Clay Pot Cabin Heater

[michaelmrc]

before i installed the new dickinson propane heater in my boat i used the clay pot method several times. i would have 2 pots both filled 1/3 with rocks i would heat one pot up then put it on a pot holder on the salon table and keep the 2nd one on the stove. surprisingly how quickly it would take the chill off the air.

[mrohr]

The pot does nothing, its the gas from the stove.Just make a cup of tea to take the chill off. A oil lamp running in a closed cabin will sustain elevated cabin temp. quite well.Of course some ventalation will be necessary,but not much.If sleeping, just use more blankets.Any small fan will push the warmed air down to the cabin sole.This all works well enough for New England summers in cool water,but in prolonged wet and cold weather you might need a proper vented heater.

[Bash]

you might find that a trawler lamp not only produces as much heat as the clay pot, but also serves as a source of light, this saving battery power.

before we installed the diesel furnace on our last boat, we would mix up a coffee cake right before going to bed, and then stick it in the oven with the oven off. Then, at the crack of dawn, I would run out to the galley, light the oven, and run back to bed. By the time the coffee cake was ready, the cabin was warm.

[michaelmrc]

Originally Posted by mrohr

The pot does nothing, its the gas from the stove.Just make a cup of tea to take the chill off. A oil lamp running in a closed cabin will sustain elevated cabin temp. quite well.Of course some ventalation will be necessary,but not much.If sleeping, just use more blankets.Any small fan will push the warmed air down to the cabin sole.This all works well enough for New England summers in cool water,but in prolonged wet and cold weather you might need a proper vented heater.

well i would tend to disagree there. the pot especially with some rocks in it will radiate the heat much better than just the stove itself. and it also seems to help with the condensation humidity issues inside the cabin.

[YOGAO]

Clay pot? Heating? Can you say Schlemmertopf!? It's clay, provides heat (after baking in the oven AND food - awesome!)

Fair Winds,
Mike

[Viking Sailor]

As I was reading through this thread a thought crossed my mind. I have not tried this but what do you thing of heating a bunch of smooth stones in a pressure cooker (stone soup?) for use as a heater? The idea is that the pressure cooker is good at getting things hot and the stones are good at holding heat. Also, the amount of water remaining in the cooker would have some control on how fast the heat is conducted to the room air. The more water, the more heat conducted outward. Other advantages might be that it is in a spill proof pot, the pot could be placed under a table for Japanese style heating, or the pot could be relocated to an otherwise unheated cabin. I have seen pressure cookers for a little as $20 new. Anyway, just a thought.