
All use diesel.
 
Last edited:
Dylan, with both systems you are the perfect person to give advice !

Say you arrive in an anchorage at 6 ish and it is a bit chilly or wet, do you always light the Sigmar or have you found that the ease of use of the airtop means that you tend to use that more ?

A further question is, if it is rainy and generally damp and you have already lit the Sigmar do you ever feel you also need to run the airtop to dry things out or is the Sigmar adequate once it it is going ?

As regards heating under way, I have always thought that it is best to get acclimatised to the ambient conditions. I could foresee that if the cabin was nice and warm I would never get into the cockpit ! If I think about it, we have sailed on the west coast of Scotland every summer for 25 years and rarely get very cold. By the time the oil lamp is lit and the dinner is cooked, the boat is nice and warm down below. One thing that is a pita is when you get gale bound and suffer days and days of rain. The whole boat gets damp and miserable. It is for times like these I would love a heater.

Edit: when you say the Sigmar is not suitable for use in high winds, could you elaborate please ? Do you think that the Samphire with its integrated draught/exhaust in the chimney would be better ?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top