Portable Wood Burner in your boat!?

[Tim Good]

For you adventurous types... would you ever consider this on your boat if you didn't want to spend a load on a Refleks or make adjustments to your existing layout.

I'm throwing it out there for when you're say at anchor for a few days and want a bit of warmth but also something that can pack away easily or be used ashore. No doubt you'd still need to put a hole in the roof to attached the flue to.

 

[Artic Warrior]

Nice cosy idea, but some problems,
ive been livaboard for 20 years with various heating,
Those heaters are good for tents but because they are thin, they can not be near anything flammable, because they radiate too well and no fire bricks inside.
Needs to bolted down and no harth is an issue.
Also an issue on a sailing boat, unless you can put it in the middle ha ha.
The amount of wood you need to store is a lot too if just using wood.
I made a stainless one on my house boat back in the uk, 3 and 5mm plate and it Glows red,,,,,,toasty but be carful,,,, Also please install a carbonmonoxide meter.
Don't make the boat air tight either, make sure you have permanent open air vents in your wash boards etc.

 

[KellysEye]

Wood burners give off poisonous Carbon Monoxide, we have one in our stitting room and a CM alarm.

 

[Capt. Clueless]

A chat with your insurance company may be prudent too.

 

[pvb]

A chat with your insurance company may be prudent too.

I'd think a chat with a mental health professional might be an idea!

 

[Alfie168]

I'd think a chat with a mental health professional might be an idea!

The couple in the tent certainly need counselling for operating a stove inside a tent.

Many narrowboats have solid fuel stoves, and correctly installed and correctly vented and properly maintained they can operate quite safely. This is provided you are happy with a a barely controllable fire on board your means of survival. There is rarely far to swim from a narrowboat in flames.

I'd also have thought that sparks and cinders could do considerable damage, notwithstanding their ability to set light to the whole shebang.

Personally I'd be happier with something you can turn off in a hurry should the need arise, but the problem remains with any combusting heat source, and that is that the volume of fresh air they require to enable them to work safely is a large counterweight to the heat they give off.

Tim

 

[Kelpie]

Solid fuel stoves on boats can work perfectly well. Several of my friends have had small woodburners on their yachts. Generally there is so much heat given off that the hatches are flung open, allowing a constant supply of air to be drawn in and helping reduce damp. I didn't notice any of them have any particular issues with soot, sparks, or other fallout. The main downsides seem to be that the fuel is bulky and a bit messy, and the heat output is not very controllable. In the morning the boat will be cold again as these little stoves cannot keep burning properly overnight, and personally I would be wary of leaving a lit stove unattended, even if just to shut the vents if it starts blowing back.

 

[savageseadog]

If you have a wooden boat there's no shortage of fuel!

 

[oldvarnish]

but the problem remains with any combusting heat source, and that is that the volume of fresh air they require to enable them to work safely is a large counterweight to the heat they give off.

Tim

Ah, I wondered why heating by flame had never caught on.

 

[Wansworth]

I hada wee wood stove on my Mashford 4 toner kept things warm and damp free...... Burnt coal very well.

 

[pmagowan]

I love woodburning but I would not be happy with a stove on a boat. They are messy, no matter how good you are with them and they pose a risk in confined spaces. A boat is really too small for proper use of a stove. A stove is efficient when running with good air supply and will produce a lot of heat but too much for a boat. Therefore you will have to keep it closed down most of the time which forces it to burn in the absence of O2 causeing a risk of CO being formed. It will also produce a lot more soot and coke up quickly.

In my opinion one of the worst things that can happen on a boat is a fire. With most other problems you can patch up and carry on but a fire often means evacuation into the liferaft. I would not want to have this increased risk just to have a stove especially when it is going to be an inefficient way to heat the boat. Much better is a diesel heater that can produce the right amount of heat when you need it with minimal risk and an efficiently stored fuel.

 

[Alfie168]

Ah, I wondered why heating by flame had never caught on.

Unlike me you have not had to spend a small but significant portion of your working life unblocking air vents for fires and boilers blocked by people determined to kill themselves as they don't like the draft.

Tim

 

[oldvarnish]

Unlike me you have not had to spend a small but significant portion of your working life unblocking air vents for fires and boilers blocked by people determined to kill themselves as they don't like the draft.

Tim

Yep, blocking air vents is just daft.

But my original post was questioning the physics of the poster's suggestion.

 

[William_H]

Now heating in my boat is something I don't need. However am always interested in the challenges of UK boating. As said the the essentials are that you have a flue system to carry outside combustion gases.
You also must accept that the outside of the container is going to get very hot. Requiring protection from human contact. Lastly wood is pretty bulky to carry on board.
I wonder having seen lots of designs of wood burning heaters that we don't see home made diesel heater designs. I would imagine something like the solid fuel burners with a flue but with a drip feed of diesel into some sort of burner. By having gravity feed and relying on simple radiation from the body and chimney one could have a low powered heater not reliant on DC supply. I appreciate oil heaters can need a fair bit of heat to get them going initially. Some use an electric heating element.
Anyway just a thought. good luck olewill