What do I need the shore power inlet for if I don't have any appliance on boat

peterjaw

peterjaw

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Happy holiday, guys,

I did not check any electritical appliance for my coming boat such as microwave stove, refrigetator, air conditioner, TV ...
I will be using a portable canister stove and a big cooler instead. My boat has three 12v cigarette outlets.

So, my question is: What else I can do with it beside charging the batteries?



ps. I will install solar panel charging system when she is delivered.
 
peterjaw said:
Happy holiday, guys,

I did not check any electritical appliance for my coming boat such as microwave stove, refrigetator, air conditioner, TV ...
I will be using a portable canister stove and a big cooler instead. My boat has three 12v cigarette outlets.

So, my question is: What else I can do with it beside charging the batteries?



ps. I will install solar panel charging system when she is delivered.
Click to expand...

does it have any mains sockets at all? you might use it to run tube heaters or similar in the engine room over winter.
 
Without a generator then electrical appliances can only be used in port. But what I like to do is make the boat a home from home and I enjoy staying on her, even in port, especially if we have visitors at my house. So a tv, computer, heater everything to make life comfortable. Sorabain is right you need electric sockets.
 
Battery charging alone a good reason to have a shore power .
Shore power battery charging enables use of 12V DC when in a marina without fear of killing the batteries.

Reasons to have 240V shore power .......
Use of dual voltage fridge reducing demand on batteries
Use of immersion heater for hot water
Use of diesel heater which consumes some DC power - no need to worry about battery power
I have a small electric kettle - cheaper/quicker to use than using gas
Chief officer likes to use a hair drier and the 12V one we had was useless
Electric blanket - no way would the chief officer be staying over on the boat in winter without this
Some items easier to charge from the mains such as handheld vhf
 
Another thing Peter, nothing to do with shore power. Did you spec an electric toilet? They are so much better than manual ones especially for women
 
Well, it's sort of implicit that if you aren't going to use any AC equipment onboard you don't need a shore power inlet.
But if the reason why you're asking is that you are considering to not spec it in a boat where it's optional, I'd rather have it regardless.
Whenever you'll want to sell the boat, you might discover that for most folks it's a given - and rightly so, imho.
Though that depends also on the boat, of course.
I'm happy to live with no shore power in my tender... :rolleyes:
 
Bouba said:
Another thing Peter, nothing to do with shore power. Did you spec an electric toilet? They are so much better than manual ones especially for women
Click to expand...
Hi Bouba,
Unfortunately, Quicksilver does not have electric toilet in their option list. I very like
to have one, but they don't provide it. I think I will need to retro fit when my boat arrives.
 
Hi guys,
Thank you very much for all your inputs.

I think I am treating my coming boat as a car. In my car, I don't have
any AC outlet and I think I will be using my boat in the similar manner.

The winter in Taiwan is not as cold as in most Europe area, the lowest
temperature is about 10c. (normally 13c ~ 14c)In winter, pleasure boats
won't go out not only because the temperature but also for the strong wind
and very rough sea.

In Taiwan, pleasure boats just hang out for a couple of hours then return
to home marina.

I will think over again, thank you very much.

Happy Holidays.
 
MartynG said:
Some items easier to charge from the mains such as handheld vhf
Click to expand...

Talking about handheld VHF, do you have at least one on the boat?

In Taiwan, each single motor boat is requested to have a VHF (not handheld
but the big one that can be mounted on the dashboard), this is by law.
So I will have a VHS mounted when delivering the boat.

Do you think I need to buy a handheld? Or the handheld is onle waste of
money?

ps. My boat is just about 9m long. (Quicksilver 855 weekend.)
 
peterjaw said:
Talking about handheld VHF, do you have at least one on the boat?

In Taiwan, each single motor boat is requested to have a VHF (not handheld
but the big one that can be mounted on the dashboard), this is by law.
So I will have a VHS mounted when delivering the boat.

Do you think I need to buy a handheld? Or the handheld is onle waste of
money?

ps. My boat is just about 9m long. (Quicksilver 855 weekend.)
Click to expand...

So I will have a VHS mounted when delivering the boat

I thought Taiwan was in the 21st century - and may have moved at least to Hi8 :)

We have a fixed and 2 handhelds on board. One handheld is a basic GBP49.99 which we bought as part of our "grab bag" when we went to the Channel Islands back in 2014, the second one we treated ourselves to just this year as it has a full GPS positioning feature (crew have typically dropped from 4 to 2) and, from our marina to the Balearics, there are less passing vessels than the English Channel..... although the water is a lot warmer (!)

Depending on what you will be using your boat for will likely determine your requirements but for us, its added insurance / peace of mind.
 
peterjaw said:
Talking about handheld VHF, do you have at least one on the boat?
Click to expand...

My flybridge helm has no fixed vhf although there is a vhf at the lower helm. I use the handheld often but the calls are over a short range - usually less than 1km.
A handheld VHF has limited range compared to a fixed radio . This is due to the relatively low height of the antenna.
 
Uses of a handheld might be limited if you have a set at the helm however given they are quite a modest expense given overall price of boat etc then even a cheap one might be useful . One tip is perhaps to make sure it has ability to take AA or suchlike batteries as well as the normal integrated one but otherwise you might dispense with extra features if funds are tight. Personally if buying a new one now would go for GPS as mentioned above again for sake of backup provided.
 
I find my Icom handheld VHF needs to be charged once a year .
It is a basic model with no DSC and no GPS.
 
MartynG said:
I find my Icom handheld VHF needs to be charged once a year .
It is a basic model with no DSC and no GPS.
Click to expand...

Many Icoms seem to self discharge their battery packs if left connected hence ability to use AA batteries is useful however maybe newer models don't have a self discharge function when turned off which used to be a unique Icom feature plus of course it does mean you can still use it when the Icom battery stops holding its charge without having to pay out for a replacement if preferred. If buying new I think there might be better ones out there than Icom at keener prices.
 
peterjaw said:
Happy holiday, guys,

I did not check any electritical appliance for my coming boat such as microwave stove, refrigetator, air conditioner, TV ...
I will be using a portable canister stove and a big cooler instead. My boat has three 12v cigarette outlets.

So, my question is: What else I can do with it beside charging the batteries?



ps. I will install solar panel charging system when she is delivered.
Click to expand...


You can always install a 230v inlet yourself using a few parts for little money easily bought in your local camping hardwarestore.

Trust me, you will need it!

When you are at dock, you will find that everything is easier with a 220v socket , everything from making a cup of tea/coffee with an electric kettle , warming lunch or making popcorn in the microwave, charging phones, keeping your battery on trickle charge, watching TV , vacuum cleaning etc etc.
it is true that all these things i mentioned have their 12v equivalents, but believe me i have every single 12v appliance i named above but i only use them if i am out at sea or on the hook with no dock power. if i am at the dock i woud rather that the water kettle heats up in 3 mins instead of waiting for 12 min with gas burner.

PS. i also have 90 w solar panel system mounted on my roof.
 
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