which cabin heater?

[Kelpie]

The paraffin wallas heaters seem even more frugal on the amps but I dont know where to buy paraffin anymore other than in 5 litre prepacs which is expensive. but then again 5 litres of diesel is also expensive.

I've got a Wallas 1600 and pretty pleased with it, for the past year have been running it on heating oil as I was under the impression that this was identical to paraffin. However I am going to switch back to proper parrafin because the heater now has a whiff of a smokey smell at the end of the burn. No other signs of any problems, but on balance given how little fuel it uses not worth the risk.

(on the other hand, the heating oil works a treat with the parrafin cooker; this means I can happily leave a ring on low for a while rather than go through the hassle of re-lighting it, as I know the fuel is only costing me pennies)

 

[humphrey231074]

Just fitted mine in Westerly Conway D5 Eberspacher and 5 outlets with all the kit needed for fitting it. got it from Southampton company www.yachtboatparts.com after much searching on the internet for combination of good price and service.
Burnt my drill out cutting holes for ducting but I was overdue getting a new one anyway.
Put fuel fitting into side of Lucas CAV Primary filter ( gravity fed filter so should never affect engine supply from same filter)
Timer stat mounted in mid ships as far away from companion way as possible so doesn't keep switching on heater with outside air temp.

Had a Mikuni heater in my last boat think it was an MY30 ( not as expensive as Eberspacher), never had any trouble with it.
Fitted that one myself also, they are much the same but the Eberspacher seems slightly more modern and a little quieter.

Don't mount the Fuel pump on any bulkhead or solid panel ( ticking noise is transmitted through mounts and seems to be amplified, mine is cable tied to rubber fuel lines and is almost silent.

Good luck with choosing your heater

Humphrey

 

[charles_reed]

One form of heating which is pretty much free (except for the cost of installation of course) is a matrix heater and fan, just like a car heater. One can be got from a scrappie, or a new one bought from Eberspacher or Mikuni. The matrix is plumbed into the the fresh-water cooling circuit of the engine, so it would only work with an indirectly cooled engine I guess.

A diesel engine is only ~20% efficient, ie ~4/5 goes into heat, so there should be plenty to spare even from a small engine hence my comment about it being 'free'. Of course it works only when motoring, but that's a surprisingly high proportion of the time time under way.

I don't know why, but few sailing boat builders seem to fit one - anyone know of reasons not to?

Yes, because you need the heater when stationary when no motor running so no heat available.

I find my oven a useful means of emergency heat - once its heated up it lasts as an heater for a couple of hours.
When on shorepower I use a fan-heater - cheap and efficient and usually not too expensive to run.

The best heating I've come across was an Eberspacher boiler feeding 3 thermostat-controlled fan-assisted heat-exchangers, self-fitted by a Swedish lloyds surveyor. He did comment glumly about the amount of diesel it used.

I had an Eberspacher hot-air blower - not bad, but unreliable and expensive to mend, so I ditched it and bought a £12 fan-heater and never looked back.

 

[firstascent2002]

Wallas 1800

Awsome.

No maintenence or probs these last 5 years. Fine for a 30 foot small cabined boat. Otherwise go for a 2400

J

 

[Nicholas123]

What's wrong with just using the oven & calour gas for heating or something like that?
Perfectly alright in a domestic situation providing you have "adventitious Ventilation."

 

[Victoria Sponge]

What's wrong with just using the oven & calour gas for heating or something like that?
Perfectly alright in a domestic situation providing you have "adventitious Ventilation."

You'd probably need so much ventilation that you would defeat the object! Maladjusted ovens can produce carbon monoxide, which some argue is another reason not to use your oven for heating.

If you don't want to buy a heater then boil the kettle have a hot drink and put the rest of the water in a hot water bottle.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I went onto a 40ft boat in Aegina last week and they had a Kero-sun heater 20000 BTU`s there was no smell or fumes they had a Carbon monoxide alarm fitted which never went off when the heater was on.
In their opinion it was a very efficent way of heating the boat 190 euro all in

 

[contessaman]

What's wrong with just using the oven & calour gas for heating or something like that?
Perfectly alright in a domestic situation providing you have "adventitious Ventilation."

Thats not really a viable option. It might take the chill out of the air for an hour in a summer evening. We dont live near the sea so the boat needs to be habitable all year round - when we get there we sleep on it.

An oven or any other enclosed gas heater is just no good because:

a) as mentioned above its needs to be ventilated to the point you'd let the heat out too. Or have a good dose of carbon monoxide. certainly cabon dioxide and various carcenogenic fumes.

b) most yachts have camping gaz bottles - running the oven continuously would cost more per hour than a petrol generator and fan heater! (and thats a LOT)

c) perhaps worst of all (apart from carbon monoxide poisoning) is that although I forget the exact figure, burning a pound of gas creates many litres of water which, after turning the oven off will soon make a very cold AND damp boat in the winter which would lead to at least divorce if not premeditated murder in my case.

Im not saying that everyone needs a flued/vented heater aboard their yacht - it depends on usage. I, however need a heater that can be run continuously day and night, at modest cost and most importantly safely with a family on board.

 

[Victoria Sponge]

Thats not really a viable option. It might take the chill out of the air for an hour in a summer evening. We dont live near the sea so the boat needs to be habitable all year round - when we get there we sleep on it.

An oven or any other enclosed gas heater is just no good because:

a) as mentioned above its needs to be ventilated to the point you'd let the heat out too. Or have a good dose of carbon monoxide. certainly cabon dioxide and various carcenogenic fumes.

b) most yachts have camping gaz bottles - running the oven continuously would cost more per hour than a petrol generator and fan heater! (and thats a LOT)

c) perhaps worst of all (apart from carbon monoxide poisoning) is that although I forget the exact figure, burning a pound of gas creates many litres of water which, after turning the oven off will soon make a very cold AND damp boat in the winter which would lead to at least divorce if not premeditated murder in my case.

Im not saying that everyone needs a flued/vented heater aboard their yacht - it depends on usage. I, however need a heater that can be run continuously day and night, at modest cost and most importantly safely with a family on board.

We're the same as you. When we've driven for three or four hours on a Friday evening we want to put the heating on, have a nice warm boat, and air everything. We spent last week on the boat. Lovely weather, but chilly in the evening, night and first thing in the morning. Oh, the luxury of being able to put the heating on, warm up and air the boat. We've even been known to leave the heating on very low all night when it's really cold. The thing is though, the heating means we can use the boat for much more of the year.

 

[contessaman]

We're the same as you. When we've driven for three or four hours on a Friday evening we want to put the heating on, have a nice warm boat, and air everything. We spent last week on the boat. Lovely weather, but chilly in the evening, night and first thing in the morning. Oh, the luxury of being able to put the heating on, warm up and air the boat. We've even been known to leave the heating on very low all night when it's really cold. The thing is though, the heating means we can use the boat for much more of the year.

EXACTLY. theres no point in slumming it. Getting back to my original post on this thread, what system do you use? is it eberspacher and has it been reliable?

ta

 

[Victoria Sponge]

EXACTLY. theres no point in slumming it. Getting back to my original post on this thread, what system do you use? is it eberspacher and has it been reliable?

ta

It's a Mikuni and it's brilliant.

 

[Brent Swain]

heater

Here in BC it is easy. I welded up a wood stove out of pulp mill scrap stainless. I've been using it for decades with driftwood, no problem. If I use dry wood and damp it down well, it will run for up to 14 hours on a single load. The beaches here are piled high with driftwood, and a few minutes with the chainsaw gets me a weeks supply. Cost ? Ten cents worth of chainsaw gas gets one the equivalent of $100 worth of oil. Cut it by hand and the cost is zero.
I have lived aboard year round since 1972, and wouldn't want anything else. I have three more to build for others, who are getting nervous about the cost of oil.
Insulation is very important, if you are living aboard in cold climates. I have 1 1/2 inch of sprayfoam in my boat, down to the floorboards. In winter, a layer of carpet on the floor cuts heat loss by 35 % and reduces condensation in the bilge by about 80%.
Even in minus temperatures , life on my boat is very comfortable.