Tube Heaters - In your engine bay

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Bigplumbs

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So after my efforts with the antifreeze I thought I would go belt and braces and put in a new tube heater in the engine bay for when and if it gets very cold.

I am not a fan of leaving power connected to the boat when I am not there but never mind.

I don't what a green tube heater with VP stamped on it for £650.00. A normal white one bought only once will do. So

Do all tube heaters have a temperature cut of when and if the bay reaches temp and also is their such a beast that has a temp on at say 2 degrees C.

I was wondering what others have bought.

I might also see if I can get a battery thermometer with max a min and put in the bay for a week of so before I fit the heater to see what temps are actually in there.

Also do people put old Duvets over their engines or is that just being silly and possibly creating problems
 
I dont use a Duvet .
I have a tube heater which the previous owner supplied with the boat. A plug in controller from B&Q is set to cut in at 5 degrees.
 
As a basic setup, I would get a digital temperature switch e.g. from B&Q as above. I would set it to kick in a 5 degrees because the outside areas of the engine space may be colder, and also to get a head start if temperature drops very low outside and the small heater cannot cope. I have recorded 1 degree even with this setting and with a 80W tube in a small bay.

My current setup has a GSM controlled Energenie / Thermotxt that kicks in at my chosen minimum and stops until it reaches my selected target - usually 3 to 6 degrees. I can control everything via SMS from my phone and I get alerts if the power goes. I can track the temperature, etc. In addition, I have a 2nd tube on a B&Q thermostat for independent backup, kicking in at a slightly lower minimum to get more heating power when needed only. In the saloon, another Energenie powering a 500W heater, starts at a slightly lower range but able to overcome the worst of the weather when the tubes cannot keep up. Further B&Q temperature controllers with tubes in the front cabins and lazarette. And, just in case, another independent Energenie for remote reporting. The Energenie can also control 3 remote sockets e.g. dehumidier.

As you can imagine given the above, I recommend a GSM temperature controller :-)
 
All you need to do is go to screwfix or the like and purchase , A 240v frost stat, the type that you used to find fitted in garages to protect a heating system. Wire it into the 240v mains supply and bobs your uncle !!
Position the stat and heater in the engine bay, set stat to 5deg C, when temp drops below that the heater comes on, when it rises above, heater goes off!! Simple
 
I use a fairly basic tube heater purchased from Force 4 a couple of years ago for something like twenty quid. It has a built-in thermostat which adjusts from something around zero upwards - but is not calibrated. I wait till we arrive on the first moderately cold day of the winter and turn the thermostat up till the heater just switches on - it has worked OK for us thus far.

That said, when we first bought a boat we went several years on the east coast with no heating while we were not on the boat - never had any problems.
 
NDB said:
All you need to do is go to screwfix or the like and purchase , A 240v frost stat, the type that you used to find fitted in garages to protect a heating system. Wire it into the 240v mains supply and bobs your uncle !!
Position the stat and heater in the engine bay, set stat to 5deg C, when temp drops below that the heater comes on, when it rises above, heater goes off!! Simple
Click to expand...

Although that sounds sensible, I'd be wary of electrical related advice from anyone who patently isn't aware of the voltage of UK mains supply.
 
Blue Sunray said:
Although that sounds sensible, I'd be wary of electrical related advice from anyone who patently isn't aware of the voltage of UK mains supply.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure you are right there.

The "declared" supply voltage changed to be 230v AC +10% to -6% some time ago as a result of "harmonisation" with the EU, but did you actually see any local transformers being ripped out and replaced, or any actual change in your supply voltage? The tolerances were essentially fudged to allow things to remain within spec without actually changing anything.

http://www.twothirtyvolts.org.uk/pdfs/site-info/Explanation_230Volts.pdf

.
 
Last edited:
FlowerPower said:
I'm not sure you are right there.

The "declared" supply voltage changed to be 230v AC +10% to -6% some time ago as a result of "harmonisation" with the EU, but did you actually see any local transformers being ripped out and replaced, or any actual change in your supply voltage? The tolerances were essentially fudged to allow things to remain within spec without actually changing anything.

http://www.twothirtyvolts.org.uk/pdfs/site-info/Explanation_230Volts.pdf

.
Click to expand...

Spot on there FP.

As for covering the engines with an old duvet, forget it as they absorb the moisture from the air and keep your engine damp for potentially months.
 
Yes and most people still refer to it a 240 volts...… Come on lets not be like a bloke who once told me there is no such bird as a Seagull (Technically right of course but what a nob)
 
FlowerPower said:
I'm not sure you are right there.

The "declared" supply voltage changed to be 230v AC +10% to -6% some time ago as a result of "harmonisation" with the EU, but did you actually see any local transformers being ripped out and replaced, or any actual change in your supply voltage? The tolerances were essentially fudged to allow things to remain within spec without actually changing anything.

http://www.twothirtyvolts.org.uk/pdfs/site-info/Explanation_230Volts.pdf

.
Click to expand...

Mains voltage has always wandered around a bit, but both in the house and on our boat it is 240v or over most of the time.
 
fwiw,

down here in Greece, logger on home 3Phase in reports:
232.42 V
238.28 V
244.14 V

last one is ALWAYS higher than the other two, guess the way loads are distributed, never bothered checking.
Always thought that down here we're 240V and never bothered

V.
 
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