cabin heat

[mangus]

does anyone have any recomendations on cabin heaters. I'm leaning towards diesel or propane. And, as always cost and size are an issue. Thanks...mangus

[AnchorageGuy]

We have used a Dickenson Bulkhead diesel cabin heater for our boat for years and really like it. But a Hunter is divided into, what, six or seven cabins? You will need a system that feeds warm air to all of those cabins. It also depends on where you plan to sail. With a genset in waters not excessively cold a reverse cycle heat/ac system run off the genset will do fine.

[ssullivan]

I have a Dickenson Lofoten I plan on putting on eBay this fall when demand peaks, but if you would like it, make an offer.

It's a 2007 model with about a month's worth of use on it. I needed a bigger output for a different space on land, so i bought a wood stove.

Let me know.

[Brent Swain]

I've always used an airtight woodstove. Drys things out well and with the rising price of oil , free heat is great. my lates tone is all type 316 stainless. Where do you plan to cruise with it?
Brent

SOOOOOOOO much depends on exactly what your situation is. Simple answers are very popular on any internet forum, but there are no simple answers in real life.

For very occasional use in mild cimates, propane works. But a tank of propane really doesn't have a lot of BTUs in it compared with your boat's diesel tank. Propane is relatively high cost per BTU and low in convienience (lots of refills). Be sure you understand exactly what fuel consumption will be before you buy a propane heater.

Solid fuels (like wood) work well IF you don't mind handling the ash and collecting and storing the fuel. These are very low operating cost ($0 if you can collect driftwood or scrap), but also low in convinience.

Diesel is in the middle of the cost range, and very high on the convieience scale. Only you can decide which is the right answer for you.

In Bodega Bay your primary concern will be keeping things dry, which a reverse cycle unit will NOT be espeically good at. If you are cruising to other areas, you might have other issues.

Unlike lots of people on this and other forums I will not tell you I KNOW the right answer for you, but I will tell you what the relative merits of the various options are, as far as I know. I made my own choice, and it was a drip-pot diesel heater in the main cabin with fans to circulate the heat. That might work for you and it might not.

Bill

[JiffyLube]

You might take a look at these furnaces. I have one on our boat that runs off the same diesel tank as our engine, and we have vents through out the boat...works good.

Wallas stoves - Boat heating and cooling experts, Wallas heaters, Ardic heaters and other diesel boat furnaces - Scanmarine.com

[mangus]

Thanks for the info. I'll be living aboard and will winter in Bodega Bay. Looks like diesel is the way to go. I'll let you know how it all turns out. Thanks again... Mangus

[Cheechako]

Bulkhead heaters will help take the chill off. You will notice that when you stand up the ceiling will be hot and your feet will be cold. If you have the money a forced air unit like the Webasto with a couple of air outlets will be real nice. These units seem to be far more reliable than the old units in the 80's etc that had a bad rep for burner issues. I recently worked for a boat manufacturer who put in the Webastos and in over 3 years never heard of a problem. many of these boats went to Alaska. One customer insisted on an Espar unit and he had some issues early on. Also, there is (was?)a little kerosene unit called a Toyoset that was set up more like a bulkhead heater, once I got some initial issues solved it worked great, just blowing air out of one outlet. Quiet too. Japanese made. Burned almost nothing.

[Sandero]

I have a 36' sloop with an Espar Airtronic 4 diesel w/ 3 outlets. It can heat the boat well, but we have balsa cored hull and I feel it is pretty well insulated. It's dry heat and trouble free and picks up fuel from the main diesel tank. It draws a bit on start up, but goes into a low draw mode with makes it OK if you have decent sized batts and.or charging regimen or shore power access. It is thermostatically controlled and quiet and I consider it quite safe as well - no open flames and all sorts of sensors to shut it down.

You can install it yourself and it doesn't take much space at all and is pretty invisible. We are in NE and it works well for us.

[clausont]

Hi Mangus - I have no info on cabin heat. Just thought I would drop in here. Don't often hear of people sailing from Bodega it seems. That is my old stomping grounds. UI used to sail my little 23 out of Bodega often.

[john connell]

Hi,
Interesting thread.
Can anyone give me the lowdown on Dickinson products.I have just purchased an Adams 42 steel yacht.Included in the sale was a Dickinson " Atlantic" oven/cooktop unit ( brand new ).As they are made in the USA can someone point me in the right direction as to worthy or not in our climate here in Aussie land.?
From reading the thread through here it seems that some are praising on the diesel type cookers /heaters and if I assume correct this one may also be used for remote draw off for cabin heating and hot water service supply too ?
Our climate can get fairly cold down here but not as cold as over there,except if you go to way down south.
Better to go lpg gas cooktop and smaller cabin heater for this climate?
Or are these Dickinson units a good unit ?
They look quite expensive too.

I do have someone in mind to offer it to ( who is probably going South ) who may be interested if it is not suitable for me so it will definitely not go to waste.

Appreciate any advice on this.

Regards
JC

[Cheechako]

Very heavy duty Diesel fired cooktop/heating units. These units are used in a lot of Alaska/Northwest fishing boats who fire them up in the morning and leave the coffee pot on all day etc. They provide good cabin heat. They require a stack going out the top 3 or 4" , I cant remember which. The downside is that in warm weather they heat the cabin when cooking. Also, not nearly as convenient as gas to light each time you want to cook if you dont want to leave it on all day. The "fire pot" is ceramic lined. I have seen these liners break out in rough water on fast moving powerboats, although I have never heard of it happening on displacement hulls/ sailboats. If it is new, be sure to follow the first time light up procedure to "cure" the ceramic liner.

[john connell]

Cheechako,

Thanks very much for the heads up.Yes it does come with a 75 mm flue system and I figured by the look of it would be heavy duty.Not sure why the previous owner imported one of these for this boat for nearby conditions.Maybe he had plans to go to some very cold places ?.Would be great for those long winter nights we get in Aussie but take the point re warm weather.
Will give it some serious thought before I install or not.

If not going to install assume it will come in handy for someone.

Regards
JC

[vacendak]

WEBASTO marine water heater, like this one:

Webasto Marine | Products | Thermo 90 ST

installing thin water tubes with fan-equipped heat exchangers in each cabin
greatly saves space and minimizes electricity consumption

+ double-coil water boiler = hot shower available

[Stella Polaris]

I really like the Webasto units (I know them very well from my time in the Norwegian military in extreme cold: we had Webasto's in the vehicles to keep us warm).

I just installed the following: Webasto Caravan :: AirTop EVO 5500

It's a brand new model, replacing the 5000. It uses the same amount of diesel, but has a higher output. The ST 90 has water pipes, while the 5500 has air ducts going throughout the boat. I managed to install it so that it takes minimal amount of space and I have very short runs with the piping giving me minimal heat-loss.