Waeco diesel hob

[Birdseye]

I am probably teaching grannie to suck eggs here, but the heat produced from diesel comes in much the same way as the heat produced from gas. In both cases, hydrocarbons are combined with oxygen from the air to produce heat and in doing so also produce water, carbon dioxide and a hopefully very small amount of carbon monoxide. Few other chemicals in small volumes but those are the main ones. The point I am getting at is that using a diesel cooker as a room heater is just as risky as doing the same with gas. And a dirty diesel heater is just as likely to produce carbon monoxide as a dirty gas heater.

I junked a catalytic gas heater for just that reason. Take care with it . Make sure the ventilation is good and above all have a carbon monoxide alarm.

 

[Kelpie]

I am probably teaching grannie to suck eggs here, but the heat produced from diesel comes in much the same way as the heat produced from gas. In both cases, hydrocarbons are combined with oxygen from the air to produce heat and in doing so also produce water, carbon dioxide and a hopefully very small amount of carbon monoxide. Few other chemicals in small volumes but those are the main ones. The point I am getting at is that using a diesel cooker as a room heater is just as risky as doing the same with gas. And a dirty diesel heater is just as likely to produce carbon monoxide as a dirty gas heater.

I junked a catalytic gas heater for just that reason. Take care with it . Make sure the ventilation is good and above all have a carbon monoxide alarm.

The Wallas/Webasto diesel cooker poses no more of a risk than your engine, or an eber, or any other sealed/ventilated combustion appliance.

 

[Vara]

I am probably teaching grannie to suck eggs here, but the heat produced from diesel comes in much the same way as the heat produced from gas. In both cases, hydrocarbons are combined with oxygen from the air to produce heat and in doing so also produce water, carbon dioxide and a hopefully very small amount of carbon monoxide. Few other chemicals in small volumes but those are the main ones. The point I am getting at is that using a diesel cooker as a room heater is just as risky as doing the same with gas. And a dirty diesel heater is just as likely to produce carbon monoxide as a dirty gas heater.

I junked a catalytic gas heater for just that reason. Take care with it . Make sure the ventilation is good and above all have a carbon monoxide alarm.

The Wallas is a flued device so unless you go outside and inhale the exhaust then I doubt you will be troubled by CO poisoning.

Your warning is of course valid for unflued devices.

 

[Elessar]

I am probably teaching grannie to suck eggs here, but the heat produced from diesel comes in much the same way as the heat produced from gas. In both cases, hydrocarbons are combined with oxygen from the air to produce heat and in doing so also produce water, carbon dioxide and a hopefully very small amount of carbon monoxide. Few other chemicals in small volumes but those are the main ones. The point I am getting at is that using a diesel cooker as a room heater is just as risky as doing the same with gas. And a dirty diesel heater is just as likely to produce carbon monoxide as a dirty gas heater.

I junked a catalytic gas heater for just that reason. Take care with it . Make sure the ventilation is good and above all have a carbon monoxide alarm.

As others have said, no ventilation required it is room sealed and exhausts outside the boat.

It does however pose a grave risk to my fenders, as the exhaust is higher than my waterline exhaust for the main heating, . A suitable warning sticker will be applied to the rail at that point, hopefully I'll be able to sleep having taken those mitigating measures

You make a good point though, despite having all room sealed devices, I do have a CO alarm. You never know when an exhaust pipe cracks and CO is odourless.

I cooked my first meal on it last night. It did a grand job (the hob, not the CO alarm.....)

 

[zikzik]

So, as said above a few times birdseye. NO naked flame, so no condensation. NO combustion using cabin air, so no CO in the cabin. The heater part of the Wallas / Webasto is simply a fan driven cooker lid that, when closed, blows the heat off the room sealed hotplates. Not the same way as a gas hob at all. It is surprising this method actually works well, but it does.

But I just remembered another disadvantage of these. The heat comes out at cooker level, not at floor level. So the cabin heats up, but not very well at floor level. One of the un-mentioned advantages is no gas bottles that need replacing. Why would any of us prefer to carry gas and diesel. Especially when gas is so potentially combustible?

They aint perfect by a long way, but they do work and they are safe if installed correctly; which is no more than any other appliance.

 

[Elessar]

But I just remembered another disadvantage of these. The heat comes out at cooker level, not at floor level. So the cabin heats up, but not very well at floor level.

I had not spotted this as my galley is down 3 steps. The cooktop is about 12" above floor level in the main saloon therefore and pointing towards the main saloon.

 

[alahol2]

But I just remembered another disadvantage of these. The heat comes out at cooker level, not at floor level. So the cabin heats up, but not very well at floor level.

A simple 12V fan mounted above the heater and angled down makes all the difference. On a previous boat we had a Taylor's paraffin cabin heater it would warm the cabin but from the top down. The addition of the fan was hugely successful.

 

[Sybarite]

The large amount of surplus heat would be our main objection. In Greece in summer we almost never use the oven to avoid heating the saloon, most cooking is done on the lava rocks barbecue in the cockpit. Having an uncontrollable 3 kW heater in an ambient of mid 30s would be less than desirable.

As with many things, gas is not at all dangerous if looked after properly. Every heavily publicised accident when gas exploded has been caused by bad practice, poor maintenance or stupidity.

That's true in general. However a fire from another source can be exacerbated by the presence of gas. I know a case in point.

 

[charles_reed]

Sounds similar to the Wallas cooktop- which I thought was the only one of its kind, so good to know there alternatives out there.

Actually, as corrected it's Wallas - here's their website.

http://www.wallas.fi/index.php?id=22

Devilishly expensive devices - they're as far superior to other offerings as the Suomi sub-machine gun was ahead of the Thompson when the Soviets had the misfortune to find out about it during the Winter War of 1939,

 

[David2452]

Actually, as corrected it's Wallas - here's their website.

http://www.wallas.fi/index.php?id=22

Devilishly expensive devices - they're as far superior to other offerings

I doubt you would continue that opinion if you had to service & repair them on a regular basis, not much difference in build quality or material quality to the other big players really. (The heating and cooking appliances that is, not the small arms)

 

[zikzik]

I doubt you would continue that opinion if you had to service & repair them on a regular basis, not much difference in build quality or material quality to the other big players really. (The heating and cooking appliances that is, not the small arms)

Agree. The build quality is good, but not brilliant considering the price. It has been reliable for nearly three years so far though!