Tube Heaters

Went to check on my boat on new years day, 3/4 of my black hull was white with ice but the rear 1/4 (engine area) was nice and shiny in black, shows my heaters are working well inside the engine area. I kept them on 24/7 since November. The weather conditions in my marina have been pretty bad and reached -10, the enite marina was frozen solid on Friday and the Hotels large boat was going up and down breaking the ice so boats could get out and play.

Just shows you how 2 little tube heaters can keep you active through the winter.

Chris
 
quick word of warning, my tube heater packed in, it was a creda suntube from Screwfix and is just over 12 months old, it has redwing actualy written on the tube and was a 180w model, have had to leave an oil filled rad in the engine bay for the week while I get a replacement.
The heater was on a stat whichis working fine, so it has very little use on it but if I hadn't checked it this weekend it could have been the downfall of a couple of engines.

Ian
 
I have just ordered this one, with next day delivery,

http://www.greenhousewarehouse.com/p...-2ft-long.html
Click to expand...

No I haven't,after a few emails I received this,
Dear Richard

Order Number: 4762

I am very sorry to inform you that we have not been able to dispatch the above order to you. After I sent you my email on 5th January, we carried out a quality review and a large number of the heaters were faulty. We are referring the matter back to our supplier. Therefore please be advised that we shall cancel order number 4762 and refund all monies due.

Once again, please accept our apologies regarding this matter.:mad:
 
Visiting boat today for the first time in four weeks. I had left it with a thermostat set to 5C and tube heater and for the first time with a max min thermometer. After all the freezing cold weather we have had the thermometer shows a minimum of about 4.5C so temperature stayed well above zero in the engine bay.

Not sure of the contribution between the ambient temperature of the River Avon and the Tube Heater but feel very happy that I know the temperature has stayed above zero.




Harpsden
 
Harpsden said:
Visiting boat today for the first time in four weeks. I had left it with a thermostat set to 5C and tube heater and for the first time with a max min thermometer. After all the freezing cold weather we have had the thermometer shows a minimum of about 4.5C so temperature stayed well above zero in the engine bay.

Not sure of the contribution between the ambient temperature of the River Avon and the Tube Heater but feel very happy that I know the temperature has stayed above zero.

Harpsden
Click to expand...

I too visited my boat for the first time in weeks and considering we've had temps down to -8c or more my tube heaters seem to have done their job, the engine bay got down to min3.5c and the cabin down to min1c (turned up the oiled filled heater a notch).
 
This weekend we found a flaw in our heating regime.

Whilst the engine bay had been kept nice and warm with a min temperature of 4 degrees, the cabin has obviously faired off worse. We have a fairly big heater in the cabin and leave the bathroom door ajar however the shower head has cracked and the shower hose has split (nice job for next weekend).

Maybe we will have to have a rethink before the next major freeze and get a third heater for the bathroom.
 
I've been running with tubular heaters for years and no problems;I wouldn't recommend the thermostats myself, but up to you -I've found that if you have low wattage heaters giving out background heat, then best to keep it as constant as possible. Also, As well as having two heaters underneath each engine (and I cover each engine with some old duvets (!) I have a single tubular heater in the forward bilge compartment, along with an oil-filled jobbie and dehumidifier in the cabin itself.

Very important; if you have heaters in your engine room, make sure you plug the engine room air intakes if you can; I use loft insulation, this will help keep as much of the heat in as poss.
 
bvickers said:
Very important; if you have heaters in your engine room, make sure you plug the engine room air intakes if you can; I use loft insulation, this will help keep as much of the heat in as poss.
Click to expand...

Does that not help keep condensation in there?

I thought good ventialtion was important.
 
Whilst I think the use of a Min/Max Thermometer is a great idea and can be comforting in a cold snap, there is one thing to be aware of..... Many of the cheaper remote systems only store the High Low history for up to 24 hours. Therefore when you return to the boat after a week and see that the min temp was a toasty 3 degrees, it may actually be telling you that the low of that day was 3 degrees and not the previous week as you may think. The expensive weather stations store for long periods but a lot of the cheaper remotes dont.
 
Max/Min Themometer

I agree about the need for care with a max/min thermometer but the one I use is a good old fashioned one with no electronics involved. Reset the value by moving the little iron marker in the tube with a magnet!

I had to remind myself how they worked having long since forgotten from the physics lesson at school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six's_thermometer


Harpsden
 
our heaters seemed to work ok, during our coldest period, in the inner part of the marina, our boat was the only boat not to be "iced in"



9db114a5.jpg
 
Tremlett 15 said:
our heaters seemed to work ok, during our coldest period, in the inner part of the marina, our boat was the only boat not to be "iced in"



9db114a5.jpg
Click to expand...

Could it not just be that your boat has been moving around?

We have a similar effect with our boat being one of the first to break free from the ice. It isnt that ours is any warmer, just that our berth is exposed to the wind so the boat gets blown around more releasing it from the ice.

Not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing though!!
 
Why not leave the Ebers/ Webasto etc heating on low with a duct to the engine bay.

Red diesel is cheap enough and a good run on the Ebers heating is a good thing.

Very minimal fire risk and keeps the rest of the boat dry.

Your thoughts.................
 
bammylovechops said:
Why not leave the Ebers/ Webasto etc heating on low with a duct to the engine bay.

Red diesel is cheap enough and a good run on the Ebers heating is a good thing.

Very minimal fire risk and keeps the rest of the boat dry.

Your thoughts.................
Click to expand...

Red diesel is cheap enough approx £1.00 a ltr

Heaters burn (once hot) about 1/2 ltr/hr. lets half that and say 1 ltr will last 4hrs. thats 6lts a day approx £6.00 or £42 a week..............

Erm lets not use the heating system. lets use the electric.

Just a small point but, most of the livaboards that use their erb/webasto heaters in constant mode tend to have problems as they run on the low setting and tend to soot up.

All IMHO

Tom
 
CX54WEK said:
Could it not just be that your boat has been moving around?

We have a similar effect with our boat being one of the first to break free from the ice. It isnt that ours is any warmer, just that our berth is exposed to the wind so the boat gets blown around more releasing it from the ice.

Not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing though!!
Click to expand...

dont think it was the effect of moving around, think it was the heaters, during the coldest period: 5 x 120w, 1 x 240w 1 x500w put around the boat on 24/7, but now just 3 on timers & stats etc.......current temp above 4C until this w/e.

agree, me too did not know it good or bad, but max temp was only +10 > +13C inside when -10C outside
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

D
Stern drive KAD32p - water dripping, any tips?
Replies
4
Views
247
James jameson
J

Share this page

Top