Best Heater for a 30-Footer?

[roverhi]

First, you need a ventilated stove if you are talking heating a boat with ambient temps much below 50 degrees. If the heater isn't ventilated the water vapor in your breath and the by product of combustion condense on the interior of the boat. I spent one winter in Norfolk, VA heating with a couple of electric heaters. The condensation was so bad that I thought I had massive deck leaks. Every surface was wet and water would pool in low areas. Everything in the boat was clammy and unpleasant. Was the most unpleasant 3 months of my life. Fortunately, the winters are short in Southern VA or I probably would have given up on cruising outside the tropics.

Any bulkhead mounted heater should be mounted as low as possible, preferably on the cabin sole. Heat rises and the higher the heater, the more a fan will be needed to distribute the warmth. Had one boat with the stove mounted about 4' off the sole. Without a fan, my head would be sweating while my feet froze. In any case, a fan will probably be needed to distribute the heat. The higher the stove is mounted, the more powerful and amp hungry the fan will need to be. Also, the longer the flu, within reason, the better it will draw and the more trouble free heat it will put out.

Propane is the simplest way to go and probably the cheapest. The problem is keeping the beast fed. If you have smallish bottles and/or want to hang out away from a marina and a car, refilling the tanks gets to be a pain. My new boat came with a propane catalitic heater. It goes through a 1lb bottle in a few hours on high setting which is necessary when temps drop below 50 degrees. Too expensive to use with the small bottles.

Diesel is great for long term use in all conditions. They will heat a even in arctic conditions. Highest heat output and most boats carry a lot of fuel. Diesel heaters are expensive to install, however. A separate filter is reccomended, they either require a day tank or a fuel pump, and running the 3" flu is often a challenge. The cost of flu pipes, pump, etc can come close to the cost of the heater, itself. There can be backdraft problems though think that is mostly caused by too short flu run. If your boat is going to live in cooler areas, a diesel cook stove is a good source of heat and cooking.

Wood stoves work well. The problem is dealing with the ash and storage of fuel. Big advantage is the fuel is free if you're coastal cruising. Plenty of dead wood available in the more remote areas. For daily liveaboard use, dealing with finding fuel around a marina and clean up of ash is a chore.

If you want true liveaboard comfort, the forced hot air or hydronic heaters are the way to go. They can be thermostatically controlled for consistant heat output. It is a dry heat and can be distriubuted to all areas of the boat. The heater can be tucked in some out of the way place that would be otherwise dead space. The big problem is they are expensive. The ducting is relatively large, do take up a significant amount of space and a problem to run that could be a concern especially on smaller boats.

Alcohol to me is a non starter. Fuel is high in cost and low in heat density. Unvented, they put out a lot water vapor.

Aloha
Peter O.

[JimC]

As roverhi says, the forced air heaters (Eberspacher etc.) are very effective, but bear in mind that they do need electrical power for the fan and the ignition glow-plug. About 20 amps for start-up and shutdown (which can occur repeatedly under thermostatic control), and around one to two amps when running normally. They are frugal on diesel but can give your battery a bashing if you've no handy way of recharging it.

[Pete the Cat]

I have had a Wallas Diesel heater made in Finland and distributed in the US by Scan Marine. It is forced air just like a home system except it is about the size of a briefcase. Comes in a kit like the Espars and Webasto with the duct work and a nifty intake/exhaust tube--so you do not have to worry about CO or O2 depletion. I have had it for about 14 years and had to service it a couple times--mostly just to clean out the fuel line. I understand that these all are similar. I like this one because it is simple enough to service myself--comes apart easily and parts are easy to get and replace. I would warn against a thermostat on a diesel heater--cycling is messy. Mine uses a reostat so that it does not cycle. It uses very little fuel and very little electricity. I cannot compare it to Webasto or Espar as I have no experience with them.

[oldsalt_1942]

A trip to the Bahamas or further south is recommended

Originally Posted by oldsalt_1942

A trip to the Bahamas or further south is recommended

While this might not be the most practical solution, it is certainly the best one
I am a proponent of solid fuel heaters. Propane burns allot of fuel, and generates moisture. Diesel is OK, but it can be a real PITA at times. As for safety, propane is probably the best. Even with the hazards of propane, most of the dangers can be easily prevented. With diesel, and alcohol, you have burning liquid on the boat. To me, this is far less safe than propane. (I have not used an alcohol heater, but hated our stove). Solid fuel is simple, generally cheap to buy, and install, and fuel is available everywhere. Stop at a remote anchorage, and go collect some firewood ashore. Try that with propane. I like the heat from solid fuel, and the smell is pleasant as well. Type in "Little Cod" to the search, and you will see threads on one of the best, in my opinion, solid fuel heaters out there. There is plenty of room on a Newport 30 for this heater.

[jim lee]

I installed an Espar diesel forced air heater in my machine. It was the most complicated and toughest install to get "right" I've ever done. But now that its all installed and working, we LOVE it! It came with a pump and we just tapped into the main fuel tank.

Its not all that bad on the power draw. I does burn up its share of diesel though.

-jim lee

[imagine2frolic]

Amigo,

I lived on a 30ftr on SF. Bay a decade. Sounds like you want to keep warm at the dock, and not cruising. Buy a ceramic heater from Wal-Mart for less than $40, and be comfy. I use 2 for my 46ft. cat in the same weather. You only see frost maybe twice a year, and an hour's worth of snow ever 20+ years. Save your money for making ther boat handle easier.....BEST WISHES in keeping warm......i2f

[bastonjock]

You can pick up used Eberspacher Airtronic diesel fueled heaters on fleabay for arounf 300.00 GB pounds,these are reconditioned units that usually have come out of one of our Postal services trucks.

My buddies who have these on their boats all rave about them,they are a must have item for early and late season sailing over here

[Squeaks]

Amigo:
A Newport 30 on SF Bay I can relate to. As usual, there are LOTS of good suggestions here so I will only say what I have on my Golden Gate 30 here on the Oakland Estuary.
As a dockside liveaboard I mainly use a AC "oil-filled" heater (from Ace Hardware) on shoreside power. It's quiet (no on/off fan), can be set to what you need (low overnight or higher in the morning) and it's a dry heat.
While out for local cruising I use a bulkhead-mounted Newport solid-fuel heater. It requires a 2-inch vent pipe (Charlie knoble) and is impractical for continuous heating but is fine for taking the chill off in the evening and first thing in the morning, uses "presto" logs, heater pellets (also from Ace), scrap dry wood or junk mail :-) and it puts out a very pleasant dry heat and pleasant glow.
Hope that helps.
John

[Tempest245]

If I were at the dock with electric, I'd go with the Ceramic heaters...
I work on my boat in the winter...they keep the cabin nice and toasty and they're cheap..and ...no holes...in the deck....Or go with the oil filled variety.....cruising clearly needs another strategy...

[Pblais]

Or go with the oil filled variety.....cruising clearly needs another strategy...

Boat US surveys say these are the number one specific source of boat fires! Most boat fires are electrically ignited (80%). These heaters are maybe the most poorly built products on the market. But they are cheap so get a few! They don't hold up to the duty cycle of heating an exterior environment. Most residential heaters don't hold up on a boat. It's the wiring that causes the fire not the heat from the heater. Save it for that back room in the house that gets a bit chilly. It's what they do best.

If your boat starts on fire there is a very small chance they won't cut the dock lines and shove it loose. It's the first thing any dock master does with a boat fire. Once the fiberglass starts to burn it's all over. The heat and smoke are amazing. It takes a long time to put the fire out at that point. You get to pay to have the hull hauled and disposed of. Boat fires are not trivial.

[DeepFrz]

I just did a search on the following; "fires caused by ceramic heaters", and was quite amazed at the number of hits.

[Squeaks]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Boat US surveys say these are the number one specific source of boat fires! Most boat fires are electrically ignited (80%). These heaters are maybe the most poorly built products on the market. But they are cheap so get a few! They don't hold up to the duty cycle of heating an exterior environment. Most residential heaters don't hold up on a boat. It's the wiring that causes the fire not the heat from the heater. Save it for that back room in the house that gets a bit chilly. It's what they do best.

If your boat starts on fire there is a very small chance they won't cut the dock lines and shove it loose. It's the first thing any dock master does with a boat fire. Once the fiberglass starts to burn it's all over. The heat and smoke are amazing. It takes a long time to put the fire out at that point. You get to pay to have the hull hauled and disposed of. Boat fires are not trivial.

Pblais: Thanks for the "head up" on the oil-filled electric heaters. I won't leave mine on again while off the boat!

[michaelmrc]

hallie
i use the dickenson 9000 series propane heater with a medium sized oil heater onboard. last winter in consistent -7C kept my boat nice and warm. my boat is only a 27footer one something over 30ft i would probably go with the 12000 series. the fireplace window is really nice option very nice ambiance.

[clockwork orange]

Anyone know of a small pellet stove that would work in a boat? seems like an inexpensive easy to stow fuel thats getting easier to find.
Steve