Hot Water

[sailorboy1]

Hot water need/use I feel should be considered as a part of other considerations. These include: battery charging/electrical power, water making/use.

So how are people dealing with having hot water when not connected to shore power to run your water heater?

[avazquez]

Get one that warms the water by runing your diesel for 10 minutes or so.

[Astral Blue]

I have a 1500 watt Ariston 4 gallon water heater. I need to flip the switch (self installed) for 7 minutes and I have hot water. A 7 minute draw at 1500 watts is roughly 20 amp hours when factoring in the inefficiency of the inverter. I have about 200 usable amp hours on my battery bank when I'm at full charge.

[sailorboy1]

yeah I forgot about using the inverter and asked it to be added

I've got a 2000 watt inverter but have never tried it on the heater

[Astral Blue]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

yeah I forgot about using the inverter and asked it to be added

I've got a 2000 watt inverter but have never tried it on the heater

There is definitely a trade-off; and it's not the most ideal way to heat water. But then again, it's only 10 percent of my reserve and when out for a weekend, it's definitely worth it. Besides, when the water is heater it stays warm for hours.

Ideally, a Honda EU200 or something in that class would do the trick without depleting my battery. And most people don't have 200 usable amp hours at full charge. I just want to avoid having carry, store, and maintain generator on board, so the inverter is the next best thing.

[Octopussy]

We have a Bosch instant/tankless hot water heater on our boat.
Runs on propane. While we have a small "stovepipe" in the cabin roof in our head (which has a screw-in flange when we want to seal it off in bad weather/passagemaking/etc), it's pretty easy to use.

I know some people are leery of them, but when we lived in Europe we had a camper trailer with one, and often they are even fitted in homes- as opposed to a tank hot water heater. So we're pretty comfortable with the idea.

S/V Octopussy

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[sailvayu]

Not a fan of the propane ones for many reasons but that has been gone over many times on here so I will not get it started again. You forgot to include solar as a way to heat water. I used this a lot on a smaller boat I had and it worked great. I would consider installing a permanent system on my present boat boat but I plan on heading further south where I will not need much hot water

[senormechanico]

I've done both a solar hot water panel with a food grade March pump (previous boat) and using the inverter and conventional solar panels (current boat).
I prefer the inverter system because it's lighter weight, no airlock problems requiring periodic bleeding of system at high point, ease of installation etc.

Re going South, when we were in Mexico it was awfully nice to have a hot shower onboard. Soap works better with hot water.

[Cheechako]

well, as you said it's all interlinked. ie:If you charge the batts using the engine once a day, you have hot water in your tank. Works quite well really. If you dont use the engine then you need another scheme. details details ....In the tropics a black bag works amazingly well.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by Astral Blue

I have a 1500 watt Ariston 4 gallon water heater. I need to flip the switch (self installed) for 7 minutes and I have hot water. A 7 minute draw at 1500 watts is roughly 20 amp hours when factoring in the inefficiency of the inverter. I have about 200 usable amp hours on my battery bank when I'm at full charge.

I'll agree that 1500 watts for 7 minutes is about 20 amp hours at 12v, but it is only going to heat your 4 gallons up about 18 degrees fahrenheit. If you start with 60 degree water, the result is a tepid 78 degrees.

[sailorboy1]

The kettle approach is tied for first. Is that really enough water for a good body cleaning?

Don't take this wrong, but aren't there more women on boats among CF readers (or men who like to be clean)?

[The Garbone]

On the stove for consumption and shower in a bag for bathing. Bag rolls up pretty small when not in use.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

The kettle approach is tied for first. Is that really enough water for a good body cleaning?

Don't take this wrong, but aren't there more women on boats among CF readers (or men who like to be clean)?

Well originally I needed 4-5 gallons for a shower, but after 9 years afloat about a gallon heated on the stove makes a great shower. I've a solar shower for hot weather too... OK when at a landside shower facility, I might still take a really Long shower.

Oh I have an 8 quart pot I use for heating water on the stove. For washing dishes and such, I fill it with whats under the boat.. then just rinse with a little fresh water.

[motion30]

Here in south Florida ot the islands the water tanks never really get cold , so not much heating required

[onestepcsy37]

i voted heating on stove, but need to elaborate. we really use a solar shower or solar garden sprayer. but when solar is not available we heat up water on the stove and mix it 50/50 with cold water in the garden sprayer. we allow one gallon per person. we're never in an area where water is difficult to get.

i'm still looking for a really good, simple method to supply hot water to the boats plumbing system, but nothing has come along yet...