Small boat stove top heater

[Tammany]

Bought a few weeks ago and tested a small stove top heater in my boat this week on a small overnighter. Basically a vented twin ring device that sits on top of a burner to sheild the flame and gets hot. On my 25ft boat with insulated cabin it worked well. Raised internal temps from 5degC upto around 15degC making life onboard comfortable. Obviously you have to make sure the cabin is vented well but other than that it certainly takes the chill off. I expect just having the burner on without it would be just as good but as least this way it does cover the naked flame. Tested on an origo alcohol, stove.

 

[JimC]

I enjoyed your video, watched it on my boat in Whitehaven Marina under a dark grey sky with the boat rocking about from the force of the wind in the rigging and the breakers crashing against the harbour walls having come all the way from Ireland with stiff westerly behind them, no Winter sailing being done here!

 

[Tammany]

It's pretty windy round here today too. A little bit more wind would have been nicer but it would have been colder too. It was just nice to get out & about though.

 

[Poignard]

What does that do that a terra-cotta plant pot won't do?

I used to use a plant pot before I fitted a second-hand Taylor's paraffin heater but, to my way of thinking, the problem of removing dangerous fumes makes something with a proper flue essential, and worth paying for.

 

[lw395]

What does that do that a terra-cotta plant pot won't do?

I used to use a plant pot before I fitted a second-hand Taylor's paraffin heater but, to my way of thinking, the problem of removing dangerous fumes makes something with a proper flue essential, and worth paying for.

Not just the dangerous fumes, but also the humidity produced by burning anything with hydrogen in it.

 

[fredrussell]

Can you not squeeze a Taylors paraffin or diesel heater into your cabin? I know they're not cheap - I paid about £350 all in for an eBay 079D - but any pain induced by that outlay will vanish miraculously the first time you sit in your toasty warm boat on a winters night. Zero battery draw too - ideal if your boat has no inboard driven alternator.

 

[William_H]

I would think that the device needs to convert the heat of the hot gasses into radiant heat to move the heat sideways to the cabin. Also perhaps to heat more cabin air from the fins. I would have thought a black surface would radiate more heat sideways.
I reckon a far better system would involve a flue type large tube that would conduct the combustion products outside. This tube if made of ali or copper could conduct the heat of the gasses to cabin air. This could be made quite long to extend to cabin bulkhead and into cockpit if aided by a small fan. Unfortunately you want air down low warmed which will rise where heat from a flue and cooker will heat air up high where it will stay. A small fan could perhaps be incorporated to shift warmth down low.
Hence the popularity of stoves/heaters mounted at floor level. ol'will