Need HEAT..what's the best way

[conrad]

Just curious Porcelain because of salty fire wood? Isn't the internal works of the Little cod still the same metal??? The Porcelan is a coating on the outside isnt it??????

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by conrad

Just curious Porcelain because of salty fire wood? Isn't the internal works of the Little cod still the same metal??? The Porcelan is a coating on the outside isnt it??????

I had the same question... ??? (didn't ask it though)

Your chimney will also suffer a bit burning driftwood, although I proably burned about a quarter cord of it in my couple years heating with my last Cod.

[Microship]

The porcelain coating is on both inside and out - largely because of the symmetrical rates of thermal expansion during the application process.

Cheers!
Steve

[Tnflakbait]

This is a good inexpensive solution.

Mr. Heater Propane Ultra Portable Buddy Heater - $125.09

[Microship]

Major humidity... I would be very wary of that unvented class of heater in a boat, or you'll end up with massive mildew.

Steve

We have used one of those in our VW, and regardless of what they say, it gave us both headaches. We used it on the boat to supplement a portable electric heater, and it worked OK, but the propane cylinders don't last very long, even on low. For an area the size of a Newport 28, I would be reluctant to leave it on without a CO2 detector, and more over, ours is always getting in the way on a 40' boat. Much rather have a nice bulkhead mounted unit that I can run underway.

[Extemporaneous]

Where does the Espar or Webasto fit in, or does it?
Particularly the water heater to fan and coil systems.
It is what I'm considering.

[Microship]

They vent externally, are efficient, and are designed for boats... I have a Webasto and it works well. From what I have read, they are quite efficient. For smaller boats, the Toyoset kerosene unit seems to be well-liked (had I kept my Corsair 36 trimaran, that's what I would have installed).

Downsides of the diesel forced-air units are noise and cost (especially if you have to have them serviced). But they are both good turn-key units. I don't know how they compare to each other; my boat came with the Webasto so I didn't have to research the differences.

In my case, the solution is to have both that and wood, thus allowing the self-sufficiency I mentioned earlier in the thread without requiring it when I feel like burning a modest amount of diesel instead of dealing with the wood issues. Seems a good combination...

Cheers,
Steve

[Microship]

Update - after a 600-mile shakedown in Nomadness through the San Juans and Gulf Islands, I docked on Orcas Island to have the Little Cod wood stove installed. The job was completed yesterday, and is chronicled with lots of photos here:

Nomadness: The Little Cod Wood Stove

Two firings so far, and I'm quite delighted... a little wood goes a long way in a well-insulated 44-footer (quite the opposite experience from the big barrel stove in my marginally-insulated 3,000-square-foot lab in the woods!).

Anyway, this is great stuff, and I can recommend Andrew's work both on the product itself and its installation (if you don't do it yourself; I wanted help with steel-boat surgery and the mounting structure).

Cheers,
Steve
Nomadness

[Amgine]

Nomadness: those are the cutest stoves I have ever seen, and I really wish I'd known of them last fall when I installed my diesel dickinson.

If anyone is willing to pay for a sardine stove for me, I will ship them my entire dickinson installation including pump and charlie noble.

[AKflyer]

Hmmm, just looked at the posting dates and this thread might be dormant by now, but just wondering if anyone here has experience with the Toyosets. I currently have one installed, and am frustrated with the noise it makes (not so much the constant fan noise, more from a cyclic "chugging" sound as it sucks diesel). I'm wondering if this is a normal thing for the Toyoset, or if it's just my installation. In any case, the 10k BTUs it produces doesn't quite hack it on my Cal-36 and I'm looking at either replacing/supplementing it.

AJ

[Cheechako]

I vote for the Propane Catalytic RV heater if you have room. Much simpler. RV cooking stoves have been used for years on boats. "Chef Mate" etc. Frankly, the two I've had seem to be better stoves than their stainless steel cousins.... I never leave the heat on at night though. Not comfortable with the idea, more blankets/more snuggling works best!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

Where does the Espar or Webasto fit in, or does it?
Particularly the water heater to fan and coil systems.
It is what I'm considering.

Buy the Webasto. I was operations manager for a boat builder until early this year. Installed a lot of Webasto's and little complaints. One repeat commercial customer insisted on Espars (he'd been to the boat show!) for his next 3 boats and started complaining shortly after delivery. He thought we'd done something wrong and I reminded him that I recommended he stick with the Webasto's.... BTW: they all run better and longer on kerosene.

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Okay, in fairness I'll admit that maybe you could bypass a dedicated intake line, but I've always heard it was a good idea to have one. :-)

It's a good idea in that it prevents air from coming in thru all the sources that SS mentioned. Hence less heat lose. Our fireplace at home has an external intake source that draws from the attic and the amount of air pulled in is amassing. If it's ever closed off the living space tries to suck in the cold outside air through every possible opening.